A few weeks ago I did a pretty tongue-in-cheek post about some guy named Thomas Anthony Gordon, a goon from Santa Ana who popped up out of nowhere with a gratuitous anti-Shawn Nelson post on the Mauve County blog. He criticized Nelson for being soft on criminals because he is a defense lawyer. I pointed out the bad luck since there was a guy in OC with the exact same name and body type as Gordon who had been busted a couple of times for driving on a suspended license – and opined about how that guy was probably in need of a defense lawyer himself.
At the time I believed Gordon was just prostituting himself for Lewis/Cunningham and hence, Tom Daly. I may have been wrong. That was before I understood the deep, moist crevices into which Harry Sidhu’s pocket change had fallen. Of course the common denominator, John Lewis, is still in the picture, although Daly quit the supervisors race to play catch with his kid.
Well check this out. Harry Sidhu, the perpetual office seeker has decided to run for the GOP Central Committee for the 69th Assembly district (which must surely be a record – carpetbagging two districts at the same time, what a hustler). Now for the fun part. Take a look at who was out circulating petitions on the very last day so Hide and Seek Sidhu could “qualify” for the ballot. None other than our old friend Thomas Anthony Gordon. Click on the pdf and take a look.
Gordo! And now we really have to wonder. Is Gordon actually on Sidhu’s payroll? If not, why not? Everybody else is!
Of course, if he is let’s hope he informed his bosses over at the Mauve County where they say they will fire you if you don’t disclose that fact that you are blogging for dollars!
Everybody knows that traditional print journalism is on the way out. Why? Lazy citizens? Sensory overload? More convenient access? All of the above?
Dying papers like the Orange County Register are fighting a rear-guard action by turning their print edition into a dumbed-down website-looking format with lots of pictures and human interest stories for us idiots. And of course they have gone on-line with stuff like their political gossip column “Total Buzz.” Which might be better termed “Total Schmooze.”
Rather than actually dedicate itself to reporting real, relevant news, the Register has decided to dedicate its employees’ talents toward the inane, and to the political flackery of Martin Wisckol and Frank Mickadeit. It doesn’t seem to have occurred to the worthies than run the Register that Orange County is a market that is starved for local news and, coincidentally, that it is run by a group of political overseers who operate the place like their own private plantation. Seems like an opportunity to do real reporting, right?
But yesterday the Register hit a new low, even for them.
I just can't help myself.
Consider this, um, monument to cutting edge journalism as Jennifer Muir shares the embarrassing shoe fetish of Brett Barbre with her breathlessly waiting readers.
Huh? FFFF has recently disclosed a series of embarrassing expenditures by the County Clerk, Tom Daly, including a $48,000 contract to the very same Brett Barbre to “study” an athletic hall of fame, and who then turned around and kicked back $1000 into Daly’s political campaign.
And what about the $1700 as month retainer that has been paid out by Daly for over five years to a Sacramento “consultant” to do – nothing. And how about the County spending $2,100,000 two years ago at Daly’s behest on a tear-down building that was supposed to house County’s archives? Of any interest to the intrepid journalists at the Register? Naw.
It's not just a girl thing...
Instead we get pictures of what shoes the political hacks are wearing at the Registrar of Voters Office. They think we want to look at pictures of people’s feet. Meanwhile a lowly blog is forced to actually do a newspaper’s job.
Well, we can take a certain perverse pleasure in knowing that the Register’s days are numbered and that soon its employees will be doing (paid) PR work, or will be blogging for food.
Still, it does seem shame that nobody in the business is willing to try to fill the void where local news used to be.
I can only wonder what’s it’s like to have virtually no moral bearing – to be at the whim of whichever authority figure is pushing you at a given moment. Like a leaf blown in the wind.
Today a supporter of Hugh Nguyen’s campaign to unseat the deplorably incompetent Democrat County Clerk Tom Daly passed along the news that Matthew J. Cunningham of Mauve County fame had a devoted an entire post to the untrustworthiness of Nguyen. His running buddies? The lefties at the LiberalOC blog!
First it seems that he, like his candidate Tom Daly, takes exception to Nguyen’s ballot designation.
He also makes a big harrumph about Nguyen changing the story he told some of Cunningham’s Blue County boyfriends a couple of months ago about the unsolicited ad Art Pedroza is running for him on the OJ blog. You’re joking, right?
But here’s the kicker. Hugh Nguyen is mostly shifty and not to be trusted because when he was soliciting endorsements last summer for the Clerk-recorder job he didn’t inform those folks of the presence of his wife Laura Cunningham in the race, thereby precluding them from endorsing her!
Of course the idea that Nguyen was under any moral or legal obligation to advertise the hapless and long-defunct Mrs. Jerbal campaign is so preposterously comical that no more need be said about it.
Cunningham likes his style...
Meanwhile from the vantage of his lofty moral authority Cunningham seems unable to discern the manifest failures of his boy Tom Daly. You know, like the $48,000 Daly passed along to a campaign consultant for “studying” a sports hall of fame; like the $100,000+ he has wasted (and is still wasting) on monthly retainers for a do-nothing Sacramento “consultant;” oh yeah, and let’s not forget the $2,100,000 chunked into the toilet on the acquisition of the uninhabitable building at 433 Civic Center West. What was the issue again? Oh, yeah – trustworthiness!
On top of all that, Daly is a Democrat and Cunningham is supposed to be a conservative Republican! No bueno!
No, sir. I do not need a wordsmith.
Come to think of it, Cunningham has never said a word about the two fraudulent voting registrations of one Harry C. Sidhu, the 4th District carpetbagger who lied about living at the Calabria Apartments on two separate public documents. Which sounds a lot like voter fraud and perjury if you ask me.
And speaking of shifty, how about Sidhu’s campaign signs that advertise the carpetbagger simply as “Mayor Pro Tem” despite the fact that they are posted in cities where Sidhu is not on the city council? Hows that for shifty?
The beautiful Calabria Apartments. No furniture was ever moved in. Did Sidhu sleep on the floor?
But oh yeah, his boss John Lewis is working for Sidhu now, too; so that means that the regular rules don’t apply, see?
Do not you think it a matter worthy of lamentation, that, when there is such a vast multitude of worlds, we have not yet conquered one?
Apparently my ongoing exploration into the encroachment of County 1st District Supervisor Janet Nguyen into the management of the 4th District office has created some angst on the Hall of Admin 5th Floor. Apparently Her Highness is displeased with the revelation that she has hired 3 new people to occupy that office even though there is no supervisor there. She has been snooping around to find out where the “leak” is.
Leak? Why is Empress Nguyen concerned about news of her doings leaking out? Is she trying to hide something?
After all, the Imperial story has been that these additional people are needed to help inform all us poor, ignorant denizens of the 4th District learn all about the wonderful County programs available to make our lives ever so much better. Ferchrissakes you’d think she’d issue a press release, right? But no! Maybe she’s worried about being perceived as a manipulative, scheming empire builder.
Last week we were alerted to a mysterious new blog called “Who is Craig Hunter,” which claims to reveal the true power structure behind the candidacy of the Anaheim Deputy Chief for County Sheriff.
Drink it up
The blog seems focused the connections between political heavyweight Mike Schroeder and Hunter, who is called Schroeder’s protegé. Hunter was hand picked to fill in the void left by ex-sheriff Mike Carona’s felony conviction, alleges the author who goes by the pseudonym “V”.
A few ancillary players are introduced into the picture on a page called The Players, including Jack Anderson (Carona’s own pick for successor), Carona apologist and OCCCWS member Greg Block (that name sounds familiar), DA spokesperson Susan Kang Schroeder and GOP Chairman/lobbyist Scott Baugh.
Motives are questioned, empires are sketched out and historic similarities are drawn. What emerges? A sketch of a picture that isn’t very pretty.
I’ve also heard rumors that the site was created by Friends for Fullerton’s Future, citing a humorous yet biting style that is similar to many of our own posts.For what it’s worth, nobody here knows where this blog came from or where it’s going.
A few days ago I related how Board of Supervisors Chair Janet Ngyuen had hired a couple of people to occupy Chris Norby’s former 4th District office. I opined that it seemed like a real extravagance given the fact that there was no supervisor to support, and likely diminishing “constituency work” since there was no supervisor to direct and approve it. Also the replacement election is just a short 10 weeks away.
I also speculated that perhaps Nguyen was just placing her people inside the office to report back directly to her; and perhaps that she was embedding her personnel in the office in the unlikely event of A Sidhu victory in June. Did Nguyen make a deal with Sidhu to keep these people employed later? Just wondering.
The latest word from several sources is that Nguyen has hired yet another person to work in the 4th District office and that this person started today. Good grief, this is ridiculous. One of those sources informs us that Nguyen’s explanation for this idiocy is that “her” people are there to help make sure folks in the 4th District are aware of all the programs the County offers them. Oh, really?
Frankly, none of the explanations make Nguyen look like anything other than a devious empire-builder.
She should keep her hands off the 4th District. She has enough trouble in her own.
When I posted about my interview with former assemblyman Mike Duvall a week or so ago, we got tons of traffic on the site. An awful lot of people wanted to know what was going on with Duvall – even John and Ken from KFI’s popular radio program talked about our post in a lot of detail.
And it was precisely that recognition from non-establishment voices of John and Ken that got me thinking about some big problems we have here in north Orange County that the so-called “mainstream media” just won’t touch, and specifically the growing problem with carpetbaggers – political gypsy moths who are so hungry for office that they move, or pretend to move, into another district to run for office. We’ve spent a lot of documenting the behavior of these people on this site.
If you think about what’s wrong with politics and some of the people who want to get their hands on governmental power, the issue of carpetbagging really starts to come into sharper focus.
Let’s review what’s been going on in north Orange County.
Last year Linda Ackerman, wife of former State Senator Dick Ackerman pretended to relocate from her “top-secret gated community” in Irvine to run for the 72nd Assembly District to replace Mike Duvall. She cooked a phony address at a friend’s house in Fullerton.
I was really just doing you a favor, only you didn't know it.
Then late last year somebody called Sue Perez sent up a trial carpetbag balloon against State Senator Lou Correa. With a little coaxing she has mercifully disappeared.
Now we have Lorri Galloway, who has been playing musical residences in the OC 4th Supervisorial District in order to run in the election to replace former Supervisor Chris Norby. Her real home is somewhere up in the hills in the County’s 3rd District. Her new addresses since have been provided by a big campaign contributor and contractor to the City of Anaheim. How shady is that?
Did Galloway remember to get her renter's insurance?
And then we have the unfolding spectacle of Hide-and-Seek Harry Sidhu,the worst culprit of them all.Here is a guy who simply believes he can buy an election.He believes he’s entitled to do that.
Let me tell you, moving is no fun at all. I really try to avoid it.
This fine fellow is also running in the 4th District election, the latest in a seemingly unending series of political campaigns. His real abode is in the 3rd District, too.
His carpetbagging caused immediate embarrassment for himself. First he created a fraudulent voting address at 2230 West Lincoln in Anaheim:
The Calabria Apartments. The residents do not include rich people.
That’s right: the somewhat marginal pink apartment building behind the pool hall was his alleged home. Coming from an extremely wealthy guy who lives on a big estate in the hills that lie was so unbelievable, that one short month later Sidhu came up with yet another, only slightly more plausible address on Lucky Way:
The sun sets on Sidhu's home #2 in the 'hood.
But this is where Sidhu really lives: a huge estate that sprawls across a wide swath of the 3rd District. It even has an aviary with exotic birds.
Sidhu's real home. Peacocks optional.
And check out the blatant shamelessness of this guy. He actually did a campaign “kick-off” event fundraiser for his 4th District carpetbagging run at his fancy 3rd District estate – “The Sidhu Family Residence.” Damnation, how stupid does this clown think we are? The answer, of course, is very.
Now I ask you: what weird combination of ego, insecurity, lust for power, hunger for recognition, and total disrespect for their would-be constituents animates these people? Whatever that personality mixture is, it’s toxic for politics and accountable government. These are exactly the sort of people that need to be kept away from authority at all cost.
Well, we helped get rid of Mrs. Ackerman and Mrs. Perez, and we’re doing our best to keep the latest carpetbaggers out of our 4th District. But I see a real trend here, and it’s not good. Carpetbagging success is bound to make it even worse.
And that’s a real story that people need to pay attention to.
As part of an ongoing report, March 1, 2010, FFFF’s Travis Kiger, Fullerton businessman Larry Lazar and myself sat down with Bill Hunt, 2010 candidate for Orange County Sheriff. The round table discussion was an opportunity to ask some important questions that we think are on the minds of voters. No topic was off-limits.
We had some questions about concealed weapons permits (CCW’s) for the man whose slogan has been “The Sheriff should be in the business of protecting people’s rights, not restricting them.”
We asked Hunt how his stance was different from his opponent’s. Hunt told us that he is a constitutionalist and believes that the current system lends itself to corruption. Hunt believes that statistics from than 39 “Shall Issue” states are proof that CCW’s lower crime rates. Further, he believes that an armed citizenry will help keep the peace at a time when the Sheriff’s Department is looking to lay off sworn deputies.
We also asked Hunt to lay out the process that a permit applicant can expect if he is elected Sheriff. Hunt said, “If we have someone come in and they are a range owner and maybe they have one of these reciprocal CCW’s that’s good in thirteen states, and they’re in good standing in those states, then I think we need to shorten up that process. We need to verify that the permit is legitimate and have had backgrounds on them, and then do an updated background to make sure there have been no problems in the interim. Then we check their training. If they’re proficient, we have our range master check them out. If they’re proficient, sign them off. If it’s a new person with no current CCW then we need to do the full background check, send them through the full NRA familiarization course, and get them through the process!”
Hunt also wants to waive or at least reduce fees for low-income applicants. The logic is simple: low-income areas have higher crime rates thus more victims. Lowering fees would put the odds back in the hands of citizens rather than the criminals.
View the transcript
A cookie-cutter approach is the wrong way to handle it. There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to CCW’s, crime victims, and high propensity targets.
“When seconds count, cops are minutes away!” – Bill Hunt
Our Friend Allan Bartlett passed along our post about Tom Daly’s $10,000,000 real estate disaster for the edification of the good government advocates who read the “Red County” blog. Or maybe he did it to annoy the Republican supporters of crazy spendthrift Democrat Tom Daly.
And as I predicted in my original post, a couple of Tom Daly sycophants popped up to defend the indefensible. And here’s what Cynthia Ward, AKA Colony Rabble had to say:
Tom Daly bought a piece of real estate that staff reveiwed (sic) and approved and the Supes voted for? Oh no! Whatever will we do? String up the varmint! The Fullerton boys are real sleuths. I told you in the Barbre post that Tom was expanding the Archives and looking at other space. His real estate may not have been the best deal? Well welcome to the world the rest of us live in!
Tom Daly is a fiscal conservative. Tom Daly is a fiscal conservative.
Apparently the idea of wasting $2,100,000 for a completely worthless piece of property is of no concern to Ms. Ward. Not the best deal? Jesus H., this miscreant flushed 2.1 million tax dollars down the toilet! The world the rest of us live in? Is that supposed to be a joke? Does Cynthia Ward routinely blow millions on worthless real estate? Do her friends? Do her neighbors?
Well now we know what kind of a conservative Ward is. And if we ever needed confirmation that her job at the Mauve County was to do anything other than promote the egregious Daly (and now, it seems, to try to talk away his mammoth incompetency), now we have it.
I was driving through a blue-collar type neighborhood in the flatlands of Anaheim this morning, not all that far from Hide-N-Seek Sidhu’s fraudulent voting address at the Calabria Apartments, and look what I came across.
