Thoughts on 10 Years

Editor’s note: Former blogger Claudio Gallegos sent this column in on Tuesday, but it went to my Spam folder so I missed it.  Here it is.

Wow! Has it been 10 years already? I only wrote for Liberal OC for a short time, a year and a half. But I am honored to have contributed to some memorable stories.

Some of the people I was hardest on was fellow Democrats, particularly Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido. Some of my favorite stories was calling out his lack of ethics and pushing the upstart challenge by Alfredo Amezcua. In the wake of Bell, I wanted to make the case that Santa Ana was on the threshold of going down the same road and to have a Democrat who was so ethically challenged is not something to be celebrated. I lost a few friends over this stand but it was one that I have no apologies for. I thank Dan and Chris for allowing me this avenue to express the issues facing the city I call home.

Another series of stories I was involved in was the exposing of Cecilia Iglesias as a GOP plant in the 2010 Congressional battle between Loretta Sanchez and Van Tran. When Cecilia Iglesias first surfaced in late 2009, it was clearly obvious she came from the GOP as she had posted pictures of being with mostly GOP figures. She tried to convince activists she was actually to the left of Loretta Sanchez on immigration issues. It was easy to see through her act and sought to expose it as well as her dirty, underhanded tactics in fundraising. We were the first local blog to call her out for what she really is and I do hope this continues and Dan focuses on stories that will expose more of her shady, unethical dealings and lead to her defeat this November.

In early 2011, I left the team to pursue other opportunities but it was an honor being a part of the Liberal OC team. Thank you Mike Lawson for the vision 10 years ago of starting TheLiberalOC. It has been a fun and interesting ride, looking forward to what the next 10 years brings.