Irvine Republican Mayoral candidate Gang Chen (pronounced that “Gong” or find “Gary Chen” on Facebook) has filed a formal Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) complaint against TheLiberalOC and Irvine Community News & Views but his target is Democratic candidate for Mayor, Mary Ann Gaido. Chen’s complaint is TheLiberalOC and ICNV are that we are providing “free” resources to Gaido.
I received the email from the FPPC Wednesday afternoon. Once I realized it was a legitimate email from the FPPC and what Chen was complaining about, I laughed hard for a solid two minutes. The kind of laughter where you are unable to speak and almost pass out from a lack of oxygen.
The complaint itself is another example of Chen’s poor understanding of how political campaigns work and how news media functions.
The complaint against TheLiberalOC suggests we have violated the FPPC’s campaign disclosure provisions. But the FPPC will get back to us in two weeks with a decision (there are hard cases and there are easy cases; this is an easy case).
Chen’s email to the FPPC goes like this (all typos carefully republished):
I’d like to file a complaint against:
Mary Ann Gaido, a candidate for the Mayor of Irvine, CA
- “Irvine Community News and (a political mailer that disguised as “newspaper” and an online news blog) that provides free resources to Mary Ann Gaido.
- “Liberal OC” an online blog that provide free resources to Mary Ann Gaido.
I’ll skip his beef with ICNV and go right to his complaint against TheLiberalOC:
“Liberal OC” also attacked me many times including:
- Anti-Vet’s Cemetery Advocate Gang Chen Launches Bid for Irvine Mayor (with a link to the story).
I think it is not fair for Mary Ann Gaido to get all these free promotions without properly reporting them to FPPC or disclose them to the voters. I’ll like to formally file a complaint and have FPPC investigate Mary Ann Gaido, Irvine Community News and Views and “Liberal OC” to find out if they have complied with all codes and regulations, and if they have properly disclosed to the voters and report these promotions to the FPPC.
Gang Chen, Publisher/Bestselling Author (GreenExamEducation.com)
Architect, LEED AP BD+C. Real Estate Broker (Gang Chen.ListingBook.com, BRE# 01232392)
Singer/Songwriter (Music.ArchiteG.com)
……..
And I thought Orly Taitz had a complex background of lawyer/dentist/real estate agent/shunned Gabor sister….. but can she sing?
This complaint is yet another example of Mr. Chen’s … cluelessness about the political process and how the press works. TheLiberalOC is a partisan blog; I’m going to write about Liberals, Progressives and Democrats in a favorable light and Conservative Republicans in a not so favorable light. Duh. And I’ll write about clueless, dumb and politically-naïve politicians like Mr. Chen too.
If Mr. Chen wants a favorable mention on this blog, he can purchase an Advertisement; once the check clears, up it goes. If he wants a friend here, I suggest he buy a dog. This way someone will be glad to see him when he comes home from walking neighborhoods. Meanwhile, I’m scrolling through iTunes for Gang Chen’s cover of “American Idiot.” Bet it’s a hit.
He is probably setting up for a deceptive mailer.
What a pathetic excuse for a candidate. By the way Mr. Chen cares so much about irvines citizens that he put election signs up 8 months before the election. Thanks Gang for contributing to the political pollution in the City. You are helping lower our quality of life!!
Chen emailed me once to accuse me of streaking his signs. Moronic
Now I know who to vote against.
Karma, also known as what goes around comes around seems to have stopped on your doorstep. It Just goes to show, as you well know, anyone can file a complaint with the FPPC, justified of not. It will be interesting to see how your Democrat BFF’s in Sacramento sweep this complaint under the rog, especially with the Community News political rag. That said, Mr. Chen is a well meaning but very naive citizen as to the workings of hardball politics.
I am pretty certain my case will be resolved in 2 weeks; the FPPC rep I spoke with did tell me Christina’s FPPC complaint and investigation is still open and will likely be resolved sooner than later. It is still open despite her claims she’s done nothing wrong. My understanding is she no longer works for Kia, but I’m sure she’ll find another client to leverage her city council position to profit from.
Hey Fat Pat (Ltpar): You were missing here for a while; I thought you might have died. At least Gang Chen is honest about his opposition to the Irvine veterans cemetery, unlike your girlfriend Christina Shea and your boyfriend Anthony Kuo, who’ve been trying to kill it (on behalf of your boss developer Emile Haddad) for years while pretending to support it. Well, welcome back, Fat Pat. Hope your potty training is going better.
Mary Ann Gaido had a “paid” Advertisement at the fake newspaper, Irvine Community News and Views, in June 2016, but she did NOT report the expense of the paid ad at her Form 460. She is under FPPC investigation now.
It’s not a fake newspaper.
ICNV is totally a fake newspaper, all manufactured outrage (How DARE Irvine try to meet demand for housing! We want to restrict supply to maintain our double-digit property value increases every year!) interspersed with fluff and nonsense. Your reporting is much more balanced, straightforward, and intelligent than ICNV, and you discuss real issues that people actually care about.
It is a real newspaper. It has stories, editorials, a community calendar, sports and ads.
See June Issue of the Irvine Community News and Views (ICNV), at the last page there is a one page ad for Gaido, the so-called “Open Letter” entitled “Why Am I Running for Mayor” at the end of the ad it said it is “Mary Ann Gaido for Mayor 2016, ID# 1383418.” But I cannot find any expense about this ad on Gaido’s Form 460. Why is she getting all these free ad and coverage and promotion, and other candidates did not get any?
Two explanations: 1. You aren’t looking at the most recent report or it was reported on an earlier report or 2. Perhaps she forgot to post it and can file a correction at any time.
Did you ever report those “Dump Lalloway” signs that had no ID # but everyone believes you are responsible for?
It seems like the fake newspaper, Irvine Community News & Views, is also collecting subscriber’s info and give them to Mary Ann Gaido’s campaign. This is probably against the laws. See link:
https://www.yelp.com/biz/ irvine-community-news-and- views-irvine
Quote from one of the reviewer:
“I have three complaints about this publication. (1) They shared my name and address with a political candidate (2) They don’t disclose these practices (3) They are misleading as to who they are.
SHARING MY NAME & ADDRESS WITH A POLITICIAN
After getting this “community newspaper”, I completed an online survey to support low-growth in Irvine. That caused me to be added to candidate Mary Ann Gaido’s mailing list, one of the people supported and praised in the publication and one of the candidates explicitly endorsed with a ballot box check mark next to her name (paid for by Gaido).
I’ve never before received personal mail from any candidate but her fundraising letter was addressed to me personally, at my address. There’s no way she could have obtained my mailing address except that this mailer (Irvine Community News & Views) shared it with her when I completed the survey. That caused me to get on other political mailing lists, also addressed to me personally.
NO DISCLOSURE OF (ANTI-) PRIVACY PRACTICES
There is no disclosure that completing their online survey will get your name and address shared with political candidates. When you go to their website, and click Contact Us, there is no phone number disclosed, only emails. On the same page, there is a link to “Privacy & Terms” but it’s not linked to the privacy policy of Irvine Community News & Views. Instead, that link goes to the generic Google privacy policy. So it looks like they have a privacy policy when the reality is that they don’t.
MISLEADING
The publisher and editor is Franklin J. Lunding. The Orange County Register describes Lunding as “a long-time friend” of Larry Agran, one of the candidates praised by the publication and endorsed along with Gaido with the ballot box check mark next to his name. The OC Register also reported in a 2009 article that Lunding had moved to Carmel Valley, but apparently he keeps involved with Irvine. Must have a lot of spare time and money on his hands.
Based on a few articles by the OC Register, Lunding and Agran sound like they are actually on the opposite side of slow growth. Check out:
blogs.ocweekly.com/navel…
ocregister.com/articles/…
ocregister.com/articles/…
On the inside page of the publication, there is a disclosure that says,”Irvine Community News & Views is a community newspaper and is published by Irvine Community News & Views, LLC, a slate mailer organization established under the laws of he State of California, registered with the California Secretary of State, and licensed to do business in the City of Irvine.” It sounds odd that it can claim to be BOTH a community newspaper and a slate mailer. Even if this is legal, Lunding and Agran don’t sound like they are who they claim to be.”
It is a newspaper owned by a holding company that produces a slate mailer and has. There is no slate for this fall’s election. This is America; anyone with access to a printing press can publish a newspaper.
Somehow the link does not work after I posted, I am posting it again, hopefully it will work. If it still does not work, just go to yelp.com, and search with “Irvine Community News & Views” and you will find the original review. Here it is again:
It seems like the fake newspaper, Irvine Community News & Views, is also collecting subscriber’s info and give them to Mary Ann Gaido’s campaign. This is probably against the laws. See link:
https://www.yelp.com/biz/ irvine-community-news-and- views-irvine
You are naïve; there are many ways candidates can secure voter mailing lists for direct mail. All you are doing is demonstrating your lack of understanding about the political process.
Mary Ann Gaido is under FPPC investigation:
http://gangchenusa.blogspot.com/2016/08/mary-ann-gaido-is-under-fppc.html
Technically, so am I based on your complaint….I wish you could hear the woman from the FPPC do her best not to laugh out loud at your charges….
I looked at Gaido’s form 460. There are many consultant expenditures listed. Perhaps one of the consultants paid ICNV (“subvendor payment”) and the amount was less than $500 and thus not reported.
I find it unlikely that a career politician would forget to include an expense on the FPPC form–and more likely that ICNV doesn’t charge much for advertisements, since the “newspaper” doesn’t exist to turn a profit and probably doesn’t accept content from anyone but Agran buddies. Wouldn’t other Democrats who are less well-connected advertise there if they were able? Why is it all Gaido, all the time?
Perhaps you should buy an ad yourself. I’m sure they would be happy to take your money
That would be a waste of my limited funds, since ICNV exists to argue against growth in the housing supply and make housing less affordable for renters. Their readership isn’t my demographic.
For Mr. Gang Chen, you are looking at an old 460 filing. I contacted the City and they have an amended 460 filed a couple days later that has the ICNV advertising payments listed. I also contacted the ICNV newspaper (they have both a phone number and email listed on their website) and they assured me that the Gaido campaign took up paid advertising in the newspaper and has been paying them. Perhaps you are unaware but we have free speech in this country and newspapers are allowed to write articles about anyone they like or dislike. The OC Register writes articles favoring certain politicians all the time. Candidates don’t really have a say in what newspaper write unless its an interview. The back page on the ICNV says advertisement and it was properly reported, you just looked at the wrong campaign filing form. Saying someone is under investigation sounds deceptive, YOU MR. GANG CHEN are the one that filed the complaint, against your opponent because you are trying to hurt them. It takes 2 weeks for them to review it, but the newspaper told me when I called that the complaint against everyone will almost 100% be dismissed.
Nicely said
Who are you trying to fool? Mary Ann Gaido just filed the amended Form 460 today (8/31/16) after she has been caught. However, she should still be punished for mishandling it at the first place. Whoever filed the amended Form 460 tried to fool people and manually overwrite the date on the form as 8/5/16, but the city’s e-file system clearly shown the amended Form 460 was actually filed today (8/31/16).
See link:
http://nf4.netfile.com/pub2/AllFilingsByCandidate.aspx?id=152239015&candidate=Mary+Ann+Gaido
All very allowable. When will you admit to posting all the illegal No Jeff Lalloway signs? They have your hallmark. Most signs posted near your Mayor signs. No ID #. Admit it. They are yours
Grow up, Dan. They are not my signs.
Everyone is sick of the signs you’ve had up for months
Mary Ann Gaido just filed the amended Form 460 today (8/31/16) after she has been caught. However, she should still be punished for mishandling it at the first place. Whoever filed the amended Form 460 tried to fool people and manually overwrite the date on the form as 8/5/16, but the city’s e-file system clearly shown the amended Form 460 was actually filed today (8/31/16).
See link:
http://nf4.netfile.com/pub2/AllFilingsByCandidate.aspx?id=152239015&candidate=Mary+Ann+Gaido
And what would the punishment be?
“Irvine Community News and Views (ICNV),” “Liberal OC,” and Mary Ann Gaido are all under FPPC investigation
See link:
http://gangchenusa.blogspot.com/2016/08/irvine-community-news-and-views-icnv.html
Gang, Anyone can file a FPPC complaint like you have. Tell me what makes the ICNV a fake newspaper? The stories are all true and I can hold the paper in my hands so I know it exists. You putting your signs on the street 8 months before the election just shows how little you care about the citizens of Irvine. What a joke of a candidate you are!!
For another two weeks. Meanwhile, you’re a joke that gets funnier by the second
Who is she trying to fool? Mary Ann Gaido just filed the amended Form 460 on 8/31/16 after she has been caught. However, she should still be punished for mishandling it at the first place. Whoever filed the amended Form 460 tried to fool people and manually overwrite the date on the form as 8/5/16, but the city’s e-file system clearly shown the amended Form 460 was actually filed on 8/31/16.
It is a smoking gun, and shows Mary Ann Gaido is either incompetent and mishandled campaign finance at best, or intentionally tried to cheat FPPC and the people and concealed the truth, and claimed the “free” ad that she got from the “Irvine Community News and Views (ICNV)” as “paid” ad at worst. So far, she still has NOT paid for the $6,000-worth of “paid” ad. On her latest amended Form 460 filed on 8/30/16, it still shows the $6,000-worth of “paid” ad is actually unpaid bills on the Schedule F on her Form 460. “Paid” ad? Well, she has NOT paid for the ad yet. That is a blatant lie.
She cannot claim that she did not know about it and it is her staff’s fault. Every candidate is required to sign the Form 460, and she did sign it.
See link:
http://nf4.netfile.com/pub2/AllFilingsByCandidate.aspx?id=152239015&candidate=Mary+Ann+Gaido
I think you really don’t know what you’re talking about. But your attacks on Mary Ann simply mean she’s the one to beat. Good luck with that.
Gang, I see you put more of your signs up that I have been looking at for over 8 month now. By the way were is your money coming from for all of these signs and your campaign in general? Let me guess. Could it have anything to do with a huge developer? What are your plans if elected?