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And You Thought I Was The Only One
So, you may have read my recent post on Tustin Councilmember Jerry Amante and Laguna Hills Councilmember Alan Songstad and thought, “No, it can’t be true. Not Jerry…”. You may have thought I was alone and, being a small town blog, that my opinion didn’t mean much.
Now, JerryAmante and his dog and pony show have hit the big time. In a scathing letter to the editor of the Orange County Register, political activist and self-appointed watchdog, Shirley Grindle, has said virtually the same thing about our good former mayor. Grindle, whose criticism of county polticians is well known, says the attempts by the two to quash a Brandman University report on city manager compensation, and abuse of their office:
These two officials owe professor Fred Smoller a huge apology for their unethical behavior. Then they should resign from office as they have clearly shown a lack of judgment and an abuse of their power as elected officials.
Public officials should not be able to use the access their office affords to influence an academic curriculum, which is what Songstad and Amante succeeded in doing. The Association of California Cities, that went along with their efforts to do so, should have had the fortitude to say no as this is clearly not an area that a taxpayer-funded government organization should participate in.
Grindle goes on to say the two should apologize to Professor, Fred Smoller, and then resign from office. We agree, of course. This latest stunt by Amante is just another display of the corruption that he is willing to engulf himself in to push his own agenda throughout the county.
It is interesting to note that, in Tuesday’s city council meeting, Mayor John Nielsen brought up the fact that the city would be required to respond to the original Orange County Grand Jury Report. During his brief comment on the issue, he never once mentioned Jerry’s name or exactly what the issue was they were required to respond to. I almost fell out of my chair laughing when I heard Nielsen remark, “We have to respond without prejudice, make sure this is clean and not political. And so, I’ve asked the city manager and city attorney research this issue, particularly with the law involved in this and… report back with findings and recommendations.”
So, the grand jury report is public information as will be the responses by the various cities and other entities. Does Nielsen intend to do the right thing by placing any discussion about the report on the Open Session calendar so the public may have input and so there will be no subterfuge by Amante and his cronies? Don’t bet on it.
One bright spot during the city council meeting this week: Our most famous double-dipping pensioner, Chistine Shingleton, is finally being cut from the city payroll. I guess they didn’t need her expertise as much as they thought they did. Good luck in retirement,Christine, and don’t let the door slap you on the backside on the way out.
It Just Gets Better
You know, I am not quite sure why Todd Spitzer is even bothering to campaign against his opponent Deborah Pauly. He could save himself a ton of money for his future District Attorney race if he would just step aside and let Pauly’s supporters do his campaigning for him. If you follow Todd on Twitter, then you already know what I am about to post. If not, you are in for a real treat.
Posted on the Tuesday morning L.A. Now blog of the LA Times website, was an article titled, “O.C. supervisor hopeful gets support … on George Wallace letterhead”. Right below that was the infamous 1963 picture of Alabama Governor, George Wallace standing, defiantly, at the door of the University of Alabama, challenging the Feds to allow African Americans to enter the building to register for classes. It was iconic at the time, somewhat shameful in present day context. But, it was a part of history. And, for some reason, one of Deborah Pauly’s supporters, Bob Walters, latched on to it and decided to send out an independent mailer on Deborah’s behalf.
From the LAT blog:
The political mailer that recently arrived in Orange County mailboxes seemed from a different era, embossed with a tiny portrait of former Alabama Gov. George Wallace and the campaign slogan: “Wallace for President, Stand up for America.”
But the letter contained no direct mention of the fiery Southern politician, who gained a national reputation as a segregationist during the civil rights era and died in 1998 after four failed presidential campaigns.
Instead, it was a plea to American Independent Party members to elect Villa Park Councilwoman Deborah Pauly to a seat on the Orange County Board of Supervisors.
The letter was written by Bob Walters, a businessman from Orange who identified himself as the chairman of Wallace’s bid for president in 1967.
Now it’s the subject of a complaint filed by Orange County political watchdog Shirley Grindle, who said the campaign piece violates state law because it doesn’t mention who paid for it. Further, Grindle says in her May 13 complaint to the Fair Political Practices Commission, Walters failed to file as a committee with the secretary of state’s office.
In the letter, Walters refers to an incident last year when Pauly came under fire for comments she made outside an Islamic charity event in Yorba Linda.
Outside the event, protesters carried American flags as they booed and chanted at families entering the center to “Go back home.”
“I know quite a few Marines who will be very happy to help these terrorists to an early meeting in paradise,” she said at the time.
Walters commended Pauly for the protest and said the Villa Park councilwoman “recently led a demonstration against two radical Muslims speaking up in Yorba Linda.”
He said one of the Muslims was “trying to recruit homegrown terrorists right here in our backyard!”
“We need Deborah Pauly and her brand of hard core limited government, fiscally-conservative positions on the County Board of Supervisors,” he wrote.
Walters did not respond to requests for comment.
Pauly also drew ire last year when she wrote on her Facebook page that applauding President Obama’s healthcare bill was “like applauding a mugging or a rape. Do you feel sodomized?”
Pauly said she has not seen the mailer and doesn’t know much about Wallace.
She blamed opponent Todd Spitzer’s campaign, which she said is “working hard to dig up all kinds of noise” leading up to the June 5 ballot.
Spitzer is a former state assemblyman and Orange County supervisor.
Pauly said she can’t do background checks on all potential allies.
“I have a lot of supporters who come out to help me in a variety of ways,” she said.
— Nicole Santa Cruz
OC’s own political watchdog, Shirley Grindle, blasted Pauly, filing a complaint with the FPPC against Walters for not filing as a “committee” and for sending out the mailer without saying who it came from – but not a word from anyone about the racial connotations. Huh. Well, after all, this is Orange County.
OK, so I agree that Pauly may not have had anything to do with the mailing. Yet, she feels that she has to blame Spitzer’s black ops guys on working hard to dig up all kinds of noise against her. The truth is, she should be hunting down Bob Walters who purportedly sent this on her behalf. Perhaps Bob knows Deborah Pauly as well as we all do – a racist bigot who would fit right in with the old George Wallace.
Now, in George’s defense, I lived in Alabama about the time he decided to run for Governor after being shot and paralyzed. He won the vote by a huge margin because he didn’t just see the light about racism, he actually made the most sincere apology I have ever heard from any politician, ever. He threw himself down before the community and garnered a huge vote from both the Blacks and Whites of Alabama. He lived the rest of his life making amends for his transgressions. Perhaps there is a paranormal lesson from George in the afterlife to Deborah after all. It isn’t too late, Deborah.
Just the same, don’t expect to be elected like George was.
Our Town Tustin 