OC BLOG

Darwin Awards: Foothill Style

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 12:41:25 -0800

Am I crazy? Did the LA Times story linked in the morning Red County clips really report the following:

"A man who said a mountain lion attacked him Wednesday when he tried to pet one of the cougar's cubs led to the closure of Orange County's Limestone Canyon and Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park and the temporary lockdown of a nearby elementary school."

Send the "Darwin Award" to the man who wanted to pet the cute and cuddly (his words) creatures living in the appropriately named "wilderness park."

And, in addition to sending him the Darwin Award, whether the incident is true or not, send him the bill.

Then, let's place bets on the first elected official to suggest a new regulation based on this incident!

OC Blog News Roundup - August 7, 2008

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 09:22:17 -0800

D.A. drops county treasurer probe (OCR)
Investigation had focused on remodeling of Chriss Street's office and an architectural contract.

OC charity for burn victims burns donors (OCR)
Orange County "hall of shame" charity - The Association for Firefighters & Paramedics in Santa Ana

Public asked for help reconstructing recent 5.4 quake (OCR)

O.C. minorities in the majority (OCR)
Political power growing for Vietnamese-Americans and Hispanics.

7 Christian bikers arrested in Orange County raid (LAT)
The leader and members of the Set Free Soldiers are accused of attempted murder in a Newport Beach brawl with the Hells Angels,

Anaheim General Hospital hit with dozens of citations over staffing, care (LAT)
Anaheim General Hospital, which treats a large share of poor patients in the region, has been slapped with dozens of citations by regulators for inadequate staffing and poor medical care.

Orange County hiker says he was attacked by mountain lion (LAT)
Park Ranger John Gump stands near the entrance to Whiting Ranch in Foothill Ranch where a hiker said he was scratched on the arm by a mountain lion.

Uncontested Elections: Do You Want to Run?

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 22:34:44 -0800

There remain two days of candidate filing at the Registrar of Voters. I've done a quick survey of the school district and special district seats where the number of people who have pulled papers does not exceed the number of seats. For these people, if no one else pulls papers, the election will not appear on the ballot and they will be declared elected. (Don't forget: people do need to file papers to appear on the ballot; I'm only examining whose pulled papers.)

Competition is good for democracy, and I encourage all Red County/OC Blog readers to take a look at these offices and consider running. The voters should have a choice in November.

I've created three categories.

In the first category, at least one more person could run, and the election would still be removed from the ballot and the candidates declared elected. If all the incumbents do not file by this Friday, the filing period will be extended for nonincumbents until Wednesday, August 13.

In the second category, if no one else runs, the election would be cancelled and the candidates automatically elected. However, if even just one more person runs, the election is on the ballot and the voters will have their say. Except in Orange Unified, filing in these races will be extended until Wednesday, August 13 (if the incumbents do not file by Friday).

In the third category, all the incumbents are running and no challengers have emerged. If no challenger is running by Friday, then these elections will be cancelled and the incumbents declared re-elected.

For any race that is not in any one of these categories, sufficient numbers of candidates have pulled papers that (assuming they all file their papers) the election will appear on the ballot and the voters will have to pick who will represent them in these school and special districts.

More Seats Than People Who Have Pulled Papers
Brea-Olinda Unified School District (2 people pulled papers, with 3 seats up for election)
Rossmoor Community Services District (1 person pulled papers, with 3 seats up for election)
Three Arch Bay Community Services District (1 person pulled papers, with 3 seats up for election)
Sunset Beach Sanitary District (2 people pulled papers, with 3 seats up for election)

# Seats = Number of People Who Have Pulled Papers
Capistrano Unified School District, Trustee Area 1
Fountain Valley School District
Silverado-Modjeska Recreation and Parks District
Orange Unified School District, Trustee Area 6 (Filing for this seat will not be extended to August 13, as there is no eligible incumbent for the seat)

Each Incumbent - and Only the Incumbent(s) - Pulled Papers
Community College Districts
North Orange County Community College District, Trustee Area 3
Coast Community College District, Trustee Area 3
School Districts
Capistrano Unified School District, Trustee Area 2
Irvine Unified School District
Laguna Beach Unified School District
Los Alamitos Unified School District
Newport-Mesa Unified School District, Trustee Area 1
Newport-Mesa Unified School District, Trustee Area 3
Newport-Mesa Unified School District, Trustee Area 6
Orange Unified School District, Trustee Area 2
Saddleback Valley Unified School District
Fullerton Joint Union High School District
Huntington Beach Union High School District
Buena Park School District
Cypress School District
Magnolia School District
Ocean View School District
Savanna School District
Water Districts
Serrano Water District, Division 2
Serrano Water District, Division 3
Serrano Water District, Division 5
El Toro Water District
Irvine Ranch Water District
Moulton Niguel Water District, Division 1
Moulton Niguel Water District, Division 5
Moulton Niguel Water District, Division 7
East Orange County Water District
Mesa Consolidated Water District, Division 1
Mesa Consolidated Water District, Division 2
Mesa Consolidated Water District, Division 3
Orange County Water District, Division 2
Orange County Water District, Division 3
Orange County Water District, Division 4
Orange County Water District, Division 6
Municipal Water District of Orange County, Division 3
Municipal Water District of Orange County, Division 4
Library Districts
Buena Park Library District
Placentia Library District

Schwarzenegger Wants To Withhold Pay Of Legislators Forever

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 20:27:06 -0800

I just spoke with a friend of mine up in Sacramento who told me that today the Governator expressed an interest in a Constitutional Amendment to our State Constitution. This amendment would withhold the pay of Legislators when their is a standoff on the budget and make it so that they would never be able to receive the money that has been withheld.

The way I understand it now a Constitutional amendment would have to be approved by the voters but this seems to be something that I think most people will vote for. I have to do a little bit more research but I want to know how this will affect those who work for the Legislators as they really have very little control over whether or not the budget passes.

As Assemblyman Chuck DeVore told us yesterday this is a man that already broke his no new tax pledge. I have a tough time supporting somebody that goes back on their word so I am still questioning this idea by Governor Schwarzenegger. I feel like he is almost trying to force Republicans into passing a budget that they feel is flawed. I respect the Republicans that are holding their ground based on principle because it is not easy to stand up when you are in the minority.

I will look into this issue more in depth when I get a chance, and hope to follow up with more information at a later date here on Red County.

All's well that ends well - OC is Not Stand and Deliver County

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 19:39:17 -0800

Stand and Deliver, starring James Edward Olmos is based on a true story set in East LA in an environment that values a quick fix over education and learning. Jaime A. Escalante is a new teacher at James A. Garfield High School in Los Angeles County, California determined to buck the system, challenges his students to a higher level of achievement.

Despite concerns and skepticism of other teachers, who feel that "you cannot teach advanced math to illiterates", Escalante nonetheless develops a program setting higher expectations where students take AP Calculus by their senior year.

After taking the AP Calculus exam, Escalante's students are overwhelmed when they find out they have all passed, a feat done by few in the state. Later that summer the Educational Testing Service (ETS) calls into question the validity of their scores when it is discovered that similarities between errors is too high for pure chance. Outraged by the implications of cheating, Escalante feels that the racial and economic status of the students has caused the ETS to doubt their intelligence. But in order to prove to the ETS, and to the nation that the scores were not a fluke, the students agree to retake the test. In this case, the students are given only one day to prepare. The students all pass the test. No celebrity attorney, no lawsuit, no media coverage.

The Orange County version of Stand and Deliver is quite different. In this case, not only is cheating by certain students confirmed, but cheating allegation can perhaps be substantiated based on cheating studies: ETS threw out 385 students' AP exams last month after school officials discovered numerous testing irregularities. A total of 690 exams were invalidated.

As a result of the ETS' actions, a coalition of affected parents and students, backed by a certain celebrity attorney, sue ETS arguing that the environment was conducive to cheating - never mind that at all times, each and every student had a choice to make: Cheat, stand and deliver, or walk out, for instance.

The coalition recently lost the case against the ETS but the Trabuco High School principal has now been demoted, and students are back retaking the AP Tests.

All is well that ends well, or is this much ado about nothing?

I thought no one fell for these pyramid scams anymore?

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 17:34:03 -0800

Apparently our friends at the DPOC didn't get the memo. From the LA Times:

Jerry Brown sues YourTravelBiz.com over alleged pyramid scheme

The state attorney general, who seeks to shut down the operation, asks for more than $25 million in fines and restitution.

By Marc Lifsher, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
August 5, 2008

SACRAMENTO -- California Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown sued an Internet-based travel business Monday, accusing it of operating a pyramid scheme and seeking more than $25 million in fines and restitution.

The company, YourTravelBiz.com Inc. of Wood River, Ill., recruited tens of thousands of members with promises they'd earn big returns by setting up personal travel agency websites, the complaint said.

The business is "immensely profitable to a few individuals on top and a complete rip-off for most everyone else," Brown said. "Today's lawsuit seeks to shut down the company's unlawful operation before more people are exploited by the scam."

YourTravelBiz.com did not respond to calls to its home office, its public relations firm and its Sacramento attorney.

The company, which is traded over the counter, describes itself as "a provider of Internet-based travel booking services for travel agencies and home-based independent representatives." In April it reported revenue for 2007 of $141.3 million, up 177% from the previous year.

YourTravelBiz.com offers two ways to make money: commissions from travel sales and fees for recruiting other participants in what's known as a "multi-level marketing" program.

The lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court accuses YourTravelBiz.com of enticing individuals to pay more than $1,000 a year in fees with promises that they could become millionaires and qualify for deals available only to professional travel agents.

"In 2007, consumers paid over $103 million to Defendants for websites, but made only $13 million in travel commissions in a business Defendants advertised as the 'easiest way to make money' and earn 'serious income' without any selling," the lawsuit said.

An estimated 62% of 200,000 YourTravelBiz.com participants didn't earn a single travel sales commission in 2007, the attorney general's office said. The California lawsuit is the first by any state against YourTravelBiz.com, said Gareth Lacy, a Brown spokesman.

Mark Ewing, who markets courses in how to become a professional group travel leader, has posted a YouTube video that calls YourTravelBiz.com a "card mill" that provides travel agent identification but doesn't sell travel services.

He said in a telephone interview that YourTravelBiz.com members recently lost accreditation as travel agents from the International Airlines Travel Agent Network, an affiliate of the International Air Transport Assn., an airline trade group.

"They sell the idea that if you belong to us, you'll get travel agent discounts without having to be a travel agent," Ewing said. "People have had their travel dreams squashed by this."

It doesn't take a genious to figure out that this "multi-level marketing" was nothing short of a pyramid scam. If you go to the DPOC website you'll find that they not only fell for it, but are still clinging to the hope that you can "travel and support your Democratic Party" at the same time! I'm curious to see how long it takes for them to bail out of that one.

Click here to view the "OC Democrats Travel Agency" website.

Proving, once again, that the donkey really is the most appropriate mascot for our fellow politicos from across the aisle. Keep it up guys and girls...and see you in Cancun?

District Attorney Clears Chriss Street on All Charges

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 17:31:41 -0800

I spotted this piece of information over at Total Buzz regarding the DA's investigation of Treasurer-Tax Collector Chriss Street:

DA Tony Rackauckas has dropped his long-running investigation of Treasurer-Tax Collector Chriss Street.

In a letter to county CEO Tom Mauk, the DA dismissed allegations concerning the remodeling of Street's office and his role in an aborted contract to redesign the front of his building.

The DA opened the investigation a year ago. In December he subpoenaed extensive records from Street, the CEO and the county facilities department. We're trying to reach Street for comment now.

Do you think there is a possibility that Street and his former mentor Supervisor John Moorlach will kiss and make up?

Schwarzenegger saying No bills- Mad Rush to Flip the Flop

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 16:47:51 -0800

> Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger saying No bills will get signed until there is a budget is necessary, but not sufficient. Governor Schwarzenegger should simply say NO to bad legislation - at any time, period.

In a scathing op-ed piece titled California Association of Realtors: Pick a Lane! Donie Vanitzian, co-author of the Los Angeles Times' Associations column, blasts Gary Quackenbush and the California Association of Realtors (CAR) for their support of Assembly Bill 2259, which she characterizes as "a farce, a contradiction in both terms and alliances", then goes on to describe how she put CAR, Los Angeles Mayor Villaraigosa, and Congressman Rosendahl's on notice about the problems with A 2259. "Remarkably, Assembly Bill 2259 now contradicts provisions written into Assembly Bill 980 sponsored by none other than, the California Association of Realtors" Vanitizian writes.

Vanitzian then concludes that "CAR and the California legislature want it both ways", indicating that CAR and the legislature want to "decide whether or not a homeowners association can amend, rewrite, and restate covenants, conditions, and restrictions as it relates to renters and rental property." That the only reason this piece of legislation is now getting attention is "because of the housing crunch", and that "just as CAR appeared to have failed in performing the vital due diligence in pushing Assembly Bill 980, so too, they failed to perform the proper due diligence with Assembly Bill 2259. The difference this time? I refuse to tip them off as to what conflicts exist." She writes.

Never mind that the Orange County BoS want to obsolete common interest developments (as in getting rid of the "islands in the county"

Never mind that AB2259 is a classic example of the Bigger Government paradigm we are now all too familiar with: Assembly Bill 2259 establishes a California Building
          Rehabilitation Code Advisory Council ("Council") to advise
          the advisory panels of the State Building Standards
          Commission on the possible adoption of state building
          rehabilitation guidelines.

Specifically, this bill: Establishes the Council with an unspecified number of
            members, all appointed by the director of the Commission.
             Members shall include, but not be limited to
            representatives from the following organizations:

California Building Standards Commission;
Department of Housing and Community Development;
Division of the State Architect;
Office of the State Fire Marshal;
California Energy Commission;
League of California Cities;
California State Association of Counties;
California Building Industry Association;
Building Owners and Managers Association;
County Building Officials Association of California;
California Building Officials;
American Institute of Architects California Council;
California Apartment Association;
Structural Engineers Association of California;
Concrete Masonry Association of California and Nevada;
California Hotel and Motel Association;
Consulting Engineers and Land Surveyors of California;
California Business Properties Association; and,
California Association of Realtors.

And directs the Council to make recommendations and yada, yada, yada....................

We have asked CAR to comment on Vanitzian's op-ed piece, but have not heard from them.

This is the California Legislature
This is your wallet
Any Questions?

Save the Date: VP Cheney Headlining Reception for Ken Calvert

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 12:20:31 -0800

A friend of mine forwarded this to me and asked that I published for our readers to view:

WHAT: Reception Honoring Congressman Ken Calvert

WHO: Vice President Dick Cheney

WHEN: Wednesday, August 13, 2008 | 4:00 P.M.

RSVP: Stacy Davis at (949) 474-6930

NOTE: Business Attire; Photo ID is required

This is a rare opportunity for Republicans to see our outgoing Vice President again as this might be his last visit to Southern California. For those who might not know, Stacy Davis is also Sen. John McCain's fundraiser in Orange County. It was also requested that I do not list the venue of this event for security reasons. Please contact Stacy to get the details.

OC/DC: OC Judge Rogan Mentioned in Washington Post

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 08:09:02 -0800

The Washington Post's "In the Loop" column written by Woodward and Bertstein protege Al Kamen, notes OC Judge James Rogan and the status of his pending federal district judge nomination. Rogan also earns the distinction of being an "old Loop favorite." Awww.

A link to Kamen's column is here.

Westminster School District wants to Float a $130,000,000 Bond Issue

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 06:39:00 -0800

Yes Folks, those union backed folks over at the Westminster School District are submitting to the voters of the Westminster School District at the General Election on November 4 a bond measure entitled "Westminster School District School Safety, Teacher Recruitment/Fiscal Responsibility Bond". This measure, if passed, would "authorize the school district to issue and sell bonds of up to $130,000,000 in aggregate principal amount to provide financing for specific school facilities projects listed in the "Bond Project List" and to qualify to receive State of California matching grant funds, subject to accountability safeguards listed in the measure's text. For passage is must be approved by at least 55% of the registered voters voting on the measure." This particular school board has had some incredible success in manipulation of the public in Westminster. Let's hope...

Race for WSD Shaping Up...

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 18:53:19 -0800

Convention wisdom dictates that it is nearly impossible to unseat incumbent office holders, but Westminster is an unconventional place. In the 2006 election cycle, two incumbent school trustees on the Westminster School District was voted out of office and the third did not file for re-election. The top three vote-getter in that election all had the financial support of the Westminster Teachers Association.

Moving forward to the '08 cycle where trustees Jo-Ann Purcell and Sergio Contreras are up for re-election, I wonder who the teachers will support this time. According to a reliable source, the WTA is backing Purcell but it is yet to be known what they will do with Contreras, an up and coming Democrat in Central Orange County, if he survives in November. He is also a staffer for Assemblyman Tony Mendoza in Buena Parks.

He's Back!!!

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 14:29:18 -0800

One of the fun things about filing is that you always see some candidates that have names that may sound familiar. Often times it is because they have run for another office at some point or another. It looks like a very familiar face will be competing to unseat an incumbent in the race for a seat on the Municipal Water District of O.C., Division 6.

Donald Ritze was on the ballot this past June in an ill fated attempt to unseat popular Orange County Supervisor Bill Campbell. Now he's back to make a run at a water board. I almost feel sorry for the guy because the chances of him getting elected are slim to none.

In the June election he was defeated handily by incumbent Bill Campbell who fell just short of garnering an incredible 80% of the vote. For this water board seat that he is seeking he is not only facing an incumbent but a third candidate is in the race with the ballot designation of Director, Trabuco Canyon Water District.

The man is a Republican who seems to be fairly conservative which I respect but I think that losing two elections within a three month span will do a great deal of damage to any future political career that he desired.

Schwarzenegger breaks no-tax promise, calls for big hike in sales tax

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 09:26:18 -0800

We had a recall almost five years ago. California had a huge deficit. And soon-to-be-governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was promising to "Cut up the credit card."

In the March 2004 primary, Schwarzenegger, now Governor, was promoting the passage of Propositions 57 and 58. Prop. 57 was a $15 billion deficit bond designed to refinance the short term debt California incurred under Gov. Gray Davis (with a few billion left over for future needs, the last $3 billion of which was borrowed a few months ago). Prop. 58 was a supposed spending cap of which Schwarzenegger said, "By voting yes on Proposition 58, you are basically taking the credit cards, cutting them up and throwing them away so that the politicians over there (at the Capitol), those big spenders, will never ever get the state into this kind of trouble again." Yea, right.

Others at the time called Prop. 58 a ruse, saying, correctly, that it was weak and opened the way for more borrowing, spending and taxing by politicians. At great risk to my own campaign for Assembly at the time, I was one of those people, with my main opponent using my opposition to the then-popular governor's borrowing plan against me.

With due credit to Schwarzenegger and to history, Prop. 58 was initially supposed to be an iron-clad spending cap that would have would limited spending increases to population growth and inflation. Of course, Democrats in the legislature fought the plan, saying the cap was too restrictive because it did not account for programs such as education and public health, in which costs often grow faster than either population or inflation (that's the point, isn't it?).

So, the compromise Prop. 58 was worthless and here we are today, with government spending 40 percent higher than it was at the time of the recall in 2003 - $41 billion in additional state spending and a $16 billion deficit. Schwarzenegger is again calling for a spending cap, and more borrowing, and now, a $5 billion a year tax increase, even though he promised never to raise taxes.

The problem with a spending cap is one of believability. History has shown us that no spending cap devised by politicians sticks in California. The question is, will earnest Republican lawmakers once again play Charlie Brown to the Democrats' Lucy holding the football?

As for taxes, California already has the highest income tax in the nation, the highest sales tax rate, the highest gas tax, and the highest corporate tax in the West with our property taxes being at the national average, combining for the 47th worst business tax climate in America. Clearly, additional taxes in this time of economic weakness would make it highly likely that California would be the last state to recover in this present downturn.

Further, Californians are already stretched. As the Los Angeles Times quoted me today in a piece entitled "Schwarzenegger proposes temporary California sales-tax hike to close budget gap:

Almost every Republican in the Legislature, meanwhile, has signed an oath never to support a tax increase. Assemblyman Chuck Devore (R-Irvine) predicted that Schwarzenegger's proposal would win no GOP votes. "You're talking about raising the cost of living on working Californians at precisely the time inflation is beginning to raise its ugly head," he said.

"The last thing that hardworking Californians need right now is, in effect, an increase to their cost of living by making everything they purchase, with the exception of food and medicine, more expensive."

To sum up, this budget battle goes to the core of the major parties' conception of the role of government. Democrats believe in an expansive administrative state that ministers to all our needs, whether we think we need them to our not. In this worldview, you can never have enough government and taxpayers can never pay enough. Republicans, Schwarzenegger now apparently excepted, believe in a more modest government that does for the people no more than what they cannot do for themselves through individual effort, family effort, and community effort. In the Democrats' view of government, even our 40 percent increase in spending since 2003 is not enough as their current budget plans are to spend billions more on welfare. Schwarzenegger seems to agree.

OC Blog News Roundup - August 5, 2008

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 08:57:23 -0800

When non-journalists report the news (LAT)
The boring stuff, like city council meetings, will get the coverage it deserves.

OC Fair rolling in green stuff, but raising prices (OCR)

Don't believe everything you read...or Google (OCR)
Letter from Washington: Obama has become the object of a modern game of telephone.

Supes to vote on director for Office of Independent Review over Sheriff's Dept. (OCR)

Letters: A bottom in housing prices? Not likely (OCR)

Editorial: Who opposes offshore drilling, and why? (OCR)
With most Americans now supportive, Pelosi and Co. dig in their heels

Harvest Crusade at Angel Stadium takes on new urgency after the death of pastor's son (LAT)

Man sentenced in e-mail threat (LAT)
A Huntington Beach man was sentenced to 284 days in jail Monday after pleading guilty to sending a threatening e-mail to Orange County Board of Supervisors Chairman John Moorlach.