Chris Emami

Presidential Election: A Psychological Perspective

By Chris Emami | 07/31/08

The one word that can best describe any election is persuasion. Every candidate is trying to persuade as many voters as possible to vote for them. In this sense a political campaign is really no different from a business that is trying to sell its product to consumers. What varies between companies as well as political campaigns is the methods that they use to persuade people. The central route to persuasion can be defined as... read more »

Vice Presidential Guessing Game

By Chris Emami | 07/30/08

The rumors are swirling as to who John McCain will select for his running mate. I wanted to get some input into who the readers think should be picked and or who they think will get picked. Lets break down the top 6 trendy names that have been mentioned as potential candidates. (Who have not publically rejected the possibility of running):Michael Bloomberg- An Independent from New York who serves as the Mayor. I see the biggest benefit... read more »

Villa Park Update

By Chris Emami | 07/30/08

With just over a week left in filing I wanted to give an update on the filing period for some races that are not found on the registrar of voters site. I figured that I would give an update on Villa Park to start with. I first have a correction to make on my previous post regarding Villa Park. Councilwoman Deborah Pauly called me yesterday and told me that my information regarding former Councilman Richard Freschi was incorrect. It turns out... read more »

Does Duane Stiff Not Get It???

By Chris Emami | 07/29/08

I am sure everybody has seen that horror movie where the teenager goes inside the house that the monster is in as opposed to running away or calling the police. Duane Stiff apparently has never seen any of these movies. He has pulled papers to retain his seat on the Capo Board which leads me to believe that he will be filing.I have a feeling that when the Capo Recall Team is done with him that he will be apologizing for even putting... read more »

Earthquake in SoCal

By Chris Emami | 07/29/08

I hope that nobody was greatly impacted by the earthquake that occurred this morning. I was actually in my car at the time it happened and didn't even know about it until about 5 minutes after it occurred when the Loose Cannons on AM 570 started talking about it. From what I heard on the radio it was a 5.8 on the richter scale that originated in Chino Hills. People as far south of San Diego felt it as well as people as far east as Las Vegas.... read more »

Democrats Fighting for OUSD Seat; GOP MIA

By Chris Emami | 07/28/08

In the race to replace retiring incumbent Orange Unified School District Trustee Wes Poutsma features three candidates - all of whom are Democrats.  Incumbent Trustee Melissa Taylor Smith is making a safe run at Poustma's seat; if she loses, she keeps her current seat until 2010, but if she wins, she gets Poutsma's seat until 2012 and the board selects the replacement for her old seat.Smith's strongest challenger is labor lawyer Florice... read more »

Candidate Intrigue at Rancho Santiago Community College District

By Chris Emami | 07/28/08

In my previous posts, I've covered candidate filings for the Villa Park City Council and the Orange Unified School District, and today, I'll turn my attention to the Rancho Santiago Community College District.In the Rancho Santiago Community College District (which covers Anaheim Hills, Orange, Santa Ana, Villa Park, portions of Garden Grove, and slivers of Irvine and Tustin), all three seats are up in Trustee Area 1 while only one of the three... read more »

Orange Unified Trying To Pull A Fast One

By Chris Emami | 07/24/08

It should come as no shock to anyone that the Orange Unified board majority is up to some funny business. Yesterday Democrat Melissa Taylor Smith pulled papers to run for area 3. This would not be that unusual except for the fact that Smith already holds a seat on the board in area 1. This signifies that incumbent Wes Poutsma will not be pulling papers to run, not that it would matter considering that he votes the same way that Smith votes.... read more »

Villa Park City Council Race Has Some Familiar Faces

By Chris Emami | 07/18/08

I am down in San Diego for a big basketball tournament and am sort of taking a vacation at the same time when I am not at one of our games. I have not stopped following local elections though and do plan to make a post tonight that is a recap in the week of filing at the OC Registrar of Voters. It is no surprise to see W. Richard Ulmer running for City Council in Villa Park as he has one term left before he is termed... read more »

Villa Park to Vote on In God We Trust Motto

By Chris Emami | 07/16/08

City Councils that vote on including "In God We Trust" as a motto that shall be displayed in the chambers are not that uncommon. What is fairly unusual to see is an entire city that votes on adopting the issue. In Villa Park "In God We Trust" will appear on the ballot and this is in my opinion a great thing. Many people argue that this is a divisive issue and should not be included stating the need for a seperation of church and... read more »