With Tait Endorsement, Moreno and Ferraras embrace support from County’s Most Anti-Labor Mayor

Dr. Jose F. Moreno, (c) 2014, TheLiberalOC.com (Photo: Dan Chmielewski)
Dr. Jose F. Moreno, (c) 2014, TheLiberalOC.com (Photo: Dan Chmielewski)
Dr. Jose F. Moreno, (c) 2014, TheLiberalOC.com (Photo: Dan Chmielewski)

It bears noting that while the marriage is seldom perfect, organized labor unions and the Democratic Party in Orange County  are married to each other and often have the same interests in mind even if they take different paths to the same destination.

There is no other elected official in Orange County more anti-labor than Anaheim Mayor Tom Tait.  We’ve documented Tait’s anti-union efforts several times.  And we’re not the only ones to notice this.

Tait has formally endorsed Democrats Dr. Jose Moreno in District 3 and Rev. Arturo Ferreras in District 4 for the Anaheim City Council (one wonders if the OC GOP will censure Tait for the endorsements or demonstrate their lack of backbone or testicular fortitude by not doing anything; I’m betting on the latter because the OC GOP leadership has no balls when it comes to enforcing its rules on Tait).

So the notion of Democrats accepting an endorsement from an anti-union Republican mayor who lead an effort to place INS agents in Anaheim City Jail in the mid-90s strikes me as unacceptable. And particularly troubling for Dr. Moreno’s broadcast on the Tait endorsement is that Moreno is a member of the DPOC Central Committee.  DPOC Central Committee members are forbidden to endorse Republicans — it’s in the by-laws — but there’s no mechanism in the bylaws preventing a Central Committee member from receiving an endorsement from a Republican.  That loophole needs to close and it not only impacts Moreno but Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez as well (Sanchez is being criticized in social media for accepting an endorsement of Congressman Darryl Issa; the same criticism should be extended to Dr. Moreno for the same reasons).

On social media in the past few weeks, Dr. Moreno was championing State Rep. Lorena Gonzalez’s bill to extend 8 hour days and overtime pay for Farm workers which was successfully pushed by the farmworker’s unions.  And that was absolutely the right thing to do.  So why embrace the support of a Mayor who would have lent support against that bill as he has for other pro-union efforts?

Moreno’s opponent, council member Jordan Brandman, has already secured the endorsement of major labor unions for the District 3 seat including the OCEA and OC Labor Fed, plus the Building Trades and when you consider Moreno’s embrace of Tait, it’s easy to see why.  Moreno doesn’t have a lot of endorsements and trails in fundraising dramatically.  Perhaps the Tait endorsement is a quid pro quo for Moreno’s endorsement of Tait for Mayor in 2014 even as Moreno formally joined the Democratic Party which had an endorsed candidate for Mayor.

For Moreno and Ferraras, it’s clear both stand against working men and women represented by OC’s various unions.  Neither has a viable plan to bring needed jobs to Anaheim’s working class or the working poor.  Embracing the endorsement of an anti-union conservative Republican mayor who’s business pursues the sort of municipal contracts the Mayor routinely votes against in Anaheim is, in a word, disgraceful.

As Moreno is a DPOC Central Committee Member and was elected to a term beginning in January, there are two choices: keep the Tait endorsement and continue running for city council but resign your position on the DPOC Central Committee immediately.  Or reject the Tait endorsement and keep running for council and retain your Central Committee seat.  Having your cake and eating it too — holding the Central Committee seat and the Tait endorsement — means Moreno has surrendered the moral authority to urge Democrats in OC to do anything.

The choice is his.

 

7 Comments

    • We need a majority in Anaheim, one that votes with what is right for its citizens in mind. Vote for Aurturo Ferraras so change can happen. No more Kring, Brandman and Murray (3-2) votes.

      Vote Ferraras.

  1. Check Lucille Kring’s record: She voted against the very residents she serves. She voted for a Collage Development over the protests of professionals giving testimony that the project was wrong. She voted against the people who pleaded with her to help them and not let their privacy be ruined. She voted against her own people, the people she serves despite them presenting her with over 850 signatures, She voted against them despite the 90 signatures presented from the residents that live in the immediate area of the “development.” She voted against Mayor Tait who stated, “I am not going to do this to these fine people. The project is wrong for the neighborhood and I don’t like it.” SHE VOTED AGAINST THE PEOPLE WHO PUT HER INTO OFFICE AND ENTRUSTED HER WITH THEIR VOTE. Now she wants us to re-elect her? They say once bitten, twice shy. Do not entrust her with your precious vote. Do not doubt for a second this can happen in your neighborhood. This same delevoper is being allowed to do this in multiple areas, with Lucille Kring, Jordan Brandman and Kris Murray’s help. But, we have a choice and we can speak on election day. Mayor Tait had the courage to vote for the people he serves and so did Councilman Vanderbilt. Now, we must show our courage and vote for change. Give the majority to Mayor Tait and those who vote with the best interest of their citizens in mind. Vote Arturo Ferraras, he is endorsed by Mayor Tait.

    • The post isn’t about Lucille Kring. It’s about progressive Democrats embracing the endorsement of an anti-union conservative Republican mayor. Mayor Tait’s business seeks contracts in other cities on projects he votes against as mayor. He’s voted against a computer education program in the city’s Ponderosa neighborhood. From all accounts, it’s Tait’s way or the highway. Will Ferreras and Moreno abandon follow w hat ever the mayor says?

  2. All parties try to work together in order to accomplish something. Because a Republican endorses a Democrat may mean nothing more than the Republican gave thoughtful consideration to who was representing their own party, and liking the other party’s candidate more and deciding to endorse them and what they stand for. All I can speak of is in my experience with Mayor Tait who voted on the side of his citizens. I am confident Arturo Ferraras will vote in the best interest of the people he serves. He will vote his conscience.

    • Pick a name and stick with it; is it Karen, Marie or Stephanie. Arturo Ferreras is a Democrat who ought to reject the endorsement from the county’s most anti-union Mayor. End of story.

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