The Queen of the $158 million GardenWalk Giveaway, former OC Business Council employee Kris Murray, is up for re-election in 2014. This emailing from Friday signals the beginning of her campaign. Murray should NOT be re-elected. Blatant corporate welfare should not be condoned in a city that enjoys the strongest tourist and convention draw in the State of California.
As we recently posted, Anaheim is welcoming a Marriott development which received NO subsidy, even though it’s more distant from the Disney Maingate and the Convention Center than GardenWalk (neither is it on Murray’s $319 million boondoggle streetcar route).
Drastic changes might occur in Anaheim before November of 2014 as the city could be segmented into Districts, causing more than one of the incumbents running to need to compete against each other if they found themselves living in the same District. Perhaps some of them will realize how unpopular they’ve become and save the money by simply opting out (or pull a Sidhu and rent an empty apartment in a gang neighborhood).
Murray also supports the $174 million ARTIC barn which will not be receiving High-Speed Rail
No matter what happens, the incumbents will have two powerful groups in opposition — organized labor and ethnic minorities who have tired of domination by a mostly white majority that’s proven completely beholding to the developer community, SOAR and the Disney Company.
From Murray’s email, here’s a list of her “Host Committee”. Don’t buy Girl Scout cookies from their children:
- Gail Eastman, Anaheim Mayor Pro Tem
- Lucille Kring, Anaheim Council Member
- Jordan Brandman, Anaheim Council Member
- Don Wagner, Assemblyman
- Shawn Nelson, OC Supervisor
- Janet Nguyen, OC Supervisor
- Todd Spitzer, OC Supervisor
- George Adams
- Jim Adams
- Todd Ament
- Scott Baugh
- Marian Bergeson
- Tony Bruno
- Mitch & Sherry Caldwell
- Kerry Condon
- Matt Cunningham
- Sandy Day
- David Diaz
- Lucy Dunn
- Alden & Linda Esping
- Jeff Farano
- Craig & Lori Farrow
- Jill Kanzler
- Dr. Howard & Linda Knohl
- Dennis Kuhl
- Michelle Lieberman
- Chris Maya
- Ernesto Medrano
- Peter Mitchell
- Bill O’Connell
- Keith Olesen
- Curt & Alexis Pringle
- Jim Ramirez
- Bruno Serato
- Megan Shigo
- Larry Slagle
- Bill Taormina
This doesn’t sound like Pedroza’s writing style, and I don’t know which of his “editors” is writing this half-baked drivel. But whoever you are, can you at least take the time to become semi-literate on the topics you are writing about?
It’s funny how you don’t have a word to say about the ongoing Left-Democratic drive to take over the City Council by carving the city up into 8 single-member districts. If a single hotel construction subsidy is giving you the vapors, then maybe you ought to think about what will be coming down the pike with a council majority carrying water for UNITE-HERE, CWA, SEIU, the OC Labor Fed and OCCORD. That is, if you are capable of critical thought, rather than sloganeering.
But wait – I forgot. This is a Pedroza blog. How silly of me to expect that anyone writing for it would have half a clue what they are talking about.
Silly Matt. Don’t you realize that eventually you and the rest of Pringle’s mob are going to lose control of Anaheim? It is a simple matter of demographics. If you at least go to district-specific elections and add a few more districts you might perhaps retain a few seats. Keep the elections at large and I assure you that all of your pals will eventually get the boot.
Anaheim reminds me of where Santa Ana was a few years ago. There are no more Usual Suspects on the Santa Ana City Council. Granted that Council is a train wreck but that’s democracy for you. And there is the rub Matt. You are no fan of democracy. You and your ilk game the system and take over municipalities for your own greedy means. Enjoy it while you can. Change is coming and there will indeed be a New Anaheim before long.
I love that Matt essentially admits that adopting District Elections will result in a wholesale turnover of the Council. Isn’t that the definition of disenfranchisement? Refusing to allow others access to the system for fear you won’t like their choices? With “Republicans” like Murray and company holding us back with their insistence that we remain in the dark ages of Curt Pringle’s deficit spending misery, it is any wonder that the GOP is losing voters in Anaheim? How dare we say we represent small government while expanding our reach to support only those special friends who backed the right candidates? Residents beg for community centers, Police, parks, better graffiti response, and we are told there is no money. But giving away buckets of it to special interests is acceptable? Or is there no funding for those things not providing a profit for those on Murray’s Host Committee? And yes, Matt, I do see my hero Shawn Nelson listed there, and I am ashamed. He was horrified when she wasted money by not showing up to work and attending Water District meetings on the taxpayers’ dime, but now supportive when wasting far, far more? Come on Shawn, say it ain’t so.