Speaker John A. Perez

Did California State Assembly Speaker John A. Perez punish an Orange County Republican Assemblyman yesterday for balking at an alleged appalling lack of transparency in state spending proposals?

That's a question raised this morning at a "God and Governance" conference in Newport Beach by Allan Mansoor, a conservative who represents a large portion of coastal Orange County in Sacramento.

According to Mansoor, it's standard practice that members are given at least a 24-hour advance to study upcoming legislative ideas before a vote, but that in an Assembly healthcare subcommittee on Friday Democrats gave Republicans two pages of proposals--including millions of dollars in new, unexamined spending--a mere 25 minutes before a scheduled vote.

"I said, 'This is ridiculous,'" Mansoor told the audience that had gathered inside St. James Church to plot ways to combat the "evil"--homosexuality, abortion, contraception and Godlessness--overtaking the nation with President Barack Obama at the helm. "[The new legislative proposals] are not transparent to us. It's not transparent to members of the public or the press, who want to read about it and understand it."

More »

See you in 2016!

Steve Lodge, as readers will recall, embarrassingly finished fifth--even behind phantom AnaHyna Jennifer Rivera!--in the race for two open seats on the Anaheim city council last year. The local GOP machine, disgraced blogger Matt "I Protect Pedophile Protectors and Out Sex-Abuse Victims" Cunningham, Disney and former Mayor Curt Pringle would have loved to see him up on the dais, only, it seems his murky past came back to haunt him.

But instead of retreating into political irrelevancy, Lodge is going to try, try again! The Anaheim Hills resident (and No. 6 on the Weekly Scariest People List for 2012!) quietly filed a candidate intention statement in February and updated his Facebook campaign site, not for the upcoming 2014 election cycle, but for the city council race in 2016!

More »

Cruz-ing to California in June for party

Orange County Republican Party boss Scott Baugh is apparently taking diversity in politics seriously after all.

Baugh--often under fire from liberal critics for running a political party of cranky, rich, caucasian businessmen--has lured a Cuban/Irish American to be the keynote speaker at the group's popular, annual Flag Day Salute in June: U.S. Senator Ted Cruz.

Cruz is a 42-year-old freshman senator from Texas and the nation's current conservative golden boy largely because of his angry opposition to President Barack Obama's post-Sandy-Hook-Elementary massacre proposals for new gun control legislation.

More »

CAC = Crazy Ass City?

Late last week, Anaheim's 11-member citizens advisory committee (CAC) on district elections wrapped up its final meeting, and its draft report of recommendations set to be delivered to the city council by the end of this month will suggest that the issue be put before the vote.

When the previous Anaheim city council majority passed a resolution in August to create the CAC to study elections, the move was handily criticized. Opponents called it a delay tactic in the wake of an ACLU lawsuit alleging that Toontown was in violation of the California Voting Rights Act (CVRA). It was also seen as an isolating maneuver against Mayor Tom Tait, who wished to put the issue of creating six districts before the November 2012 ballot.

Hell, I even labeled it a "sham" as the way it was to be structured would ultimately give the council majority a numerical and ideological advantage. It was intended to be all those things (and more!) but now that it's all said and done, CAC turned out not to be that whack!

More »

Mansoor

Will ex-Costa Mesa mayor and current California State Assemblyman Allan Mansoor challenge Michelle Steel--a fellow but less-experienced Republican officeholder--for a soon-to-be open seat on the Orange County Board of Supervisors?

That's the energetic buzz this week in Republican circles, in which Steel is the only formally announced candidate to replace outgoing Supervisor John Moorlach in June 2014.

Steel--vice chairperson of the California State Board of Equalization who only recently moved to Orange County and is thus open to a carpet-bagging attack--has garnered favor from many local Republican Party establishment players, including Scott Baugh and Michael J. Schroeder, a former state party boss.

More »

*Corrected since original publication to reflect the affiliation of the writer who covered the Santa Ana gathering.

Members of the sizable Cambodian population in Orange County and Long Beach have a problem with state voter guides printed in the language most are familiar with, Khmer:

The guides are too complex.

More »

Last week, the Orange County Grand Jury came to a remarkable conclusion: OC is a cesspool of corrupt government, and something needs to be done about it. It was remarkable not so much for its findings (where had the Grand Jury previously gotten its information from--OC Metro?) but for advocating for change. Of course, the usual suspects began blathering--Supervisor Todd Spitzer enthusiastically agreed and tried to take the idea as his own, John Moorlach emphatically laughed, while the District Attorney's office said there was little political corruption in OC, and whatever little there is they're on it and can you please not bring up Mike Carona?

The Grand Jury's report was the subject of my latest "Orange County Line" commentary for KCRW-FM 89.9.

More »

There were more empty seats and less acrimony inside the Council Chambers of Anaheim City Hall last Thursday evening.

Long the scene of political turmoil over the course of last year during council meetings, the mood was lighter as the location played host for the second-to-last gathering of the citizens advisory committee, a group established after the former council majority passed a resolution during a special post-riot meeting on August 8, 2012 that tasked it with studying and making recommendations on the city's electoral system.

The move countered Mayor Tom Tait's failed proposal at the time to put the question of six council districts on last November's ballot and was seen as a delay tactic by critics.

More »

Flickr Commons

A Surf City son has gone forth into the world and besmirched the good name of Orange County. While you're pondering how that could have happened, here are the facts: Authorities say Matthew Weaver, a 22-year-old former student at Huntington Beach High School, has pleaded guilty to wire fraud, access device fraud and unauthorized use of a computer. 
More »

Yamaguchi, future Republican congressman for Orange County?

Orange County's Jeremy Yamaguchi--the Republican activist and Boy Scout who first won election to the Placentia City Council as a 19-year-old Cal State Fullerton student in 2008--garnered a national cable television audience on Saturday at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, D.C.

During a CPAC segment titled "Next generation of conservatives," Yamaguchi made a four-minute speech that highlighted his youth. He recalled one man telling him that he has ties that are older.

Said the councilman, "I told him, 'With all due respect, sir, it might be time for a wardrobe update.'"

The line earned some laughs, but the crowd was most appreciative of Yamaguchi's personal story.

More »