Weird things are still happening in the wake of Chris Norby’s upset defeat by Fullerton Mayor Sharon Quirk-Silva in the 65th Assembly District race in the Nov. 6 general election. Specifically, County Supervisor Shawn Nelson is apparently trying to get Chris Norby appointed to replace newly elected Assemblyman Tom Daly as County Clerk-Recorder. (Word is that he’s doing this to benefit Norby’s deputy, Fullerton Council member Bruce Whitaker.)
Yeah, um, before you finish phasing in that new face in the Clerk-Recorder’s office, I have a simple small request to make….
I’ve been holding off on discussing this prospect — yes, my concern is what you’d probably expect — so far, watching while the Voice of OC introduced the subject with confirmation of Norby’s interest:
[As his defeat became more clear], Norby apparently began quietly seeking support to take over the job of clerk-recorder. … “There’s names all over the place,” said Supervisor Janet Nguyen, confirming that Norby had called her last week to seek her support for the clerk-recorder job. Norby did not return a call seeking comment.
While Moorlach and Nelson also agree they want a professional manager in the clerk-recorder’s office, Nelson admits there’s a political lens over the whole process. Nelson confirmed he has been helpful to Norby, advising him to lobby for the post. “He would do a decent job if we decide to go with a political angle,” Nelson said. … “I don’t know if I see Chris as a manager,” Moorlach said. “I see him more as a policy guy, a communicator.”
Then the Liberal OC weighed in with a bit more editorial fire and some concrete suggestions:
Our sources tell us that the man who replaced Norby on BoS, Shawn Nelson, has been particularly active not so much to help Norby but to find Norby aide Bruce Whitaker, the top vote getter for Fullerton City Council, a job. Whitaker will be unemployed when Norby steps down. …
Norby really isn’t qualified for the Clerk Recorder’s position although it appeared that he and Tom Daly were going to run for each other’s seats in county government back in 2010, when Norby suddenly went rogue and ran for assembly endorsing Nelson. Norby frankly lacks the management experience needed by the clerk-recorder’s position. As an elected official, Norby has tendencies of showing up late, saying something for the record, and leaving early. The Clerk Recorder’s position is more hands on management which simply isn’t Norby’s background or experience.
Lib OC also states that the OC GOP and Board of Supes can “get it right” by appointing Tom Daly’s Assistant Clerk Recorder Renee Ramierez, a conservative Latina with experienced within the office, or Hugh Nguyen, a Vietnamese Republican against whom Daly ran in 2010, or Laura Cunningham, the Latina Chief of Staff doe Bill Campbell.
Then Art Pedroza [writing as “Joe Hill,” LOL – VN] comes along and is nastier to Norby than I think I’ve ever been:
We wonder if Norby’s ever had a job as an adult that wasn’t on a government payroll. He’s got quite a personal and political resume:
- Allegations of domestic violence involving his fourth wife
- Investigated, but cleared for using campaign funds for a hotel stay while “researching homelessness” in 2007
- Found sleeping one off at the Old County Courthouse in Santa Ana while apparently homeless himself
- Questioned by his hometown Blog for a campaign endorsementof a dirty cop
- Couldn’t get the endorsement of his Assembly predecessor, Mike Duvall, when he ran for Clerk-Recorder in 2009, but he did get them from John Lewis and Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido, a Democrat
[Skipping a part about Norby’s brother Eric. Go ahead and give Art the click].
It’s NOT impressive that Norby’s friend, Supervisor Shawn Nelson is aggressively pushing him for the Clerk-Recorder appointment. Nelson’s otherwise having a good run in his Supervisor’s position. He ran a great campaign and as far as we can tell, he’s made all the right decisions so far. He’s well positioned if he desires Ed Royce’s job in Congress when he decides to retire. But this obvious pandering to a failed friend is nonsense. It will damage his career and will certainly be seen as blatant political patronage that would be admired even in Chicago.
To say this is the “ol’ boy network” at work is an insult to the fine art of understatement. Norby’s a lifetime political hack going after a job he can’t do and doesn’t deserve.
Yowch! Backing away from that a little, had I skipped one line from the Lib OC story, though, that seems to ask a critical question:
What is it about these anti-public employee labor union Republicans that they have to turn to the public sector for continued employment?
The prospective appointment of Norby to Clerk-Recorder, of course, spikes the irony meter deeply into the red zone. The people who hate government and especially government waste and funneling of money to supporters now want to see government positions go not the most qualified but to the most politically connected? These are our “small government libertarians”? I suppose that they might make the case that whomever gets appointed will be suckling at the public teat — but that overlooks the fact that one can do a public job either well or badly — and that how well one does it matters! Take a look at how well Neal Kelley runs the Registrar of Voters office — that refutes the (sometimes bipartisan) nihilist cynicism that good management and specialized skills in public administration don’t much matter.
I don’t begrudge Nelson’s human desire to help out both Whitaker and Norby — who, after all, is supporting a family — at a time of need. Hell, extend that desire beyond one’s circle of personal friends and political allies and one becomes a Democrat. But wanting to help out a buddy who has been spurned by voters is not supposed to be a consideration for a public official. This is the kind of thing that a casual observer might describe as “corrupt” — especially given that Chris Norby (unlike at least two other possible appointees being discussed) does not appear to have relevant qualifications for the position. Is it too much to ask of County officials that they take governance seriously?
(If Nelson’s concern is Whitaker rather than Norby, he could actually make a better case to appoint Whitaker to the seat and let him hire Norby as a flunky if he so chooses. Whitaker’s managerial skills may be more similar to what to what the Clerk-Recorder does than what Norby has been doing as a Supervisor and legislator. Then again, maybe that would be a little too blatant.)
But aside from the irony of libertarians stacking public office with buddies, and aside from the corruption and competence aspects of the situation, there’s another concern I have about a Norby appointment: and if you’ve been following my writing this year, you’ll know what it is even without the help of this post’s title.
I don’t want to see Norby suffer. Far more importantly, I don’t want to see his wife, the child they share, and his stepkids and suffer. Lots of people are suffering these days, and Norby might find a little joblessness instructive to his understanding of his own “anti-help” ideology, but that’s not enough for my to wish that fate upon him. I would like to see him take his skills and move into the private sector with them. But, if he were to remain in public service, I don’t have any special objection to it other than the grounds expressed above, except for one thing: the prospect that he engaged in domestic violence and cover it up.
As a political matter, it’s even stupider for me to bring this up now than it was to try to find out the truth about it in the first place, or to allow myself to be goaded by people at Friends for Fullerton’s Future and the OC Weekly to explain why I had felt the need to do so. I mean, wouldn’t it be better to convince people that all of that was just my throwing a particularly vicious elbow in hopes of aiding Quirk-Silva’s Assembly campaign? That act would, in the twisted world of electoral politics, be reprehensible but respectable — like Dave Gilliard’s crew race-baiting Jay Chen so as to benefit Ed Royce in CA-39. “Doesn’t make him a racist — just a winner,” is how the story goes.
In this twisted world of politics, what is weird is for someone to continue to care about an issue like this beyond its apparent use in an election. That’s OK with me, though, because for me it was never about politics. I actually do want to know whether the hearsay allegations I heard from various sources did have a basis in fact: specifically, whether there was a police report filed in the first week of September 2010 that would include the names of witnesses who claimed to see Chris Norby physically attack Martha Norby and photographs of resulting abdominal (or other, if so) bruising and damage. I want to know if he did have this character problem — and, if so, whether he covered it up and who helped him. (I’m not yearning to attack Bruce Whitaker, for example — but if he knew that the stories had a substantial basis in fact and helped try to bury them, then HELL YES I want to know about it.)
I can accept the possibility that Norby’s actions may not, with some corrective actions including admission of fault, disqualify him from public office. (Others may disagree about that.) The same goes for others who may have kept any such secret. But what I can’t accept is the notion that his defeat — as his victory would have also done — renders the matter closed. That’s just wrong. If Norby goes into private rather than public life, then I guess I have little or no standing as a citizen to continue to call for openness (although standing down does allow anyone who may have helped him to get away with having done it), but if he remains in public life then he should remain subject to calls for public scrutiny. The only thing worse than an attempted cover-up is an attempted cover-up than succeeds.
I would like to think, by the way, that I would do the same if Norby were a Democrat or other political ally. (I would continue to be interested in how Miguel Pulido has gotten so wealthy over his years as Mayor of Santa Ana, and at what cost to the city, even if he had lost his re-election attempt this year. I am confident that many county Democrats would disagree with me there.) I would prefer to be thought of as someone not to be trusted to cover up wrongful acts, even if it keeps me out of certain core political positions. (What matters to me is the seriousness of the underlying crime. I would had had no trouble telling people to piss off when it came to the matter of whether Bill Clinton had had a legally acceptable extramarital affair with an adult intern, for example, because he had the right to divert the investigation into his private life with cleverly constructed answers to deposition questions. If you can’t tell the difference between that and domestic violence, then I urge you to study up on it.)
So: I renew my call for Chris and Martha Norby to authorize the Fullerton Police Department (and any other agencies having confidential material if applicable) to release the information related to the events that led the police to be called to their home on Sept. 2, 2010, as well as to its aftermath. If this leads to disgrace for Norby, I’m sorry for that, but it’s better (for him and for the rest of us) to address it openly. If it leads to disgrace for me for having sought the file, and for the various people who assured me based on confidential communications that there was indeed something to the story, then so be that as well. If people lied to me, I definitely want to know about it.
If raising the issue of Norby’s potential misconduct had simply been a maneuver for political gain, then I’d feel satisfied at this point to leave it alone. But it wasn’t that for me — and I don’t think it was for others either. It hasn’t “served its purpose” because its purpose wasn’t to defeat Norby — it was to get at the truth about corruption within local government and, yes, the Fullerton Police department under former Chief Sellers. Like it or not, and I’m sure that many won’t, I’m not leaving it alone — and, if our Supervisors appoint someone with this sort of cloud hanging over his head to a high public office, I expect that I’ll have plenty of company in that.
The county has a new policy of requiring the new hires and CURRENT employees sign a release of information that allows a credit and background check. This is for new employees and current staff seeking promotions. The wording of the release allows them to check into,” all activities”…….How would Norby fare under such review? And don’t forget the sexual harassment allegations that a county employee filed against Norby that resulted in a settlement. You should take a look at the new “release”. The county is forcing people who do not meet the criteria – there are 6 stipulations that must be satisfied to force staff to sign a release – but the county is making people sign it that should not have to sign.
I’m not sure that that extensive of a search would be appropriate. “Has anyone ever filed a police report against you?”, on the other hand, would be a question that would demand an honest answer.
Does the Clerk-Recorder qualify as requiring such a release, given that it’s usually an elected one?
For elected positions there would be no background check or release. It is interesting to me that Steve Danley the new HR manager has a new blanket policy of making existing county managers currently employed sign this new release. This was never done in the past. Also, the wording of the release is overly broad. I find it interesting/amusing that if Norby were placed in a non-elected position Danley would find himself on that slippery slope. Of course people are afraid to refuse to sign for obvious reasons.
Together, Norby and Whitaker ran such an awful district operation and campaign that they lost (quite badly). Why would the OC Supes think that these are good people to bring back as public sector managers? They’ve proven quite clearly not to be good at this sort of work.
*I owe…I owe…..its off to work I go………..
Who else would you rather have?
Wins–Perhaps a larger question is why a technical/professional position like this is an elected office in the first place. In a lot of cities–especially the larger ones–this is a professional career position, usually serving at the will of the mayor, council, or city manager, depending on the form of government. Given the importance of the vital records under the clerk’s control, would this be better left to a seasoned professional?
*When was the last time you can remember that the Board of Supervisors called up the County Clerk-Recorder and chastised them for poor public policy decisions. Normally, the efficiency of the Department comes under annual review by the NOW CEO….whoever that might be. The County Assessor and Treasurer are more in line with needing Professional Skills that would be transferable from the Private Sector in our opinion.
There’s a darned good reason these assessor, tax collector and recorder positions are indeed elected.
If you doubt that give some thought to Bradley Jacobs reason for not running for reelection as assessor.
That was classy. Where is Jacobs now? I want to call him up.
I can’t say the current assessor, a former employee and staff assessor purported to have such “professional skills” is as good as an actually independent, elected assessor would be.
Here’s another dimension to consider. Norby, Whitaker, and Nelson, besides sharing a penchant for public employee bashing, also share the same political sponsor, Tony B. The Clerk-Recorder’s office is the holder of a great deal of personal information about nearly everyone in Orange County: births, deaths, property and business transactions, marriages, etc. Given the tenor of FFFF’s leadership and its political tactics, how comfortable should we be giving some of its longtime devotees access to this information. Imagine someone like Chris Thompson being a daily visitor to the Clerk’s office. I think there are some very legitimate ethics questions to be answered before Mr. Norby is seriously considered for the office.
Nelson has plenty of bucks, he doesn’t need a sponsor.
Greg,
Thanks for the link. That post was written by our newest blogger, Joe Hill. He retired from the Lib OC and we picked him up.
I wrote a post today about Norby’s loss that might be of interest to you: http://ocpoliticsblog.com/blame-john-lewis-for-the-democrats-picking-up-an-assembly-supermajority/
I read it. Where you say “blame,” I say “thank.”
Haha, you’re still doing that Joe Hill shtick? I thought that was a good joke at first, but do you think anyone really believes your “Joe Hill” is the LOC’s old “Joe Hill?”
That does it, we’re making our own Joe Hill.
Let’s ask Joe Hill to be our Joe Hill!
My thought is we’ll let him keep writing for Pedroza, the kind of stuff he does there which is very different from what he did at the LOC – just pretty much insulting everybody and throwing mud about – and then on our blog we will let him dish dirt on other bloggers, the ones he’s gotten to know this past year – that will be fun!
Greg,
LOL! I can see your point. But I don’t expect Daly to be in office for long. He will lose in two years to a Latino Democrat, count on it. And no, it won’t be Julio Perez.
No he won’t.
He’ll run for State Senate District 34. Too bad for Jose Solorio.
That’s nice ….. Pedroza & Diamond – like two peas in a pod.
Not particularly interested in domestic violence, are you? “A man’s home is his castle” and all that?
Dirty politics. Bushala style. As Bushala and Kiger say, it’s ok for us to do it but if you or FPD does it or FPOA, it’s bad news and illegal. Bunch of idiots over there at FFFF. Bushala can smoke his dope or buy people off but if somoene else does it, the world should blow up.
Would you please go autoerotically asphyxiate yourself while railing about Bushala this and Bushala that? Great, bye.
Greg,
Have you ever met Norby’s wife? She is highly intelligent and doesn’t seem like anyone’s victim. I don’t buy the BS about domestic violence. If anything she would have kicked his ass!
There is nothing to be gained from this continued attack on Norby. Attack his silly political ambitions but let’s give the domestic violence charges a rest.
And you better hope that Mrs. Norby doesn run against Sharon in two years. By then the Democrats will have fully bankrupted our state.
Art,
I’ve received several independent reports from people about this. I studied the law related to domestic violence (and have published a decently received article about it), and I can tell you this — being intelligent, not seeming like a victim, and supposedly being able to kick a man’s ass are not one bit incompatible with his having physically attacked her. As it is, I don’t even allege that it’s true (all I have is hearsay), which is why all I’ve wanted to do is to get access to the police report, be able to talk to the witness (or have someone else do so) on the record, and see whether the pictures that were allegedly taken of her injuries do indeed exist.
I’m not trying to “gain” a damned thing from this other than to determine the truth about this matter (and about whether and how it was covered up.) As I’m sure you would understand, it was a net negative for me this year — and, if Norby had had his way with that bizarre mailer attacking Sharon for attacking his family, would have been a negative for her too. But, when one finds out something like this, and evidence to assess it is available, one does not just shrug and leave it alone.
As for bankrupting the state: we already have Prop 30, we’ll have an oil severance tax, maybe a split roll for Prop 13, and maybe in 2014 we’ll have something like the Munger initiative. Brown is a true-believing budget hawk and is probably running for reelection. Our state has been in the process of being bankrupted for years by Republican Governors and their accounting tricks; the only Democratic Governor between Brown’s terms, Gray Davis, tried to solve it with the VLF and it got him recalled. We’re not going to “go bankrupt” (states can’t, but I know what you mean.) We’re on our way to a more solid financial footing with better education, better social welfare, and a better environment. I’m happy to be a part of it.
Current palace intrigue aside, there has long been a unwritten rule or practice that the Clerk-Recorder post belongs to the Dem’s. I would imagine the Democratic leadership in OC is remindiing the Supervisors of this tradition. Whether it will carry the day with the current Board and their embracing of rampant patronage is doubtful, but the Dem’s should try to maintain at least one high level position in county government. Watch for some kind of end run through the Legislature on this one – perhaps someone like Lou Correa would be a better fit..
If you’re right, then Correa would be a possibility — but Dems don’t want to have the SD-34 election quite yet. (We’re not done transforming the district yet.) That is why I postulated months ago that it might go, for two years only, to Solorio.
Shit, a nothing job like that would be hell for Lou Correa.
Like John McCain said back in 2004: “In Vietnam I was kept in a dark room and fed scraps for four years. Why would I want to be Vice President after that?”
Since when, Over But Not Out? There’s no “unwritten rule” the Supes have to abide by. Long-time Clerk-Recorder Gary Granville was a Democrat. So was his successor, Daly (who won the office over a Reep in a close 2002 election).
That’s happenstance, not an “unwritten rule.”
I’d be interested to know what Laura Cunningham’s qualifications are for this office other than not returning phone calls.
Yodel – unwritten rule may be a stretch, but happensance is off the mark as well. How about calling it political stragey by various special interests, from Democrat leaders to Title Insurance, Real Estate and foreclosure specializing businesses? They are at work on this now, and I personally doubt that a defeated Assemblyman who worked to end the financial gravytrain called Redevelopment which the Republicans liked so much beccause it bankrolled their development projects is the type of public servant they want in this job. Then again, after Daly, Granville, and Branch and their colorful history in the job maybe the position is jinxed. Remember how OC got PA/PG Williams – through political connections and being “a good Republican” , never mind any leadership or management ability – something that disastrous could sure happen again.
OBNO: the Democrat part is happenstance. There isn’t a cabal of interests intent on putting a Democrat in that office for the sake of that party label.
I agree with you it is unlikely Norby gets it, but I think that has more to do with Norby than his party affiliation or even the RDA stuff.
*Lou Correa is a total dude. We love him. Clerk-Recorder is not in his future. The two best folks around are Lou Correa and Joe Dunn. They both need runs at State Office in the future. Joe is a natural for Attorney General…Lou might have even more options to choose from. In any event, these two are quality folks that need to be in quality elected positons.