Weekend Open Thread: North County Assembly Candidate Who is NOT a Big Liar Has Fundraiser Sunday

By
Greg Diamond
– September 26, 2014Posted in: "The OC", Fresh Juice

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Ling Ling Chang & Gregg Fritchle

Fritchle, a licensed social worker, did not lie about his résumé. Chang, according to her primary opponent who did lots of research on her, lied A WHOLE LOT about hers. Do we voters care? Should we check? What do you think, readers? Anyone feel like taking on this story — maybe someone who voted for Philip Chen and feels they got jobbed?

With everything else going on these day, I have not had time to focus on my own home Assembly race, AD-55, where Republican Ling-Ling Chang is favored over Democrat Gregg Fritchle.  Part of that, I believe, is due to widespread voter unawareness of Chang’s alleged — repeatedly alleged — tendency to lie about her résumé.

I know Fritchle pretty well; aside from the same(ish) first name, we were born the same year and look similar in some ways, except that if we’re two peas in a pod his pod was taller and protected him from premature balding and graying.  I know him to be a good speaker, though a little on the garrulous side, and exceptionally smart and principled man.  But there’s one big difference between us.

Fritchle is SO honorable that he doesn’t believe in negative campaigning — at all.  He knows that Chang’s primary opponent Philip Chen was all over her for making up facts about herself and her accomplishments.  But he doesn’t want to go down that path.  He doesn’t want me to go down that path either, because he is high-minded about politics.  I, by contrast, would avoid lying about anyone, or even the sort of implying fake things about them that some moral wizards distinguish from outright lying  — but I think that people DO deserve to hear the truth.

Chang is the Republican nominee for this seat for two reasons: (1) she’s a servant of Redevelopment Sucking Machine former State Senate Minority Leader Bob Huff — like her, from Diamond Bar — and (2) she fits into the “attractive female Asian American candidate for Orange County office” template that Republicans nationwide are literally trying to use to prove that they’re not a racist party.  (“Look at us!  Ling-Ling Chang!  Young Kim!  Michelle Steel!  Janet Nguyen!  Lisa Bartl — wait, NOT Lisa Bartlett!  Yes, she fits the template, but we’re supporting Robert Ming.”)  We should not conclude that this is an act of jaw-dropping cynicism merely because it is.

We’re going to try to make some time to go over the “Ling-Ling Lies” file we’ve been collecting between now and the start of early voting — but, as you can tell, we’ve been pretty busy right now.  So you, our readers, are welcome to help out!  If you got material from Philip Chen  slamming Ling-Ling Chang and chronicling her lies, please scan them and send them to “mail2greg4-OJB at yahoo dot com”.  (If you can’t figure out how to make that into a real email address, don’t bother writing.)

BUT!  If you’re simply interested in helping an honest, smart, decent, non-résumé-lying-about candidate collect the funds that he needs to get out HIS message, then you can help him out without being exposed to such (completely honest and legitimate) negativity.  Here’s your invite:

Please join 55th Assembly District Candidate Gregg Fritchle this Sunday for a fundraiser to support his campaign!
When: Sunday, September 28th, 2:00pm – 5:00pm 
Where: Home of Sanobar Baig, 2566 Blaze Trail, Diamond Bar, California. 
Please RSVP on Gregg’s website, so he has your information for the gate! You may also reach him at gregg55ad@verizon.net. 
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About Greg Diamond

Somewhat verbose attorney, semi-disabled and semi-retired, residing in northwest Brea. Occasionally ran for office against jerks who otherwise would have gonr unopposed. Got 45% of the vote against Bob Huff for State Senate in 2012; Josh Newman then won the seat in 2016. In 2014 became the first attorney to challenge OCDA Tony Rackauckas since 2002; Todd Spitzer then won that seat in 2018. Every time he's run against some rotten incumbent, the *next* person to challenge them wins! He's OK with that. Corrupt party hacks hate him. He's OK with that too. He does advise some local campaigns informally and (so far) without compensation. (If that last bit changes, he will declare the interest.) His daughter is a professional campaign treasurer. He doesn't usually know whom she and her firm represent. Whether they do so never influences his endorsements or coverage. (He does have his own strong opinions.) But when he does check campaign finance forms, he is often happily surprised to learn that good candidates he respects often DO hire her firm. (Maybe bad ones are scared off by his relationship with her, but they needn't be.)