.
.
.
.
.
Term limits for state office and some local offices like the Orange County Board of Supervisors have resulted in a game of musical chairs where office holders facing a term limit look around for another office to seek. Orange County’s former First District Supervisor Jim Silva, now a State Assemblyman after being termed out of his Supervisor office, and soon to be termed out of his Assembly office, is reportedly considering a move back in this game of musical chairs. His old County Supervisor seat looks tempting since current incumbent John Moorlach is now in his final term. Look for Moorlach to run for State Assembly or the State Senate to further advance the art of political musical chairs.
In another form of political musical chairs, Todd Spitzer, who had his sights on the Office of District Attorney until he was recently dismissed by our DA amidst much controversy is apparently eying the office of Third District County Supervisor that he once held. That office will soon be vacated by Bill Campbell, a former Assemblyman who is facing the end of his term limited stint as Supervisor. The press reports that Spitzer has a campaign war chest in excess of $1 million amassed when he was an Assemblyman before being term-limited out of that office, which would make him a formidable candidate. Orange City Councilwoman Carolyn Cavecche has had considerable personal interest and support to run for that supervisorial office herself, but Spitzer’s sudden change of circumstances clouds the picture. Will Spitzer and Cavecche face off in a primary, or will some kind of smoke filled room power brokering see one of them bowing out in deference to the other? Something to watch.
Then there is newly elected Fourth District County Supervisor Shawn Nelson. We are to believe that despite demonstrating considerable intelligence carrying him through law school, passing the bar and then becoming a practicing attorney, he failed to grasp the paperwork associated with taking office and signed up for the county retirement plan with the greatest level of benefits all the while having a public stance in opposition to lucrative public sector retirement plans. When called out on that self-serving pension enrollment he reversed course and canceled that enrollment, saying he did not understand what was before him. So, we are to believe this intelligent lawyer did not understand the paperwork. Not to be outdone, Nelson subsequently urged his Board colleagues to reduce or eliminate retirement benefits for elected county officials, including the Supervisors. Should this happen, it is but one more detriment to anyone who is not independently wealthy seeking such a public office. The common man will have to go eat cake somewhere else. Though this idea of Nelson’s was not DOA it seems to lack much support within county government. At this point the Supervisors and the County CEO are studying Nelson’s idea.
What other musical chairs are we seeing in Orange County these days?
Your Editor ought to stay the hell out of your posts. I presume you were talking about Harman, and yes he is termed out. After his very unsuccessful run for State office, I’d look for him to retire. And his wife needs to stay out of politics as well.
Now, who will run against Loretta in ’12? Tran again? Quang Pham will be interested. I doubt she’ll quit as there’s no State office to fit her ego.
I wouldn’t be so sure about Moorlach running for a higher office as his heart might not be in it. He could make a lot more money going back to the private sector as he could surely score a CFO position at at least double a state salary.
And hopefully, someone’s going to take Janet Nguyen out and send her to a deserved early retirement or sandwich wrapping job at her hubbie’s cockroach emporium in Stanton. Look for Solario to go after that job.
And then there’s the tired political hacks like Joe Dunn. He’s got to surface somewhere when he runs out of patronage employment.
What do you think an editor’s job is, moron? Get lost.
Mistake fixed. And no, he wasn’t thinking of Harman.
Term limits violate the voters right to choose their representative.
Also it has a BAD side effect, the lazy voter thinks there is no reason to go and vote because “term Limits” will take care of all problems.
It has not worked
Vern, I appreciate your work (at least so far)
ACTUALLY… Tom Harman WOULD have been a great illustration for this musical chairs story.
When south-county Congressman (and proto-Issa Clinton persecutor) Chris Cox got chosen by W Bush to be the do-nothing Security and Exchange Commission head (whom McCain later thought should have been fired after the meltdown) wingnut state Senator John Campbell slithered into his Congressional seat, where he still wastes space doing nothing, and in turn then-Assemblyman Harman slipped into Campbell’s vacated Senate seat. At the time Harman strove mightily, Hackerman-style, to bequeath his Assembly seat to his wife, Yoga Queen Dianne, but she was roundly trounced by nice easy-going former supe Jim Silva (who distinguished himself recently by being the only OC legislator to vote against selling the Fairgrounds from the beginning.)
Another funny thing. Harman’s politics gradually became more and more right wing, the farther south his constituency shifted – beginning as a beloved moderate HB councilman who helped save Bolsa Chica, and ending up now as an anti-environment immigrant basher representing Newport and Irvine.
I documented this transformation in a series on the OC Voice a couple years ago, entitled “The Descent of Tom Harman” :
http://www.orangejuiceblog.com/2008/05/the-descent-of-tom-harman-part-one/
A lot of people have been clicking on part two of that today, probably because of the lengthy comparison of Harman’s quick embrace of immigrant bashing to the late lamented Leslie Nielsen’s turn as an umpire in The Naked Gun:
http://www.orangejuiceblog.com/2008/06/the-descent-of-tom-harman-part-ii-of-v-re-birth-as-an-immigrant-basher/
A couple of months ago, I was standing around with state Senator Gil Cedillo and asked him about Harman, who he considers a friend. Gil said Tom is a really nice guy in person, but … “He does not vote like a nice person. And essentially you have to ask, who are you really? What you appear to be in person, or what you actually do?” And then we stood there feeling philosophical, and then we had some more wine.