As the troubled career of Garden Grove firefighter Jeremy Broadwater goes down in flames over allegations of nepotism and incompetence, it seems likely to take the reelection campaign of his father, Garden Grove Mayor Bruce Broadwater, against fellow Democrat Bao Nguyen along with it. Other past and current City Council candidates may be singed as well.
1. Endorsement Night’s a-Comin’
Monday night is the DPOC’s Endorsement Meeting for Local Races — often a rollicking time — and it just got a lot more interesting. I’m not referring to my own candidacy for Water Board — golly, I still have to write about that — but as an observer of County Democrats and especially, in this case, Garden Grove.
After a mild purge of 13,036 voters countywide on August 14, Garden Grove’s registration was about 36.2% Republican to 35.8% Democrats — an advantage of 251 actual voters — with 23.7% NPPs (non-partisans, not counting those American Independents who only think that they’ve registered Independent.) That’s no surprise, but this is: in one of the few cities with direct election of a Mayor, three Democrats are running for Mayor — along with zero Republicans!
How does that happen? The usual answer, anytime all candidates in a city or district are from the party opposite the majority registration, is that at least one of them is not really representative of their party. (Really, how would most voters know?) Then, people in Party A (from which both candidates come) will tend to split their votes between them, but people in Party B (from which neither candidate comes) will tend to be very well informed that one of the candidates may be registered in Party A — but ACTS LIKE a member of Party B. And that allows the de facto “Party B” candidate to win.
To take one vivid example of this, consider what almost happened in CA-38 this year. (That district contains La Palma, so we get to write about it.) The incumbent, Linda Sanchez, is a traditional liberal Democrat. Many expected that she was going to be opposed by corrupt “Business Democrat” Ron Calderon, who might well have been able to beat her (with the help of independent expenditures that are so often there for candidates of pliant ethics). Ron Calderon’s legal problems prevented his run — short-circuiting what might otherwise right now have been possibly the most bitter race in Orange County.
Now when I say a candidate is “acting like” they’re from the other party, this doesn’t mean to suggest that being from the other party means being corrupt. Usually, it just means that the candidate has neither a firm ideology or the party’s interests at heart — and so can be easily bought off by monied interests who don’t give a damn about ideology. Plenty of Republicans don’t like Calderon’s sort of corruption — but nevertheless he was a readily available vote for conservative leaning business interests — because that’s where the money is. (A Republican Mayor who’s an easy touch for liberal unions might be the inverse example, but that’s less common. A Matt Cunningham might argue that this is true of Anaheim’s Tom Tait, but last Monday the OCGOP itself kicked that argument in the teeth.)
In Garden Grove, one Democratic candidate for Mayor fits the traditional Democratic mold; two don’t. Garden Grove School Board member Bao Nguyen will almost surely get the Democratic Party of OC endorsement on Monday. He’s the only one who has filed — and the only plausible reason that he wouldn’t get it is that some people may consider him too honest and non-hard to influence. This is a lousy reason not to endorse someone, and I think that there’s enough integrity in the room to prevent it.
The other Democrat is the incumbent Mayor, Bruce Broadwater, who did not even bother applying for the Democratic Party endorsement. I’ve heard unpleasant rumors about Broadwater for years now — he’s been on the City Council or serving as Mayor for all but two of the past 20 years — but I haven’t researched them myself; I’m told that you can get a good idea of his past performance from Voice of OC’s coverage, including this prescient one from almost a year ago. My own knowledge of Broadwater comes from the fact that Garden Grove has given even more money to the so-far-failed “JEDI Initiative” — which seeks not just to bring back the highly corrupted redevelopment program but “redevelopment on steroids” — than has the Radical Redevelopment Faction of the City of Anaheim.
That’s disturbing — but even I have to admit that it’s sort of esoteric for most voters. What the OC Register wrote about this weekend isn’t esoteric at all. Everyone can understand nepotism.
2. Nepotism Kills — and Mayor Bruce Broadwater Has Been Swimming in It
In a long piece that came out Friday and was revised since, Martin Wisckol and Salvador Hernandez (hereinafter just “Wisckol”) present a pretty shocking story. (Go ahead, click the link. It’s free!) Close observers of county politics — that is, almost no one — already knew that something weird was happening was from the Voice of OC story and some others, but this time the Orange Lady’s story lays it it vividly and strong.
If you want to get people’s attention, it helps to ladle out a little bit of needless death along with the garden variety corruption. Apparently, Bruce Broadwater’s son Jeremy Broadwater — one of the only 2% of applicants chosen to become a Garden Grove firefighter over the last year — almost did exactly that. (That 2% figure represents 10 hires out of 500 applicants.) This does not mean that the elder Broadwater knew what was going on — it is possible, for example, that he is a completely blithering idiot and has been living in a cave for the past year. (I’m betting on nepotism — and even if Papa Broadwater didn’t initiate it, he had the responsibility to monitor it and stop it cold. He, of course, didn’t.)
The main problems with the younger Broadwater becoming a Garden Grove firefighter — aside from the obvious (to all but the oblivious) one of flagrant political nepotism — are that (1) he has a hefty criminal record and (2) he’s apparently really, really, reeeeaaaaally unqualified for the job. That Voice of OC story up there was written before the ink was dry on his appointment. But, for some unknowable reason, Garden Grove Fire Department (“GGFD”) officials decided to give the poor kid a chance anyway.
And now, it appears, the verdict on young Broadwater is in. He has a tendency to — how does one best put this? — run the risk of killing people by making up their vital statistic rather than accurately measuring them. In fact, he’s done this often enough that the GGFD had to establish a new protocol especially for him: whenever he checks someone’s vitals, another firefighter has to go over and redo them to verify them. (Why do they let him take the vitals in the first place? I presume that at this point they are doing what attorneys call “building a record” for his termination — at least if Papa Broadwater loses the Mayor’s seat!)
You see — and this may surprise some of you — it turns out that if you say that someone whom you’ve just rescued is in pretty good physical condition, but the truth is that their vital signs indicate that they need to be rushed to the hospital, then your negligence could actually kill them! (Seriously, no kidding!) Let’s let the pros from the Register have their say for a while:
Rookie firefighter Jeremy Broadwater’s job performance has included potentially life-threatening mistakes on medical calls, according to internal department records obtained by the Register. Doubts about his abilities have resulted in him being removed from at least one fire call and have led a captain to call him “unsafe” and recommend his termination.
The department’s handling of Broadwater was part of the reason the union firefighters cast a 51-0 vote of no confidence in Fire Chief David Barlag in June, and is one of the issues being examined in an ongoing independent audit of the department.
The Register notes that neither Fire Chief Barlag, Bruce Broadwater, nor Jeremy Broadwater responded to reporters’ requests for comment — and that City Manager Manager Matthew Fertal did not address the issue but speculated that Jeremy Broadwater’s colleagues were prejudiced against him. YA THINK? Maybe they weren’t before — but THEY SURE HAVE REASON TO BE PREJUDICED AGAINST HIM NOW! Having firefighters make negligent (at best) errors leading to possible fatalities hurts all of their resumes (as well as threatening public support for their pensions!) Isn’t it nice to see a public safety union policing their own?
Wisckol goes on:
Between 1996 and 2000, Jeremy Broadwater was arrested by Garden Grove police on 10 occasions and was convicted of misdemeanor assault, resisting arrest, public drunkenness and shoplifting, court and police record show. While misdemeanors don’t automatically disqualify a candidate for firefighter, some familiar with typical fire department hiring practices say the highly competitive firefighter job field makes it unlikely an applicant with such a record would be hired.
…
“They screen them out before they even get to that part,” said [Retired fire Capt. Dennis] Standrod, who spent 32 years with the Garden Grove Fire Department and said he’s served on at least 10 firefighter interview panels in three cities, including Garden Grove. “It’s pretty well-known if you have anything on your record, you’re not going to be hired.”
Standrod views someone with a misdemeanor conviction even making it to an interview is unprecedented in his experience. Go on, read the whole thing — there’s lots more good stuff and it’s a pretty eye-popping adventure.
The story quotes Garden Grove City Councilman Chris Phan — whom I hope won’t mind being called a reform-minded Republican, because that’s what he looks like from here — as warning of consequences if there’s evidence of nepotism. And this is where it gets politically interesting. I don’t know much about, Steve Jones, one Republican member of Garden Grove’s City Council, but I do know a bit about Broadwater, his fellow Democrat Kris Beard, and the fifth member of the Council, Garden Grove City Councilwoman Dina Nguyen. And here’s where we see a fissure within the Republican Party.
Wisckol quotes Dina Nguyen as saying:
In my experience, the court provides people the opportunity to rehabilitate and become productive citizens. Half of the people who come out of the court system don’t end up as successful as Jeremy. I think he’s done well and become a productive citizen. … If he has performance issues, that should be addressed by his immediate superiors.
So here’s the score: I don’t know about Steve Jones, but Jeremy Broadwater has at least two reliable allies on the City Council: his Dad and the highly forgiving Republican Dina Nguyen. (She’s running for Seat 1 on the OC Water District Board, by the way — a race in which you, Dear Reader who lives in that district, will be voting for Robin Marcario if you have good judgment.) Broadwater’s nepotism clearly doesn’t bother him — although resigning and withdrawing from the race in shame see like a good option, it’s not how one should bet — and it doesn’t bother the apparently extremely forgiving of ethical deficits Dina Nguyen.
That leaves one member to be heard from: Kris Beard. And so we return to Democratic Party politics.
3. Kris Beard Has Got Some ‘Splainin’ to Do
While Bruce Broadwater isn’t shooting for an endorsement against Bao Nguyen, who is highly popular within the Democratic Party of Orange County, Appointed Councilmember Kris Beard does want an endorsement. Beard has run for Garden Grove City Council twice before — and lost. He won appointment this time because of his close political alliance with Bruce Broadwater. [UPDATE, Aug. 24: Or so I had been told. You’ll see that this is contested vigorously in the comments section below. What is irrefutable is that Beard was appointed to City Council the first time after the resignation of Andrew Do over the third-place candidate in the previous Council race, Robin Marcario. I address this in a comment in reply to Vern’s first comment below.] So it’s Beard’s endorsement that is going to be the focus of debate on Monday night. I know that there will be a debate because I personally plan to pull his name from the consent calendar. I have some questions to ask.
To be sporting, I’ll list some of them here.
- Does he think that Jeremy Broadwater’s hiring and retention within GGFD has been appropriate?
- Does he think that Bruce Broadwater’s actions with respect to his son’s job were appropriate?
- For Garden Grove Mayor, does he endorse Broadwater, or Nguyen, or neither? (Or Ayala?)
- Does he stand by the Council’s decision to give $50,000 in taxpayer money support the “JEDI Initiative”?
As in many other cities, partisan politics in Garden Grove have become highly messy. Broadwater and — barring a late conversion on Monday night — are Democrats for whom government ethics is an apparent bother, a position that I consider opposed to the brunt of the DPOC membership. Dina Nguyen — wife of Democratic City Council candidate Joe Dovinh, whom I like on a personal level — seems very much in alliance with Broadwater. Chris Phan, a good-government Republican, clearly favors the Democrat in the race with the greatest focus on ethics; he and Bao would probably be largely allied on the City Council, although their paths will presumably part if either is running for state or federal office.
4. Last Word Goes to the Facebookers
I understand your response regarding nepotism in the fire service, however… And I promise you this… This case is very different and “literally” life threatening. The mayor’s son is not capable of doing the job. He is going to hurt someone or himself. This fire department, who usually do not ban together for much other than softball games is finally had enough of their lack of leadership and the allowance of J.Broadwater to continue working with his substandard performance. The article does not say it all… And certain documents cannot be given to them because of privacy laws. But trust me, you do not want him responding to anyone’s house you know for a medical aid or a fire.
Now that this has been made public the city of GG will be facing the wrath of the personal injury attorneys. Any call that bozo is on = a nice payout should something go wrong.
To which Wilkins responded:
You [would] think the city leaders would be more concerned with this… My parents live in G.G. God help them, and him, if [he responds] to their house.
Yes, you would think that City leaders would care more about this sort of thing — starting with the City’s elected Mayor. Unfortunately, he seems driven by other considerations. Unless Garden Grove Republicans want to go against Phan and line up behind this sort of corruption, Bao Nguyen may have an easier time than most had thought.
The main question in Garden Grove may come down to this: will Joe Dovinh go against his wife on this issue and support Bao over Broadwater? I hope so. We’ll find out on Monday night.
Couldnta happened to a slimier, more homophobic Democrat. (Mayor Broadwater.)
Thanks for the report! Go Bao!
Thanks to some prodding by Paul Lucas, I went ahead and retracted some of the research I had done on Garden Grove politics in 2012 — including a story that EVERYONE interested in the city’s governance should read: this Feb. 21, 2012 piece by Ruben Vives entitled “‘Political incest’ in Garden Grove?”
http://articles.latimes.com/2012/feb/21/local/la-me-garden-grove-council-20120221
I’ll just call out a few choice excerpts:
Then there’s this:
And there’s this:
So now what I want to hear from Beard — and do I really have to ask Dovinh too? — is what if anything he plans to do to fight nepotism in City government. It seems that voters have already offered a couple of pretty good clues.
Thanks for prodding me to redo some of my old research, Paul!
My favorite part, Jones’ justification for appointing the Mayor’s son despite his criminal history: “I know Robert Dalton is a Garden Grove guy through and through.” LOL – leading us to imagine, what in these people’s mind constitutes being a “Garden Grove guy through and through?” And as opposed to what? Someone who once lived elsewhere and/or isn’t part of the “family?”
Also great: “Nguyen said her vote was based on Dalton’s resume and application. But a review of records showed a nearly blank application and no resume.”
And yes, you DO have to ask Dovinh these things as well.
Do they even know what nepotism IS?
Yeah, I know Vern, I do. But I don’t have to enjoy it.
Sorry, Joe — it’s just business. The pro-transparency anti-nepotism business.
Is Robin asking for the endorsement tonight? Can a water board person do that? Is it too late for her to do it?
I’M asking for one, and they cashed the check, so I presume that she can too.
If she hasn’t filled out the questionnaire, she can’t be considered tonight, but she (and other stragglers) can be raised at the September meeting. It likely means that she wouldn’t be on slate mailers, though.
I remember this one from a few years ago. But if Im not mistaken you put Dalton instead of Broadwater. This, I believe is the 2nd time this has happened. The last time with regard to Robin, they totally circumvented it to avoid appointing Robin. None of the council members wanted to have her on the council. She rocked the boat too much.
I may be wrong about thaat being the 2nd time. But Im pretty sure that it happened before this one and they used the same excuse as it not being binding but more of a guideline. And I can attest to you that the main antagonist on this was and is the city manager Matt Fertal who has a lot more pull on that council than any of the council members.
Matt Fertal, eh? Interesting. Would like to know more about this powerful city manager.
Yes, I’m surprised you guys weren’t on his trail before. None of the issues you attribute to Kris or Bruce or any one on the dais could have been done without this direction. Ask Robin. Had it not been for Fertal Jeremy would not have ever been hied in any job, Robin would have been appointed. Main Street would not have been sold out to developers like Steve Sheldon etc etc. The boogyman you have assigned to Beard Broadwater, Jones Nguyen, etc are all actually in the body of Fertal.
Maybe so, but a city council keeps the damn city manager they want, as long as he’s keeping them happy. Some cities like Westminster or Anaheim change ’em like underwear.
Some cities do. Some are too dumb t o question the city manager. This is the same result we get with term limits regarding the polarization of candidates and issues and parties. he institutional knowledge is gone every election. So whats left? Usually the higher up staff whop actually control tings due to their not having to lose their jobs due to term limits. In a great way this is how Garden Grove is ran by the strength of the city manager in this case Matt Fertal. Robin, I assume can ask for the DPOC endorsement I don’t see why not.
Yes please
Dalton WAS the Mayor in early 2012.
Great — then I’m interested in his views on Fertal too.
Do you think Broadwater might still be living in the sleepy farming community where kids getting in a little trouble didnt keep them from becoming civil servants when Dad is the Mayor? Although, if he’s willing to have the rules bent to take care of his son, what other rules has he been behind bending, you know, for the good of the city? Doesn’t one hand always wash the other?
Boa should DPOC endorsement. I dont see any issue with that. I suggest you call Tony Bedolla and in ask about the inside baseball surrounding hiring at GGFD and OCFA in general.
Chris Beard is a decent guy. Trying to string an Albatross around his neck is not a good use of your energy and is actually quite counter productive, I urge you to aim your guns somewhere else.
Broadwater is highly compromised and he knows it and that’s hwy he hasn’t even bothered asking for the DPOC endorsement along with the other main reason that in GG the DPOC endorsement would actually be voter repellent.
Greg, you aree going off the rails again and tilting your lance at the wrong windmill. I urge you to lay off of Chris Beard lest it cause you even more problems.
Oh, he just wants to ask Kris a few good questions. And if you’re right about Kris he’ll have some good answers.
No those are not good questions they are ambush gotchya questions in which either way he answers he is fucked. Seriously don’t make yourself and others that are around you look like assholes. Don’t put him a wedge spot to which there is no good answer. You want to ask good questions go ahead but don’t do stupid petty shit like that Greg.
Paul: for future reference, if one wants to “AMBUSH” someone, one does not publish the freaking questions that one plans to ask in a place where he or those close to him will be likely to see it more than a day and a half ahead of time.
Yes, there are some REALLY GOOD ANSWERS to these questions: such as “I DISAGREE WITH BROADWATER AND AGREE WITH BAO.” If you don’t think that he should say that, you mystify me. It’s called “taking a stand” — something that, as I recall, you’ve been known to do. And I politely disagree — well, semi-politely — with your characterizing these issues as “petty.”
Lets review:
1) Does he think that Jeremy Broadwater’s hiring and retention within GGFD has been appropriate?
A) This question is as inappropriate as the implied (although we all know) nepotism in this case. Hell Bruce has gotten his tainted spawn like 6 jobs already in GG city over the years. Don’t be cheap Greg.
2. Does he think that Bruce Broadwater’s actions with respect to his son’s job were appropriate?
A) same as above. You are asking him a question that has absolutely no appropriate answer. If he answers in the negative he loses the support of one of the most powerful men in GG and paints a target ion his back forever making you an outcast with no access to that council or him forever. If he answers in the affirmative he loses the endorsement and you by de-facto get a Rep elected. Nice going dick.
For Garden Grove Mayor, does he endorse Broadwater, or Nguyen, or neither? (Or Ayala?)
A) Bao is the only one seeking the endorsement. You are asking him to make a choice in which there is no choice and only bad shit can come from either answer. Don’t be a dick Greg.
Does he stand by the Council’s decision to give $50,000 in taxpayer money support the “JEDI Initiative”?
A) did he vote for that give away? Then there’s your answer. You are only seeking scorched earth in either direction. Dont be a dick Greg!
Alternative answers:
(1) “NO! I will not put up with that, which is why I support Bao!”
(2) “I think that what we already know publicly raises grave concerns about why the Mayor did not step in and put a stop to events about which he must have known. We will investigate this thoroughly, including frank interviews with involved City Staff, and then we will take appropriate actions” — including potentially those contemplated by the Political Reform Act.”
(3) “I’m happy to see that DPOC has endorsed Bao Nguyen and I give him my personal endorsement as well.”
(4A) “I did not vote for to fund a law firm’s efforts to make it easier to create corrupt public work deals that largely enrich right-wing Republicans and their cronies” — if that’s true, or
(4B) “I did vote for that $50,000, but having re-thought it in light of corruption scandals I regret doing so and would not vote for further support of JEDI.”
Now he may disagree with those answers, but if he’s on the side of reform I don’t see why he would hesitate to provide them. As for my saying so meaning that I am being “a dick,” I respectfully deny that implication and suggest that you reconsider your insult. (That is far nicer than the reaction I’d prefer to offer.)
Greg, Bruce is not seeking the DPOC endorsement. It would be improper for him to take an endorsement stance on that race since the incumbent Broadwater is not seeking the endorsement. If however, in the timeline of endorsements, if Bao gets the endorsement for his race then it would be ok for beard to lend him his endorsement but not before.
As a lawyer, you should be able to clearly see the minefield you laid out for anyone in that spot let alone beard. One cannot speculate on an ongoing investigation. It would be improper and possibly illegal. Definitely unethical for him to speculate.
You are simply being antagonistic towards Beard because someone whom you wont mention has told you an unsubstantiated rumor. Thats unprofessional and cheap at best.
Are you really arguing that it is improper for a City Council candidate to endorse in a separate Mayoral race?
I’m not asking him whether he plans to respect the DPOC endorsement for Bao, if it happens. I’m asking him whether HE, PERSONALLY, intends to endorse Broadwater. That’s not setting him loose into a minefield; it’s finding out whether he favors or opposes Broadwater.
As for your second paragraph, there is no criminal investigation into Young Broadwater. He can answer as generally as Chris Phan did in the story I linked. But obviously, the initial nepotism and the protection of a City Employee are of great interest when it comes to Broadwater’s campaign. Is Beard going to be part of holding him accountable, or an obstacle to it, or will he try to stay out of the way? You seem to think that the former is illegal and unethical. I have no idea where you are getting that. It’s so bizarre that it arouses suspicion.
No, “antagonistic towards Beard” would mean not giving him a chance to address the issue at hand. It would also mean hanging your own strange objections to asking him substantive questions around his neck — but I’m not going to do that either.
The history of Broadwater and Beard being political allies is not one rumor told once. You are foolishly putting me in the position of putting out a cattle call to ask publicly “hey, who else has heard that they were allies during the time of his first and his second appointment to Council?” I really wish that you wouldn’t do that; if they have any such history, and if they now are on opposing sides, I expect that he’s not looking for you to ask me to put up or shut up.
Vern — Vern, I may need some help. I may have been dosed by someone, because I think I might be hallucinating. I keep reading things here that look like Paul Lucas lecturing me on my deportment and on the legitimacy of not challenging others because it would be politically inconvenient. That … that can’t be real, can it?
I’m going to go reply to them as if they’re real, just in case they are.
Concur Paul.
Kris Beard is the type of person who should be in office. Human beings don’t come much better.
He’s not looking to ask about Beard running for office. He’s looking to smear him, for his own agenda.
Greg, if you are truly concerned about “good-government” and “ethics”, then show it.
Based on the slimy yellow journalism you display above, I doubt you do.
I have not decided how I’ll vote, Neil. The further he is away from Broadwater — who you seem to be defending, by the way, with your charge of “yellow journalism” — the more likely I am to support him. The further he is away from Broadwater, the less that the nepotism problem described at length above touches him.
So, because I’ve heard reports that don’t match Paul’s and your representation about him — ones that could be wrong, but are probably held by others as well — I’m going to ask. Do you really have a problem with that?
I haven’t made a single comment about Broadwater.
I have only commented on Kris Beard and your published words towards him.
Now you look to paint me with your broad brush.
OK, we’ll play it your way.
So it’s your understanding that Kris Beard is not, and has never been, a political ally of Bruce Broadwater? Would you have been in a position to know?
Is it your position that that shouldn’t matter? Is it your further position that no one could disagree with its not mattering? Your turn.
If you favor Beard as much as you seem to, and you truly believe that “in GG the DPOC endorsement would actually be voter repellent,” then you should be rooting on any attempt I might make to derail his endorsement. That way he’d be more likely to win. Or should I take your statements in some way other than literally?
Regardless, I’m not pledging to vote against him; I’m saying that I want to ask him some pointed questions, all stemming back to corruption in Garden Grove, before I would vote to endorse him. (And thus, according to you, “hang an albatross around his neck”. You’re making this really confusing, Paul.)
based on your ‘About’ paragraph, you live in Brea.
How exactly will you be voting in GG elections?
I’ll be voting on the DPOC endorsement of him, which he is seeking, at our meeting tomorrow night. Does it still seem sinister to you?
what seems sinister is your implication that Beard is corrupt, because of the actions of another.
If he’s been a political ally of the longtime Mayor, then I think he has some things to explain. It doesn’t mean that he has abused his own power, nor do I make such an allegation. But someone who facilitates others’ wrongdoing, even if not personally profiting, still has something to explain. Now do you mind if I don’t elaborate on what he’d have to explain?
Maybe you should contact me offline. Let me know if you want me to write you.
By the way, Neil: we’re on the same side of the 405 Toll Road issue and the same side of Poseidon, so I’m inclined to take your opinion seriously. I’m also inclined to take seriously the opinion of Robin Marcario (who is right on both issues), and who I may well ask for her views on this. So do you support Robin Marcario for OC Water District Seat 1 over Dina Nguyen — who, uh, I see has endorsed Kris Beard?
Whether he supports Robin over one of his featured endorsers, by the way, is a question that I won’t ask Beard, because that does seem to put him in the sort of bind that Paul Lucas imagines he faces if I ask him anything at all. But I will ask that question of you — because Paul’s jumping into the middle of this and your following him suggests that there is a LOT going on behind the scenes in GG politics, in terms of who has allied for and against whom, that has not come to public light.
I suspect, although it’s only a suspicion, that it should.
Greg, Im simply caalling you out for being a dick. Dont be a dick. (Just like you) I dont live in GG (anymore),(Unlike you) I dont get involved in GG (anymore), Imnot part off anything “behnd the scenes” as you put it. I know Kris Beard (not very well) but I know the guy has a good heart and is at least 75% on the same page (Unlike alot of Elected Dems you support) on Democratic issues.
I dont suffer a bully no matter where they are. You or Dan C.
I’m on Central Committee, Paul; I’m technically involved in every race.
If someone had a minor, possibly even tangential, with Lou Correa you would be all over them trying to ferret out the truth behind that relationship — IF you didn’t just decide to pre-judge them without further evidence. So please do not lecture me on bullying. There’s a difference between bullying and doing one’s due diligence.
As I do not live in District 1, I don’t support anyone in that race.
I do see that Robin is a mosaic artist. I’m not sure what benefits those skills would bring to a water board position.
Neil, as the guy who recruited Robin to join the water board race (against Dina) I’ll take that one. I’ve known Robin for years as a ridiculously intelligent and detail-oriented fighter against waste, corruption, and government secrecy, easily smart enough to learn all about local water issues in the time allotted, and honest enough to resist all the money floating around that scene. Of Dina, I would hazard the opposite, on all counts.
Her mosaic art is what you see on Garden Grove bus benches. Not only is it striking and beautiful, but it has the function of preventing graffiti. I THINK she did them, or most of them, for free, but I should double-check before I say.
We’ll be writing plenty about our Water Board candidates over the next couple months.
Your position is duly noted. What sort of art does Dina Nguyen practice?
@ Vern
my intent was not to disparage Robin Marcario. Despite my inability to vote in their election, I spent some time last night looking into both her and Nguyen.
If I was voting, Robin would probably be my vote. I’m a big fan of intelligence and attention to detail.
I think it’s clear that Robin has a lot of support on this site and there may be some lingering feeling associated with Beard’s appointment.
That doesn’t mean that Greg’s guilt by association actions are reasonable.
I’m not a big fan of that.
Look greg, Im not “Supporting” Beard or anyone for that matter in this race. I paid no attention to it until you went on this wild witch hunt. Im taking task with your half cocked shoot, aim and ready approach. It’s embarrassing and stupid. I dont have a horse in this race but i do know Kris beard is a pretty good guy and a solid principled individual. I would take to task these comments made about anyone I know that you were attacking so unreasonably.
Great — give us your glowing praise of Beard, then, as a pretty good guy and solid principled individual — with more details than just that glurge. I’ve literally never spoken to the guy, but simply had him characterized to me since 2011, from time to time as part of Broadwater’s pack of supporters. I’d be HAPPY to be wrong about that.
For the record, I don’t believe that you have no horse in the race. There’s nothing wrong with that — except for your lack of candor.
Greg, some person put an idea in your head without any clear evidence. And you are running with it. You are having a manic episode that is having an effect on a person that doesn’t deserve it. Its unsubstantiated and crass and just plain stupid. Dont be a dick Greg.
You are trying to hang the albatross of Broadwater around the neck of Chris Beard in a weird way to somehow support Bao Nguyen. Guess what? Its going to have the opposite effect. You are being a jerk for no reason knock it off.
Until you called me today before we took to comments, I had never heard a single thing to the contrary.
That itself doesn’t make it true; even a sizable group of people can be misinformed. But it sure does justify asking.
You’ve had ample opportunity to cast doubt on any such political alliance. That’s fine. But if you think that asking him questions about it is itself “hanging the albatross of Broadwater” around his neck — especially when he can detach it with a single word — the I am not the one here exhibiting mania.
But go on being a dick if you wish, Paul. After all, there’s nothing unusual about your jumping into discussions of political races with your cleats on when it doesn’t involve something you care very much about, such as marijuana legalization, attacking Lou Correa, or … well, actually, I can’t think of a third example.
What comments has Bao Nguyen made about Jeremy Broadwater? About JEDI? About Corruption general?
Are we going to hold Bao Nguyen to the same ambush standard you are setting for Kris Beard If Bao doesn’t give the answers you find acceptable are we to follow your lead and deny Bao the endorsement too?
Good questions. I’d support him anyway, but if someone else really want to ask him, I’ll bet that he’d have good and reasoned answers. (Perhaps not about JEDI because being on School Board he’s had no reason to become involved with it.)
I disagree with Bao a fair amount of the time on CC. I’ve never had a single reason to doubt his integrity. That’ll do a lot for me, when it comes to local politics.
Just wondering, WAS THERE an agendized Council vote on the $50K JEDI support? That caught my eye, because the $25K support from Anaheim was a ‘discressionary expense’ from the (prior) City Mangers office, and as such, NEVER MADE it to an Agenda or past the Council (if that would have made a difference) I found nothing in a search of GG agenda archives, perhaps that’s just me. ( I DID notice their comment period limit is 5 minutes, not 3, as in Anaheim, but also subject to change by Council / Mayor action)
The comment period is GG is 3 minutes I assure you. Also, do you have dates to the GG city council meetings where this was discussed? And when was this JEDI money earmarked and by whom in GG?
He said it was NOT discussed at council as far as he can tell.
GG oral comments are 5 minutes long still because we fought for them. I am very interested in the JEDI as I have never heard it discussed nor seen it on an agenda.
Great question, BB. I don’t know the answer.
“Discretionary expense” for a lobbyist on a statewide initiative to augment City Council power past all restraint? Mind blown.
Larry Agran, Bruce Broadwater, Miguel Pulido, Loretta Sanchez ,Tony Recaukaus, Dana Rorherbacher, Ed Royce have all been in office WAY TO LONG.
Some more crooked than the others.
The difference is you have a young guy with some promise in Bao Nguyen. That’s a good thing.
But this meddling and petty debate, which really amounts to “insider baseball” will screw things up, add to the already growing divisiveness on Chapman Avenue tomorrow
This is why we end up with what we have.
First, without any evidence, state that Kris Beard won appointment BECAUSE you believe of his “close political alliance” with Bruce Broadwater. And because of that you plan to “pull his name from the consent calendar”. Then you plan to hold his endorsement hostage becaiuse he hass “Some Splainin” to do about things he has nothing to do with like Jeremy Broadwater’s getting the 6th job he has gotten at the city because of nepotism. Which has been going on for YEARS before Kris Beard even first ran for city council.
Then you want to know about issues that you should be asking Bruce about instead of Kris and still holding him hostage for someone else’s actions and wanting to know if he thinks they are appropriate placing him in a position to have a hostile relationship with one of his colleagues in either way. No safe way out of that one and the guy isnt even involved in it. How fucked up is that?
Then you want him to be in a possible hostile situation in his seat for the next four years about asking him about something someone else did regarding that JEDI thing.
Mind you, I will bet you dollars to donuts you couldn’t find your way to GG city hall without GPS as Im sure you have never been there but now its incumbent upon you to be the grand inquisitor to someone you couldn’t pick out in a line up?
man that is some ego you got there.
Greg, don’t be a dick.
Let me explain some aspects of DPOC procedure that make no longer be securely housed in your brain.
– I have the right to pull his name to raise matters regarding his endorsement before I and other vote on it
– I would usually, as a courtesy, have the right to be recognized to express those concerns (but who knows?)
– I have no power to “hold his appointment hostage” — that’s a weird notion. We have a short period of debate and then we vote; he needs 60% or more to win and if I’m satisfied with his answers I’ll be part of that 60%.
He’s on the Council now and he’ll be on the Council both when the Jeremy Broadwater situation is settled — and, I’d hope, and other future Broadwater nepotism is effectively preempted — and, prior to that, when the current election takes place. He’s not someone without power or influence.
If he doesn’t want the hostile relationship that Broadwater has apparently EARNED with honest colleagues on Council, he can sidestep the questions. No problem. I vote no; at worst, from his perspective, 40% of the body agrees with me. Then he doesn’t get his name on the slate mailers. But would say something about him if he’s so concerned about possibly getting on the wrong side of Broadwater that he would not stand up to him even under THESE conditions.
You have never been sparing, so long as I’ve known of you, in willingness to make political enemies in what you thought was a good cause. That is why your argument and the vehemence with which you make it seems very, very, very weird.
Yes, I’ve been to GG City Hall. And asking four questions during what may be five minutes in debate is not being a “Grand Inquisitor,” for God’s sake. You’ve lost your bearings and, from your perspective, you’re only making things worse. But do what you think you need to do, sport. Not everyone will find it suspicious.
Greg my issue is this: You are going after Kris Beard for things you assign to Bruce Broadwater. Much like the DPOC and Melahat and others did to me some years ago. thats the source of my vigor. I dont know Kris Beard that well, I have no arrangements or any dealings with him as you keep alluding. You are being a bully in a witch hunt and using some other poor guy as your proxy to attack Bruce Broadwater. thats just patently unfair.
It is true, Robin got Screwed! Royally Screwed out of what her placing in the 2010 election should have garnered her: the appointment to fill a vacant seat. But in the end, it was the animosity the other council members had towards Robin that would have resulted in anyone but Robin being appointed. If it were up to me, I would have appointed Robin to the seat. But I was never in that kind of position.
Just to clarify the facts. In 2010 Kris Beard was appointed to fill a vacancy on GG City Council. He ran for the spot in 2012 and lost, the voters voted him out. He came in 4th. He was then re-appointed for another 2 years.
The disregard of the voters intent and the refusal to choose another candidate to fill the vacancy is favoritism. Kris Beard has served the equivalent of an entire 4 year term on GG city council without ever being elected. What is so special about him?
Who do you think pushed for the 1st and 2nd appointments? Was it the same people?
Yes, same people with the exception of Chris Phan. He was just elected to city council the second, re-appointment. Broadwater, Nguyen, Jones were there for both appointments of Beard.
Who favored the appointment each time?
You should read through the comments to get a sense of Paul Lucas’s take on things.
I’ve heard for years (I can’t recall it coming from you) that he was allied with Broadwater. Paul seems convinced that he is not, and that my asserting such a relationship based on what others have told me makes me Worse Than Hitler. If you have a take, either way, I’m interested in hearing it.
First of all, I never said anything about Hitler. It would be naive to claim that there was no relationship. He was a Planning Commissioner prior to his first appointment. Anyone and everyone knows that the planning commission is the jumping off point to council. Thats where Steve Jones was before he got appointed then elected.
You are gunning for Kris Beard due to your views on Broadwater. Being that the only ones on the ballot for Council are Beard, Do Vinh, and some other unknown guy makes this race a non starter. Bruce is not even an endorser of Kris Beard.
Second, your criticism of him is on issues wholly owned by Broadwater who is not seeking the endorsement from DPOC so Bao’s nod is pretty much in the bag. I hope he beats Bruce.
Its ok to criticize Kris Beard but criticize the guy for hiss own actions. Dont assign guilt by association. For petes sake man McCarthy much?
Have you anything about Kris Beards votes or actions since he has been in the dais? You started out on a piece that is critical of Bruce Broadwater and rightfully so. But then you got some people telling you some things that are in bad light on Kris and you take that to go after the guy without any solid evidence?
That’s just juvenile yellow journalism.
You have never heard the phrase “Worse than Hitler”? You never watched the Simpsons? No wonder you’re weird.
You should be happy with how things were resolved today. No go away for a long time, asshole.
Greg, you keep mentioning what you’ve “heard” about Beard. Who specifically did you hear these statements from?
I (and Paul I think) have no background in supporting Broadwater or Nguyen.
What we have in common is offense at the mud you sling in Beard’s direction, especially when it appears that it is based only on conjecture.
You mention disdain for Broadwater’s potential nepotism – what would you call it when a Party Chair and site editor uses their position to promote favorite candidates, and cast unwarranted aspersions at others?
Why do you think he was appointed to city council, twice? He has not rocked the boat, it has been smooth sailing for him.
Not rocking the boat is afar cry from collusion with regards to Jeremy who has been getting his daddy to get him jobs for GG for as long as dad has been on the dais.
It really sounds like GG needs a big cleanup crew.
We worry about Kris losing his seat to some unnamed Republican… but how exactly do the Dems in power in GG differ from the Reeps in power there? Just asking…
Good question. But in the least I would assume that they wlld have to go against the gauntlet of DPOC backlash if anything was hinky. Apparently the OCGOP don’t give a fuck.
does it really mater if they are Dems or Repubs in a local election? Why would it matter if ALL citizens are to be given a voice as we are ALL residents. You Dems plan of forcing political agendas on the residents or something? How about building smart and not overcrowding the infrastructure and having a non-political party mentality
You don’t get me. I’m saying the same thing. I’m saying it hardly matters, the Republicans and Democrats in power in that town seem equally corrupt. And if you knew me you’d know I often support honest public servants of either party or neither.
Broadwater used his mic kill switch on the wife once. We defeated his reckless overbuilding with our referendum a few years back when he was mayor. I am just tired of GG council getting elected then getting hooked on power trips or bought out. How about listening to the concerns of the residents who pay the taxes and what they want. We want parks to visit, not a casino or 15 houses on an 1.2 acre lot.
Mat Fertel? What a loser please make him leave. I want to vote for a resident who cares about their hood and not whos head they can step on to further their political career.
You see, Matt Fertal was never a powerful City Manager. He was a puppet for the Council majority and as soon as he lost the majority (i.e., Broadwater getting defeated and kicked off the City Council by the public) he resigned, I mean retired. He submitted his resignation before the new Council gave him the heave ho. Fertal’s influence was only that he was able to push redevelopment projects which he negotiated to the advantage of the developer as opposed to the City. Those projects were approved by the Council majority who had accepted huge campaign contributions from those very developers.WIth Fertal’s resignation and the changes on the City Council, I would expect a huge turnover in the management (or many might say mismanagement) in City Hall