Aaron F Park

Reality is a stubborn thing.

LAGOP Update: Come on Man! Fact-Checking the Tom-Toms

2024 Elections, LAGOP 1 Response »

May 012024

Steve Frank posted some more stuff about the LAGOP. Some of it is deceptive and false. Given that Mr. Frank is attempting to lead the conservative opposition out of the morass in the CAGOP, objectivity and accuracy are paramount. Allow your intrepid blogger to help.

LAGOP Chair Tim O’Reilly Allows NON Republican to VOTE on Central Committee

As far as I can tell only one California GOP organization allows a NON REPUBLICAN a vote in its Committee. LAGOP Chair Tim O’Reilly told folks that Nathan Hochman, an NPP, is STILL an Ex Officio of the LA Committee. His reasoning is that Hochman was the GOP nominee for AG in 2022, hence is an ex officio, regardless of his current status.

Yet, on Monday night Hochman proudly stated he was voting for Biden against Trump. He never answered the question if he was also voting for Schiff against Garvey. He did not mention a single Republican he was supporting for office.

O’Reilly would not allow the LAGOP members to ask questions of Hochman. Instead he had one member ask pre-determined questions. Folks had to shout out questions to Hochman or demand he answer questions one on one—but not during the meeting. Oh, again the LAGOP did not have a quorum to do all its business. Of course, under these circumstances, why waste the time?

Rounding off the numbers, O’Reilly finally admitted the Committee had $18,000 in the bank—and still owed one person $16,000. It is so bad that at the end of June the LAGOP is closing its San Fernando Valley HQ and moving into a joint center in Long Beach—the very south end of a county that is bordered on the north by Lancaster—80 miles away. He did announce how much two of the recent fund raisers made—but REFUSED to tell how much two others lost.

Remember it was O’Reilly that tried to pass a Democrat Lite Platform for the CAGOP. He also stopped the LAGOP from endorsing a Republican for DA—since he was supporting a Non Republican, Nathan Hochman. Now he is working hard to close the CAGOP by CUTTING 16% of the delegates to the CAGOP—while the Democrats continue to increase their numbers (currently the CAGP has 1440 members and the Democrats State Party has over 3200). At every turn O’Reilly is working hard to demolish the California GOP, its credibility and its volunteers.

#1. Hochman, his Ex-Officio spot became vacant when he left the GOP. I have checked and Hochman has not voted on anything. IF Tim O’Reilly actually said Hochman is still an ex-officio, he was wrong, but the hyperbole about Hochman still voting on the LAGOP is untrue.

#2. Lack of Quorum, was this because of a boycott led by Steve Frank and David Hernandez? There is always more to a story.

#3. Why is Steve Frank protecting Keith Cascio. No one knows the real financial numbers because Cascio refused to do his job and went berserk when people asked him simple questions. That should have been the story. Instead, Frank spun this as O’Reilly being dishonest. This is a terrible abortion of journalism and a complete cheap shot.

#3A. Moving the HQ, the part Steve deliberately omitted is that the LAGOP had donated (or heavily subsidized) office space for years by Andy Garakhani and others, this is well-known all over. With Andy withdrawing from the CAGOP political scene it makes sense that this arrangement goes by the boards. This was spun as some sort of failure by Tim O’Reilly, that is a deceptive lie.

#4. Platform, O’Reilly was wrong to support the garbage platform. The Republican DA candidate was a complete disaster and would have gotten steamrolled by Gascon! It was correct to stay silent when your candidate is a disaster, but the implication of Steve’s post is that O’Reilly was in the bag for Hochman and made sure the Republican candidate got screwed over. That idiot did not need Tim’s help. Lastly, regarding the by-law amendments, O’Reilly deserves all the criticism over those.

Time and time again, the legitimate criticisms that Steve Frank makes against Establishment people get lost and muted in a hail of half-truths, cherry-picked facts and/or outright lies. If Frank and crew want to have a legitimate chance of ousting the establishment at next March’s convention there needs to be a strict adherence to facts and not the grifter-style clickbait.

LAGOP Update: Two Things Tim O’Reilly is 100% Right About: Keith Cascio Quits as Treasurer (Before Getting Tossed) and Hochman Invite

2024 Elections, LAGOP 2 Responses »

Apr 302024

I hate the top two elections, but they are the law and were the law long before Prop14 in local elections.

In LA, George Gascon, who is being exposed for corruption, wrote Prop 47 and has been on a society-destroying rampage. He has drawn Nathan Hochman as his runoff opponent in the fall of 2024. Gascon is in the crosshairs because it appears he abused his office to dig up dirt on legitimate law enforcement officers and political opponents.

Hochman is a former Republican who left the party over Trump, amongst other things. What he is not is Gascon. In this circumstance, I can see no problem with Tim O’Reilly inviting him to speak to the LAGOP. Hochman is registered as a DTS. I might feel differently if he was a dem. Further, there has been no mention of an endorsement or an attempt at such.

I have gotten several emails about Keith Cascio’s situation. I blasted Cascio weeks ago for being a complete freak. The erstwhile Assemblyman loves him some Earth Day and Black Lives Matter. He may well be to the left of Hochman.

LAGOP Members:

I want to update everyone on some items that we will address at the LAGOP meeting on Monday, April 29, 2024.

1.       Our Treasurer, Keith Casio, has stepped down* from his office on the Executive Board. Notice was previously given that we will elect a new Assistant Treasurer on Monday night. According to our bylaws and given the vacancy that now exists in the office of Treasurer, whoever is elected as Assistant Treasurer will automatically become the new LAGOP Treasurer. We will then hold a second election for a new Assistant Treasurer to fill that vacancy.

2.       A pending bylaws change remains as to whether to count Ex-Officio members in determining quorum for meetings. This does not affect any one’s right to vote as members of LAGOP. Assuming we get the required 50% quorum, we will vote on this rule change.

3.       Last, I will offer a motion to ask for a decision on whether we immediately seat the Ex-Officio nominees-elect (now certified from the March Primary) or wait until December. There is a conflict in our bylaws. If LAGOP immediately recognizes the new nominees elected as LAGOP members, that action terminates membership for all existing (2-year term) Ex-Officio members. The conflict is that our bylaws state that we will follow Elections Code 7404 in determining Ex-Officio membership (those with a Certificate of Nominations immediately become members—prior Ex-Officio members immediately expire). At another point, the bylaws show that all new members (including Ex-Officio) are sworn in together at the Organizational meeting (in December or January). This is the way it has traditionally been done up until last term. I previously believed that state law pronouncements overrode County Party Bylaws. I recently learned that was incorrect. County Party Bylaws supersede state law in terms of political party organization. Current regular members and Ex-Officio members will get to decide what we do as a body.

Mr. Casio and I agreed that as Chairman, I would release the following statement regarding his stepping down as Treasurer:

“Earlier this month, I advised our Treasurer, Keith Cascio, that I had lost confidence in his ability to continue in his duties as the LAGOP Treasurer. I asked that he step down from his office. After due consideration, Keith has now reluctantly agreed to resign as LAGOP Treasurer, effective immediately. He remains as a valuable member of our Central Committee and will now be able to reallocate his time and efforts to his Assembly District campaign and his chairmanship of ADC55. We are fortunate that he will continue as one of our most brilliant minds in technology and as a CAGOP regional Data Captain. Keith leaves the Executive Board as a class act on good and amicable terms.”

I look forward to seeing you all at the meeting,

Timothy L. O’Reilly
Chairman – LAGOP
Republican Party of Los Angeles County

Keith Cascio is widely loathed by people in the LAGOP political scene and the last paragraph in the above is absurd. In addition, Cascio has been circulating a 3 page letter to him from O’Reilly that is an indictment of an immature brat who got mad over something petty and attempted to shut down the LAGOP by abrogating his job duties. O’Reilly demolished Cascio’s behavior and if Cascio had any self-awareness would have taken measures to see that the letter never made it anywhere.

I sure hope David Hernandez and Steve Frank are not going to try to hold this guy up as a martyr. Cascio is 2200 degrees and is in the same class as Fennell and Grcar in the opinion of your intrepid blogger.

Cascio had a chance to leave well and has not because his internal self-destruct mechanism runs faster than an Olympic sprinter. This email was hardly hours old and Cascio was emailing people claiming to be a victim.

On one hand, I am highly irritated at O’Reilly’s by-law proposals. But, on the other hand feel for him having to deal with Cascio. No one deserves that. Lastly, I agree with his decision to give Hochman a forum to convince Republicans who can’t endorse him to at least vote for him.

Shasta GOP Update: Dan Sloan’s Ugly Side Coming Out After Losing 15-3 Vote – Still Claiming to be Chair, Threatening to Sue (who?)

2024 Elections 1 Response »

Apr 302024

For those of you just now tuning in, Dan Sloan was ousted as Chair of the Shasta GOP 15-3 at the April Meeting.

Dan Sloan is refusing to accept the results and is now threatening to sue. Who is he threatening exactly?

Dan Sloan is proving that the ugly stuff that came out when he was a candidate for Supervisor was not isolated to his divorce or domestic situation. Apparently, he still has trouble dealing with reality, a hair-trigger temper and overall maladjustment.

You see, with a 15-3 Majority, there is no parliamentarian or Judge that would ever overturn a motion to vacate the chair.

Secondly, since his chairmanship is in dispute the May 16 meeting he is calling is defective and anything that occurs there would not be recognized as legal.

Third, he shows his ignorance of the way things work by threatening a lawsuit in the same email where he talks about getting insurance. There is a question on any insurance application to the effect, “Are you aware of any potential claim…”. You’d think someone who is “Dr. Daniel Sloan” would know such things, but he appears to be unable to control his rage and thusly could not be thinking clearly either.

From the text of this threat laced call for a meeting, it appears that the now chair Brenda Haynes sent registered letters to the members of the committee. While Brenda and I have a long running feud dating back to Doug LaMalfa’s original election to State Senate, that has no bearing on the fact that she was elected Chair to replace the deeply disturbed Sloan.

It appears Shasta County is a mess. Tenessa is having meltdowns at almost every Redding City Council Meeting, including open warfare and a crime rampage in Redding… and Dan Sloan is providing the undercard with his own rampage.

CAGOP Update: Power Grab or Simple Revenge. LAGOP Chair Tim O’Reilly Proposes Elimination of 1/6 of all CAGOP Delegates!

2024 Elections, California Republican Party 8 Responses »

Apr 242024

What would you say if the chair of the Largest GOP County Party in America proposes eliminating about 230 delegates from the 1440 delegates the CAGOP has? For years, the moderate wing of the CAGOP have opposed efforts to expand the delegate pool. The only significant change to delegate opportunities in the last 20 years was adding County Treasurers.

The moderates did indeed push a by-law amendment to strip counties of delegates that did not go on the ballot. This was when the moderates were spending millions statewide to attack county parties. Regardless of the garbage arguments about allowing elections—blah, blah, blah—the amendment was done to expose Conservatives all over the state to the rampage of the “spirit of democracy” PAC that was spending limitless dollars to clear central committees out of conservatives.

I have referred to these people as the Oligarchy of Controlled Failure. Many could care less about how few Republican campaigns remain in California as long as they are running one of them. The Oligarchy is also supported by a generation of term-limit babies that are invested in keeping the party ineffective while they line up their next run for office. I know a lot of these people personally and have made money working for many of them. My opinions about internal party politics often conflict with theirs. It is what it is.

The problem is that the opposition has not been cohesive and has attracted some fringe elements that are tabloid fodder. So, while I express my frustration over the decisions of the last 25+ years I have tracked the CRP, there have been few, if any, times when the Conservatives have presented an alternative that was sane and viable. And when we had so-called conservative CAGOP Chairs, they governed like moderates all the way back to Shawn Steel. Still others used the CAGOP as a dating service or a book tour agent.

Relics of CRP Conventions Past

So just what is Tim O’Reilly, the current Chair of the LAGOP up to? For starters, he is a member of the current CAGOP rules committee. Secondly, he has endured withering attacks from the fringes of his party down in LA County.

Recently, David Hernandez won election as regional Vice Chair of the CAGOP. The region is LA County only. Tim O’Reilly was supposed to be the moderate shoo-in for that district, but David Hernandez organized a rag-tag coalition that stayed together despite game playing and drama at the just passed CAGOP Convention. Hernandez beat O’Reilly by 9 votes. Worse, Hernandez is good buddies with Satan himself Steve Frank.

But it gets even worse. Randal Jordan shocked the moderate establishment in the Central Coast.

The Merced GOP and Marin GOP saw a complete sea change. The SFGOP saw a John Dennis-CRA Coalition stop the attack of the far-left Briones crew, moving that committee to the right. Santa Clara and Sacramento’s once 2/3 establishment Majorities have been decimated. There were many other places where the opposition made gains.

With a now significant chunk of the CAGOP Board featuring opposition members, several counties changing hands and an even larger portion of nominees being aligned with the opposition, enter one Timothy O’Reilly.

The first amendment proposed by O’Reilly is linked here.

This basically eliminates CAGOP Delegates who failed to make the runoff. There are many districts where Republican registration is so low that the Republican gets 15-20% of the vote and sees two or more democrats get more votes. The current rule allows the top finishing Republican to be the nominee and thus a delegate to the party.

The significance? By my count this would eliminate about 15 delegates from the CAGOP, with only about 3 of them aligned with the Oligarchy of Controlled Failure. More importantly for Tim O’Reilly, had this rule been in effect a net 8 of David Hernandez’ votes would have been removed.

The big Kahuna is here, the second by-law Amendment.

It re-sets the appointment rules for Republican Nominees to the following metric:

Let’s say you make the runoff, great! You are the only delegate you get…

… unless you get 40% of the vote! Then you get a whole three appointments.

The net impact of this amendment would be to eliminate about 200-220 of the 1,440 delegates to the CAGOP. At least 90% of these delegates would be opposition aligned.

The question your intrepid blogger has, is did the Jessica Patterson-Kevin McCarthy axis propose this as a power grab? Or is this simply an enraged Tim O’Reilly seeking to wreck widespread destruction on the CAGOP in order to eliminate about 2/3 of David Hernandez’ votes?

So the Oligarchy of Controlled failure or the Chair of the LAGOP or both have proposed two rules that would eliminate something like 1/6 of the current delegates to the CAGOP.

It is already absurd that a party of 5.3 million people are only represented by 1,440 delegates. So we want to cut that number by 16-17%?
One of the main incentives for people to run in difficult districts is being members of their county and state parties – this would be eliminated in large parts of the state by this amendment
Counties like Solano, Sonoma, Yolo and the entire bay area would have no nominees with delegate appointments.
What incentive is there to campaign, if the current rule that gives you 2 delegates for exceeding registration and making the runoff is eliminated. Getting party representation is one of the few consolation prizes you get for spending $3500 to file for office (as the party almost never pays filing fees for anyone anymore)
Imagine being Andy Vidak, losing your seat in the State Senate and now getting only 3 delegates instead of 5?
Imagine being Chris Bish, actually raising almost $100K, getting 38% of the vote in your district and getting no appointments at all?

Oh and leave us not forget, the CAGOP always struggles to pay its’ bills. So, this amendment would eliminate $23,o00-$25,000 in delegate dues. It would also eliminate something like $15,000 – $20,000 in convention registrations times 3 conventions. Then add in the meals and functions some of these people buy in addition. The combined financial impact could be well over $100,000 per two-year cycle!!!

Imagine the impact on county parties if they can’t recruit candidates for major office. It would make running campaigns for local office even more difficult than they already are. Love him or hate him having Steve Garvey on the ballot for the runoff is going to help GOP turnout in November. If O’Reilly’s amendments pass they will be punching holes in the up-ticket offices all over the state!

This is quite possibly one of the most destructive proposals I have ever seen in the years I have been around the CAGOP.

Tenessa Audette Update: The Post Primary Rampage Begins, Casino Corruption? Gives Jurors the Finger, Stages Execution of Planning Commissioner

2024 Elections, Tenessa Audette 5 Responses »

Apr 222024

To say Tenessa has been busy is an understatement. She raged on Michael D’Acquisto at a recent meeting when the lynching of Aaron Hatch was brought up.

But wait, there’s more. The Redding City Council seems to be beset with drama and tribalism.

That prompted Councilman Michael Dacquisto to interject, “It’s the Bethel juggernaut at work again, just like I said last week. This is crazy.”

Winter shot right back: “That’s B.S. Stop.”

Audette, Winter, and Mayor Pro Tempore Jack Munns attend Bethel, a megachurch in Redding whose membership makes up about 10% of the city’s population. Some in the community have expressed concerns that the church wields too much political influence.

Up until recently, I have discounted D’Acquisto’s criticism of Bethel Church because I am also an Evangelical Christian and I recollect Michael from his campaign for congress back many years ago (the original election of Congressman LaMalfa) and recall him to be completely non religious.

However, since Bethel attendees have taken the majority on the Redding Council it has gotten screwy, including Tenessa bragging she was going to become Mayor months before the vote – suggesting insider dealing. (Here is another post about the corruption behind the Mayor Scam.)

Who knew that the New Apostolic Movement involves the same kinds of tactics I have written about for years being done by politicians and their minions?

At the April 2 council meeting, Audette recommended appointing realtor Joshua Johnson and David Stine, CEO of Bethel Media, to the commission. They would replace developer Marcus Partin and realtor Cameron Middleton, whose terms are up.

That didn’t sit well with Dacquisto or Councilmember Mark Mezzano, who said both Partin and Middleton want to stay on the commission.

“I’m confused,” Dacquisto said at the April 2 meeting. “Why would you bring somebody new in when you have two experienced volunteers that are willing to go and continue working?”

On April 2, Audette, Munns and Winter were in the 3-2 majority to appoint Johnson and Stine.

Not bad, huh? Experience not necessary, just the membership.

Got Jury Duty? UP YOURS say the three person majority!

Shasta County Superior Court Executive Officer Melissa Fowler-Bradley asked the city to pause parking enforcement of jurors’ vehicles around the new courthouse for 90 days until additional parking becomes available.

Ok, sounds reasonable right?

But the council voted 3-2 not to accept the recommended changes and not pause parking enforcement. Audette, Munns and Winter voted in the majority.

“The Superior Court is appreciative of the sacrifices people make to serve on the jury duty and apologize for this added inconvenience when their vehicles are ticketed,” Bradley stated in a news release Wednesday.

I guess they showed everyone who’s boss huh?

But, here’s the best part. The Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians (aka Rolling Hills Casino in Nearby Tehama County) ran an independent expenditure for Tenessa in the March Primary and donated the legal maximum of $5,500×2 to her campaign. I guess there is a toll booth at the front door of the Mayor’s office:

A divided council voted to send a letter to the Federal Bureau of Indian Affairs that questions the final environmental impact statement for the Redding Rancheria’s plan to relocate its Win-River Resort & Casino to freeway frontage property south of Redding.

I guess Win River being near I-5 would be bad for Rolling Hill’s business?

The council voted 3-2 to send the letter. Audette, Munns and Winter voted yes. Dacquisto and Mezzano voted no.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs has final say on the casino project.

The public comment period for the final environment impact statement ends April 29 and the Bureau of Indian Affairs could decide on the project after that date.

The Rancheria’s plan is to build a 69,541-square-foot casino, nine-story, 250-room hotel, restaurants, a conference center, an event center, a convention center and a 132,000-square-foot regional retail center on a portion of 232 acres of undeveloped land west of Interstate 5 known as Strawberry Fields. The property is just south the I-5-South Road interchange.

If anyone thinks Tenessa’s stance on Win River has nothing to do with the largess from Rolling Hills I have a Sundial Bridge to sell you.

FYI – I hate to break it to Tenessa, the Federales approve these projects and rarely care about what City Councils have to say as most come up with excuses to oppose the projects.

P.S. The Planning Commission? The significance of that is that for reasons I am unclear about, the “Bethel Crew” want to do in the Redding Rodeo and the Planning Commission has some sort of major decision to make soon about the Rodeo’s lease on property downtown. My guess is they will be shafted and forced out of Redding after nearly a century…

Meantime, Redding’s Crime Rate is worse than 93% of American Cities.

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