Did Supervisor Shawn Nelson get Bilodeaud?

Denis Bilodeau – a “Schwarzenegger” conservative?

Supervisor Shawn Nelson is in some hot water of late because he supposedly went back on his word regarding public employee pensions.  Here is how the O.C. Register put it in a recent editorial:

Shawn Nelson, the newest Orange County supervisor, disappoints our Editorial Board, which endorsed him, because, once in office he opted for the most lucrative pension benefit available to county employees upon assuming his new post. From our perspective, his credibility on pension reform, the central focus of his campaign, is now in question.

I am told that there is more to the story, but one has to wonder if this is the first of many mistakes that are to come, because Nelson did not hire a conservative to be his Chief of Staff.  He hired career political hack Denis Bilodeau.

Remember those greedy Council Members in the City of Bell, who padded their income by belonging to numerous public commissions?  Well check out this info, from Biolodeau’s bio:

Denis currently serves or has served on the following committees and commissions throughout Orange County:

• Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority
• Orange County Vector Control
• Orange County Waste Management Commission
• Orange County Transportation Authority (alt)
• San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor Agency (alt)
• Foothill Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency (alt)
• Orange County Sanitation District (alt)
• Orange County Emergency Medical Care Committee
• Orange County Housing and Community Development Commission
• Orange County Water Task Force Member
• Los Angeles and San Gabriel River Watershed Taskforce Member

The Voice of OC investigated Bilodeau and found that he also has an expense problem.  “Orange City Councilman Denis Bilodeau, who also is a director of the Orange County Water District, billed the water agency nearly $3,500 for meetings he either didn’t attend or that didn’t occur, according to official Water District records.”

The Voice of OC also related what Bilodeau had to say about Nelsons’ pension snafu.  “When I ran into Nelson’s chief of staff, Denis Bilodeau yesterday, I asked about the pension and got a rambling, nonsensical defense that sounded like Nelson had mistakenly just filled out the forms he got, which happened to include the option into the pension system.”

And Bilodeau has the nerve to call himself a “Taxpayer Watchdog,” on his campaign website!

Bilodeau also got busted a few years back for stealing one of his opponent’s campaign signs.  Click here to read about that.

Even the Red County blog has piled on Bilodeau, noting these negatives in a recent post:

• On 3-25-2008 Denis Bilodeau voted not to audit the City of Orange from top to bottom in order to improve functionality and possibly find ways to cut costs.
• On 10-27-2009 Denis Bilodeau voted yes on a second vote to put restrictions on parties being held within the Orange City limits with minor changes.
• On 1-26-2010 Denis Bilodeau voted to use the cities power of eminent domain to purchase a gas station.
• On 1-26-2010 Denis Bilodeau voted to use the cities power of eminent domain to take over property for the purpose of a bus stop.

Why would Nelson hire Bilodeau to be his Chief of Staff?  It is a real mystery to me.  I believe that Bilodeau previously worked for Chris Norby, and possibly Janet Nguyen as well, but trying to figure out all of Bilodeau’s past work is a complete puzzle.  He has switched back and forth between being a County of Orange employee and working for politicians.

Did Bilodeau lead Nelson down the wrong path with regard to the pension scandal?  I think so.  And I would bet that there will be more mistakes to come.

Nelson should cut his losses now and dump Bilodeau.  Surely he can find a real conservative to advise him and run his Staff?