Past performance is no guarantee of future results (Curry is no bueno!)

“No New Taxes” AD74 Candidate Keith Curry

Financial advisers, even the bad ones, will warn investors that “past performance is no guarantee of future results” — that might apply to stocks, but it always works in partisan politics.

In 2011, one of the most entertaining races in Orange County was the 72nd Assembly District which saw Los Alamitos Councilman and recently failed Clerk-Recorder candidate Troy Edgar running against Travis Allen, an underfunded but charismatic political newcomer.  Allen had never run for office (he owned a small wealth management firm), but he had two big advantages over Edgar — he wasn’t a lying hypocrite and he didn’t have a parasite for a campaign manager.  Allen ended up winning in an 11-point landslide, costing Edgar about one-half million dollars in his failed effort.  Numerous posts here exposed Edgar for his phoniness in raising taxes in his own city and canoodling with its trash hauler while he portrayed himself as a “tax fighter” — in fact, the OC GOP even awarded him for being a schnook.

So, not letting history and the costly experience of others be his guide, into the AD74 race steps Newport Beach Councilman Keith Curry this year, peddling the same bull that failed for Troy Edgar in 2011.  From the always on-target John Hrabe today at CalNewswroom.com:  As rail consultant, Keith Curry proposed tax hikes.  In part, Hrabe writes (emphasis ours):

As we reported December last, then-Newport Beach Mayor Curry had “a few other issues floating in his punch bowl”:

• Curry was the instigator for banning fire rings at Corona Del Mar beach and near the Newport Pier.  This non-issue blew up, collected some fairly negative publicity for him and then creeped into Huntington Beach when the omnipotent AQMD got hold of it.  Clearly it was first proposed by him to keep the unwashed away from some very expensive waterfront properties in Orange County’s wealthiest city.  Newport will be losing over half of their wood-burning fire rings, with others converted to natural gas (no word on who pays for the fuel).
• Curry was a strong defender of the outrageous costs involved with building a new City Hall for Newport Beach.  There wasn’t much of an argument that the City needed a larger, more modern building (even though city staff has been reduced), but they ended up with a Taj Mahal that has no more office space than the old building for nearly $120 million.  The work is funded by a bond issue which further increases its cost.
• Curry strongly supported the City’s Dock Tax, so let’s not believe any future pronouncements from his campaign about what a tax fighter he’s been.

Like Troy Edgar, Mr. Curry apparently had not reviewed (or chose to ignore) his political resume to recall his past adventures in taxation and the damage the taxes he proposed or recommended would cause those same voters he is now asking for support.

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Update: Adding to the hypocrisy in this race is today’s news that another AD74 candidate, Karina Onofre, has changed her candidacy’s registration from Republican to Democrat.  Says the FlashReport’s Jon Fleischman in a Facebook post this afternoon:

Hey Karina Onofre – you forgot to mention when I saw you filing your papers for Assembly at the Orange County Registrar’s office that, after campaigning for months as a Republican, that you were reregistering to the party of Obama and are now a registered Democrat. ‪#‎FAIL‬