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Love him or hate him, there’s no denying Huntington Beach Mayor Pro Tem Tito Ortiz made a splashy entrance into local politics (and I’m not just talking about his boating accident). His antics make national headlines, thrusting our city into an often unflattering spotlight. A proposed ‘vote of no confidence’ elicited over 500 emails, three hours of public comments, and a violent crowd outside City Hall.
In the 112 year history of the City of Huntington Beach, no recall petition has ever qualified for the ballot. We couldn’t even manage to successfully recall Dave Garofalo, who went to prison for crimes he committed while in office. These new petitioners have the impossible task of convincing at least 13,000 HB residents– who are, mere months after the most controversial and divisive national election in living memory, currently voting in a special election— to voluntarily participate in yet another election.
I love democracy, but this is a little much.
As we rapidly approach March 7th, the end of his 90-day grace period, it’s worth exploring the arguments both for and against recalling Tito Ortiz. I’d like to believe my writing for ‘Tito Watch’ presents a compelling case in support of the recall petition, including his traitorous friends, his conflicts of interest, his disinformation campaigns, and his general incompetence. The time has come for me to do the unthinkable, and write in support of keeping Tito Ortiz on city council until his current term expires.
Ocean View School District Trustee Gina Clayton-Tarvin publicly stands against the recall petition, and has for some time, so let’s begin with her official statement on the matter:
“Although I believe in voters’ rights to redress, I do not support recall elections. I am, first and foremost, a conservative fiduciary, entrusted with preserving tax dollars. Whether the threat of recall is to a local elected official like Tito Ortiz, or a powerful statewide official like Gavin Newsom, I know that recall efforts are a massive waste of public funds. If we truly care about saving precious tax dollars in the midst of a pandemic, then we must oppose any recall effort. Recalls are typically just misguided partisan attacks. We need to allow voters to decide at the ballot box in the next regular election. If not, we stand to waste more than $700,000 for a citywide recall of Ortiz and over $81,000,000 to recall Newsom. Exacting political revenge at the expense of taxpayers is wrong on all levels. It’s time to have a moratorium on recalls.”
It certainly seems like the financial burden should matter more to the petitioners, who criticized Ortiz for accepting over $30,000 of taxpayer-funded COVID relief. If bailing out his dinky little gym is a waste of money, why aren’t they opposed to spending more than 20 times that amount on the unlikely possibility of removing him from office?
“Elections are expensive, Miss Stella!”
But the city’s finances are not the only issue overlooked by Ortiz’s recall petitioners. While Republicans like Richard Grenell and Major Williams have already expressed their interest in running for the (still TBD) gubernatorial recall election, the ‘Recall Tito’ movement has yet to propose a candidate to replace him on city council.
If Ortiz campaigned to keep his seat, he would almost certainly win– he has the support of the local MAGA outrage machine, his wealth gives him a fundraising advantage over most challengers, and depressed turnout due to election fatigue could work in his favor. In short, Ortiz stays for at least four years (and more likely eight) unless he decides City Council isn’t for him. Without offering a strong, progressive, grassroots alternative, the recall effort is doomed– and I don’t like our odds for replacing him in 2024, either.
PLEASE GOD NO
(endless internal screaming)
There are two things that keep me hopeful.
The first is our next regular city council election in less than two years. Three of the four council members whose terms expire in 2022 are ineligible to run again (Delgleize, Peterson, and Posey). While we can’t remove Tito Ortiz from office in that election, we can make sure none of his friends join him on city council– especially “Proud Girl” Gracey Van Der Mark, the first runner up in the 2020 election.
The second thing that keeps me hopeful is, perhaps surprisingly, Ortiz’s voting record! More often than not, items pass with a 6-1 vote, and Councilmember Peterson is the sole ‘no.’ Take, for example, the vote to condemn the Capitol riots. Ortiz got a lot of flack for his abstention, and he admittedly deserved it, but most of his critics forget the crucial vote that preceded it. Despite Erik Peterson publicly denouncing the city’s Declaration of Human Dignity as “not who we are,” Ortiz voted to affirm the statement, and direct the Human Relations Task Force to update the language and make it more inclusive.
In our imaginations, Tito Ortiz is a terrifying force of nature; in reality, he’s an awkward fish out of water who, as far as I can tell, still hasn’t put an item on the agenda. We should absolutely take a stand against the hateful things he’s said, but recalling him is a waste of resources when we could easily encourage council members to censure him, or try again for a vote of no confidence.
Or perhaps we should spend our time and energy proposing new progressive policies for Tito to unwittingly approve. After all, it’s better by far to build up our city than to tear down one man.
Previously in this series:
And Our Tito Watch Begins…
Tito Tries a Council Meeting!
Tito and Facial Coverings: A Dark Surf City Comedy
Tito’s Credo 1: #SaveOurChildren… and How it Doesn’t.
Champion of the Oppressed: Unmasked Tito Thrown out of Meeting.
Tito’s Credo 2: The HB Mayor Pro-Tem’s Plan to Kill Your Grandma.
Tito’s TK-Burger-Gate
Tito to Lose “Pro-Tem” Title? We Answer his Distraught Fans’ Complaints.
Tito’s Credo 3: A Dive into the Deep State, and the Boating Hit-and-Run
Tito Keeps His “Pro-Tem” Title!
Tito’s Credo 4: The Stolen Election (NOT!)
“Whether the threat of recall is to a local elected official like Tito Ortiz, or a powerful statewide official like Gavin Newsom, I know that recall efforts are a massive waste of public funds.”
Nope. Automatic F.
Recalls are the ultimate consequence of betraying the electorate.
Impeachment doesn’t work; recalls do. When we start quantifying public decency in terms of dollars instead of right and wrong, we’re surrendering the republic.
RECALL TITO ORTIZ!
RECALL JORDAN BRANDMAN!
A difference between Tito and Jordan (as well as Sidhu) is that Tito didn’t misrepresent himself to the voters. Tito voters got what they wanted as far as I can tell.
In two years we need to support people like Casey McKeon and other conservatives that will not be puppets to the Union! Take back HB!
Puppets to which Union?
The one that opposed the Confederacy?
Greg wins this round.
I disagree with the first comment. Recalls are a huge waste of money, time and resources. Unless we’re talking about people we don’t like……Like Gavin Newsom. Then that’s good politics.
Well, as Ryan can tell you, sometimes they do work — Fullerton last decade being a prime example — but you’re right that more often they don’t. However, even when they don’t, they may also be an organizing tool and a way to focus attention on official misconduct and reprehensible actions.
The best argument for a recall against Tito would be if the population is unaware and there’s no focal point around which opposition can coalesce. Does that hold true for HB? I don’t think so. But, on Mark’s point, I think that it does hold true for Jordan Brandman — and might have for Harry Sidhu were it not for Covid making signature gathering somewhere between imprudent and impossible.
Ultimately, though, the main argument against a Tito recall is that he’d fundamentally be recalled due to his supreme incompetence. And, you know, incompetence is something that one can dig one’s way out of. So, while I don’t think he should continue to be Vice Mayor — and I suspect that he won’t be if he doesn’t get his act together by the end of summer or so — he probably hasn’t committed enough clearly understood atrocities to be recalled. (But would his endorsing Gracey VDMark for 2022 count as such an atrocity?)
The second biggest article against recalling him is that … then we’d lose Tito Watch! That would be sad.
He is famous for mma wins and jenna jameson. He won because wealthy friends & citizens of HB will use him for political leverage. He goes public with covid disinformation AND GIVES MEDICAL ADVICE. WE KNOW COVID IS NOT DEADLY TO HIS AGE GROUP. DESPITE MEDIAN AGE OF 41,HB THIS AGE GROUP 59 TO >80+ ARE A MAJORITY OVER YOUNGER AGES THAT VOTE. WHY NOT CAMPAIGN THAT HE DOESN’T CARE ABOUT THE 3848 OC DEATHS OR 500,000 AMERICANS WHO’VE DIED. TITO DOESN’T REPRESENT ALL HB CITIZENS LIKE HE SAID IN CAMPAIGNS. HE REPRESENTS THE WEALTHY WHO PUT HIM IN OFFICE.
“I am, first and foremost, a conservative fiduciary, entrusted with preserving tax dollars.”
I’d love to see some practical examples of this woman “preserving” tax dollars.
You know you’re talking about Gina Clayton-Tarvin, right? I’ll pass along your challenge to her.
Please do. I always get a kick out of Dems pretending to be fiscally conservative.
Well, SOMEBODY has to be.
I don’t think ANYBODY is!
Grover Cleveland was fiscally conservative and he was a Democrat.
I think you can say the same about Jose Moreno. And my late great friend Gus Ayer. I wish it were true about our Democratic choices for Supervisor these days. And you’re right, Gina didn’t really answer the question, I’ll get her back here. I know she fights Poseidon which is more than you can say of a lot of Democrats or Republicans.
Grover Cleveland died 113 years ago.
Vern, you can say that about almost anybody, and nobody is quicker to apply that label to themselves than politicians (as noted by GC-T in this thread).
So far as I know Dr. Moreno has given little evidence of being a fiscal conservative other than opposing the kleptograbs. And this is good, for sure. But he would take those savings and do something highly unconservative with them, I bet.
He’d put at least some into helping the homeless. We’ve tended to care about the homeless here, right?
You’ll get a real kick out of knowing that I’m also pro-death penalty then. Also, I’m opposed to legalization of drugs. Yes, Democrats can be conservative on some issues, it is possible. The Democratic Party is a big tent party.
Furthermore, do a quick Google search of my name, click the “News” tab and read all about my record of not only fiscal conservatism, but also environmental justice, and more. I’m an odd duck amongst my blue friends.
What I’m not, is scared of any political foe and I always tell it like it is whether you like it or not. Apparently, this offends some. Does this matter to me? Not a chance, all that matters is doing right by the people.
Stop suggesting a recall of Tito Ortiz makes any sense in HB. If you knew anything about our local politics, you’d know that even if it actually made it to the ballot (which it won’t), it would never succeed. The general electorate in this city apparently supports him, so why waste limited tax dollars on this sort of politics.
Unless of course, you want to take this up for the voters of HB, and get it done? Let me know, I’ll be waiting.
Good response, but I don’t think David has opined on the Tito Recall.
Actually, it was a damn feeble response. See my comment/
Well, I’m guessing reading comprehension may not be a top priority in your district. I’m not the least bit interested in your opinion on “drugs” (whatever you may mean by that word, or how you feel about the death penalty.
You were challenged to produce some evidence that you are “preserving tax dollars” and are a “conservative fiduciary.” These are claims worth challenging no matter who makes them. The fact that you intentionally avoided addressing that challenge is telling – one way or another.
So again, I really don’t care about your oddity as a duck, your big tent, your alleged courage against political foes, or any other of the irrelevancies you mention. I don’t care about HB politics, Tito Ortiz, his hooker wives, etc. Why I would want to involve myself is a perplexing question, and of, course, your finally stab at irrelevance.
I want to know what makes you a conservative fiduciary. I want to know which tax dollars you have preserved. Just curious if you can prove your assertion. Let me know. I’ll be waiting.
Thanks for your comments, and I guess one has to ask, if you “don’t care about HB politics,” what are you doing here arguing over Tito Ortiz and attempting to debate me? I am an HB elected official. A simple google search will yield all you need to know about my work to safeguard tax dollars.
As president of the board in 2016, I oversaw a bond initiative (campaign) called Measure R which passed, first ever general obligation bond to pass in OVSD’s 143-year history and guess what? No PLA’s.
I rest my case. Have a good day, I’m off to teaching my students in Cerritos (virtually from HB).
Again a diversion. I was never here to “argue over Tito.” I merely challenged, not denied, your claim to be a fiscal conservative. Effrontery! I was hoping (in vain it appears) that you could provide some real evidence of that.
How much did that bureaucracy-preached bond add to people’s property taxes? Does it have another of those useless “oversight committees” composed of lackeys? No PLA? Your constituents may thank you, sort of like one might thank a bank robber for not taking the customers’ jewelry while he was at it.
No I am not going to follow a wild goose chase looking for your supposed bona fides as a fiscal conservative. I’m now almost convinced that none exist, but whatever – your case is rested.
And thanks for that final bit of information – just in case anyone might suspect that you were unemployed.
I don’t want to speak for Gina, but she’s been a major leader in the fight against the Poseidon ripoff, for starters. She’s not categorically anti-teacher’s union, if that’s what you want to know, but as I recall she’s also not been a pushover for them. And as a member of a different teacher’s union herself, she knows her stuff.
I asked for some evidence of fiscal conservatism and received none. Now her case is rested and no one need speak for her since she won’t speak (coherently) for herself.
She posted her comment — a reply to “Earth First” — below about four hours before you posted your comment. I had posted the comment to which you’ve responded 60 hours before she commented. If you missed that I didn’t “speak for her” after she commented, but more than a third of a week before, I guess that’s an understandable oversight. If this is a criticism, I’ll just let the time stamps speak for themselves.
What is his position on Desal? Specifically Posieden?
I see EX Senator Boxer’s kid successfully got Gov. Newsom to stack the deck on the Water board. Follow the Riverside County Cannabis Cash straight through Axiom to Newsom crony all the while wearing a pale blue shirt.
Hey, choose a different name (unless you’re an officer or director of Earth First!) and send Vern a story where you lay out the facts that you tell us we could find if we had time. Newsom and Boxer deserve to be lambasted over this — especially over replacing William von Blasingame!
My position is simple on Poseidon, absolutely NOT. When then-Lt Gov. Gavin Newsom chaired the State Lands Commission Hearing on the matter of the “pipe” under PCH for the desal plant, I was literally the one and ONLY politician to go to the mic during public comments to oppose it, and I’m a Democrat. Every single Republican and Democrat elected official gleefully sang the project’s praises. Also, not one other elected person from HB even bothered to show up, not a council member, school trustee or state rep.
I was the second public speaker of the raucous hearing public comments, and I followed the turncoat, Barbara Boxer, who heaped love and admiration on the project. As a lobbyist, she’s not real convincing, but who needed convincing anyway, the Commission already had its mind made up before they even landed in OC from Sacramento.
Here’s the most interesting part of all this, I don’t care who likes me, believes me, or challenges me for my positions including some in this comment section, as my work, which you should look up, if you can, speaks for itself. In fact I was interviewed about this very issue by Michelle Gile from CBS2.
I opposed Poseidon on air, as well as at the mic, much to the chagrin of the OC Labor Foundation that blackballed me when I went for an endorsement for my re-election campaign in 2016. Can you imagine, I go to get support for a school board race, as a sitting elected official, and a rank-and-file union member (teacher in LA) and they ask me one question only, and here it is: ”Sister, you’re from HB right, so what’s your opinion on our project down there called Poseidon and can we count on your support?” Can you imagine this, asking a sitting school board president whose district does not even cover the Southeast HB area, what I think of the desal and if I support it? I said no of course not, and why, and they promptly ushered me out. I found out later that the trades all voted me down while the “others” on the panel said it should not matter because I oppose one project.
I am a 25-year labor leader of AFT, Local 2317 AFL-CIO and this occurred, all because I stood against a desal plant that HB does not need, does not want, and will actually increase our water rates for water that south county developers want. It did not matter to them that I’m a champion for labor and fight for the rights of working class people. It didn’t matter, I won anyone, with the highest vote total in OVSD’s 143-year history, 20K votes.
Lastly and most certainly most Fellini-like, that day at the hearing as I stood at the mic and opposed Poseidon, I was also serving as the OC Campaign Ambassador for Gavin Newsom, who was running for Governor. Why is that important you might wonder? He was the presiding over the State Lands Commission hearing that very day, and I spoke right into the mic and said, although I serve as your ambassador for OC, I don’t support your stance on this desal plant and I ask that you respect local control and our voice and please vote no.
He didn’t, and I thought be might dismiss me from my post after I scolded him at the mic, but he didn’t. We had a good old-fashioned argument later that week when I saw him in Anaheim, and he asked me not to dismiss him over one vote. Moral to the story, don’t be afraid to speak the truth for your own community, advocate for the environment, and ratepayers from exorbitant hikes.
Protecting constituents’ pocketbooks is number one for me, even if I become politically damaged, which I did from that one. The Trades are still angry at me (they voted no on Jose Moreno that day too.) Any politician reading my comments now, don’t be scared, do the right thing!
I’ll add that to the already bursting file of reasons that the Labor Fed needs to be split into “Teamsters and Trades” and everyone else, so we can listen to and argue about everyone else. If the Trades didn’t endorse Trump, they might as well have, because they like the sociopathic way he does business..
*FACT: Politics has become a “Celebrity Shit Show”. We mentioned the “Gong Show”
but few folks remember that not so quality Entertainment Talent Search. Heck, Tito is like a Monster Truck Driver….who is going to say: “I don’t like Monster Truck Dirvers!”, however;
If one of those guys Robs a liquor store and kills the clerk…….he becomes ostracized by his own people….”Guilt by Association”. Tito wants to run for Governor….and anyone with two brain cells knows that. So, our suggestion is: Find the dirt on him now, before this whole thing get out of hand.
Meanwhile, a little fact checking for those that give a good dump: Governor Kristi Nome of South Dakota leads a farming population of 884000 citizens. They have had 112 thousand cases of Covid-19 and have had close ot 1900 deaths. That means that they have an infection rate of 12.6% and a death rate of 2.1%. We guess this all proves that Natural Social Distancing doesn’t work much either. Meanwhile in California with a population of nearly 40 million people we have an infection rate of 8.6% and a death rate of 1.2%……guess Gavin isn’t doing that bad a job after all. We have had nearly 52,000 deaths in a state of nearly 40 million. This is great when you consider the number of Seniors, Assisted Living Homes and high impact population centers in our state.
I have at least two brain cells, and I don’t get the sense that Tito wants to run for Governor. He’s already had his nose bent by the Peter Principle.
*Dr. D,, sadly in this “Altered State of the Political Universe” there are no Rules or Norms to begin the conversation and dialogue with. As a result, we are all only limited by the extent of our imaginations. There is no way that we would believe that The Trumpster could shout obscenities at the CPAC for 90 minutes without people throwing rotten tomatoes at him. Trump is now Officially the King Shit of the Republican Party. When you give money to rhe RNC….you are giving money to a guy that took Vaccines for himself and his family in January of 2020 and told no one. Then laughed off the Corona-Virus 19 as a stupid flu that would be gone by April. Tito has a big ego and perhaps even more of an imagination that The Trumpster……so don’t count out the extent of the depravity(we will be exposed to) that is soon to follow for all of us.