tyler: no news, big pictures of Agran & Co, starting just in time for the fall campaign? I'm more than a bit skeptical. Do you know who Franklin J. Lunding is?

Dave,

I will quote from page two:

Mr. Lunding is an attorney and business owner. He is a former member of the Irvine Planning Commission and former Chair of the Irvine Transportation Commission

I presume he is the the Franklin Lunding that google locates at

4199 Campus Dr # 550
Irvine, CA 92612
(949) 653-1347

The OC Register had a lot to say about Mr. Lunding in a 2005 article "Political tricks claimed in Irvine" ( http://www.ocregister.com/ocr/sections/news/news/article_477804.php )

The first reported donor to Zucht's campaign was Corona del Mar attorney Franklin Lunding, who gave the maximum – $360. Lunding received a $842 legal fee from Dornan's Hometown Voter Guide. He said he has been friends with Agran since the 1980s and gave money to Krom and Agran last year.

Besides giving to Zucht, Lunding gave money to Krom. It's unusual for someone to endorse a high-profile candidate from one party and a long-shot from another party.

Larry Agran nemesis Stephen Smith says "Frank Lunding, the listed principal officer of Planning 2020, has a long association with Agran" in his article ( http://www.irvinetattler.com/planning2020/agran_planning2020.aspx ) "Agran Slush Fund Tied to Great Park."

This newspaper is about as legitimate as John Edwards's kid with Hunter Reille.

tyler, I can't always tell when you're deploying irony (which is probably a good thing). In this case I was pretty sure you were, but I was willing to be the straight man anyhow.

I wonder how Dan C. will try to spin this journalistic endeavor.

Haven't seen it yet; can't comment. But its a good thing when a new paper launches or a new magazine or website debuts. The more media, the better. Bring on that liberal media bias!

Dave,

I don't yet know if I'm being ironic or not. It sure looks like a campaign mailer, and the editor is a long-time Agran ally if a google search is to be believed. But who knows? I plan to try to place an advertisement in the next issue. *THEN* I'll now who is being disingenuous.

-tylerh

Community News and Views is registered with the State of California as a slate mailer. It is not a newspaper.

Frank Lunding ran Agran's 2006 slush fund Planning 2020. He laundered over $300,000 from Irvine developers and Great Park no-bid contractors to pay for slate mailers promoting Agran's slate while smearing his opponents with false charges.

Lunding is using the same bogus address Ed Dornan used when he ran Hometown Voter Guide, Agran's last slate mailer operation. 4199 Campus #550 is a temporary executive suite rental business. I went there years ago; there's no real business, just a bunch of individual rooms a person can rent. I was told that Dornan never really worked there, he just picked up any mail.

Lunding lives in Monterey, so obviously he never goes to the address either.

The Register today exposed Agran's new scheme:

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/irvine-mailer-political-2147835-slate-news

By the way, for those unfamiliar with it, the Irvine Chronicle was a one-shot mailing in the 2004 election funded by three Irvine Republicans. The difference between the Irvine Chronicle and Community News and Views is that the Chronicle reprinted articles from legitimate news sources -- the L.A. Times, the O.C. Register and the O.C. Weekly. All these were news reports about Agran's corruption and cronyism. The stories in CNW are propaganda written by Agran's minions. None are real news stories, evidenced by its slate mailer status with the State of California.

CNW is required to file by October 6 reporting who funded the mailer. We look forward to this report, to see whose money Agran is laundering this time.

You may also wish to read this article I published on August 31:

http://www.irvinetattler.com/election2008/prop10_1.aspx

Looks like Agran is in bed with T. Boone Pickens, the guy who spent $3 million in 2004 to "Swift Boat" John Kerry. Agran is obviously so amoral that he allies himself with such a lowlife as Pickens. He'll take money from anywhere. OC Democrats have every right to be outraged.

Stephen Smith, Publisher
IrvineTattler.com

Anyone who believes that this is anything close to a ligitimate newspaper, I have a bridge they can buy in Brooklyn very cheap. For those familiar with Irvine politics, this is merely a reinvention of Hometown Voters Guide. How it is being funded, will likely come as no surprise to most of us. I will give you a clue and see if the lightbulb comes on. Larry Agran, Beth Krom and Sukee Kang have just signed on in support of YES on Prop 10. The PR campaign funded by T. Boone Pickins in support of Prop 10 is being run by no less than former Agran political consultants Ford & Moolrich. Yes that's the same group who have been awarded millions and millions of dollars in no-bid contracts for the Great Park publicity. Anyone want to bet that the small Prop 10 ad at end of the publication, paid for the entire paper. No surprises, that's the way Larry Agran works. Like him or not, his success record speaks for itself. While being old fashioned, I still believe that truth is a mighty sword and will cut through all the lies and propaganda being spread. On November 4, when Irvine voters go to the polls to vote, we will see if truth prevails.

"The difference between the Irvine Chronicle and Community News and Views is that the Chronicle reprinted articles from legitimate news sources -- the L.A. Times, the O.C. Register and the O.C. Weekly."

The Irvine Chronicle also republished copyrighted material without permission of any of the publications and edited the articles to eliminate key editorial content that lent any sort of balance to the article in question. Don Dennis was furious about it because the Chronicle left the original byline on the article while unethically and illegally violating each publication's reprint and republishing rights.

The Irvine Community News and Views has no such content and is promotional in nature instead of the Chronicle that was largely dedicated to suggesting legitimate editors and reporters felt this way about Agran's slate. Apples and Oranges in comparison folks.

Excuse me, but slate mailers are entirely legal entities. There is nothing illegal or amoral of this newspaper/slate mailer. IEs are also legal entities. I can't believe a slate mailer or IE would be so powerful as to sway the way voters vote. Things are good in Irvine. Why change?

I think the amount of local money each candidate can raise is a better indicator of their support with voters.

New on the Irvine Tattler:

http://www.irvinetattler.com/election2008/election10.aspx

An analysis shows that most of Sukhee Kang's fundraising in the Irvine mayoral race has been outside of Irvine and Orange County. He seems to spend more time raising money in L.A. than in the town where he's actually a candidate.

Stephen Smith, Publisher
IrvineTattler.com

double post removed -tylerh

Thanks for proving my point Stephen; Kang has raised about 50 percent more in *Irvine* than Shea has and has considerably more cash on hand that she does. She's really going to need that IE money isn't she?

This paper is definatley NOT legitimate journalism.

I just received issue 4 and "coincidently" it provided glowing articles about Democrats Agran, Krom, and Kang and negative articles about Republicans Shea, Choi, and Rodgers JUST AS IT HAS IN ITS 3 PREVIOUS ISSUES.

It's my opinion the editor wrote his remarks about being a "republican" to disarm our scrutiny about his campaign mailer.

I have no issue with candidates buying space in a paper - like Agran, Krom and Kang have for the back page of this campaign mailer. But I have a HUGE issue with editor/publisher Franklin Lunding mailing out biased campaign material under the auspice of journalism. Even worse, he makes so many comments in his campaign mailer about its unbiased content.

Its low-down, dirty politics.

Tami --
"out biased campaign material under the auspice of journalism. Even worse, he makes so many comments in his campaign mailer about its unbiased content."

You mean the same way Stehen Smith legitimizes Tattler stories because he has a link to an article proving something/

If you don't want to read it, throw it away. But the article in today's paper about the $100K in legal fees for frivilous lawsuits against the city by allies of the Irvine First team is worth reading and not an example of good government.

Regarding present economic issues; an informative site that makes you think a little: www.counterpunch.org

This "newspaper" is no more than political propaganda disguised. Shame on Lunding who is not even a resident of Irvine. Why doesn't he tell us the basis for this "lawsuit against Irvine"...and why it was brought about? This action was not taken to frivolously spend taxpayers dollars.
Dirty tricks are not new to politics, nor are they new to Kang and Agran. Good marketing, bad policies.

This is my first time visiting this blog, and unfortunatelyl will be my last. Receiving the "independent newspaper" is what prompted my desire for an unbiased view and it doesn't look like I'm going to find it here.

Unbiased? no. We're pretty much all Republicans around here. Informative? Yes.

Between Red County, The Liberal OC ( http://www.theliberaloc.com ) and the Irvine Tattler ( http://www.irvinetattler.com ) you can usually triangulate whatever issue comes up.

For example, this 'independent newspaper' is, legally speaking, not a newspaper at all. It's a slate mailer.

http://www.irvinetattler.com/cnv/cnv1.aspx
http://www.redcounty.com/orange-county/2008/09/does-larry-agran-have-more-mon/

However, the Liberal OC has not commented as best as I can tell.

This so-called newspaper is a crap. the "notice to voters' disclaimer is laughable against the one-sided content. it's so one-sided, in fact, that these stuffed shirts and suits in the 'musical chairs' of Irvine "government" are even identified by party. Irvine may have a "Great Park," (BFD Sukhee, Beth, Larry & Todd) but it has no soul. How do I elect no longer to receive this red-rag?

Another edition of this rag was in my driveway today.
Inside was a particularly ridiculous headline,
'SHEA, CHOI, RODGERS CONDEMNED FOR RELIGIOUS SLURS'.
This headline resulted from fact that Choi recently stated that the organization, CAIR, has links to Islamic terrorist organizations. Which is certifiably true despite rhetoric to
the contrary.

Here is a great source of more info on the homegrown terrorist topic, a movie that was just released this week:
http://www.thethirdjihad.com/

Irvine citizens are very, very, very fortunate that Dr. Choi is educated on this topic. Especially since we have the most radical Muslim Student Union in the country here in our own city, right at UCI.

This "publication" is great as a voting tool! Simply look for each candidate that has an asterisk next to their name, and make sure they don't ever serve their personal agendas on Irvine City Council, as Mayor, or in any other professional function.

What a crock of... well, you know what I mean. Do Kang, Krom, Agran and Gallinger really believe people in Irvine are that stupid? Does anyone remember the "bus" debacle that was championed by Agran and Gallinger (and the rest of the "whizzy" crew) that cost Irvine residents lots of money (and made Gallinger look like an idiot during his presentation), and face with the State of California legislators?

Let's get real here, and vote out of office those who have so much disdain for Irvine residents: Kang, Krom, Agran and Gallinger. As long as I live in Irvine, I don't ever want to see them serving their personal agendas at Irvine's expense. It's amazing how I thought they might be misunderstood, but this publication blatantly trumpeted their skewed agenda, just like everything else they do in the City Council meetings.

Absolutely distasteful, and outright disgusting. It's enough to turn my stomach.

If Kang, Krom, Agran and Gallinger get elected, I guess they were right about the level of intelligence in Irvine. I just hope we are all smarter than that!