Huntington Beach’s Victor Valladares was removed as vice chair for the DPOC’s West region last month with a 40-11 decision (and three abstentions) with two-thirds required for removal. The spin has been remarkable. Valladares posted several offensive social media posts about how he doesn’t believe in the party and how he is a people first person and “fuck the party.”
The local party fucked back.
A story in the OC Register this week about child abuse/endangerment charges against Valladares being dismissed had an Easter Egg. Valladares has appealed his removal to the State Party and he received support from North Vice Chair (not West Vice Chair) Jeff LeTourneau.
From the Register’s story:
“Jeff LeTourneau, a vice chair with the OC Democratic party, wrote a letter of support for Valladares’ appeal, saying he wasn’t given a fair shake at the May hearing. LeTourneau said Valladares wasn’t given enough notice or time to prepare his defense and that it wasn’t even made clear exactly why he was being removed. Valladares’ appeal, and the county party’s response, is now with the California Democratic Party for review.”
Since I’m a member of the governing body of the local Democratic Party too, I can tell you Valladares was given adequate notice of his removal and why. A full 30 minutes was provided for the pros and cons of removing Valladares including a 5-1/2 minute rambling defense by Valladares himself. A series of letters from Party members and Democratic Clubs all called for Valladares removal for his lack of participation in Club activities which Valladares told the Voice of OC was accurate. Claims were made Valladares brought a lot of people into the party where actually voter registration statistics showed otherwise.
At last Monday’s Zoom meeting, Valladares posted two YouTube videos lamenting Joe Biden’s candidacy and the disappointment from the party’s progressive wing. In a hole? Stop digging.
This election is a choice between Biden and pure evil. Bernie isn’t the Party’s choice. Valladares removal has nothing to do with race and everything to do with actions. It was justified.
For LeTourneau to claim the reason he was removed wasn’t clear defies common sense, proving once and for all that Denial isn’t just a river in Egypt. But then again, LeTourneau sent an email to another Central Committee member critical of the effort to remove Valladares signing it “West Vice Chair” instead of “North Vice Chair,” so perhaps common sense no longer applies.
The state party has Valladares’ appeal and the full response from the local party. When Greg Diamond was removed as North Vice Chair in 2014, he too appealed his decision and it was denied by the state party.
The betting money is on the state party upholding the local party’s decision. Meanwhile, a great new candidate for West Vice Chair awaits the Party’s nomination and vote.