Bold New Leadership: OCGOP’s Will O’Neill, DPOC’s Florice Hoffman!

Which Party do YOU want to be part of?

This wasn’t on my radar screen yesterday, until I read Norberto’s article, I didn’t realize both County Parties were electing new leaders last night, I was busy trying to write a proper remembrance of Al Mijares, working on “Who’s Going to Jail at Disney for the Biggest Wage Theft in History?”, and starting Tenants United Anaheim to get real rent control here. But this was BIG – Ada Briceño and Fred Whitaker were fixing to be replaced by Florice Hoffman and Will O’Neill. Woo-hoo, hope and change!

Photo Leonard Ortiz: The times they are a-changing!

The most important part of Norberto’s story (besides learning that Ada’s plan is to take Sharon Quirk-Silva’s termed-out assembly seat in ’26, about which I have no comment) is Supervisor Don Wagner‘s last-minute, sleazy grasps at the chairmanship Newport Mayor O’Neill has been running for for many months. As Don e-mailed committee members:

“…One thing I do know about the day after our Chairman vote is that I will remain a county supervisor with all of the influence, connections, and opportunities that entails, with access to donors, business interests, the grassroots, and two decades of contacts around the state. Whether that unique position and influence are put in service of the party as Chairman or not is for the committee to determine Monday night.”

Alarm bells go off. This is Supervisor Wagner, who stood by and vouched for Andrew Do to the very last minute, even longer than Chaffee did. This is Wagner who, having worked for years beside Do, Michelle Steel & Janet Nguyen, still boldly claimed “There is no corruption in Orange County.”

Yeah, we all have our own understanding of the word “corruption.” Do used his office to financially profit himself and his family, Wagner sounds like he’s offering to use his office to benefit his Party and increase his power. “As Supervisor [I have] access to donors & business interests [which I could] put in service of the Party.” Shake down County contractors anyone? For whatever reason 51 committee members, long pledged to O’Neill, were unimpressed; Wagner got 11 votes, and Fullerton’s Bruce Whitaker, who unexpectedly ran, got 10.

In the contest to be the next Fred Whitaker. In the contest to preside over the long decline of the Republican Party in OC, while striving daily to keep peace between the varying degrees of crazy in your caucus. All three contenders pledged to “grow the Party,” to “re-energize the base,” to “unify and expand, to reach out to independents and minorities.” But if you’re not either rich and greedy, or unnaturally hostile to immigrants, gays and progress, why would you even want to be a Republican? Riddle us that. These guys are like a bunch of old mop salesmen, with nothing but old mops, each saying they’ll be the best one.


[By the way if you wanna know what Will O’Neill, the new OCGOP chairman, thinks about practically anything, he’s written 37 columns on the “OC Independent” in the last three years.]

And then, the Democrats.

While all this was going on, the Democratic Party of OC was coronating (unopposed) long-time treasurer Florice Hoffman to take the place of Ada Briceño. Or, to phrase it differently, as the Republican torch was passed from white corporate lawyer to white corporate lawyer, the Democratic one was passed from union leader to union leader. I can’t say much about the DPOC, because the Anaheim Dems Club (of which I’m just a member, not an officer) is still fighting for its charter with them.

Except to point out:

  • Florice voted against our charter (as did Ada.)
  • We were never given a reason, OR the requisite 60 days notice that our charter would be voted on.
  • Florice was one of the loudest voices against a DPOC Gaza ceasefire resolution last year.
  • The Anaheim Dems Club passed a Gaza ceasefire resolution last year.
  • DPOC will not confirm, deny or admit that had anything to do with us losing our charter, and
  • Hey – I thought me and Florice were friends decades ago, what happened?

Our President Steve White was shut out of the DPOC meeting last night; I may update this when I get more reports out of that gathering. Meanwhile the ranks of independents continue to swell…

About Vern Nelson

Greatest pianist/composer in Orange County, and official political troubadour of Anaheim and most other OC towns. Regularly makes solo performances, sometimes with his savage-jazz band The Vern Nelson Problem. Reach at vernpnelson@gmail.com, or 714-235-VERN.