OC Blog

OC Great Park Corporation…Sim IS right

I did as OCBlog reader Len suggested the other day and took a look at the OC Great Park Corporation’s budget for FY 2005-06 posted on the El Toro Info Site.

Net...Yes, Len…From my read of the budget, I DO believe park money is being misspent.

Just a couple of things in the budget that jumped out at me…

• A contract with Forde & Mollrich for “public information & outreach” (the no-bid PR contract) that totals $564,000 and includes specifically $339,000 for three Quarterly Outreach Reports (especially since the Annual Outreach Report, which one can only assume is more extensive than mere quarterly reports, is only $90K) and $50,000 for a “Groundbreaking Event.” For what I assume, is having some balloons, a couple of shovels, maybe a high school band, and a photographer or two, fifty grand seems more than a little out of line for a bunch of politicians to have their pics taken holding shovels wearing hard hats and silly grins.

• Another line items that raised a question in my mind is the $800,000 for “offices and office supplies for staff & directors” Don’t tell me that each of the five Irvine City Council members that are Directors of the GPC and who have offices in their Taj on Alton also need to have GPC offices somewhere else? And $800K??? Those are some damn nice digs for a construction office!

• What in the world is $243,250 in “Site visits, seminars and workshops for Board and staff” all about? Remember, this is just for this next year! Where are Agran & Co. planning to go?

I’m asking other readers to take a look through the document and comment here on their take on the issue or write-in to the Register, Times, Business Journal or Weekly. Even better would be to take their feelings directly to the next meeting of the Irvine City Council or GPC.

Finally, to Len…Do I think Dick Sim was right?   Damn right I do!

Elitists Know Better

Assemblyman Ray Haynes hits the Register again this morning with 'Safe' school buses can kill. 

I think the word he's searching for in this piece is "elitist."  The Democrats seem to believe it's their incumbent duty to protect us from ourselves, and those evil products that are the spawn of the evil business community.  They know better, and we don't.

On opening the door of my SUV, I immediately see three warnings about air bags and tire inflation.  Drop the sun visor and there's two more.  These liberal "representatives" can't resist messing in our lives.  On pain of a fine, I must wear the seat belts they require, but if I don't their airbags will protect me.  I must have (and pay for) both systems.  It's for your own good, say the Elitists because we can't allow you the freedom to choose and be responsible for yourself since you'll make the wrong decisions.

Haynes makes his point with simple economics, and more honestly than the Teacher Union which will have you believe a $2.5 billion increase in school funding this year is a draconian cut (how WILL they pay for more school buses and drivers now that they've reduced their capacity?).  Elite liberals don't believe you can do the math.  Shut up, pay your taxes and quitchurbitchin that your kid can't find lawns to mow because the illegals they condone do all that business in your neighborhood.  They know BETTER.

Memorial Day...In Remembrance

Freedom isn't free, and today we remember those who have purchased our liberty with their blood and valor.

Executive Mansion, Washington, Nov. 21, 1864

Dear Madam,

I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant-General of Massachusetts, that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle.

I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save.

I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours, to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of Freedom.

Yours, very sincerely and respectfully,

Abraham Lincoln

WAY too slick...

Read Greenhut’s piece in today’s OC Register on Hijacking the Great Park.

I’ve watched from close-up Dick Sim and Larry Agran operate for years.

Sim as a tough-as-nails businessman with a very real love for Irvine and OC.

Agran as a smart political operative with a powerful love for…well, Agran.

Of the two, the one I’d trust and believe in the tug-of-war over the governance and leadership of the Great Park Corporation is hands-down, Dick Sim.

Too bad he couldn't put up with the B.S.

Is there any way of getting Sim back to the table?

Loretta, Libs Lose

From yesterday:

Washington, DC (LifeSiteNews.com) – The latest attempt by three Californian Congresswomen to overturn a restriction on abortions at military bases has ended the same way it has every year since 1996 – failure. The motion, brought forward by Susan Davis of San Diego, Jane Harman of Venice, and Loretta Sanchez of Santa Ana, was defeated yet again in the House on Wednesday by a 233-194 vote.

More: Persistence Doesn’t Pay Off In Congresswomen’s Attempt To Permit Military Abortions.

More on Morons

Re. the Garden Grove protest last Wednesday: Violent lefties protest Minuteman Project. 

And: Man Freed After Driving Into Minuteman Protesters.

Sen. John Campbell To Start A Blog

Yesterday, the Daily Pilot reported that Sen. John Campbell will launch his own blog -- becoming the second member of the OC legislative delegation to join the blogosphere (Assemblyman Chuck DeVore has had a blog for some time):

If you're not getting enough of Newport-Mesa Republican state Sen. John Campbell through his website and e-mail newsletter, never fear.

He's about to launch his own blog, featuring frequent postings, archives and links to relevant websites.

"I've had this on my to-do list for probably almost a year," Campbell said. "Ours is going to be, we think, pretty leading-edge stuff."

And he won't spare the political rhetoric either. Although some state legislators have set up blogs using state resources, Campbell opted not to because political content is restricted on state-supported sites.

His target date to start the new blog is June 1.

Good for you, Senator. I, for one, look forward to reading it. It's a natural transition from his e-mail newsletters. Campbell is a smart, articulate man and I'm sure his blog will be worth frequent visits. OC Blog will be happy to flog it (assuming the Senator doesn't mind some help from a bunch of anonymous bloggers).

Perhaps he'll use the blog to let us know whether he'll be accepting the pay raise (my guess is no, both on principle and the fact that he doesn't need to money).

Good Will Fact-Hunting

OC Weekly Editor Will Swaim is in quite the lather about what he perceives as a blatant disregard for the facts by OC Register editorialists. Specifically, he refers to Steve Greenhut lambasting commentators who lambasted (I'm using this word a lot today) President Bush for lambasting the Yalta Agreement.

Opines Swaim:

What’s eating Greenhut (and Bush) is Roosevelt. FDR still haunts American conservatives; it was to stop the wildly popular Democrat that Republicans amended the Constitution to limit presidents to two terms.

I don't know about Bush, but it's fair to say OCR editorial writer John Seiler is still burned up about FDR -- judging from his posting on the OCR blog.  Greenhut doesn't write much about the President who failed to make headway against the Great Depression.

But Swaim's statement about the 22nd Amendment is factually incorrect. The purpose of the 22nd Amendment wasn't to stop FDR, since death had accomplished that goal six years before the amendment was ratified in 1951. It even exempted incumbent President Harry Truman, who could have (and for a long time intended to) seek a de facto third term.

It is accurate to say the amendment was motivated be a desire to get some posthumous revenge on Roosevelt, and to codify the precedent set by George Washington of president's limiting themselves to two terms in office.

Thankful We Live Where We Live

L.A. Mayor: Mexico Will Shape My Policies

Los Angeles Mayor-elect Antonio Villaraigosa said Wednesday that Mexico will play an important role in shaping his policies, reports Mexico's El Universal Online.

"We are starting a new era. Instead of closing the borders, as stated by Schwarzenegger, we should look at our border as an opportunity," Villaraigosa said.  "This is a time of great importance, not just for us to rediscover our roots, but looking to create a mutually beneficial relationship," added the city's first Latino mayor since 1872.

The top L.A. Democrat lamented that the recent passage by Congress of The Real ID Act, if signed into law, would prevent illegal aliens from getting driver's
licenses.

"Politicians in the United States need to understand that immigrants come here for the same reason that immigrants have always come: to work," Villaraigosa told El Universal. "Instead of punishing and demonizing them, we should try to integrate them."

Villaraigosa also told El Universal that he would not support policies that supposedly persecute the city's large migrant population.

"I support Special Order 40 [prohibiting police from making migration-related
arrests]," he said. "We need our police officers to fight gangs and organized
crime. That will keep them more than busy."

From NewsMax.com Friday, May 27, 2005 12:25 a.m. EDT

OC Blog News Roundup -- May 26-27, 2005

Today's and yesterday's top stories from behind the Orange Curtain:

Editorial: Demerit Pay -- OCR 5/27/05
The Reg questions what legislators have done to earn the 12% pay increase -- and give a muchpappreciated hat tip to this humble blog "for prompting us to check this out."

Internal Affairs -- OC Weekly
It's been said before, but bears saying again -- this Jaramillo stuff reads like a James Ellroy novel.

UC Administrator Is Chosen As Chancellor -- LAT and OCR and DP 5/27/05
Kahuna gives this Michael Drake fellow the stamp of approval.

Big Swath Gets A Big Gift -- LAT and OCR  and DP 5/27/05
Don Bren whips $20 million out of his wallet to endow the Irvine Ranch Land Reserve Trust. A Nature Conservancy official points out that private management of open space is preferable to government management.

Ask A Mexican! -- OC Weekly
I say it is only a matter of time before Gustavo publishes these columns in book form.

Irvine Co. Chairman Sees Role As Steward Of The Land -- OCR 5/27/05
Q & A with Donald Bren.

OC Sheriff Captain's Political Activities Reviewed By Attorney General -- OCR 5/27/05
Drip...drip...drip...drip.

Chamber Has A Strategy For Easing The Struggle  -- LAT 5/27/05
Q & A with Santa Ana Chamber of Commerce President Mike Metzler.

After Minuteman Melee, Protestors Have New Beef -- LAT and OCR 5/27/05
69-year old Hal Netkin won't be charged -- angering the protestors who surrounded his van, banged on it and refused to let him pass. Boy -- whatever happened to a college revolutionary's right to intimidate and harass old people?

Tibor Machan: In Silverado Canyon, Tunnel Vision -- OCR 5/27/05
Machan lambaste his fellow residents of Silverado Canyon -- a NIMBY hive -- over the tunnel.

Dana Parsons: Carona's Badge Is Slightly Tarnished -- LAT 5/27/05
Now that everyone else on the planet has already made the same comment, Dana Parsons weighs in.

OC Sheriff Made Donors His Deputies -- LAT 5/26/05
It sounds like the process for allowing people in the reserves needs to be -- and is being -- cleaned up. At the same time, does being a campaign donor disqualify one from being a reserve deputy, as long as one is otherwise qualified?

Carona To Ask State To OK Those Same Reservists -- OCR 5/27/05
The problems are fixed.

Great Park Budget OK'd -- OCR 5/27/05
$8.8 million samolians.

Higher Sewer Fees Approved -- OCR 5/27/06
Lovely.

Will Swaim: Facts and Feces -- OC Weekly
Swaim lambastes the OCR editorialist Steve Greenhut for being ignorant of the Yalta Agreement, although Swaim does his share of oversimplifying the matter.

Editorial: Sewer Rate Increase Stinks -- OCR 5/27/05
Lists the heroes and villains of the OCSD Board's vote to crank upo the rates.

The Rocco Files: "Just A Smokescreen" -- OC Weekly
Nick Schou reports how Steve Rocco believes the 1999 Little Saigon protest were a consipracy against -- you guessed it -- Steve Rocco.

OC Community Feels Forgotten -- LAT 5/26/05
Annexation to Anaheim should ease La Colonia residents' feelings.

Violence Erupts At OC Protest -- LAT and OCR 5/26/05
Hmmm..maybe if the thugs had just allowed their peaceably assembled fellow citizens to peacefully drive home, this wouldn't have happened.

OC Open Spaces Will Be Closed For The Season -- LAT 5/26/05
Gee - I'm sure glad all that land was set aside for the public to enjoy.

South Vietnam Flag Measure Backed -- LAT 5/26/05
Resolution permitting flying of the flag of the Republic of Vietnam over state property during Vietnamese-American events clears a hurdle.

Cox Snags A Fed $$ Jackpot, Rohrabacher Stems Stem Cells -- DP 5/26/05
There you go, Hanna.