Excellent news for all of us who care about not only the Orange County Fairgrounds, but also the quaint notions of accountability, open governance, and justice for crooks: Governor Brown has just replaced two of the Board members intimately involved in the ultimately unsuccessful Great Fairgrounds Swindle, with truly stellar choices!
Gone are Dave Ellis‘ two most dependable remaining allies on the Board, the ancient, ill-tempered foreclosure tycoon Dale Dykema and the hapless Gary Hayakawa, both appointed as wealthy Schwarzenegger donors, and both useful tools in Ellis’ scheme to privatize and profit off the Fairgrounds our grandparents paid for. For the wise and witty Governor Brown has replaced them, at the end of their terms, with:
- Ashleigh Aitken, daughter of legendary Democrat lawyer Wylie and an accomplished attorney and former US Attorney herself – as well as an equestrian, something that’s been sorely needed on the Board. Ms. Aitken’s 4-year old daughter was in the news Friday when she mistakenly assumed President Obama, on his recent OC visit, was a member of her family since his picture was all over her house.
- and StanTkaczyk, the beloved former CEO of Rainbow Disposal, philanthropist, and husband of the “Irrepressible Barbara Venezia.”® This appointment by Brown of a prominent Republican marks a break in the long tradition of governors using these appointments as rewards for political loyalists … although given Stan’s and Barbara’s tempestuous history with Ellis, it could also be seen as another jab at Mister Toad.
Ashleigh and Stan join Governor Brown’s splendid previous appointees, fire-breathing OCEA chief Nick Berardino and Santa Ana arts bigwig Gerardo Mouet. (Way to stick it to Costa Mesa, Jerry – a labor guy and a Mexican!)
Damn near friendless...
Meanwhile, the four remaining Schwarzenegger appointees (besides Ellis) have been less and less dependable allies for Ellis, visibly coming under the influence of Berardino’s relentlessly logical arguments as the months go by, as witness their near-unanimous rejection of Dave’s vendetta against Jeff Teller’s swap meet in November. Now that we’re looking at a possible majority of reasonable and honest folks, what should be the first order of business?
- Put an end to the waste of hundreds of thousands of public dollars on the pricey Mannat-Phelps attorneys that were only hired because Attorney General Brown withdrew his reasonably-priced lawyer in ’09 due to the Board’s shady dealings and conflicts of interest. Now that the new improved Board will have nothing to hide from the public, they can go back to using someone competent and reasonably priced from AG Kamala Harris’ office.
- Conduct that forensic audit of what really went down in 2009-10 with the nearly-successful Great Fairgrounds Swindle – an audit proposed by Mr. Berardino at his first meeting and quickly shot down.
- Look again at creating that citizens’ oversight board – another Berardino idea that’s so far been rejected, but will prevent the abuses and secrecy which led to the events of 2009-10.
- Look at putting an end to the barbaric and inhumane practice of Elephant Rides. I’ll be writing about that within the week, as I’ve been contacted by a fellow who fights on that front, and who was laughed off by the Ellis-dominated Board as well as the thankfully departing Fair CEO Steve Beazley.
Mostly, it’ll be fun to watch Ellis squirm at the next meeting Thursday morning, when having to share a table with StanTkaczyk whom he savaged so gleefully during Barbara’s 2006 Newport council run, causing Babs to drop out of the race. Good times ahead…
LOL!
The caption of Ellis as “Damn near friendless” is priceless.
In re: Ellis.
I’ve gotta go with our ongoing caption at FFFF: “the transformation into an oxygen breathing life form was slow and painful.”
slow and painful and ongoing.
*Change is sometimes good. “The proof of the pudding…….”
Norberto’s piece on this today is really good, he talked to Ashleigh and Stan, and they’re even better than I thought (I’d forgotten that Ashleigh and her dad helped represent us in our lawsuit stopping the Swindle.)
http://www.voiceofoc.org/oc_coast/article_52dd43e6-5d79-11e1-943f-001871e3ce6c.html
Wow, transformed? Seems a bit much. Six Republicans and three Democrats. Transformed!
But, I have to say I am shocked that you would mock a veteran for his disability that is a result of his service to this country. You can mock Hayakawa for his politics but to mock a disabled veteran seems a bit skeezy.
And, you refer to Dykema and Hayakawa as wealthy donors while ignoring the fact Brown is paying back favors as well.
And, appointments to the Fair board have no effect on Costa Mesa politics. The Fair is a state agency not at all related to Costa Mesa.
And, finally, you keep swinging for the fences when it comes to Ellis and keep whiffing. Remember the subpoena you were gloating about? Where are the bombshells you promised as a result of that document dump? Nothing there? You keep rehashing vague conspiracy theories but never produce any evidence. A forensic audit? What, do you believe that Fair has some vault with all the smoking guns just waiting for someone to open the door? Please. Your flights of fancy become more and more irrelevant as time goes by.
Too bad you are never held accountable for all the baseless accusations you publish. But you do know your audience and they lap it up.
Table42……answers some of your questions…..
The state’s Fair Political Practices Commission continues to investigate the secret hiring of former state Sen. Dick Ackerman in the summer of 2009. Ackerman’s law firm, Platinum Advisers, were paid more than $150,000, which the activists say was at least partly for illegal lobbying.
“If there are public records requests that are not being addressed, then I would really want us to follow all our legal obligations as a board and a state agency,” said Aitken, a former federal prosecutor.
Tkaczyk was also critical of how the records requests have been handled.
“I think that’s wrong,” he said. “We all have to be accountable for our actions. And you can’t just say, ‘I don’t want to talk about it’ if you were part of it.”
Greg,
First, as you say Ackerman is being investigated. Not the Fair.
Second, Aikten’s quote begins with IF.
So, what is your point?
Well since I personally aware of the ignored public records requests, I can say that, that is not an “if”.
You think Beazley is just walking away and folding his tent because he wants to look for greener pastures?
Funny that he was interviewed by FPPC investigators and days later tendered his resignation. It’s a lot easier to look for a new job while you still have one.
Yes, transformed. Four new honest people, who cares what party. Two late Schwarzenegger appointments who are not implicated in the swindle and have shown themselves to be thoughtful and cautious. Kristina and Joyce, who were involved but have not been dependably dancing to Dave’s tune lately. Yes, transformed.
Didn’t know Hayakawa was wounded in the service, I’ll modify my description of him (which wasn’t that nasty to begin with.) There, took out the alliterative “hobbled,” wasn’t 100% happy with it anyway.
What favor is Brown paying back to Stan, the Republican? He did NOT donate to Brown (I just checked.)
I’m starting to give up on that Ellis subpoena thing, I can’t get a hold of my Inland Empire pajarito, maybe he’s already in prison. OK, maybe there was nothing incriminating or embarrassing in those Ellis documents – or if there was I don’t know about it.
This was the doc you sent to S. Kang Schroeder?
Remember Yoda and Obi Wan’s discussion when Luke took off against orders? “There is another.”
NO! Totally different thing, dude. That was solid. Table 42 is referring to an Inland Empire scandal, where one of the defendants wanted to drag in Ellis, subpoenad a lot of his documents, and promised me that they were gonna be at least very juicy and possibly incriminating. I still haven’t seen nothing.
NOT to be confused with the case against Dick Ackerman for illegal lobbying, which is very solid.
Excellent! (sorry)
Okay, transformed may stay in that context. I would use evolve, but whatever.
And, thank you for correcting your word choice regarding Hayakawa but even if he wasn’t wounded in the service, is it okay to mock the disabled? He wasn’t using a cane as some kind of affectation, was he?
And thanks for admitting the subpoena was a case of counting your chickens before they came home to roost.
Similarities and differences between Dykema and Hayakawa. They both cling to the highest opinion of their own motives, and they’re both led around by the nose by Dave. But there’s a sweetness about Gary that’s utterly lacking in Dale.