Irvine Candidate Jeff Lalloway Fired By Fellow Republican

By R. Scott Moxley Mon., Oct. 25 2010 at 5:22 PM

Categories: Breaking News, Elections, Moxley, Politics

lallowayforirvine2010.com

Lalloway: Give me some Excedrin!

There are many things a rookie Republican candidate doesn't want to happen two weeks before an election.

Yes, one might be to get caught pants-less with a naked minor on a roof at daybreak.

Another, though less dramatic, might be to get fired from a government post by a fellow Republican who describes you as lazy and unethical. Ouch.

But that's exactly what happened late this afternoon in Irvine, the Republican city dominated for eons by Larry Agan's three-person Democratic council majority.

Christina Shea, the ranking Republican in Irvine politics and a longtime but now retiring member of the City Council, fired Jeff Lalloway, a fellow Republican as her city finance commissioner.

Shea didn't mince words.

"Today, I have had to make a very difficult decision," wrote Shea in an e-mail to various Irvine power players. "I have asked my commissioner Jeffrey Lalloway to resign from the Finance Commission as my personal representative. During the course of this council election, he has missed many meetings, which, in itself, violates our City requirements for attendance."

It got worse.

Shea: Lalloway has unearned my endorsement for the Irvine City Council.

"Additionally, Jeff, as my endorsed candidate, has been involved in sending out political mail that is making statements that are untrue. After much thought, I cannot in good conscience, continue to have Jeff represent me as my finance commissioner. . . . This was a very difficult decision for me to make, especially at this time, but a much needed decision."

Lalloway, whose campaign slogan is "New Leadership for Irvine's Future," was unamused by the attack.

"Shea is so desperate to hold on to power after decades in public office that she is willing to disparage me, he own finance commissioner," he said in an e-mail to me. "Shea's habit of accepting money from public employee unions and then voting on big pay increases and pension strikes finally caught up with her when I exposed it."

According to Lalloway, Shea has abused her position as a conservative by retaliating against him for publicizing her acceptance of "the $700-a-month car allowance she takes from taxpayers. Apparently, I got too close for comfort."

He also says, "I have no intention of resigning and abandoning my mission of uncovering wasteful spending at city hall."

Sources tell me that much of the friction over dishonesty centers on a Lalloway campaign mail piece that declares himself the only Republican Party-endorsed candidate when, in fact, there are two others, Christopher Gonzales and Lynn Schott.

Scott Baugh, the controversial chairman of the OC Republican Party, orchestrated a move to block Schott's endorsement because, many GOP members believe, she has demanded that Baugh follow Central Committee bylaws and have the party's finances audited for the first time in years.

Oddly--suspiciously?--Baugh has refused to allow an independent audit of the party's bank accounts which have seen millions and millions of dollars pass through since he took over in 2004.

After a protest among GOP folks dissatisfied with Baugh shenanigans and especially the Schott maneuver, Baugh allowed the party to also endorse her.

It's also frustrated Republican activists that Lalloway, a family law lawyer, got special treatment even though he's a relative newcomer to Irvine politics and Schott has been a hardcore party activist for years.

Laughing hardest at this latest Irvine Republican mess must be the devious Agran, who hopes that his slate of Democrats sweeps the election so that he has continued control over massive city spending.

Adam Elmahrek at The Voice of OC published a good article earlier this month on other Irvine GOP woes.

Stay tuned as this story develops.

--R. Scott Moxley / OC Weekly