The Teachers Association of Long Beach (TALB), a local extension of the California Teachers Association, lost one of two remaining seats of support yesterday when retired Cerritos College associate dean John McGinnis defeated TALB-endorsed candidate Richard Lewis and three others in a special election held yesterday.
Voters in Downtown Long Beach went to the polls to fill the open seat in District 3 for the Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) Board of Education left vacant after the September 1 resignation of Michael Shane Ellis. Michael Ellis resigned his position on August 6th, 2009 - according to this Press-Telegram report - after missing nearly three months of meetings and following a District Weekly report that there was a warrant out for Ellis' arrest following a probation violation.
Ellis was one of two board members that tended to support the controversial agenda of the local teachers union, the Teachers Association of Long Beach, or TALB. The other three LBUSD board members have exhibited significant independence in their direction of the school district. Yesterday’s election was viewed as primarily a defensive one for TALB to maintain at least two supportive seats on the board leading into the regular elections for both the City of Long Beach and the school district next April. Three of the five LBUSD seats, including this one, will be up for re-election in April.
School District 3 is one of the most diverse areas of Long Beach. It covers the following schools: Chavez Elementary School, Edison Elementary School, International Elementary School, Lee Elementary School, Lincoln Elementary School, Stevenson Elementary School, Whittier Elementary School, Franklin Classical Middle School, and Renaissance High School for the Arts. The five candidates, Richard Lewis, John McGinnis, Raymond Chavarria, Kate Conrath, and Pauline Gonzalez Stenberg, also displayed that diversity.
As election day approached, many in the district believed that the race would be a contest between TALB-endorsed candidate Lewis and GOP-backed candidate Gonzalez Stenberg, and both campaigns had active poll-watching efforts yesterday. However, when the first polling data released shortly after polls closed at 8 p.m., it was clear that McGinnis had been more successful at conducting an aggressive absentee ballot chase.
Based on purely absentee ballots, McGinnis led Lewis by a 35%-25% margin, with Conrath, Stenberg & Chavarria coming in at about 17%, 12% and 8%, respectively. As the counting of the 27 precincts progressed, the margin between McGinnis and Lewis shrunk, indicating that Lewis’ poll-watching & follow-up with supporters to get them to the polls had been somewhat successful. However, with the resultant polling showing that absentee ballots made up over 75% of the total ballots cast yesterday, the margin was too much to overcome, and McGinnis held on for a 34%-29% victory over Lewis.
Local politicos in Long Beach anticipate a rematch between board member elect McGinnis and Lewis in 3 months, and candidate filing for the April election is already open. Incumbent LBUSD Board President Mary Stanton & David Barton, TALB’s other ally on the board, are both expected to run for re-election. Stenberg has already indicated that she will not make a second attempt and was among those that quickly left messages for McGinnis to congratulate him on his victory. (McGinnis could not be reached for comment, but is expected to release a statement soon.)
The Teachers Association of Long Beach has enjoyed mixed support in recent years, stemming partially from its frequent challenge of popular Democratic candidates that haven’t always been willing to bless its platforms unconditionally. In December 2007, before filing for the open 54th Assembly District seat opened, the TALB executive board made an early decision to suspend its own rules and endorse Long Beach City Councilwoman Tonia Reyes Uranga over Vice-Mayor (and now Assemblymember) Bonnie Lowenthal, as well as both Republican candidates and the Libertarian candidate, without holding any interviews or discussion among its general membership.
The District 3 seat itself was occupied by now-Long Beach City Councilmember Suja Lowenthal when TALB recruited controversial teacher Michael Shane Ellis, who had been an outspoken board president at the Centinela Valley Secondary Teachers Association, another local branch of the California Teachers Association, to challenge Lowenthal. The resignation of Ellis and mutual endorsement of Richard Lewis by both TALB and the former school board member, Suja Lowenthal, as well as the Long Beach Chamber, another frequent challenger to the teachers association agenda) was noticed by some as a new commitment by the association to work better with the Long Beach political influentials.
Whether the upset election by John McGinnis puts a hold on this alleged alliance while the TALB leadership figures out its strategy for the April elections will be one frequent subject of discussion for the coffeehouses around Long Beach, where most of the city’s political strategies and local activism are energized.
Showing posts with label 54th AD. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 54th AD. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Friday, October 9, 2009
Tom Long: Don't let a court ruling get in the way of spinning an election
I've got to hand it to our friend, RPV Councilmember Tom Long. He really does persist through his political spin long after he's been proven wrong! He's like the attorney for OJ still arguing the case outside on the courthouse steps, long after they've carried his client away!
Even though our central committee went through the trouble of confirming with legal counsel (through a simple Lexis-Nexis search, by the way) that his partner-in-spin Councilmember Doug Stern was incorrect to state that political party committee are forbidden from participating in non-partisan elections, Long decides to send out a diatribe against my committee as follows:
"I encourage [RPV voters} not to choose candidates based on partisan labels. The California Constitution provides that city council races are non-partisan. True, a federal trial court judge has held that California cannot prevent parties from making endorsements. And in this RPV election one party central committee, led by a San Pedro resident, has done so. But the California Constitution is still on the books and reflects the judgment of our state's residents that partisanship is not valuable on the local level. Given the problems we sometimes see in the state legislature and in Congress, one has to wonder why anyone would want to bring partisanship to the city council. This year, as in past years, I am pleased to endorse candidates from both parties. I simply don't find local issues to be partisan."
Now, that "San Pedro resident" is none other than yours truly, one who was raised, received communion, confirmed by the Catholic church, graduated from high school in, and returned to get married in Rancho Palos Verdes. And oh yea, my parents still live there and own two homes in Rancho Palos Verdes.
Councilmember Long needs to stop deceiving Rancho Palos Verdes voters about the nature of local elections. All elections are partisan when it comes to endorsements. Just ask the unions throughout California. The fact that Tom makes endorsements as well shows that he understands the strength of them. And by the tone of the message he sent out this week, he realizes the renewed strength in the endorsement of this central committee. Thank you, Tom, for validating the awesome work that this committee, a majority of which are RPV residents by the way, is doing! And for most of them, their mutual disdain for both Tom and his cohort Doug Stern has been a unifying factor!
Thanks to the extensive research by these hardworking RPV residents, this committee has enthusiastically endorsed Brian Campbell & Anthony Misetich, two hard-working business men who will being fiscal sanity back to the Rancho Palos Verdes City Council. A third Republican, Planning Commissioner Jeff Lewis, was not granted an extension to the invitation to solicit this committee's endorsement. It is my personal opinion that the close association between Long and Mr. Lewis weighed heavily into the RPV committee majority's decision to move forward.
But ladies and gentlemen, if you think that the Los Angeles Democratic Party is not participating in the Rancho Palos Verdes elections, you're blinder than Long. I have frequent conversations with my Democratic counterparts, the two leads for this district being from San Pedro as well, and I run into them in Rancho Palos Verdes frequently! In addition to their regular attendance at RPV City Council meetings and events like the last candidate forum, they assist with the Palos Verdes Democratic Club that meets every third Sunday at the PV Library, and are enlisting numerous San Pedro high school students to walk precincts for their candidates.
And so are we! I'm sorry that Long does not "find local issues to be partisan". When the wasteful spending called out by the late Dr. Gardiner was ignored and even challenged by Long, was that simply non-partisan? When residents try to defend their property rights at city council meetings, only to have Long call them "stupid" (which I witnessed two years ago in shock!), is that non-partisan?
The Republican Party leadership has decided that one of the biggest reasons why, as Long points out, there are big issues with Sacramento & Congress is that the Democrats have done a much better job building up "the farm team" for these seats when they open. These are your school board members, water board members, and yes, city council members. Look at the rush of candidates competing for the Democratic nominations to the 53rd Assembly seat being vacated by Ted Lieu, and you'll notice something...they're all current or former city councilmembers! When our previous Assemblymember, Betty rnette, was termed out last year, the Democrats had two Long Beach City Councilmembers vying for the seat.
This is what we in the Republican Party are striving for, and the myopic rants of a far-left Democrat afraid of his council swinging back to the Republican majority again isn't going to stop us.
So when you read Tom Long's e-mails about how elections should be non-partisan, I want you all to remember that this was the original position of the Republican Party when this law came about, and that it was the San Francisco Democratic Central Committee that fought and won the battle to have that part of the California Constitution removed.
But, to show Tom I can be bi-partisan as well, I will announce my personal endorsements of Greg Royston, Anthony Collatos and Heather Matson for the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unifed School District. As a graduate of Rolling Hills High School and as a parent of two young children, I am extremely impressed by the courage and commitment of these three individuals to step up as parents of young children in the school district in order to make the system a better one. They're not doing it to continue any connections with the CA Teachers Association or with the "in-crowd of PV Politics". We need more parent involvement in our local school districts, and I believe that these three school district parents will make a real difference.
Oh, and none of them are Republican...they're just great candidates. Just like Brian Campbell and Anthony Misetich.
Thanks again, Tom, for continuing to be the unifying force for all of the Republican and Conservative watchdog groups throughout the Palos Verdes Peninsula! I look forward to returning my hometown of Rancho Palos Verdes back to the Republican majority again in 4 weeks!
Then the fun can really begin! 2010, here we come!
Even though our central committee went through the trouble of confirming with legal counsel (through a simple Lexis-Nexis search, by the way) that his partner-in-spin Councilmember Doug Stern was incorrect to state that political party committee are forbidden from participating in non-partisan elections, Long decides to send out a diatribe against my committee as follows:
"I encourage [RPV voters} not to choose candidates based on partisan labels. The California Constitution provides that city council races are non-partisan. True, a federal trial court judge has held that California cannot prevent parties from making endorsements. And in this RPV election one party central committee, led by a San Pedro resident, has done so. But the California Constitution is still on the books and reflects the judgment of our state's residents that partisanship is not valuable on the local level. Given the problems we sometimes see in the state legislature and in Congress, one has to wonder why anyone would want to bring partisanship to the city council. This year, as in past years, I am pleased to endorse candidates from both parties. I simply don't find local issues to be partisan."
Now, that "San Pedro resident" is none other than yours truly, one who was raised, received communion, confirmed by the Catholic church, graduated from high school in, and returned to get married in Rancho Palos Verdes. And oh yea, my parents still live there and own two homes in Rancho Palos Verdes.
Councilmember Long needs to stop deceiving Rancho Palos Verdes voters about the nature of local elections. All elections are partisan when it comes to endorsements. Just ask the unions throughout California. The fact that Tom makes endorsements as well shows that he understands the strength of them. And by the tone of the message he sent out this week, he realizes the renewed strength in the endorsement of this central committee. Thank you, Tom, for validating the awesome work that this committee, a majority of which are RPV residents by the way, is doing! And for most of them, their mutual disdain for both Tom and his cohort Doug Stern has been a unifying factor!
Thanks to the extensive research by these hardworking RPV residents, this committee has enthusiastically endorsed Brian Campbell & Anthony Misetich, two hard-working business men who will being fiscal sanity back to the Rancho Palos Verdes City Council. A third Republican, Planning Commissioner Jeff Lewis, was not granted an extension to the invitation to solicit this committee's endorsement. It is my personal opinion that the close association between Long and Mr. Lewis weighed heavily into the RPV committee majority's decision to move forward.
But ladies and gentlemen, if you think that the Los Angeles Democratic Party is not participating in the Rancho Palos Verdes elections, you're blinder than Long. I have frequent conversations with my Democratic counterparts, the two leads for this district being from San Pedro as well, and I run into them in Rancho Palos Verdes frequently! In addition to their regular attendance at RPV City Council meetings and events like the last candidate forum, they assist with the Palos Verdes Democratic Club that meets every third Sunday at the PV Library, and are enlisting numerous San Pedro high school students to walk precincts for their candidates.
And so are we! I'm sorry that Long does not "find local issues to be partisan". When the wasteful spending called out by the late Dr. Gardiner was ignored and even challenged by Long, was that simply non-partisan? When residents try to defend their property rights at city council meetings, only to have Long call them "stupid" (which I witnessed two years ago in shock!), is that non-partisan?
The Republican Party leadership has decided that one of the biggest reasons why, as Long points out, there are big issues with Sacramento & Congress is that the Democrats have done a much better job building up "the farm team" for these seats when they open. These are your school board members, water board members, and yes, city council members. Look at the rush of candidates competing for the Democratic nominations to the 53rd Assembly seat being vacated by Ted Lieu, and you'll notice something...they're all current or former city councilmembers! When our previous Assemblymember, Betty rnette, was termed out last year, the Democrats had two Long Beach City Councilmembers vying for the seat.
This is what we in the Republican Party are striving for, and the myopic rants of a far-left Democrat afraid of his council swinging back to the Republican majority again isn't going to stop us.
So when you read Tom Long's e-mails about how elections should be non-partisan, I want you all to remember that this was the original position of the Republican Party when this law came about, and that it was the San Francisco Democratic Central Committee that fought and won the battle to have that part of the California Constitution removed.
But, to show Tom I can be bi-partisan as well, I will announce my personal endorsements of Greg Royston, Anthony Collatos and Heather Matson for the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unifed School District. As a graduate of Rolling Hills High School and as a parent of two young children, I am extremely impressed by the courage and commitment of these three individuals to step up as parents of young children in the school district in order to make the system a better one. They're not doing it to continue any connections with the CA Teachers Association or with the "in-crowd of PV Politics". We need more parent involvement in our local school districts, and I believe that these three school district parents will make a real difference.
Oh, and none of them are Republican...they're just great candidates. Just like Brian Campbell and Anthony Misetich.
Thanks again, Tom, for continuing to be the unifying force for all of the Republican and Conservative watchdog groups throughout the Palos Verdes Peninsula! I look forward to returning my hometown of Rancho Palos Verdes back to the Republican majority again in 4 weeks!
Then the fun can really begin! 2010, here we come!
Monday, July 13, 2009
Was May 19th THAT long ago?
Most local voters remember the overwhelming results of the May 19th special election. Despite the Governor and Assembly Speaker Bass predicting either a victory or a "close loss", over 65% of 4.8 million voters throughout the state sent a strong, direct message that they want state legislators to balance their budget the way citizens have to balance their checkbooks - with no more taxes. The bleeding heart tactics of Democrats & special interest groups who drag out young children, minority teachers, firefighters and cops telling voters how they're all going to lose funding if they don't sacrifice more of their hard-earned salaries are no longer resonating.
But even as the June 30th deadline came and went, state Democrats were still trying to convince their GOP counterparts that they had to compromise what voters already told them they didn't have to compromise - more tax dollars. Democratic Majority Senate Leader Jenny Oropeza (D - Long Beach) is seen in a YouTube video , taken on June 30th in the Senate chambers,pleading with the State Senate GOP, stating that she "doesn't appreciate rhetoric about what took place a few weeks ago", referring to the 65% of voters cited earlier (in Los Angeles County, as well as her own district, the percentage voting "NO" on Proposition 1A was actually over 68%). But this is the rhetoric that Senator Oropeza and her Democratic friends need to hear. Instead, Oropeza proceeds in the video to talk about wheelchair patients not getting bathed. More bleeding heart tactics.
Of course, what Democratic electeds do not mention are the boondoggle commission positions making over $120K a year for one meeting per month, or the excessively high percentage of administrators the state education system employs. While states like New York and Massachusetts dedicate over 80% of their education budgets to teachers and the classroom, California barely clears the 45% threshold. There are many other line items in the state budget worth scrutinizing, but one that is getting major exposure lately is the pension payouts to former government employees at nearly 100% of their former salaries...at the ripe-old age of 50. The primary purpose of a pension is supposed to be to help those that can no longer work day-to-day through long-term investments while they can work. While there are 50-yr-old citizens who can no longer work due to hardships or disabilities, most 50-yr olds are far healthier than their ancestors were at the same age.
So what needs to happen to remind the state legislators that they work for the voters of California? Will they start respecting their will as expressed on May 19th? Most voters now know that this simply is not going to happen. So the follow-on question regarding the state budget should be "why are budgets for education, police & fire so low in the list of budgetary priorities?"
As Audra Strickland pointed out on the Assembly floow a few weeks back, priorities are supposed to be funded first, not last. If there is a risk of police, fire, education, children seniors or disabled having critical services go unfunded, voters from all parties should be asking what other line items in the budget warrant a higher priority than these.
A final L.A. County highlight from May 19th: Los Angeles County actually voted more "conservative" than the statewide average. Prop 1A received 2.5% fewer votes in LA County; Prop 1B received 2.7% less; the others all finished with lower percentages than their statewide totals.
At least for Republicans and other conservatives, this is a highlight. It's hopefully a sign of things to come.
But even as the June 30th deadline came and went, state Democrats were still trying to convince their GOP counterparts that they had to compromise what voters already told them they didn't have to compromise - more tax dollars. Democratic Majority Senate Leader Jenny Oropeza (D - Long Beach) is seen in a YouTube video , taken on June 30th in the Senate chambers,pleading with the State Senate GOP, stating that she "doesn't appreciate rhetoric about what took place a few weeks ago", referring to the 65% of voters cited earlier (in Los Angeles County, as well as her own district, the percentage voting "NO" on Proposition 1A was actually over 68%). But this is the rhetoric that Senator Oropeza and her Democratic friends need to hear. Instead, Oropeza proceeds in the video to talk about wheelchair patients not getting bathed. More bleeding heart tactics.
Of course, what Democratic electeds do not mention are the boondoggle commission positions making over $120K a year for one meeting per month, or the excessively high percentage of administrators the state education system employs. While states like New York and Massachusetts dedicate over 80% of their education budgets to teachers and the classroom, California barely clears the 45% threshold. There are many other line items in the state budget worth scrutinizing, but one that is getting major exposure lately is the pension payouts to former government employees at nearly 100% of their former salaries...at the ripe-old age of 50. The primary purpose of a pension is supposed to be to help those that can no longer work day-to-day through long-term investments while they can work. While there are 50-yr-old citizens who can no longer work due to hardships or disabilities, most 50-yr olds are far healthier than their ancestors were at the same age.
So what needs to happen to remind the state legislators that they work for the voters of California? Will they start respecting their will as expressed on May 19th? Most voters now know that this simply is not going to happen. So the follow-on question regarding the state budget should be "why are budgets for education, police & fire so low in the list of budgetary priorities?"
As Audra Strickland pointed out on the Assembly floow a few weeks back, priorities are supposed to be funded first, not last. If there is a risk of police, fire, education, children seniors or disabled having critical services go unfunded, voters from all parties should be asking what other line items in the budget warrant a higher priority than these.
A final L.A. County highlight from May 19th: Los Angeles County actually voted more "conservative" than the statewide average. Prop 1A received 2.5% fewer votes in LA County; Prop 1B received 2.7% less; the others all finished with lower percentages than their statewide totals.
At least for Republicans and other conservatives, this is a highlight. It's hopefully a sign of things to come.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Over 70% of 54th AD voters tell Arnold (and Bonnie) NO!
By now most of you know the overwhelming results of this past Tuesday's special election. Despite the Governor and Assembly Speaker predicting either a victory or a "close loss", the voters throughout the state sent a strong, direct message that no more tax revenue will be acceptable. The bleeding heart tactics of the Democrats, who drag out young children, minority teachers, firefighters and cops to do commercials telling voters how they're all going to lose funding if they don't sacrifice more of their hard-earned salaries are no longer resonating.
Voters now know that this simply is not going to happen. If so, the follow-on question would be "why are budgets for education, police & fire so low in the list of budgetary priorities?"
I have a few highlights from Tuesday:
- For the first time in a long while, Los Angeles County actually voted more "conservative" than the statewide average. Prop 1A received 2.5% fewer votes in LA County; Prop 1B received 2.7% less; the others all finished with lower percentages than their statewide totals.
- Here in the 54th AD, Prop 1A finished over 6% below the statewide average, limping in with just barely 28%. Prop 1B also finished over 6% below the statewide average. Our new assemblymember, Bonnie Lowenthal, endorsed the statewide ballot measures, as evidenced by her staff members assigned to the neighborhood councils and HOA's handing out literature specifically showing a lack of opposition to them.
- Similar results are seen in the results of the 28th State Senate District, the race that you all know I'm running for in 2010.
- San Pedro native Carmen Trutanich rose above the slime that his opponent, Jack Weiss, was trying to drag them both through and will now show the City of Los Angeles what a "TRU" public servant can do!
- Republican Tina Park did a fantastic job with a late-season rally to unseat a Democratic imcumbent from the Los Angeles Community College Board. This is the first time in recent memory that a Republican has sat on that board, and Tina will have a lot of support, based on Tuesday's results, for criticizing how the Measure J funds are spent.
So the primary question I'll leave you with is this: Do you think our state legislators understood, or will make a sincere effort to understand, the results we gave them this past Tuesday?
Somehow, I anticipate the answer to this question will drive the 2010 elections. (Hey, a candidate can dream...!)
Voters now know that this simply is not going to happen. If so, the follow-on question would be "why are budgets for education, police & fire so low in the list of budgetary priorities?"
I have a few highlights from Tuesday:
- For the first time in a long while, Los Angeles County actually voted more "conservative" than the statewide average. Prop 1A received 2.5% fewer votes in LA County; Prop 1B received 2.7% less; the others all finished with lower percentages than their statewide totals.
- Here in the 54th AD, Prop 1A finished over 6% below the statewide average, limping in with just barely 28%. Prop 1B also finished over 6% below the statewide average. Our new assemblymember, Bonnie Lowenthal, endorsed the statewide ballot measures, as evidenced by her staff members assigned to the neighborhood councils and HOA's handing out literature specifically showing a lack of opposition to them.
- Similar results are seen in the results of the 28th State Senate District, the race that you all know I'm running for in 2010.
- San Pedro native Carmen Trutanich rose above the slime that his opponent, Jack Weiss, was trying to drag them both through and will now show the City of Los Angeles what a "TRU" public servant can do!
- Republican Tina Park did a fantastic job with a late-season rally to unseat a Democratic imcumbent from the Los Angeles Community College Board. This is the first time in recent memory that a Republican has sat on that board, and Tina will have a lot of support, based on Tuesday's results, for criticizing how the Measure J funds are spent.
So the primary question I'll leave you with is this: Do you think our state legislators understood, or will make a sincere effort to understand, the results we gave them this past Tuesday?
Somehow, I anticipate the answer to this question will drive the 2010 elections. (Hey, a candidate can dream...!)
Sunday, March 29, 2009
These tea parties are great, but . . .
The activism that has dramatically increased as a result off both the Obama administration decisions and the California political negotiations has been extremely exciting to watch and be a part of. From the surge in attendance at our local Republican Clubs to the road trips to tea parties throughout Southern California, the opportunities for conservative activism are at an all time high.
But how will we begin seeing this activism translate into results that the Democrats will honestly care about? You would think most of our state legislators would be sweating profusely about the events taking place in many of their own districts. Why, then, have they just proceeded on as if nothing on their agendas have changed?
It's because for them...nothing has changed. While conservatives are coming out in record numbers to support the various tea parties and maybe to join in the "Heads on a Stick" campaigns from KFI's John and Ken, the Democratic machine has been allowed to simply watch from the sidelines as they continue pandering to the special interest groups that are truly running the state. While I agree that the Republicans need to be held accountable for upholding their higher levels of accountability, responsibility and morals, at some point we need to begin the process of true change by holding the political party directly responsible for financially strangling our state. But where do we begin?
In the 54th AD, we begin with taking control of every local council and board seat with fiscally responsible individuals who know what the term "public servant" truly means. We already had a great start to this activism in the City of Los Angeles, as we found out on March 19th that we had officially defeated Measure B, Mayor Villaraigosa's attempt to double everyone's energy bills to provide job security to the IBEW union through the installation of solar panels. This was not just a Republican victory; this was a victory for conservative independents and Democrats who see the Los Angeles City political machine for what it is. We need to continue fighting liberal tax-and-spend candidates who only represent union interests throughout our district, and the next opportunity to tell Democrats that the citizens are taking back the state is April 7th, when we take Bonnie Lowenthal's old seat and elect Rick Berry to fill it.
Rick Berry has been endorsed by all of the fiscal watchdog groups in Long Beach, including the Long Beach Taxpayers Association & the Long Beach Business Journal. All media sources either endorse Rick Berry to put him in the upper tier of candidates vying for the seat. The other two viable candidates are Democrats Evan Braude and Robert Garcia. Evan is a former city council member who happens to be Bonnie Lowenthal's boyfriend. He did receive the Democratic Party's endorsement over Robert Garcia, who has been endorsed by some of my "favorites", including Alan Lowenthal and Jenny Oropeza. Robert is an interesting story, having moved into the district right about the same time Bonnie declared her candidacy for the 54th Assembly seat in 2007. Interesting...!
We need to send continuous messages to the Democrats that we don't plan to wait until 2010 to begin our take back of our state. Rick Berry is our district's first opportunity, but there's more. Real quick:
- May 19th: We can kill all six of the horrible state propositions, 1A - 1F. We can also remove a liberal political, Jack Weiss, from public service by helping elect Carmen Trutanich to the LA City Attorney's office.
- June: The Palos Verdes Peninsula USD is actually trying to pass ANOTHER parcel tax, again without any specifics. No surprise they didn't want it on the May ballot with the state propositions!
- November: Rancho Palos Verdes will be a big testament to whether the district is truly getting the message. Stand by for more details on this exciting and already jam-packed race.
The best way you can all get involved and show the state Democrats that you're not going to take any more of their union pandering and special interest prioritizing is to come out next weekend and either walk a precinct or help at a phone bank for Rick Berry. There will be opportunities on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and next Monday to help Rick lock up the final votes needed to win this race. His website is www.BerryBest4LB.com and I have the link near the top of the left column.
Putting Rick Berry in the seat formerly occupied by Bonnie Lowenthal will send a huge message from the 5th largest city in California that the Democratic agenda is not what we want in our local leaders!
I'll be out there next weekend; come on out, regardless whether you live in Long Beach or not!
But how will we begin seeing this activism translate into results that the Democrats will honestly care about? You would think most of our state legislators would be sweating profusely about the events taking place in many of their own districts. Why, then, have they just proceeded on as if nothing on their agendas have changed?
It's because for them...nothing has changed. While conservatives are coming out in record numbers to support the various tea parties and maybe to join in the "Heads on a Stick" campaigns from KFI's John and Ken, the Democratic machine has been allowed to simply watch from the sidelines as they continue pandering to the special interest groups that are truly running the state. While I agree that the Republicans need to be held accountable for upholding their higher levels of accountability, responsibility and morals, at some point we need to begin the process of true change by holding the political party directly responsible for financially strangling our state. But where do we begin?
In the 54th AD, we begin with taking control of every local council and board seat with fiscally responsible individuals who know what the term "public servant" truly means. We already had a great start to this activism in the City of Los Angeles, as we found out on March 19th that we had officially defeated Measure B, Mayor Villaraigosa's attempt to double everyone's energy bills to provide job security to the IBEW union through the installation of solar panels. This was not just a Republican victory; this was a victory for conservative independents and Democrats who see the Los Angeles City political machine for what it is. We need to continue fighting liberal tax-and-spend candidates who only represent union interests throughout our district, and the next opportunity to tell Democrats that the citizens are taking back the state is April 7th, when we take Bonnie Lowenthal's old seat and elect Rick Berry to fill it.
Rick Berry has been endorsed by all of the fiscal watchdog groups in Long Beach, including the Long Beach Taxpayers Association & the Long Beach Business Journal. All media sources either endorse Rick Berry to put him in the upper tier of candidates vying for the seat. The other two viable candidates are Democrats Evan Braude and Robert Garcia. Evan is a former city council member who happens to be Bonnie Lowenthal's boyfriend. He did receive the Democratic Party's endorsement over Robert Garcia, who has been endorsed by some of my "favorites", including Alan Lowenthal and Jenny Oropeza. Robert is an interesting story, having moved into the district right about the same time Bonnie declared her candidacy for the 54th Assembly seat in 2007. Interesting...!
We need to send continuous messages to the Democrats that we don't plan to wait until 2010 to begin our take back of our state. Rick Berry is our district's first opportunity, but there's more. Real quick:
- May 19th: We can kill all six of the horrible state propositions, 1A - 1F. We can also remove a liberal political, Jack Weiss, from public service by helping elect Carmen Trutanich to the LA City Attorney's office.
- June: The Palos Verdes Peninsula USD is actually trying to pass ANOTHER parcel tax, again without any specifics. No surprise they didn't want it on the May ballot with the state propositions!
- November: Rancho Palos Verdes will be a big testament to whether the district is truly getting the message. Stand by for more details on this exciting and already jam-packed race.
The best way you can all get involved and show the state Democrats that you're not going to take any more of their union pandering and special interest prioritizing is to come out next weekend and either walk a precinct or help at a phone bank for Rick Berry. There will be opportunities on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and next Monday to help Rick lock up the final votes needed to win this race. His website is www.BerryBest4LB.com and I have the link near the top of the left column.
Putting Rick Berry in the seat formerly occupied by Bonnie Lowenthal will send a huge message from the 5th largest city in California that the Democratic agenda is not what we want in our local leaders!
I'll be out there next weekend; come on out, regardless whether you live in Long Beach or not!
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Republican Values victorious on Tuesday
I know some of you will think this is a bit of a spin job, but the results of Tuesday's election for Los Angeles County, and specifically the City of Los Angeles, should give those of us loyal to conservative principles and values much hope. From the defense of EVERY Republican local seat to the voting trend symbolized by the results of key measures, the liberals are starting to lose their grip on this county, slowly but surely.
The 54th AD had two Republican candidates in Palos Verdes Estates up for election Tuesday against a Democrat who ran on the "why can't I break the law and disturb my neighbors" campaign. Incumbent James Goodhart and PVE Planning Commissioner George Bird ran great campaigns that represented what most of the voters in PVE were looking for. Their sole opponent was Democrat Sheryll Iannitti, who would not likely have received our endorsement has she been a Republican anyway due to her reason for running. This was the woman who ran for office because she was upset that the city asked her to remove her Halloween decorations from city property. She was basically running on an assumption that residents of Palos Verdes Estates wanted "change"; anyone familiar with PVE like I am can tell you that's not the best campaign slogan on "the Hill".
Congratulations to our two endorsed elected candidates!
For San Pedro Republicans, Tuesday night seemed somewhat bleak and uneventful to start. Mayor Villaraigosa was leading by a comfortable margin, Janice Hahn had pretty much locked up her third term, and Measure B was still in a slight lead despite every neighborhood council from the Northern San Fernando Valley to Coastal San Pedro opposing it. When most of the voters went to bed, even the IBEW has issued their announcement talking about how great their Measure B victory was.
But something funny happened around 1:00am...the majority vote turned to NO!
The final bulletin issued at 1:45am Wednesday morning shows only 49.7% of voters supporting Measure B, signifying a trend that resulted from the voting public learning more about the issues of the measure. I have been pretty detailed in my earlier posts about Measure B, so I won't repeat them. The trend of voting was a result of the absentee voters and districts closer to downtown L.A. being the first counted. As the precincts from the San Fernando Valley, Westside, and Harbor area came in, the gap narrowed until it flipped right before the end of counting the nearly 250,000 votes.
But the battle to defeat Measure B is not yet complete. Another 46,000 ballots remain from late absentees turned in at polling places, provisional ballots, and ballots with issues and discrepancies. The No on Measure B team has committed members observing the counting daily, and it looks like the trend downward for Measure B should continue. I look forward to announcing the official defeat of this measure.
There was much to be proud of Tuesday for those who believe in the Republican principles and values of limited government and better business practices. Now we hope to begin the resurgence of the Party through taking local seats from Democrats, and it starts in Long Beach in just 4 1/2 weeks...
The 54th AD had two Republican candidates in Palos Verdes Estates up for election Tuesday against a Democrat who ran on the "why can't I break the law and disturb my neighbors" campaign. Incumbent James Goodhart and PVE Planning Commissioner George Bird ran great campaigns that represented what most of the voters in PVE were looking for. Their sole opponent was Democrat Sheryll Iannitti, who would not likely have received our endorsement has she been a Republican anyway due to her reason for running. This was the woman who ran for office because she was upset that the city asked her to remove her Halloween decorations from city property. She was basically running on an assumption that residents of Palos Verdes Estates wanted "change"; anyone familiar with PVE like I am can tell you that's not the best campaign slogan on "the Hill".
Congratulations to our two endorsed elected candidates!
For San Pedro Republicans, Tuesday night seemed somewhat bleak and uneventful to start. Mayor Villaraigosa was leading by a comfortable margin, Janice Hahn had pretty much locked up her third term, and Measure B was still in a slight lead despite every neighborhood council from the Northern San Fernando Valley to Coastal San Pedro opposing it. When most of the voters went to bed, even the IBEW has issued their announcement talking about how great their Measure B victory was.
But something funny happened around 1:00am...the majority vote turned to NO!
The final bulletin issued at 1:45am Wednesday morning shows only 49.7% of voters supporting Measure B, signifying a trend that resulted from the voting public learning more about the issues of the measure. I have been pretty detailed in my earlier posts about Measure B, so I won't repeat them. The trend of voting was a result of the absentee voters and districts closer to downtown L.A. being the first counted. As the precincts from the San Fernando Valley, Westside, and Harbor area came in, the gap narrowed until it flipped right before the end of counting the nearly 250,000 votes.
But the battle to defeat Measure B is not yet complete. Another 46,000 ballots remain from late absentees turned in at polling places, provisional ballots, and ballots with issues and discrepancies. The No on Measure B team has committed members observing the counting daily, and it looks like the trend downward for Measure B should continue. I look forward to announcing the official defeat of this measure.
There was much to be proud of Tuesday for those who believe in the Republican principles and values of limited government and better business practices. Now we hope to begin the resurgence of the Party through taking local seats from Democrats, and it starts in Long Beach in just 4 1/2 weeks...
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Calm before the Storm
I hope I haven't woken up any one's e-mail as I've sent this out. No doubt most of us have been either on vacation or otherwise pre-occupied the past two months since the June primary to think about the political scene, whether it's Senator McCain's consecutive weeks closing the opinion poll gap or Gabriella Holt's repeated appearances at local Long Beach events to raise key issues within the "safe" Democratic forums. Today's posting is both a status check and an announcement of events in each of the three main 54th AD cities to get all of us excited and optimistic about the fall campaign season.
First, if you haven't heard about Senator McCain's stomping of Senator Obama at last Saturday's Saddleback Forum, then I definitely want to welcome you back from your overseas vacation. I have co-workers from Boston to Long Beach, including a lot of non-Republicans, who were talking about how poorly Obama did and how well McCain answered each question. The media has "acknowledged" McCain's victory through their non-existent coverage of the forum. Did anyone else notice the TINY article in the Daily Breeze about the forum? Our central committee got more coverage about our local TALB resolution last May than the nationwide Saddleback Forum received! The network news sources and CNN have all foregone doing ANY analysis of the forum, except to state that it happened and that Pastor Peter Warren should be commended for holding it. Pastor Warren should moderate ALL of the upcoming forums! He asked each candidate the same hard questions we would have asked each candidate, and the results were apparent. But, if you haven't seen the forum, the best site for viewing the forum is http://trevinwax.com/2008/08/17/obama-mccain-with-rick-warren-at-saddleback-forum-video/. This site breaks out every 10-15 minutes, and also has the complete transcript.
(As a side note, if you haven't read Pastor Warren's book, The Purpose-Driven Life, it is phenomenal!)
Locally, fellow activists like you have been asking me how our Republican Assembly Nominee, Gabriella Holt, is doing. I have not been as plugged in as I was prior to the June primary due to both county political activities and personal events. (In addition to my responsibilities to GOTV for Republicans across the county, I'm actually on a "Ready 5" status to welcome my 2nd daughter, Violet, to the world! So if I cut this posting short....). Gabriella has been running across the district, especially throughout Long Beach, in order to shore up local support and give Bonnie a challenge in her own backyard. And Gabriella's support has not been limited to "McCain-supporting" Republicans. Gabriella has met with voters across the spectrum, from dis-enfranchised Democrats who want change in Sacramento, Independent voters who want a representative that is not beholden to their party's agenda without exception, to other Republicans who are demanding more accountability from their current leaders. We have a candidate who appeals to them all, and her volunteer list has been growing recently with members from all of these groups.
A special recognition has to go out to her newest campaign manager, JoAnn Funch, who has temporarily relocated from the Northern Mid-West for the fall campaign to dedicate 100% of her time to getting Gabriella elected! JoAnn is working hard to coordinate Gabriella's appearances, including tomorrow evening's Long Beach Meet & Greet at 6132 Corsica Circle from 6pm-8pm. If you have some time tomorrow evening, please come out and let Gabriella know you're back from vacation and are ready to join the fall campaign!
Another surge of Republican Activism in Long Beach is the set of Long Beach Townhalls hosted by LBARP both this week and next. If you were not able to get to any of them this week, they are holding them at the same locations next week, Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday. (Please visit the LBARP website at http://www.longbeachrepublicans.org/ for the three locations). The LBARP team, led by Long Beach City Prosecutor Tom Reeves, has been working hard to set up these opportunities for the conservative voice on the proposed tax increases and lack of civic accountability by many of the Democratic City Council members to be voiced, and for Republicans to learn how they can get plugged into Getting Out The Vote for their neighborhoods. Thanks in part to both the influence from our hard-fighting LB Chamber of Commerce and local conservative activists, Long Beach has been a much more business-friendly environment than it's sister-city across the bridges, San Pedro. It's no wonder all of the newer restaurants and retail predominantly open in Long Beach. (Meanwhile, San Pedro JUST got their first downtown Starbucks! Amazing!)
In San Pedro, however, all is not lost. We recently held our San Pedro GOTV event in conjunction with the McCain Nation event, and now have a great venue available for another event this fall to energize Republicans from San Pedro and East RPV. Thanks goes out to Golden State Campaigns and central committee member-elect John Cozza for helping me set up this event. Though the attendance did not match the 50+ RSVP response, it was a good event to have as a predecessor to others once our fellow Republicans return from summer vacations.
And on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, the persistence and hard work of central committee members Nancy Comaford and James Crean have borne fruit in the securing of the former Marie Callendar's at the Promenade as our Republican campaign headquarters for the 2008 fall campaign season! We are making arrangements to get the furniture into it, and I will post operating hours as soon as I learn them. This will serve as an energizing venue for all of our fall Republican campaigns, including McCain, Holt, Gutierrez & Rohrabacher. So stand by for upcoming news about when to visit and get involved!
So from Long Beach, with the Holt Campaign & LBARP stirring up activism, to the Palos Verdes Peninsula setting up a new temporary campaign headquarters, I hope all of those reading this will set aside any large non-political projects to help us this season as we battle for both the future of our nation and the future of our state. All of our candidates will need your help!
First, if you haven't heard about Senator McCain's stomping of Senator Obama at last Saturday's Saddleback Forum, then I definitely want to welcome you back from your overseas vacation. I have co-workers from Boston to Long Beach, including a lot of non-Republicans, who were talking about how poorly Obama did and how well McCain answered each question. The media has "acknowledged" McCain's victory through their non-existent coverage of the forum. Did anyone else notice the TINY article in the Daily Breeze about the forum? Our central committee got more coverage about our local TALB resolution last May than the nationwide Saddleback Forum received! The network news sources and CNN have all foregone doing ANY analysis of the forum, except to state that it happened and that Pastor Peter Warren should be commended for holding it. Pastor Warren should moderate ALL of the upcoming forums! He asked each candidate the same hard questions we would have asked each candidate, and the results were apparent. But, if you haven't seen the forum, the best site for viewing the forum is http://trevinwax.com/2008/08/17/obama-mccain-with-rick-warren-at-saddleback-forum-video/. This site breaks out every 10-15 minutes, and also has the complete transcript.
(As a side note, if you haven't read Pastor Warren's book, The Purpose-Driven Life, it is phenomenal!)
Locally, fellow activists like you have been asking me how our Republican Assembly Nominee, Gabriella Holt, is doing. I have not been as plugged in as I was prior to the June primary due to both county political activities and personal events. (In addition to my responsibilities to GOTV for Republicans across the county, I'm actually on a "Ready 5" status to welcome my 2nd daughter, Violet, to the world! So if I cut this posting short....). Gabriella has been running across the district, especially throughout Long Beach, in order to shore up local support and give Bonnie a challenge in her own backyard. And Gabriella's support has not been limited to "McCain-supporting" Republicans. Gabriella has met with voters across the spectrum, from dis-enfranchised Democrats who want change in Sacramento, Independent voters who want a representative that is not beholden to their party's agenda without exception, to other Republicans who are demanding more accountability from their current leaders. We have a candidate who appeals to them all, and her volunteer list has been growing recently with members from all of these groups.
A special recognition has to go out to her newest campaign manager, JoAnn Funch, who has temporarily relocated from the Northern Mid-West for the fall campaign to dedicate 100% of her time to getting Gabriella elected! JoAnn is working hard to coordinate Gabriella's appearances, including tomorrow evening's Long Beach Meet & Greet at 6132 Corsica Circle from 6pm-8pm. If you have some time tomorrow evening, please come out and let Gabriella know you're back from vacation and are ready to join the fall campaign!
Another surge of Republican Activism in Long Beach is the set of Long Beach Townhalls hosted by LBARP both this week and next. If you were not able to get to any of them this week, they are holding them at the same locations next week, Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday. (Please visit the LBARP website at http://www.longbeachrepublicans.org/ for the three locations). The LBARP team, led by Long Beach City Prosecutor Tom Reeves, has been working hard to set up these opportunities for the conservative voice on the proposed tax increases and lack of civic accountability by many of the Democratic City Council members to be voiced, and for Republicans to learn how they can get plugged into Getting Out The Vote for their neighborhoods. Thanks in part to both the influence from our hard-fighting LB Chamber of Commerce and local conservative activists, Long Beach has been a much more business-friendly environment than it's sister-city across the bridges, San Pedro. It's no wonder all of the newer restaurants and retail predominantly open in Long Beach. (Meanwhile, San Pedro JUST got their first downtown Starbucks! Amazing!)
In San Pedro, however, all is not lost. We recently held our San Pedro GOTV event in conjunction with the McCain Nation event, and now have a great venue available for another event this fall to energize Republicans from San Pedro and East RPV. Thanks goes out to Golden State Campaigns and central committee member-elect John Cozza for helping me set up this event. Though the attendance did not match the 50+ RSVP response, it was a good event to have as a predecessor to others once our fellow Republicans return from summer vacations.
And on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, the persistence and hard work of central committee members Nancy Comaford and James Crean have borne fruit in the securing of the former Marie Callendar's at the Promenade as our Republican campaign headquarters for the 2008 fall campaign season! We are making arrangements to get the furniture into it, and I will post operating hours as soon as I learn them. This will serve as an energizing venue for all of our fall Republican campaigns, including McCain, Holt, Gutierrez & Rohrabacher. So stand by for upcoming news about when to visit and get involved!
So from Long Beach, with the Holt Campaign & LBARP stirring up activism, to the Palos Verdes Peninsula setting up a new temporary campaign headquarters, I hope all of those reading this will set aside any large non-political projects to help us this season as we battle for both the future of our nation and the future of our state. All of our candidates will need your help!
Monday, August 11, 2008
GOTV Night - Michelle & Shawn Steel join Host Committee; Republican Nominees Holt & Gutierrez confirmed to speak
Fellow Republican Activists & Friends,
I first want to send out a personal thank-you to both the Honorable Michelle Steel, our hard-fighting Board of Equalization Member, and our National Committeeman-Elect Shawn Steel for joining our host committee and lending their valuable support for this important event.
I am also extremely pleased to confirm both of your Republican Nominees, 54th State Assembly Nominee Gabriella Holt & 25th State Senate Nominee Lydia Gutierrez, to our fantastic agenda for Thursday Night's McCain Nation / GOP GOTV Event in San Pedro.
Both Gabriella & Lydia are important additions to our agenda, and these fantastic Republican women will have a dedicated portion of the agenda to present their campaigns, as well as the opportunity through an open forum with you to answer questions about how they will fight for you in Sacramento. This is your opportunity to have your voice heard and to learn how to get these great nominees elected by turning out the vote in your neighborhood!
The agenda includes:
- Two-way audience discussion about the 2008 national election;
- Brief video about Senator McCain;
- Joint conference call with a national Republican VIP;
- Brief overview on how you can Get-Out-The Vote in your local neighborhood;
- Discussion period about our state & local issues, followed by our state candidates (or representatives) telling you how they are going to address these issues when we get them elected.
I expect the California Republican Party to send the media to our event due to the relative size and planned agenda. This will be a good rally for all of us to kick-off our fall campaigns!
If you haven't done so already, please RSVP on our event site at: http://www.johnmccain.com/mccainnation/Default.aspx. (The zip code for our event is 90731.)
The site includes a feature to do driving directions for you. Though it's not required to attend, the RSVP help ensure we plan for seating, refreshments, and campaign literature for the nominees. Please bring as many friends, neighbors, disenfranchised Democrats & Independents, and others as you can!
See you Thursday for this important event in our local efforts to turn out the Republican vote!
John S. Stammreich
Chairman - 54th AD Republican Central Committee
I first want to send out a personal thank-you to both the Honorable Michelle Steel, our hard-fighting Board of Equalization Member, and our National Committeeman-Elect Shawn Steel for joining our host committee and lending their valuable support for this important event.
I am also extremely pleased to confirm both of your Republican Nominees, 54th State Assembly Nominee Gabriella Holt & 25th State Senate Nominee Lydia Gutierrez, to our fantastic agenda for Thursday Night's McCain Nation / GOP GOTV Event in San Pedro.
Both Gabriella & Lydia are important additions to our agenda, and these fantastic Republican women will have a dedicated portion of the agenda to present their campaigns, as well as the opportunity through an open forum with you to answer questions about how they will fight for you in Sacramento. This is your opportunity to have your voice heard and to learn how to get these great nominees elected by turning out the vote in your neighborhood!
The agenda includes:
- Two-way audience discussion about the 2008 national election;
- Brief video about Senator McCain;
- Joint conference call with a national Republican VIP;
- Brief overview on how you can Get-Out-The Vote in your local neighborhood;
- Discussion period about our state & local issues, followed by our state candidates (or representatives) telling you how they are going to address these issues when we get them elected.
I expect the California Republican Party to send the media to our event due to the relative size and planned agenda. This will be a good rally for all of us to kick-off our fall campaigns!
If you haven't done so already, please RSVP on our event site at: http://www.johnmccain.com/mccainnation/Default.aspx. (The zip code for our event is 90731.)
The site includes a feature to do driving directions for you. Though it's not required to attend, the RSVP help ensure we plan for seating, refreshments, and campaign literature for the nominees. Please bring as many friends, neighbors, disenfranchised Democrats & Independents, and others as you can!
See you Thursday for this important event in our local efforts to turn out the Republican vote!
John S. Stammreich
Chairman - 54th AD Republican Central Committee
Saturday, August 9, 2008
South Bay / San Pedro Republican Get-Out-the-Vote 2008
Fellow 54th AD Republicans,
It's time to kick off the fall campaign season with a motivating rally for the Republican ticket! August 14th is McCain Nation Night, so let's get together for John McCain's first national event day and get organized for the election. All of our local GOP candidates need our support!
South Bay / San Pedro Republican Get-Out-the-Vote 2008
August 14th, 2008 7:00pm
1891 N. Gaffey St. San Pedro, CA
Please come to my event to talk about John McCain's agenda for America and to discuss what we can do to help him win. Then listen to other local candidates or their representatives to learn how you can help them get elected. As the election is only a few months away, this event will focus on making sure every supporter is empowered to get out the vote in their neighborhood.
John McCain consistently puts his country before his political interests and is committed to addressing the tough issues America cares about most. Our Republican candidates are also taking on the special insterests killing California, and they need our help! Please join us for this important and fun event!
Invited speakers include (partial list):
Lydia Gutierrez – Republican Nominee, 25th Senate District
Brian Gibson – Republican Nominee, 36th Congressional District
Gabriella Holt – Republican Nominee, 54th Assembly District
I hope you can join us for this important event!
Very Best Regards,
John S. Stammreich
Chairman - 54th AD Republican Central Committee
It's time to kick off the fall campaign season with a motivating rally for the Republican ticket! August 14th is McCain Nation Night, so let's get together for John McCain's first national event day and get organized for the election. All of our local GOP candidates need our support!
South Bay / San Pedro Republican Get-Out-the-Vote 2008
August 14th, 2008 7:00pm
1891 N. Gaffey St. San Pedro, CA
Please come to my event to talk about John McCain's agenda for America and to discuss what we can do to help him win. Then listen to other local candidates or their representatives to learn how you can help them get elected. As the election is only a few months away, this event will focus on making sure every supporter is empowered to get out the vote in their neighborhood.
John McCain consistently puts his country before his political interests and is committed to addressing the tough issues America cares about most. Our Republican candidates are also taking on the special insterests killing California, and they need our help! Please join us for this important and fun event!
Invited speakers include (partial list):
Lydia Gutierrez – Republican Nominee, 25th Senate District
Brian Gibson – Republican Nominee, 36th Congressional District
Gabriella Holt – Republican Nominee, 54th Assembly District
I hope you can join us for this important event!
Very Best Regards,
John S. Stammreich
Chairman - 54th AD Republican Central Committee
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Term Extensions: Which is worse – "Bush" or Karnette? (Part I)
The Wall Street Journal ran a very interesting op-ed on Tuesday titled “Bush’s Third Term”. Most of us have heard that slogan used by the Democratic spin doctors to describe Senator McCain’s campaign, but the Journal was talking about the other candidate: Senator Obama. The op-ed points out Senator Obama’s quick re-direction away from the far left agenda to the center by suddenly adopting many of President Bush’s policies & positions. Examples include NAFTA, Nuclear Power, faith-based programs and even support for General Petreaus.
This is proof of acknowledgement by even the Democrat’s top of the ticket that in order to win on issues, candidates need to be centered, and maybe even close to the moderate right. After all, even Democratic voters tend to seek honesty, integrity, family values & fiscal responsibility in their elected representatives. The issue of which candidate’s platform more closely resembles President Bush’s gave me two thoughts: 1) Even Senator Obama has had to acknowledge that not all of President Bush’s policies are bad for the country; and 2) more locally, are we content with extensions of our state and local representation by electing those that would carry on the same policies and voting records as those they are replacing?
In our own district, the two termed-out incumbents are 25th District State Senator Ed Vincent and the 54th District State Assemblymember Betty Karnette. Because most of those in the overlap between the 25th Senate District and the 54th Assembly District are from the Palos Verdes Peninsula and have not been strong areas for Senator Vincent anyway, I will instead focus on the Assembly race that involved all of us here in the 54th AD. Long Beach Vice Mayor Bonnie Lowenthal is running to (literally) replace Assemblymember Karnette, and we need to decide if we as voters are content with 6 more years of the same representation. To do so, we need to see how Karnette has voted on important legislation and decide how they align with the goals of Long Beach, San Pedro, Avalon and the Palos Verdes Peninsula.
To start, voters throughout the 54th AD had a chance to extend the assembly terms of Karnette through last February’s Proposition 93, the deceptively-named “Term Limit Reduction” measure that would have allowed Karnette another 6 years in the Assembly. The measure tried to assert that it was reducing the terms of the current legislative membership, but most voters knew that voting for the measure would extend the number of terms of their respective legislator. The measure was expected to pass because it was assumed that on both Democratic and Republican districts, voters liked their representative and would vote to extend each of their careers. What Speaker Nunez and his political advisers failed to realize is that most voters do not have a favorable opinion of the state (or federal) legislative branch, and are willing to remove their own representative if it means removing all of the other do-nothing legislators faster as well. Combine that with most of our Republican leadership standing behind the Republican platform of term limits, the measure failed across the state. What is interesting to note is that the measure also failed in key regions where it should have passed, according to the Democratic strategy, including within Los Angeles County, and most importantly, within our own 54th Assembly District.
It seems district voters in February decided that Karnette was not worth saving and that new leadership was desired.
So the next logical question is: If voters did not choose to extend Karnette’s representation in the Assembly, do they want a “new” assembly member who will most likely continue to vote & perform the same way that Karnette did?
This is the question I will dive into in Part II of this series by comparing both Bonnie Lowenthal’s platform and Republican Assembly nominee Gabriella Holt’s platform to that of Betty Karnette’s to see whether either candidate can be given the label “Karnette’s Third Term”.
In Part III, I will tie in the Journal’s or-ed about Senator Obama by discuss whether his run to the center, and specifically his embracing of key Republican positions, will help or hinder legislative candidates at the federal, state and local levels, and how the Democratic Party will need to reconcile its messages to have both credibility to the centrists & moderates, as well as maintaining the interest if it’s far-left base to turn out in November.
This is proof of acknowledgement by even the Democrat’s top of the ticket that in order to win on issues, candidates need to be centered, and maybe even close to the moderate right. After all, even Democratic voters tend to seek honesty, integrity, family values & fiscal responsibility in their elected representatives. The issue of which candidate’s platform more closely resembles President Bush’s gave me two thoughts: 1) Even Senator Obama has had to acknowledge that not all of President Bush’s policies are bad for the country; and 2) more locally, are we content with extensions of our state and local representation by electing those that would carry on the same policies and voting records as those they are replacing?
In our own district, the two termed-out incumbents are 25th District State Senator Ed Vincent and the 54th District State Assemblymember Betty Karnette. Because most of those in the overlap between the 25th Senate District and the 54th Assembly District are from the Palos Verdes Peninsula and have not been strong areas for Senator Vincent anyway, I will instead focus on the Assembly race that involved all of us here in the 54th AD. Long Beach Vice Mayor Bonnie Lowenthal is running to (literally) replace Assemblymember Karnette, and we need to decide if we as voters are content with 6 more years of the same representation. To do so, we need to see how Karnette has voted on important legislation and decide how they align with the goals of Long Beach, San Pedro, Avalon and the Palos Verdes Peninsula.
To start, voters throughout the 54th AD had a chance to extend the assembly terms of Karnette through last February’s Proposition 93, the deceptively-named “Term Limit Reduction” measure that would have allowed Karnette another 6 years in the Assembly. The measure tried to assert that it was reducing the terms of the current legislative membership, but most voters knew that voting for the measure would extend the number of terms of their respective legislator. The measure was expected to pass because it was assumed that on both Democratic and Republican districts, voters liked their representative and would vote to extend each of their careers. What Speaker Nunez and his political advisers failed to realize is that most voters do not have a favorable opinion of the state (or federal) legislative branch, and are willing to remove their own representative if it means removing all of the other do-nothing legislators faster as well. Combine that with most of our Republican leadership standing behind the Republican platform of term limits, the measure failed across the state. What is interesting to note is that the measure also failed in key regions where it should have passed, according to the Democratic strategy, including within Los Angeles County, and most importantly, within our own 54th Assembly District.
It seems district voters in February decided that Karnette was not worth saving and that new leadership was desired.
So the next logical question is: If voters did not choose to extend Karnette’s representation in the Assembly, do they want a “new” assembly member who will most likely continue to vote & perform the same way that Karnette did?
This is the question I will dive into in Part II of this series by comparing both Bonnie Lowenthal’s platform and Republican Assembly nominee Gabriella Holt’s platform to that of Betty Karnette’s to see whether either candidate can be given the label “Karnette’s Third Term”.
In Part III, I will tie in the Journal’s or-ed about Senator Obama by discuss whether his run to the center, and specifically his embracing of key Republican positions, will help or hinder legislative candidates at the federal, state and local levels, and how the Democratic Party will need to reconcile its messages to have both credibility to the centrists & moderates, as well as maintaining the interest if it’s far-left base to turn out in November.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
June 3rd: Thank you so much...
Now that the dust has settled on the June 3rd Primary Election, it's time for the dust to settle and for us to get to the real tasks at hand: Winning back the 54th AD & securing the White house for another 4 years. But first, I have to thank you all for your phenomenal support and turnout.
Many of you not only voted for me and my slate of "Can-do" candidates, you spread the word extremely well. And the results show it. The "Can-do" slate of seven candidates finished in the top seven, sweeping the central committee election and ensuring a solid team of operationally-minded members for the 2008-2010 term. This new group takes over in November, and I am extremely excited for our local campaign strategy for 2009 and 2010. It takes more than just a few members to make a difference, and the next committee will be committed toward helping local Republicans running for city councils, school boards and other local seats get the support they need to start making gains in the 54th Assembly District.
The list at the top of the left column will be your new central committee. First and foremost are the two legislative nominees, Gabriella Holt & Lydia Gutierrez, that we must now dedicate our local resources and efforts to get elected. They are both phenomenal candidates that bring us a new opportunity to take key seats that previous nominees did not, and not just because they represent the significant trend of Republican women taking control. Each has unique traits and skills that they bring to our Party that will enable us to openly discuss the most important issues with Democrats, Independents and fellow Republicans alike.
Lydia Gutierrez will compete well against Democratic nominee Rod Wright for the 25th Senate District seat. Her upbringing and experience as a LBUSD school teacher, plus her activism for children and stronger family values will make many Democrats and Independents consider whether their current parties have represented their values and concerns like Lydia will if given the opportunity to be their state senator.
Gabriella Holt, our Republican nominee for the 54th Assembly District, brings a solid background of experience in the fields of health care, business and education, the three big issues Democrats are hoping to use against our party. Unlike the campaign events prior to the Democratic Primary, the Democratic nominee, Bonnie Lowenthal, will not be able to simply give short, pithy answers and watch her opponent talk herself into a liberal frenzy, like former Democratic candidate Tonia Reyes Uranga did. Gabriella will force Bonnie to either campaign on the issues, or watch as Long Beach figures out what most of us in San Pedro know: It takes more than podium speeches to win the public. This committee will be dedicated foremost to its pledged mission to win elections in the 54th AD, and its primary one has always been and will continue to be this one.
For information on their campaigns, please see my website list in the left column or e-mail me at stammiam@yahoo.com. Your continued support and involvement will be essential in helping our two 2008 nominees win their campaigns.
Thank you again, for your wonderful support. I pledge to continue representing you in the Republican Party and listening to your concerns, locally, in the state and nationally. We have a lot of work to do after a horrible 2006 performance. But this is when we see who has the strength and persistence to rise again and fight for our principles and values.
I look forward to working with all of you this summer and fall to elect our great candidates: Holt, Gutierrez, and McCain!
Many of you not only voted for me and my slate of "Can-do" candidates, you spread the word extremely well. And the results show it. The "Can-do" slate of seven candidates finished in the top seven, sweeping the central committee election and ensuring a solid team of operationally-minded members for the 2008-2010 term. This new group takes over in November, and I am extremely excited for our local campaign strategy for 2009 and 2010. It takes more than just a few members to make a difference, and the next committee will be committed toward helping local Republicans running for city councils, school boards and other local seats get the support they need to start making gains in the 54th Assembly District.
The list at the top of the left column will be your new central committee. First and foremost are the two legislative nominees, Gabriella Holt & Lydia Gutierrez, that we must now dedicate our local resources and efforts to get elected. They are both phenomenal candidates that bring us a new opportunity to take key seats that previous nominees did not, and not just because they represent the significant trend of Republican women taking control. Each has unique traits and skills that they bring to our Party that will enable us to openly discuss the most important issues with Democrats, Independents and fellow Republicans alike.
Lydia Gutierrez will compete well against Democratic nominee Rod Wright for the 25th Senate District seat. Her upbringing and experience as a LBUSD school teacher, plus her activism for children and stronger family values will make many Democrats and Independents consider whether their current parties have represented their values and concerns like Lydia will if given the opportunity to be their state senator.
Gabriella Holt, our Republican nominee for the 54th Assembly District, brings a solid background of experience in the fields of health care, business and education, the three big issues Democrats are hoping to use against our party. Unlike the campaign events prior to the Democratic Primary, the Democratic nominee, Bonnie Lowenthal, will not be able to simply give short, pithy answers and watch her opponent talk herself into a liberal frenzy, like former Democratic candidate Tonia Reyes Uranga did. Gabriella will force Bonnie to either campaign on the issues, or watch as Long Beach figures out what most of us in San Pedro know: It takes more than podium speeches to win the public. This committee will be dedicated foremost to its pledged mission to win elections in the 54th AD, and its primary one has always been and will continue to be this one.
For information on their campaigns, please see my website list in the left column or e-mail me at stammiam@yahoo.com. Your continued support and involvement will be essential in helping our two 2008 nominees win their campaigns.
Thank you again, for your wonderful support. I pledge to continue representing you in the Republican Party and listening to your concerns, locally, in the state and nationally. We have a lot of work to do after a horrible 2006 performance. But this is when we see who has the strength and persistence to rise again and fight for our principles and values.
I look forward to working with all of you this summer and fall to elect our great candidates: Holt, Gutierrez, and McCain!
Thursday, May 22, 2008
California now a "Battleground State", thanks to the CA Supreme Court
No doubt many of your have already heard about the California Supreme Court decision last week to overturn the will of the voters in declaring marriage as being between a man and a woman to be "unconstitutional". This is despite the fact that California voters have been very open to the opportunities of domestic partnerships, including child adoption, partner benefits and other laws protecting members of the homosexual community. Rather than accept California as the role model state for others looking for the middle ground to satisfy large majorities on this issue, activist groups like Freedom to Marry and others are challenging California with an "All or Nothing" attitude.
Because of this irrational persistence, there is an increasing tide of conservatives and moderates who just may ensure that the latter is the case.
I have been in Washington, DC this past week, and I read this editorial in USA Today this morning that makes this same assertion. (You know there's problems on the far left when conservatives like me start agreeing with media outlets like USA Today.) Here are the opening paragraphs from the editorial:
"Our view on same-sex marriage: California ruling invites backlash against gay rights
Civil unions, the best solution, are jeopardized by court decision.
Last week, when California became the second state after Massachusetts to allow gay marriage, same-sex couples celebrated and began planning June weddings. Good for them. But the unfortunate and unnecessary impact of the California Supreme Court ruling might well have been to set back the cause of gay rights more broadly.
"The judges ruled 4-3 that gays' inability to get married amounts to discrimination under California's constitution, even though the state's domestic partnership laws give them the benefits and responsibilities of marriage.
"In other words, pragmatic political compromise on the intensely controversial issue is not allowed in California. It's all or nothing, and recent political history leaves little doubt about what will follow.
"In the three years after Massachusetts' top court legalized gay marriage in 2004, 23 states rushed to adopt constitutional bans on gay marriage. This presidential election year is likely to bring more of the same.
"In effect, California's high court fixed something that wasn't broken. The state's domestic partnership laws have been a model for other states searching for the needed middle ground that addresses the deep-felt national division over gay marriage."
The full editorial, plus opposing views from both sides of the issue, are located here: http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2008/05/our-view-on-sam.html#more
My take on the ramifications of this ruling is this: the California Republican Party now has a November issue to motivate ultra-conservatives to turn out (and vote for the full Republican ticket), and for moderates (who accepted the domestic partnership middle-ground) to hold Democratic politicians responsible for risking California's status as the original middle-ground state. In my opinion, the persistence of the ultra-left wing activists in the gay-rights community has made California a potential battleground state for McCain.
Why do I believe this?
First, did you notice how quickly Senator McCain scheduled a trip to Stockton after the ruling? Second, have you heard a press release from either Democratic Presidential campaign since the ruling? Senator McCain has already gone on the record as being a defender of the sanctity of marriage between a man & woman, which is still supported by 56% of voters nationwide, according to the Gallup Poll cited in the USA Today editorial. Finally, the right-wing groups that had been pushing for a constitutional amendment about marriage have been given new life, and are now collecting more signatures at a feverish pace.
In our own assembly district, the issue of homosexual marriage will be a volatile one. With Long Beach being a stand-out city on gay-rights issues and activism, no doubt the ruling has been the topic of many local conversations and speeches. But with the heavy concentration of Catholic/Christian Democrats in both East Long Beach and San Pedro who will not be comfortable sacrificing their religious tenants in favor of a secular movement, the 54th Assembly District is going to have plenty of debates and discussions on this topic. Especially after the constitutional amendment measure is confirmed for the November ballot.
If Republicans claim the established middle-ground on this issue by accepting the premise of domestic partnerships while holding the line and protecting the sanctity of "marriage" as being between a man and a woman, I believe we will see moderate districts, including our own 54th AD, lean heavily toward McCain and our other great Republican candidates.
Let's hope the far-left Democrat candidates running this fall feel the pressure from the gay-rights special interest groups to keep leaning even more left. The irrational insistence to claim the "M" word (marriage) for themselves has re-opened a Pandora's Box that conservatives and moderates can work together to close in the best interests of all voters.
Because of this irrational persistence, there is an increasing tide of conservatives and moderates who just may ensure that the latter is the case.
I have been in Washington, DC this past week, and I read this editorial in USA Today this morning that makes this same assertion. (You know there's problems on the far left when conservatives like me start agreeing with media outlets like USA Today.) Here are the opening paragraphs from the editorial:
"Our view on same-sex marriage: California ruling invites backlash against gay rights
Civil unions, the best solution, are jeopardized by court decision.
Last week, when California became the second state after Massachusetts to allow gay marriage, same-sex couples celebrated and began planning June weddings. Good for them. But the unfortunate and unnecessary impact of the California Supreme Court ruling might well have been to set back the cause of gay rights more broadly.
"The judges ruled 4-3 that gays' inability to get married amounts to discrimination under California's constitution, even though the state's domestic partnership laws give them the benefits and responsibilities of marriage.
"In other words, pragmatic political compromise on the intensely controversial issue is not allowed in California. It's all or nothing, and recent political history leaves little doubt about what will follow.
"In the three years after Massachusetts' top court legalized gay marriage in 2004, 23 states rushed to adopt constitutional bans on gay marriage. This presidential election year is likely to bring more of the same.
"In effect, California's high court fixed something that wasn't broken. The state's domestic partnership laws have been a model for other states searching for the needed middle ground that addresses the deep-felt national division over gay marriage."
The full editorial, plus opposing views from both sides of the issue, are located here: http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2008/05/our-view-on-sam.html#more
My take on the ramifications of this ruling is this: the California Republican Party now has a November issue to motivate ultra-conservatives to turn out (and vote for the full Republican ticket), and for moderates (who accepted the domestic partnership middle-ground) to hold Democratic politicians responsible for risking California's status as the original middle-ground state. In my opinion, the persistence of the ultra-left wing activists in the gay-rights community has made California a potential battleground state for McCain.
Why do I believe this?
First, did you notice how quickly Senator McCain scheduled a trip to Stockton after the ruling? Second, have you heard a press release from either Democratic Presidential campaign since the ruling? Senator McCain has already gone on the record as being a defender of the sanctity of marriage between a man & woman, which is still supported by 56% of voters nationwide, according to the Gallup Poll cited in the USA Today editorial. Finally, the right-wing groups that had been pushing for a constitutional amendment about marriage have been given new life, and are now collecting more signatures at a feverish pace.
In our own assembly district, the issue of homosexual marriage will be a volatile one. With Long Beach being a stand-out city on gay-rights issues and activism, no doubt the ruling has been the topic of many local conversations and speeches. But with the heavy concentration of Catholic/Christian Democrats in both East Long Beach and San Pedro who will not be comfortable sacrificing their religious tenants in favor of a secular movement, the 54th Assembly District is going to have plenty of debates and discussions on this topic. Especially after the constitutional amendment measure is confirmed for the November ballot.
If Republicans claim the established middle-ground on this issue by accepting the premise of domestic partnerships while holding the line and protecting the sanctity of "marriage" as being between a man and a woman, I believe we will see moderate districts, including our own 54th AD, lean heavily toward McCain and our other great Republican candidates.
Let's hope the far-left Democrat candidates running this fall feel the pressure from the gay-rights special interest groups to keep leaning even more left. The irrational insistence to claim the "M" word (marriage) for themselves has re-opened a Pandora's Box that conservatives and moderates can work together to close in the best interests of all voters.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Special Guest Poster: RPV Council Member Tom Long
While I was beginning to gather information to address the horrific ruling by our CA Supreme Court and our need to rally behind the November ballot measure to make same-sex marriages unconstitutional, I received a very welcome surprise posting from none other than
Those that volunteered at our PV Farmer's Market table last year remember Tom Long always trying to set up his little table right next to ours, always borrowing pens and voter registration forms, and most importantly...trying to make the feeble argument that we should not be there because we were making the RPV City Council race partisan.
I've brought forward both his posting and my reply and would love to get more postings regarding your thoughts about Mr. Long's assertions.
Enjoy!
Monday, April 28, 2008
Why the Central Committee elections matter...
Until I moved to San Pedro and got more involved with the County Party, I had never heard of County Central Committees. When I worked campaigns for gubernatorial candidate Dan Lungren, Bush 2000, and congressional candidate Tim Escobar in 2002 and 2004, I never once heard of the central committee structure or how they were "supposed" to be working to get out the Republican vote. I have some theories why, but I think more importantly than why past committees have been pretty much irrelevant in the campaigns I have worked over the past 10 years, I want to instill in everyone that reads this why we need stronger and more effective central committees.
I was introduced to the central committee organization in 2006 working for Michael A. Jackson's campaign. My first impression was that the central committee's purpose was to give seven people plus ex-officios a status as being the "Republican authority" of their respective district. They were supposed to meet once a month and discuss opportunities to recruit more Republicans for office. What I saw throughout Los Angeles County were a few members in each district trying to do just that; but I also noticed those that ran for central committee strictly for their own agendas. They assumed that a position on the committee meant coffers of money would open up, and that they were "entitled" to support from every Republican in their district, if not through donations at least every Republican vote in the district. What they failed to do was reach out and ask voters and locally-elected leaders HOW they could earn their support.
My biggest priority for my first term was to learn HOW to earn the support of the local leaders and learn from them how to win elections in their parts of the district. The biggest lesson I have learned is that voters do NOT want activists as legislators, so much as they want leaders that have shown action in their activism. They also want intelligent legislators who work their way up through their local councils, school boards and community organizations. If you look at the Democratic leaders who have been successful, they all came from local elections; so have most of the Republican elected legislators. So it makes sense that we need to get more active in electing more Republicans to our local offices in the district.
So long as we play the Democrats game of "non-partisan" elections, they will continue to win majorities on our city councils. No where is this more evident than in our three primary parts of the 54th Assembly District. In Long Beach, the Democratic Party has engaged in a 12-year effort to maintain an ultra-high majority. They have done this through the unions & special interest organizations, and I have to commend one of my counterparts, Sergio Carrillo, for keeping the "non-partisan" message resonating well. Not only have local Democratic candidates been able to hide behind this, they've even been able to convince Republican voters that local elections are somehow non-partisan. So let me ask a few questions about "local issues" to see if we could afford a little partisanship:
1) Do you like paying MORE property taxes or LESS property taxes?
2) Do you prefer MORE social welfare programs or LESS programs?
3) Do you prefer MORE local government regulations on small businesses, or LESS?
4) Do you prefer MORE crime (through ignoring increasing crime trends), or LESS crime by getting tougher on criminals and gangs (think City of Los Angeles vs. City of Torrance)
5) Do you prefer MORE local government spending or LESS government spending?
I hope now you can see why promoting Republican principles and values in local races is essential. But who should be taking on the responsibility to promote these by finding and supporting local Republicans throughout each district? THIS is the official mission of your local Republican Central Committee, and one that I take very seriously.
So long as I am chairman of the 54th AD Republican Central Committee, local Republicans who seek to make a difference in their city, be it Long Beach, Signal Hill, Avalon, Los Angeles, Rolling Hills Estates or Rancho Palos Verdes, will have a group of Republican leaders behind them. This is why I am running for another term on the committee; because we have work to do in 2009 & 2010.
To close, I have learned of an effort by a few candidates to divide Long Beach (& Avalon) Republicans from those in Palos Verdes & San Pedro by marginalizing the importance of a cross-district level of support. These "Greater Long Beach" candidates are missing a key component in their campaign: Support from ANY Long Beach elected Republican. Meanwhile, I am pleased to state that two of our best Long Beach Republican leaders, Long Beach Councilman Gary DeLong and LBUSD Board member Jon Meyer, have endorsed me, as well as my friend Davina Keiser, for election on June 3rd. I have received numerous other endorsements from across the district, and I have posted them at the top of the left column. Many of these leaders have expressed a desire for our central committee members to work together across the district and help each other when each local race comes up. Those I have endorsed understand this purpose, and voting for these seven will increase the strength of our committee to seek out good Republican candidates and give them the necessary volunteer and operational support to win local election.
I hope you will make sure to vote on June 3rd for myself and my six friends, and spread the word to all of your Republican friends in Long Beach, Avalon, Signal Hill, San Pedro and the Palos Verdes Peninsula. We have a lot of work to do, and a divided committee will have the same problems in 2 years that past committees did. A united committee will be able to effectively take on the unions and special interests battling to take over our local governments and our local schools.
Your vote matters on June 3rd!
I was introduced to the central committee organization in 2006 working for Michael A. Jackson's campaign. My first impression was that the central committee's purpose was to give seven people plus ex-officios a status as being the "Republican authority" of their respective district. They were supposed to meet once a month and discuss opportunities to recruit more Republicans for office. What I saw throughout Los Angeles County were a few members in each district trying to do just that; but I also noticed those that ran for central committee strictly for their own agendas. They assumed that a position on the committee meant coffers of money would open up, and that they were "entitled" to support from every Republican in their district, if not through donations at least every Republican vote in the district. What they failed to do was reach out and ask voters and locally-elected leaders HOW they could earn their support.
My biggest priority for my first term was to learn HOW to earn the support of the local leaders and learn from them how to win elections in their parts of the district. The biggest lesson I have learned is that voters do NOT want activists as legislators, so much as they want leaders that have shown action in their activism. They also want intelligent legislators who work their way up through their local councils, school boards and community organizations. If you look at the Democratic leaders who have been successful, they all came from local elections; so have most of the Republican elected legislators. So it makes sense that we need to get more active in electing more Republicans to our local offices in the district.
So long as we play the Democrats game of "non-partisan" elections, they will continue to win majorities on our city councils. No where is this more evident than in our three primary parts of the 54th Assembly District. In Long Beach, the Democratic Party has engaged in a 12-year effort to maintain an ultra-high majority. They have done this through the unions & special interest organizations, and I have to commend one of my counterparts, Sergio Carrillo, for keeping the "non-partisan" message resonating well. Not only have local Democratic candidates been able to hide behind this, they've even been able to convince Republican voters that local elections are somehow non-partisan. So let me ask a few questions about "local issues" to see if we could afford a little partisanship:
1) Do you like paying MORE property taxes or LESS property taxes?
2) Do you prefer MORE social welfare programs or LESS programs?
3) Do you prefer MORE local government regulations on small businesses, or LESS?
4) Do you prefer MORE crime (through ignoring increasing crime trends), or LESS crime by getting tougher on criminals and gangs (think City of Los Angeles vs. City of Torrance)
5) Do you prefer MORE local government spending or LESS government spending?
I hope now you can see why promoting Republican principles and values in local races is essential. But who should be taking on the responsibility to promote these by finding and supporting local Republicans throughout each district? THIS is the official mission of your local Republican Central Committee, and one that I take very seriously.
So long as I am chairman of the 54th AD Republican Central Committee, local Republicans who seek to make a difference in their city, be it Long Beach, Signal Hill, Avalon, Los Angeles, Rolling Hills Estates or Rancho Palos Verdes, will have a group of Republican leaders behind them. This is why I am running for another term on the committee; because we have work to do in 2009 & 2010.
To close, I have learned of an effort by a few candidates to divide Long Beach (& Avalon) Republicans from those in Palos Verdes & San Pedro by marginalizing the importance of a cross-district level of support. These "Greater Long Beach" candidates are missing a key component in their campaign: Support from ANY Long Beach elected Republican. Meanwhile, I am pleased to state that two of our best Long Beach Republican leaders, Long Beach Councilman Gary DeLong and LBUSD Board member Jon Meyer, have endorsed me, as well as my friend Davina Keiser, for election on June 3rd. I have received numerous other endorsements from across the district, and I have posted them at the top of the left column. Many of these leaders have expressed a desire for our central committee members to work together across the district and help each other when each local race comes up. Those I have endorsed understand this purpose, and voting for these seven will increase the strength of our committee to seek out good Republican candidates and give them the necessary volunteer and operational support to win local election.
I hope you will make sure to vote on June 3rd for myself and my six friends, and spread the word to all of your Republican friends in Long Beach, Avalon, Signal Hill, San Pedro and the Palos Verdes Peninsula. We have a lot of work to do, and a divided committee will have the same problems in 2 years that past committees did. A united committee will be able to effectively take on the unions and special interests battling to take over our local governments and our local schools.
Your vote matters on June 3rd!
Thursday, April 3, 2008
San Pedro H.S. Seniors get it...why don't Democrats?
I had the opportunity to join 54th Assembly Republican candidate Gabriella Holt at San Pedro High School yesterday to talk to the senior class about the 54th AD campaign and opportunities to get involved. Also attending the day-long session were the two Democratic candidates, Long Beach Vice-Mayor Bonnie Lowenthal & Long Beach City Councilmember Tonia Reyes Uranga. All three candidates, and their campaign reps, were very cordial & we enjoyed a day of listening to each other speak to six separate government classes about the 54th Assembly seat race.
What impressed me the most about the sessions were the great questions that the seniors asked the candidates. My assessment of the three candidates' performance could be summarized as this: The Democrat candidates talked to the students like they were 8th graders; Gabriella & I talked to them like they were adults. Not that we talked over their heads; I think both Democrats did that at times, especially Ms. Lowenthal. Our focus when we talked to them were on issues that they could relate to & would affect them directly. I'll give an example.
We made sure that the primary topic of discussion was the state budget. We did not shy away from talking about the education portion of the budget, and we pointed out to the students that the Democrats have had the last 12 years in charge of both houses of the Legislature to spend wisely, and have chosen not to. We used two analogies to make our point: First, we talked about their own budgets. We asked them how many would be able to go ask their parents for more money simply because they had spent all of theirs. Knowing how San Pedrans raise their children to be accountable and independent, we knew the answer would be none. Second, we asked them how much businesses like Starbucks pay in taxes. (Any fan of Tom McClintock knows this answer...NONE.) When I asked them why businesses don't pay taxes, most of them knew the answer...that businesses flow their tax increases to consumers in the price of products, like that cup of coffee. We then drew the relationship to the jobs they will be looking for in the very near future, and it made sense.
When it was Mrs. Uranga's turn to speak, she focused on Air Quality issues and the education budget as well. For the Air Quality discussion, she talked about "little particles" in the air, using her fingers like she was plucking them out of the air. She made a few good points about the need to be cleaner, but then she talked about how those "mean Republicans" wanted to take money away from schools. She talked about the Governor cutting the budget, but had no answer for fixing the budget besides raising taxes. Gabriella was able to talk about how her school district had the same problem in 2002, and found wasteful spending that resulted in saving EVERY teacher's salary. Among these was over $60,000 a year for bottled water for the administration. This is a teacher's salary saved from just this one savings action. Democrats are not willing to cut their wasteful spending in order to save teacher salaries. But they're willing to tax you more instead!
Ms. Lowenthal's discussion points kept changing during each of the six sessions. She was extremely defensive each time, and seemed to be trying to anticipate what Tonia and especially Gabriella were going to say. She would often turn around to Gabriella and state to the current group one of the points she thought Gabriella wold make, and then try to refute it pro-actively. Of course, because Democrats are used to misrepresenting Republican positions even to each other, Ms. Lowenthal often got the point wrong. This opened the opportunity for Gabriella to quickly re-introduce the topic (correctly) and then use a different example to prove the same point. Bonnie grossly underestimated the scope of the event, originally showing up with only a handful of fliers by herself. When she noticed that the other two candidates had more material and support, she made a quick phone call and got her campaign manager over there. When she talked, she listed all of her endorsements (people and groups these students never heard of) and
then tried to convince them how "greedy luxury boat owners and recreational vehicle owners needed to pay their fair share." Easy enough, but more proof that Bonnie does not know much about San Pedro. Boating and Sport Fishing are big with San Pedrans, and many of these students own their own ATV's or Sea-Doos. So when we got a chance to talk about these, it was simple. When these get taxed higher, fewer get sold, which means fewer get built. This means fewer people employed to build them.
Overall, the students who paid attention were smart and analytical. Questions like "If you don't cut the Education part of the budget, what part DO you cut?" and "How do you plan to deal with the gang violence in L.A.?" showed me that they were thinking extremely logical. Another question I liked was " What are you going to do to ensure people get off of welfare?". I watched as each Democrat candidate fumbled around in their head, probably searching for which talking point was appropriate. Meanwhile, Gabriella and I stood back and smiled as we waited so Gabriella could complement the students asking the questions and give them the intelligent answers they deserved.
In the end, we signed up a huge number of volunteers who are excited to get their volunteer hours working for Gabriella Holt. Despite the presence of two Democrat candidates (meaning there was twice as much time for the Democratic platform to be pitched), these students were able to sort out the truth from the talking points. We even received interesting comments from the Democratic candidates; both confessed that they did not expect a Republican candidate to come to the school. Both have been underestimating the Republican chances because of our past history in the district. If there's one thing Gabriella Holt did on Wednesday, it was to put a little fear in both Democrat candidates that the election for this seat will not nearly be over after June 3rd.
If you want to learn more about the Republican candidate making her two Democrat challengers squirm nervously when they're together, go to http://www.gabriellaholt.com/.
What impressed me the most about the sessions were the great questions that the seniors asked the candidates. My assessment of the three candidates' performance could be summarized as this: The Democrat candidates talked to the students like they were 8th graders; Gabriella & I talked to them like they were adults. Not that we talked over their heads; I think both Democrats did that at times, especially Ms. Lowenthal. Our focus when we talked to them were on issues that they could relate to & would affect them directly. I'll give an example.
We made sure that the primary topic of discussion was the state budget. We did not shy away from talking about the education portion of the budget, and we pointed out to the students that the Democrats have had the last 12 years in charge of both houses of the Legislature to spend wisely, and have chosen not to. We used two analogies to make our point: First, we talked about their own budgets. We asked them how many would be able to go ask their parents for more money simply because they had spent all of theirs. Knowing how San Pedrans raise their children to be accountable and independent, we knew the answer would be none. Second, we asked them how much businesses like Starbucks pay in taxes. (Any fan of Tom McClintock knows this answer...NONE.) When I asked them why businesses don't pay taxes, most of them knew the answer...that businesses flow their tax increases to consumers in the price of products, like that cup of coffee. We then drew the relationship to the jobs they will be looking for in the very near future, and it made sense.
When it was Mrs. Uranga's turn to speak, she focused on Air Quality issues and the education budget as well. For the Air Quality discussion, she talked about "little particles" in the air, using her fingers like she was plucking them out of the air. She made a few good points about the need to be cleaner, but then she talked about how those "mean Republicans" wanted to take money away from schools. She talked about the Governor cutting the budget, but had no answer for fixing the budget besides raising taxes. Gabriella was able to talk about how her school district had the same problem in 2002, and found wasteful spending that resulted in saving EVERY teacher's salary. Among these was over $60,000 a year for bottled water for the administration. This is a teacher's salary saved from just this one savings action. Democrats are not willing to cut their wasteful spending in order to save teacher salaries. But they're willing to tax you more instead!
Ms. Lowenthal's discussion points kept changing during each of the six sessions. She was extremely defensive each time, and seemed to be trying to anticipate what Tonia and especially Gabriella were going to say. She would often turn around to Gabriella and state to the current group one of the points she thought Gabriella wold make, and then try to refute it pro-actively. Of course, because Democrats are used to misrepresenting Republican positions even to each other, Ms. Lowenthal often got the point wrong. This opened the opportunity for Gabriella to quickly re-introduce the topic (correctly) and then use a different example to prove the same point. Bonnie grossly underestimated the scope of the event, originally showing up with only a handful of fliers by herself. When she noticed that the other two candidates had more material and support, she made a quick phone call and got her campaign manager over there. When she talked, she listed all of her endorsements (people and groups these students never heard of) and
then tried to convince them how "greedy luxury boat owners and recreational vehicle owners needed to pay their fair share." Easy enough, but more proof that Bonnie does not know much about San Pedro. Boating and Sport Fishing are big with San Pedrans, and many of these students own their own ATV's or Sea-Doos. So when we got a chance to talk about these, it was simple. When these get taxed higher, fewer get sold, which means fewer get built. This means fewer people employed to build them.
Overall, the students who paid attention were smart and analytical. Questions like "If you don't cut the Education part of the budget, what part DO you cut?" and "How do you plan to deal with the gang violence in L.A.?" showed me that they were thinking extremely logical. Another question I liked was " What are you going to do to ensure people get off of welfare?". I watched as each Democrat candidate fumbled around in their head, probably searching for which talking point was appropriate. Meanwhile, Gabriella and I stood back and smiled as we waited so Gabriella could complement the students asking the questions and give them the intelligent answers they deserved.
In the end, we signed up a huge number of volunteers who are excited to get their volunteer hours working for Gabriella Holt. Despite the presence of two Democrat candidates (meaning there was twice as much time for the Democratic platform to be pitched), these students were able to sort out the truth from the talking points. We even received interesting comments from the Democratic candidates; both confessed that they did not expect a Republican candidate to come to the school. Both have been underestimating the Republican chances because of our past history in the district. If there's one thing Gabriella Holt did on Wednesday, it was to put a little fear in both Democrat candidates that the election for this seat will not nearly be over after June 3rd.
If you want to learn more about the Republican candidate making her two Democrat challengers squirm nervously when they're together, go to http://www.gabriellaholt.com/.
Friday, February 15, 2008
Why John McCain can help us win the 54th AD
The past two weeks have proved to be both unpredictable and opportunistic. As most of you know, I was the CD 46 chair for Rudy Guliani, whom I believe would have given voters of all demographics someone to consider. We also saw the biggest flaw in the "big state" strategy during his campaign: the early primaries offer free media coverage that literally feeds one's campaign. McCain, Romney & Huckabee figured this out, and were hence the three that survived to Super Tuesday. (I don't consider Ron Paul a serious candidate; send me a comment if you'd like me to debate this on a future posting.)
After Super Tuesday's performance by Senator McCain, I noticed something that may have been lost on most ultra-conservatives of our Party. Despite our state Party's exclusion of non-Republicans from our primary, McCain took an overwhelming majority of California's delegates. The hypothesis of the state leadership was having solely Republican votes in the presidential primary would yield a more conservative presidential nominee. I believe that California Republicans know what the state Republican activists haven't comprehended yet; that having a moderately conservative candidate gives us the best chance of not only winning the White House, but also many of our closer legislative battles by competing for independent voters.
Our Congressional, State Senatorial, and Assembly candidates will appear on their respective November ballots directly after the presidential candidates, meaning that a voter's choice for President will be immediately followed by their choices for the state-level races. Because of this, our nominees will have a significant portion of their vote intertwined with that of our presidential nominee within their districts. If our nominee does well in a district, so will our state-level nominees there. If our nominee cannot lure the independent vote, currently estimated at 22% in our own 54th Assembly District, then our district and others currently held by Democrats will have little chance of changing hands.
The one thing John McCain brings over all else is his ability to attract the growing number of independent and third-party candidates throughout California, as well as traditional Democrats (aka. JFK/Reagan Democrats) that have turned away from the MoveOn.org activists controlling their party. In the 54th AD, the Democratic registration advantage is still close to an 8% gap at 43%-35%. This means that with even split of independents, our nominee still loses in the 54th 54%-46%. Where we stand a chance to win is by winning more independents & some Democratic voters. This requires both a presidential nominee able to capture independents, and an assembly nominee who can hold on to those independents when they reach the assembly member portion of the ballot.
The liberal press will continue to "report" that Senator McCain needs to focus on patching up the conservative voters and making his platform more appealing to our own Party members. I think most of us would attest that neither Clinton nor Obama will be luring many Republican voters to their camp; what they can do is lure more independent and moderate voters if McCain is forced to make his platform ultra-conservative to the point where he alienates most of the independent vote. The Democrats are relying on the far-right activists within our party to create dissention within it. Because of their current situation with Obama & Clinton both garnering 49% of their delegates, they can only hope that Republicans also continue to battle within. DNC Chairman Howard Dean has gone on record as being concerned about their eventual nominee only having 8 short weeks to campaign for the independent vote due to having no clear nominee until their convention. If we are foolish enough to wait until then to ally ourselves around one nominee as well, then we've taken away the opportunity to start talking to the independent 22% in our district, as well as the independent 30% state-wide.
I hope our party leaders have realized the opportunity we now have; not only to keep the White House in safe Republican hands, but a genuine opportunity to take batteground legislative districts, like our own 54th AD, by giving 22% of our district a presidential candidate worth voting for. Issues like the economy, taxes & national defense are those we've been successful at luring independent voters; issues such as abortion, gay rights and illegal immigration will only keep our candidates pinned down in a quagmire of debates that will take moderate voters away. There's a difference between "staying true to all of one's principles" & having to live in a world where any of those principles cease to exist. Senator McCain may not have been the most ultimate conservative in the past few years; but this may be the very characteristic that keeps our country out of the hands of the Democratic Party.
And having a nominee who can get independent voters gives us the opportunity to have them continue down the ballot to our other fine candidates.
After Super Tuesday's performance by Senator McCain, I noticed something that may have been lost on most ultra-conservatives of our Party. Despite our state Party's exclusion of non-Republicans from our primary, McCain took an overwhelming majority of California's delegates. The hypothesis of the state leadership was having solely Republican votes in the presidential primary would yield a more conservative presidential nominee. I believe that California Republicans know what the state Republican activists haven't comprehended yet; that having a moderately conservative candidate gives us the best chance of not only winning the White House, but also many of our closer legislative battles by competing for independent voters.
Our Congressional, State Senatorial, and Assembly candidates will appear on their respective November ballots directly after the presidential candidates, meaning that a voter's choice for President will be immediately followed by their choices for the state-level races. Because of this, our nominees will have a significant portion of their vote intertwined with that of our presidential nominee within their districts. If our nominee does well in a district, so will our state-level nominees there. If our nominee cannot lure the independent vote, currently estimated at 22% in our own 54th Assembly District, then our district and others currently held by Democrats will have little chance of changing hands.
The one thing John McCain brings over all else is his ability to attract the growing number of independent and third-party candidates throughout California, as well as traditional Democrats (aka. JFK/Reagan Democrats) that have turned away from the MoveOn.org activists controlling their party. In the 54th AD, the Democratic registration advantage is still close to an 8% gap at 43%-35%. This means that with even split of independents, our nominee still loses in the 54th 54%-46%. Where we stand a chance to win is by winning more independents & some Democratic voters. This requires both a presidential nominee able to capture independents, and an assembly nominee who can hold on to those independents when they reach the assembly member portion of the ballot.
The liberal press will continue to "report" that Senator McCain needs to focus on patching up the conservative voters and making his platform more appealing to our own Party members. I think most of us would attest that neither Clinton nor Obama will be luring many Republican voters to their camp; what they can do is lure more independent and moderate voters if McCain is forced to make his platform ultra-conservative to the point where he alienates most of the independent vote. The Democrats are relying on the far-right activists within our party to create dissention within it. Because of their current situation with Obama & Clinton both garnering 49% of their delegates, they can only hope that Republicans also continue to battle within. DNC Chairman Howard Dean has gone on record as being concerned about their eventual nominee only having 8 short weeks to campaign for the independent vote due to having no clear nominee until their convention. If we are foolish enough to wait until then to ally ourselves around one nominee as well, then we've taken away the opportunity to start talking to the independent 22% in our district, as well as the independent 30% state-wide.
I hope our party leaders have realized the opportunity we now have; not only to keep the White House in safe Republican hands, but a genuine opportunity to take batteground legislative districts, like our own 54th AD, by giving 22% of our district a presidential candidate worth voting for. Issues like the economy, taxes & national defense are those we've been successful at luring independent voters; issues such as abortion, gay rights and illegal immigration will only keep our candidates pinned down in a quagmire of debates that will take moderate voters away. There's a difference between "staying true to all of one's principles" & having to live in a world where any of those principles cease to exist. Senator McCain may not have been the most ultimate conservative in the past few years; but this may be the very characteristic that keeps our country out of the hands of the Democratic Party.
And having a nominee who can get independent voters gives us the opportunity to have them continue down the ballot to our other fine candidates.
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Turning disputes on local issues into a partisan debate is really unfortunate and does nothing to help address the issues. Those who know my history know that I have endorsed a number of Republicans for local office and that I have not acted in a partisan way on the RPV council. The votes on the issues are rarely divided by party registration.
Sadly the Republican Party 54th District Organization and some of the candidates it has supported have made a mockery of the California Constitution's requirement that local elections be non-partisan.
As for the rest of the blogger's comments, people should not judge issues such as these on party affiliation. I encourage you to get the facts. Most of the facts are available (from different perspectives) on my webpage www.palosverdes.com/tomlong and on www.pvpwatch.com
Tom Long
Councilmember, Rancho Palos Verdes
tomlong@palosverdes.com
Dear RPV Councilmember Tom Long,
Thank you for finding my blog and reading it!
I'd like to address your two main assertions from your posting, which I published without edits for the mutual benefit of ourselves and my readers.
To start, we know that both you and Doug Stern endorsed Steve Wolowicz last fall in your re-election campaigns because you both knew that:
a) Steve has a very high base of supporters that would not have voted for either you nor Doug if you hadn't endorsed him. You chose a wise tactic of giving voters a complete slate to vote for, and making sure that the strongest candidate on the ballot was a part of it.
b) You and Doug needed a 3rd person to complete your slate or else risk Paul Wright getting more votes than one of you two. If Steve Wolowicz had NOT been on your slate card, Paul Wright would have easily closed the 80-vote gap and beat Doug Stern.
So your strategy worked and I would have done the same; but your claim of endorsing Republicans is purely for survival, and not proof of any claim of being bi-partisan. When you're willing to look at Republicans over Democrats for key non-partisan races, like say judicial races, then you'll get some credibility. As for me, ask judicial candidate Kathleen Blanchard, a Democrat running against two Republicans, if I'm willing to look objectively and endorse the best candidate regardless of party.
Next, you continue to cite a CA constitutional requirement that local elections MUST be non-partisan and alluding to our November 2007 involvement in the RPV elections as somehow being unconstitutional. This is both sad and mistaken, and your constant harassment of our volunteers at the PV Farmer's Market about this will continue to be challenged by both me and the Republican leadership at the county and state level. For over 30 years, your own Democratic party has been significantly MORE active in local elections throughout the state and throughout Los Angeles County than Republicans until just recently. When you're willing to call out your own party for making elections throughout the state partisan, maybe then I'll give you some credibility. Until then, you're simply another Democratic hypocrite that only complains about something when it doesn't serve your own purpose.
I published both your comments and these because I want my readers to get a chance to respond with comments of their own.
Thank you for affirming what I've been telling my supporters throughout Long Beach, San Pedro, Avalon, Signal Hill & the Palos Verdes Peninsula! We are having an effect, and the tide is shifting!
We know it, and we now know that YOU know it!
John S. Stammreich
Chairman - 54th AD Republican Central Committee
SWEET! I live for this stuff! I hope Mr. Long is ready. Just so he is, I will promise to him that we will be again involved in the Rancho Palos Verdes City Council race in November 2009. And for the other cities in the 54th AD, I promise you we will be there as well when Republican candidates call on us.
It'll all start in Signal Hill in February 2009...
John