Jim Lacy dumps Hunt - Endorses Carona

While I was not at the the now infamous Orange County GOP meeting, I got this .pdf file that is making the e-mail rounds.  I guess this letter from Dana Point Councilman Jim Lacy, switching his endorsement from Hunt to Carona, was distributed there.  Seemed like it would start a fun commenting chain.  Perhaps someone can help me out - I heard a while back that Lacy was the emcee of Bill Hunt's campaign kickoff event?  Anyone able to confirm that?  If so, then this switcharoo is pretty notable indeed...

Comments

[A big thud]

Looks like that Lacy letter put Carona right over the top! DOH!

That said, Hunt only has a handful of elected city council endorsements, and Lacy was a prominent one. Wonder if this will start a stampede to Carona, who is basically assured of re-election at this point. It takes money to win, and he has it all.

[Art Pedroza]

I have a lot of respect for Jim Lacy - I know this letter must have been hard for him to write. The sad thing re Jaramillo and Haidl is that Carona was warned not to hire them - but he did anyway. He was also warned not to give badges and guns to over 80 reserves who were unqualified and untrained. But he did anyway. Do you see a pattern? Yes, Jaramillo eventually was canned - but by then the damage was done. And he never should have been hired to begin with...

Lacy also did not address the Nativo Lopez endorsements. I am still waiting for Carona to explain himself...

it looks like Jim is trying to make nice after the whole Measure D debacle. Jim I am sure the Sheriff is thrilled!

[Confused in OC]

Help me out here folks. While looking through some of the archives on this blog I came across an interesting thread started waaaayyyy back in September of '05.

It dealt with a vote of the OC GOP Central Committee and its position on Measure D. here it details the events of the night and how the Central Committee decided to openly oppose Measure D by a one vote margin. And according to one of the posters, three of those individuals have ties to the Sheriff or the OCSD. This was heralded by all of the opponents of Measure D (who are coincidentally Carona supporters) as a righteous and good conservative position by the Central Committee. Now we zoom ahead roughly six months and the same body of people vote to NOT endorse Carona by a "lo and behold" one vote margin. And as crazy as it may seem, a potential swing vote against endorsing Carona was an OCSD employee who is now experiencing any number of perjoratives (from his peers I assume) on the Tin Star blog.

And now Carona supporters (coincidentally those who opposed Measure D) are crying foul.

So please help me out. Was the process corrupted back then or now? Or was it righteous and a good conservative position both times?

[Kibbuttzer]

Confused-

You have to remember that back in September, only the Die Hard fanatic political junkies in OC were aware of the extent of Carona's challenges on most of the negatives the public perceives Mike has against him as of today.

While most people may have read or heard of ONE of the scandals back in September, common courtesy was such that nobody took Carona to task personally over the Measure D issue --- Measure D was Cops (Good Guys) vs. Firemen (Get "No Respect" a la Rodney Dangerfield in The OC).

The endorsement gathering for OCGOP is Republicans "killing" themselves like they do every election cycle.

Mike Carona and what he may or may not have known, doing what he may have done personally, and whomever he spends his time with is frankly matters well beyond most of our pay grades. His ability to lead is a different skill set and definitely has "The Right Stuff".

It is sad he missed the endorsement by one vote, but as I believe Scott Baugh was quoted by Peggy Lowe, "if all 70+ members of the OC GOP weere in attendance, Mike would have won overwhelmingly."

I am finding that the only corruption in OC we can be sure of belongs to the newspaper reporters stirring up trouble for our elected officials to sell more newspapers.

Jim Lacy did the right thing. Case Closed.

[Laguna Niguel Republican]

This is Lacy's second smart switch. He jumped from DeYoung to Bates last week.

This is Lacy's second smart switch. He jumped from DeYoung to Bates last week.

"Smart switch", yes; but it seems Jim is lacking in conviction (a characteristic flaw he didn't pocess a few years back).

[Jim Who?]

Thank you Judge Kibbuttzer, but upon appeal your case is overturned.

While Scott Baugh may fancy himself to have god-like qualities of knowing what could have been/would have been, or at minimum thought he gave a pithy quote, the truth of the matter is there were at least 6 members who voted for Carona because they didn't vote by ballot - which, if you recall, the motion to vote by ballot only failed by 3 votes(28-25).

Get it through your head. Carona did not miss the endorsement by one vote - HE MISSED THE ENDORSEMENT. He failed; he was refused; he was denied;he was stopped short; he didn't get it; he lost; he was rejected; he was found wanting; he didn't measure up...

Pick one of the above that makes you feel better, have a drink and accept it.

Obviously Carona does not have "the right stuff", as determined by the Orange County Republican Party.

[Confused in OC]

Kibbutzer. That sort of helps.

But the reality remains that the same group of people voted to oppose Measure D voted to not Endorse Carona.

And the same people who praised the Measure D vote are condemning the Carona vote.

Hence my confusion.

[gadfly]

Jon (aka El Pistolero) Fleischman,

Glad to see you are back using your original pseudonym. You were wearing out the Green Machine tag.

[March 22, 2006]

Seems like Lacy should change his last name to Wishwashy...or Rubberspine

[Silence Dogood]

gadfly-

Nice try. I know for a fact "El Pistolero" isn't Jon Fleischman.

Plus, Flash had to have been in attendance at the Central Committee meeting because it's been written from both sides that he was. He spoke in favor of Carona (duh!). My tenacious Blogpenmate, El Pistolero, opens up his/her post with, "While I was not at the the now infamous Orange County GOP meeting..."

Oh, okay, then I guess we believe that he wasn't there...NOT

[Andy Favor]

A big thud,

The loss of Lacy may be significant. However he still has Alan Mansoor's endorsement and in my mind that is huge. For me an endorsement by Alan Mansoor trumps all other endorsements bar none.

Per the official vote count on the failed motion to vote by ballot (28 to 25), there were 53 voting members present.

Therefore, Carona did not lose by a one vote margin, it was a 4 vote loss.

Themes be the facts...

Thanks for the letter, Jim. The dramatic antics in the way it was dilivered to the central committee members, was hilarious. It helped contribute to the Carona loss.

[Not Tim Whitacre]

Wow, the SHRILL loud mouthed Marine is left speechless. Thank you Pistolero for shutting him up. Thanks Tim for helping get Jim Lacy over to our side. We appreciate it.

[Silence Dogood]

anonymous poster at 04:32 PM-

Actually, go back and read your Robert's Rules. Abstentions don't count toward the whole. Therefore the vote on secret ballot and the vote on the endorsement must be treated as completely separate. Carona lost the endorsement by one vote, not four.

http://www.rulesonline.com/start.html#rror-08.htm

Well, it looks like the old wheels have fallen off the Bill Hunt tricycle. Councilman Jim Lacy, an original Bill Hunt Nut, has suddenly had the reality anvil land on his head.

Dana Point councilmember Jim Lacy has unceremoniously dumped Bill in favor of the incumbent, Mike Carona. His letter
suggests that the tone and ineptitude of the Hunt campaign and its supporters guarantee a big loss in June.

Here’s a little taste of what Lacy had to say:

“(Bill Hunts) campaign has faltered. As it has faltered, it has also become increasingly shrill, with supporters sometimes blaming Sheriff Carona for just about everything under the sun. I fear that this shrillness will only get worse, and could contribute to dragging down the entire Department as the campaign proceeds. I just don’t want to be a part of that type of campaign.”

Message to Bill: Get Out!

Who conned Hunt into taking the career-destroying move of running for sheriff? Did he conduct/commission a feasibility study?

It is not so bad that he decided to run; anyone could fall pray to romanticism and unbridled idealism. What is most difficult to understand is the primary tactic he has used in attempt to gain support & momentum. To date I remain confused about his platform other than Carona is responsible for all that is wrong with Station 18, real or imaginary.

[Dim Wit Acher]

I don't believe it, I demand a DNA anaylisis of Lacy's keyboard, I think it was secrect agents who Carona obviously controls made a covert entry into Lacy's office and wrote thsi letter....

oooh I gotta go those black helicopters are overhead!

People, please, voters don't care who some local pol endorses. For that manner, they don't care who the national pol's endorse.

Haven't you heard? No one trusts politicians!

Lacy is just going where the money is. Hunt couldn't come up with whatever it is Lacy wanted so he jumped ship and joined the Carona team in hopes of getting a little of that bankroll.

It is just business to Jumbo-Jim.

[Beginning of Carona's End]

Beginning of Carona's End

Team Carona is working around the clock at damage control so much they are missing missiles pointed right at them. Why? Because Team Carona is made up of self serving, politically driven, fair weather friends. They only care about themselves.

Bill Hunt has the support of risk takers who think more about what he represents than their own personal interests.

Even what Hunt critics complain about is sometimes actually a positive. Such as the complaint that Bill seemed angry at the AOCDS event. I want someone to share in my anger. Anger at the unethical leadership we have. Anger was one of Martin Luther King's traits. He too had reason to be angry.

The same critics complain about a "negative" campaign. No leader is going to successfully oppose an unethical opponent by saying positive things about him while remaining happy. Colin Powell put it well, "Challenge the experts, even in their own backyard."

If no one had stepped up to the plate we would be looking around saying, "Isn't somebody going to do something about this?" Well somebody did. His name is Bill Hunt. He alone took up the challenge and has never backed down. He comes right at the power mongers with the truth and "They can't handle the truth."

Carona, Schroeder and Fleischman are more transparent to everyone with each day. You don't have to be a member of the OCGOP or receive an inadvertent e-mail from Jon to see it.

The AOCDS endorsement won't come close to Mike Carona. He has learned you can't s**t in your own woods. The AOCDS endorsement will be one more gesture that we have had it with being embarrassed and want back what was once ours.

[SemiNU2OC]

Sorry, I am only a 40 year resident of the OC. For the 25 of you, who is Jim Lacy and who is Bill Hunt? Any relation to Mike Hunt?

You just can't think too small in OC, can you.

Jim Lacy was nothing more than an emcee at one event for Bill Hunt. Big Deal. He was obviously offered a better deal from the Carona camp so he sold his endorsement to the higgest bidder.

Sleep well Jim...by the way Jim, have you seen the headlines from the main event where your letter had zero impact?

[Art Pedroza]

SemiNU2OC,

The question you need to ask is who is Nativo Lopez, and why did Carona endorse him...twice?