Ballot designations matter
Posted by: Adam D. Probolsky | 08/25/2008 8:48 AM
The final list of candidates on the November ballot is available at www.OCvote.com and as usual there are a few very odd choices for ballot designation.
Election law gives candidates the right to describe their occupation in three words or less or use the full title of the office they hold (with some exceptions).
This year there are fewer really bad choices by the candidates. Here are my choices for the worst ones:
GARDEN GROVE CITY COUNCIL
Karen Tracy Moreland Urda - Vendor
Vendor??? is that the best you can do? I am not even sure what that means in the context of an occupation.
Trung Nguyen - GGUSD Board Member/Attorney
Very few people will see GGUSD and know he is a school trustee at Garden Grove Unified School District.
HUNTINGTON BEACH CITY COUNCIL
Keith Bohr - Small Business Owner
I know and like Keith but this was a miscalculation. He is a member of the city council, he should have used that is some way.
IRVINE CITY COUNCIL
Paris Merriam - Pari-Mutuel/Writer
What??? Pari-Mutuel is a betting system. Does it mean something else? And even if it does, no one will know. Very odd.
Ruby Young - Fashion Consultant
Not exactly what voters are looking for when they think of leadership.
LAGUNA HILLS CITY COUNCIL
Kathy Burrow-Byrne - Cashier
Wow.
SAN CLEMENTE CITY COUNCIL
Chris McCormack - Substitute Teacher
Chris, Chris, Chris. You are a teacher, are you not? No one respects the sub. You should have left that part off.
Patrick "Moose" Crosby - Clarinetist/Composer
Seriously?
SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO CITY COUNCIL
Sergio Farias - Gardner
I think my gardener does a good job, but I would not want him running my city. Perhaps Agriculture Specialist would have been a better choice.
SANTA ANA MAYOR
Stanley Fiala - Foreign Exchange Businessman
Sounds a bit shady. Probably isn't, but sounds bad.
Election law gives candidates the right to describe their occupation in three words or less or use the full title of the office they hold (with some exceptions).
This year there are fewer really bad choices by the candidates. Here are my choices for the worst ones:
GARDEN GROVE CITY COUNCIL
Karen Tracy Moreland Urda - Vendor
Vendor??? is that the best you can do? I am not even sure what that means in the context of an occupation.
Trung Nguyen - GGUSD Board Member/Attorney
Very few people will see GGUSD and know he is a school trustee at Garden Grove Unified School District.
HUNTINGTON BEACH CITY COUNCIL
Keith Bohr - Small Business Owner
I know and like Keith but this was a miscalculation. He is a member of the city council, he should have used that is some way.
IRVINE CITY COUNCIL
Paris Merriam - Pari-Mutuel/Writer
What??? Pari-Mutuel is a betting system. Does it mean something else? And even if it does, no one will know. Very odd.
Ruby Young - Fashion Consultant
Not exactly what voters are looking for when they think of leadership.
LAGUNA HILLS CITY COUNCIL
Kathy Burrow-Byrne - Cashier
Wow.
SAN CLEMENTE CITY COUNCIL
Chris McCormack - Substitute Teacher
Chris, Chris, Chris. You are a teacher, are you not? No one respects the sub. You should have left that part off.
Patrick "Moose" Crosby - Clarinetist/Composer
Seriously?
SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO CITY COUNCIL
Sergio Farias - Gardner
I think my gardener does a good job, but I would not want him running my city. Perhaps Agriculture Specialist would have been a better choice.
SANTA ANA MAYOR
Stanley Fiala - Foreign Exchange Businessman
Sounds a bit shady. Probably isn't, but sounds bad.
CATEGORY:
2008 Elections
Mr. Ayer registered as a Republican to be electable in an interim election with no incumbents. He did...
That is pretty funny.
Adam, that was great. What was missed, were the numerous ballot designations that got changed in the final moments of the filing period.
Adam, don't forget there are more than 50,000 students attending GGUSD and their parents are used to receiving GGUSD mails every single year and as a school board member, Trung Nguyen has one of the best name ID in GG.
Trung's GGUSD board member ballot title is just fine for me.
Adam, great post. Maybe you should survey your other bloggers across the state, have a contest for the "strangest" ballot designation.
Well done!
Great post. I got a good laugh out of some of those designations. One of my favorites from two years ago was a guy that used the ballot designation "Industrial Firefighter."
Adam, if you were ever to seek elective office, you could use the designation "Opinion Generator". :-)
I dont get all this gushing over Adams post. Its short and simple. You guys are lauding it as if its war and peace or something.
I suspect its just a slow day at the office.
Please let me take the confusion and "oddness" out of my ballot designation. When I first met with the Irvine's City Clerk, I wanted to use my ballot designation as a Commission Member on the Housing & Community Development Commission, where I am serving the public on my third term. Sharie indicated that since I was not elected (I was appointed), I could not include it on the ballot based on the rules, regulations and guidelines.
As I have been a Pari-Mutuel for 22 years, and licensed by the California Horse Racing Board with a Pari-Mutuel license for the same amount of time, I am therefore a Pari-Mutuel. In fact, in an effort not to mislead the voters, I suggested using "Horse Racing" for the ballot designation. As this is the industry and not my job, she wouldn't allow it. Therefore I used, and she allowed, Pari-Mutuel.
As far as being a writer, I have been a published author for some time now. I have written for 3 different magazines. Currently, I am a regular contributor to the American Orchid Society magazine Orchids. I initially considered using author instead of writer on my ballot designation next to Pari-Mutuel, but I chose writer as I continue to write and be published.
Fullerton city clowncilman Dick Jones list his occupation as Mayor Pro-Tem, That's a violation of the law and a joke. When I challenged this with the city clerk, she said it was allowed because he claims this was his primary occupation for the last year. What the hell is this world coming to? Four hours twice a month is now a primary occupation? Look this idiot up on Friendsforfullertonsfuture.com. He just got exposed for backing retroactive pension spiking also.
Correction: friendsforfullertonsfuture.org
In my first run for Mayor in 1986, I had the ballot designation of
Realtor. My employer didn't like me running for Mayor, eventhough - I didn't campaign at work or work in Garden Grove, so I took work in security - but they tried to block my attendance to important campaign meetings, so losing my job to give voters a choice is not new to me. One of the managers at work now has told me that she does not want to see my campaign stuff ANYWHERE and that she will LET ME HAVE MY CAMPAIGN SIGNS ON MY PEDICAB. This sounds like a veiled threat to me. I know that her opinions are not shared by other managers and that she is entitled to her opinions. I am thankful that those that do not support my campaign have not tried to run me off the road anymore - after I mentioned it to the Mayor.
During my run for school board in 2002 - I had the designation of Community Volunteer - to have that designation you must be volunteering over 20 hours a week and I'm not volunteering that many hours during this election. I work as an Outdoor Vendor at a major theme park. I'm not all that fancy. Just someone who knows how hard it is to earn the money we earn and someone that knows how to run a business.