Why Chris Norby Will Be Good For Us, And Good For California
We’ve taken a bunch of legitimate shots at Chris Norby’s opponent in the 72nd Assembly District Special Election, Linda Ackerman. You know: she’s doesn’t live in the district; has a fake “residence” with another family on Lindendale; has applied the completely phony “businesswoman” label to herself; has been paid by her husband’s political campaign; and has even cooked up a scheme to get free Hawaiian vacations – compliments of lobbyists. The list of negatives just goes on and on. In fact, there’s hardly anything in her campaign that isn’t fraudulent.
We haven’t taken much time to say why Chris Norby would be good for us, and for California. So now we will.
First, Norby is not part of the slimy and incestuous Sacramento culture of corruption that the Ackermans have immersed themselves in for 15 years, and that’s a pretty big deal. Norby actually has informed opinions about State-wide issues like budget reform, education and Redevelopment; and, unlike Ackerman, Chris doesn’t just shovel out hollow platitudes about being a conservative.
Furthermore, Chris has a real legislative record – standing up for the people of Orange County against the perpetual demands of the public employee unions. He has opposed retroactive pension spikes put in place by some of the same dubious cast of characters that have endorsed Linda Ackerman. Over the years Chris has stuck up for the property rights of small businesses and homeowners against the depredations of government. Linda Ackerman chooses this very record on Redevelopment to draw a distinction between Norby and herself. And of course compared to Norby’s long conservative track record, Mrs. Ackerman has no record at all. Zero. Zilch. Just election slogans put in her mouth by her campaign manager.
We like the idea of Chris in the Legislature; with real ability to work on issues, especially the long-overdue reform of Redevelopment. The lobbyists won’t like the idea of Norby coming up to Sacramento, and that makes the idea really appealing to us.
At local campaign events the contrast between Norby and Linda Ackerman has been stark. Chris has been engaged, knowledgeable, and has spoken authoritatively about real conservatives issues. His opponent hasn’t done any of these things.
Although the Ackermans have tried (and will continue to try) to attack Norby’s morality by innuendo and gossip, it is the Ackermans who gave the disgraced Mike Duvall their support. Voters ought to reflect on that when they consider who is qualified to speak about morality with any authority.
Finally, Chris lives, and has always lived in Fullerton, unlikeLinda Ackerman who moved out ten years ago when greener pastures opened up in Irvine. He has never lived in a “secret, gated community” for “the privileged few.” He didn’t have to fake a residency with another family to evade the requirements of the law.
And so we say: Chris Norby for the 72nd Assembly!
Go Chris!!!
The arguments for why it should not be Ackerman seem, in reality, much stonger than why it should be Norby. As is so often the case in our elections the lesser of the evils becomes the choice.
I think that Norby is a winner, but he has got to find a way to explain away his votes to spike the Fullerton PD, and Fire Departnents pension spike to 3%@50, and his votes for the pension increases at the County of Orange. I’m sure he has a good explanation, and we need to hear it.
Norby never voted for a pension spike at the County. He did in Fullerton in and later admitted it was a big mistake – a rare admission from a politician! He learned from his error, and that’s exactly someone we need – someone capable of actually learning something.
I have been watching Chris’s votes for a number of years. I haven’t agreed with all of his votes but he has made reasonable and logical arguments for them. I think he is an excellent choice for the 72nd, much more so than any of the others with hats in this race!
I am glad to see you focus on the positive about Chris.
Thanks!
I can focus on the positive about Linda Ackerman, too. She was my Den Mom in scouts and was good at it. That said, I think Chris has a better record of experience dealing with OUR LOCAL ISSUES in the 72nd.
Let’s see…this website hates all public employees, and points that out regularly…
…so they endorse a public employee in Chris Norby, someone who has a very high-paying BOS job now, and who desperately needs another job, and was even going to run for County Clerk to get that job.
…and as a former teacher himself…he has “fed at the public trough” his entire career.
…and this is the champion of FFFF? HMmmm…
Who says we hate all public employees? We don’t believe teachers are trough feeders. At least not as a category.
When Norby went for the Clerk job, something that was clearly a mistake, we took him to task.
He is not the “champion of FFFF.” But he is by far the best candidate for the 72nd Assembly.
Hope that makes things clearer for you.
JustAGuyInFullerton,
I don’t think the “website hates public employees” is a reasonable, or even logical, statement. Can a website, in and of itself hate? I think not. More importantly, it isn’t the public employee that has been targeted, it is the associations and unions that represent them. I am a member of CTA (Cal. Teacher’s Assoc.) and I wish a wasn’t but I didn’t have a choice. They deduct the dues no matter what! The times I needed the union’s help or some sort of guidance, they were never there for me. It was like that when I worked for the County of Orange, too.
So, the contributors to this blog have some legitimate bones to pick with those who say they represent the workers.
With me being a teacher, would you say I “feed at the public trough”? When I add up my time spent teaching college students including grading and prep time, I earn about $12.50 per hour. My pay stub says I worked 12 hours last month at $50p/hr. The truth is I spent 12 hours in the classroom teaching, and another 36 hours grading, researching and planning lessons that are meaningful to students and industry. Then I have to attend all of the stupid administrative meetings about budget issues while the college president gets a $700 car allowance PER MONTH! And this is just one of my part-time jobs on top of a full-time job…
Norby was a public school teacher and, from what I have heard from his former students, a good one! That’s a rarity in public schools!
I wondered what was up with him going from a Co. Sup. to the OC Clerk-Recorder. I have two thoughts on that: First, it would be a promotion of sorts in that he would be directly running a major department without the oversight of the BOS. Second, I think he has been carefully waiting for an opportunity much like this. Some might call him an opportunist for taking advantage of the circumstances and giving it a try. I think it takes courage to stick your neck out there. Those who succeed in business, politics, and most regions of western life see challenges and situations like this as an opportunity to follow their dreams. What’s wrong with that?
Yes, he has “fed at the public trough” as you put it for much of his adult life. Someone has to teach our children, someone has to be mayor (or council), someone has to be a Co. Sup. Since we have these jobs that need to be filled, let’s fill them with quality people, like Chris, instead of the slimy leeches that never leave Sacramento.
Norby is not squeaky clean. I was a history student of his in the 7th grade at Brea Jr High. Norby was infamous for looking down the shirts of his female students, and for staring at their breasts. I was in his class, he did this to me, along with many other female students that I knew. This was during his reign as Fullerton Mayor. As far as the sexual harassment lawsuits that have been filed against him, I am only surprised that there have not been more, and because of the way I was treated by him as a student, I do not doubt the claims made against him. The man is a pervert, and is no better than DuVall. I would NEVER vote for him.
Ha! When I was in Jr HS, EVERY male teacher was suspected to be a perv by all of the girls. One teacher “supposedly” got in trouble, but times were different and he faded away from teaching with no real consequences. I think that girls at that age are extremely self conscience about their bodies and how they are perceived by males, especially father-figures when their own father is absent. Perhaps, and I don’t know either way, but perhaps your personal biases and those of your classmates played a role in your perception of his interaction with you and other girls. Just maybe.
In HS I had a female teacher who was HOT! And she loved to talk about sex to the students (she was physical science teacher – not biology). The guys AND the girls loved her. She was a pretty good teacher too. Then there was my biology teacher who was smoking hot and super flirtatious. Last I heard she was some sort of administrator t a HS. Of course this was back in the 80’s and 90’s when things were handled a little differently. Everyone wasn’t crying victim.
DuVall had serious issues, the least being his infidelity. The citizens of Yorba Linda tried tossing him out of his city office for years with all sorts of recalls and law suits. The reason he quit the assembly was because he was screwing lobbyists and not just some interns.
As with Ackerman AND Norby we MUST look at candidates voting record and their logic for doing so.
I don’t think I should be in the state assembly, nor do I think anyone that has ZERO experience in an elected (not appointed) capacity should be considered for this office.
If what former student charges is true, I think the 72nd will be fine with Norby since there are no 7th and 8th grade girls roaming the halls of the capitol.
Ackerman may not look down the shirts of boys but she has already cost taxpayers (and MWD rate-payers) MILLION$$$!!!
I’ve been talking to several well established families at St. Juliana, the parish that she supposedly donates her time to help with. Neither she nor Dick has been seen at the church in more than 10 years. That’s the way they were when I went to school with their kids and nothing has changed. So, she get’s to say that she is on some church finance committee and yet she doesn’t take communion there. Is St. Juliana’s not good enough for her? Who knows!
Electing Ackerman would be like voting for Schwarzenegger again. We thought we were getting a tough guy who would shake up Sacramento but instead we got a wuss who rolls over and says AHH every time the demos say so. He had no voting record, she has no voting record. He was well known and liked for his on-screen characters, she is liked for her…can someone remind me??
Ha! When I was in Jr HS, EVERY male teacher was suspected to be a perv by all of the girls. One teacher “supposedly” got in trouble, but times were different and he faded away from teaching with no real consequences. I think that girls at that age are extremely self conscience about their bodies and how they are perceived by males, especially father-figures when their own father is absent. Perhaps, and I don’t know either way, but perhaps your personal biases and those of your classmates played a role in your perception of his interaction with you and other girls. Just maybe.
Ha! When I was in Jr HS, EVERY male teacher was suspected to be a perv by all of the girls. One teacher “supposedly” got in trouble, but times were different and he faded away from teaching with no real consequences. I think that girls at that age are extremely self conscience about their bodies and how they are perceived by males, especially father-figures when their own father is absent. Perhaps, and I don’t know either way, but perhaps your personal biases and those of your classmates played a role in your perception of his interaction with you and other girls. Just maybe.
Times weren’t that different at all, as Greg illustrates so blithely. Female victims of sexual harassment are obv still being laughed at quite literally (“Ha!”). Their statements are belittled by chauvinistic justification, e.g., EVERYone does it; therefore, it must be ok. To further discredit the girl her honesty is called into question by way of innuendo that somehow the girl and her friend’s misperceptions and biases are to blame for the “supposed” problem.
#11’s comment was an anonymous accusation on a blog, impossible to verify in this context. Greg could have pointed that out or said nothing at all instead of slamming potential victims.
As long as we’re speculating, I’ll add that perhaps that pervy teacher from Greg’s past faded into obscurity without prosecution because those young girls were afriad that taking their case up with insensitive patriarchs like Greg would only lead to more harassment. Greg’s comment represents a clear example of how that happens to insecure young people who have been victimized and are afraid to speak out.
Poorly argued, and just plain disgusting commentary. Time to take a look at biases, indeed.
Everyone is a victim, thanks to our overly social studies. Who is the real victim here? The truth is, as a teacher and administartor, I take every single complaint, although rare as if it were the word of God. Then I have to look at ALL of my options which I only have one, and that is to report it to my supervisor (assuming there is nothing criminal, just unethical). I made it a point to articulate that I do not have all of the facts in her case, nor can we study it beyond her word alone. Therefore, it is reasonable to question the poster’s motives for talking now and not then (although maybe she did), their maturity at the time of the alleged staring, and the various biases that all of us have.
Indeed times have changed. The teacher I heard about that was canned was ever investigated by the PD. Instead, the district swept it under the rug and minimized the events and issues. Now, we (as teachers) must report any allegations to specific authorities, no IF’s, AND’s, or BUT’s!
So, I am sensitive, just not ignorant! If there was merit to her claim, she should have taken it up with the principal, her parents, or the police department. She didn’t do anything (so far as we know) so here we are Monday-night-quarterbacking the allegations from 15 or 20 years ago.
I am a victim of someone else crying victim (as I stated before). I had witnesses that backed up my story, the “victim” I dealt with had nothing but lies and a hidden agenda. She managed to smear my good name and reputation for a little while and I considered suing her. But I’m not the sue-happy type so I forgave and tried to forget.
What makes you think that woman are the only victims of sexual harassment? I get harassed by the gay and lesbo club all the time. I could file a formal complaint but it’s not worth giving them the time it takes to fill out the paperwork. My boss is a woman who I have a tremendous amount of respect for because she is a tough, no-nonsense manager. She likes to be flirty and I’ve caught her looking at guys’ butts and commenting. I could (maybe should) take offense, but I’m not THAT sensitive. She is very good at her job and THAT is why I respect her.
So, who is better at their elected job: Norby or Ackerman? Oh yea, Ackerman has never held an elected position… Oh darn, it was probably because all of the male chauvinists in OC wouldn’t elect her! Poor, poor Linda… So sad…
lol @ the male chauvinists wouldn’t elect Ackerman, everyone’s a victim, and all victims are women! Sheesh, strawman much?
Glad to hear you cop to dodging a sexual harassment suit yourself. I’m certain it’s your way with words that the “lezbo club” finds irresistible.
PS: You know you just sound pervy and gross, right? With all that talk up there about the boner you had for your “smokin HOT!” high school teacher. HIGH SCHOOL, get it? – WHEN YOU WERE NOT A 10 YEAR OLD SEVENTH GRADER!
You should’ve let this one go, Greg. #11’s accusation meant nothing until you drew all kinds of conclusions based on your own past.
Sorry, 11 year old 7th grader. I skipped a grade. :p
7th graders are 13.
Comment #11 probably should have been deleted.
A final addendum:
*#11’s accusation meant nothing strictly in a legal sense of an accusation made anonymously online.
Why would anyone delete #11? If this is a blog that champions getting the truth out to voters, deleting the comments of one person would undermine the entire point of blogging… you sound like a Norby campaigner, English Major.
I’ll take that one, #20. There’s a difference between stating a mere opinion, no matter how uninformed: Chris Norby is homely, Chris Norby is stupid; and, insinuating criminal behavior or moral turpitude with nothing to back it up.
That commenter was indeed very close to crossing the line and I considered deleting the comment since there was absolutely nothing to back up any of what he/she stated. You can take that comment for what you think it’s worth. I suspect it was made by an Ackerman tool, but we’ll never know.
Ultimately I agrred with EoE (#16) and figured to just let it go.
7th graders are 13.
Students who start kindergarten @ age 6 or those held back a year would be that old.
I was age 10 into 11 during that school year. Most were 11 into 12.
This whole thing is really silly. MOST 7th-graders are 12-13. 10 is a bit young for a 7th-grader. Sounds a bit like one of those “GATE” kids.
I agree, Sarah, it is silly splitting hairs over the same numbers. lol Thanks for joining in.
The perv comments do not bother me, what is troublesome is that it is acceptable behavior, a boys will be boys ” (and undercover nasty female teachers)
Years ago, when I lived in Orange, my son attended of course, Orange high, one of his high school friends age 16th started having a “relationship” with the coach while she was attending school, in fact they were living together until she got too old for him ,19 years old.
He still is a coach at the school.
My younger sister went to Portola jr. high and her P.E. coach used to have them undress in front of her and have to stand in line and face er or else! My sister was not an obedient child and would never do as she said so she got “F’s”.
I think many of these complaints (#11, #12, & #25) should be on one of those “rate your teacher” websites, not here.