If you live in Fullerton or parts of Orange County's 4th Supervisorial District, then you are probably familiar with some of the wild political ads arriving daily. Some are ridiculous boasts of good deeds and strong support while others are just down right mean. With all of the flack flying, it can be difficult to tell who is good and who is bad. For that matter, depending on your political philosophy, all of the candidates could be great. But the uninformed voter will be lost in a tornado of mud and inflammatory allegations with some being righteous and others just rude. So who is right? Who is the best candidate and why?
It is easy to see the many messes made by incumbents. They have had time to make decisions, the results of which are evident and measurable. We can review council and board minutes as well as video recordings of the meetings. We can look at departmental expenditures and contracts. We can take public polls to see what voters think of their elected leaders. We can look at votes of confidence to see what employees think of their employers. These are all great tools for us to use in understanding the incumbent. But what about new candidates? How can we learn about someone who has never been elected? The only way to know is to ask them, their coworkers, business partners, supervisors, employees. In the races I am primarily concerned with this June, I think I know enough about those candidates to know who I would like to see win. Do you? Have you done your homework and understand who is running and what their motivation is? When you get a mailer that quotes a newspaper article, do you look up the actual article to see who wrote it and what the author's motivation may have been? Do you try to research other stories to understand the dynamics involved? Can you trust bloggers, like me, to provide you with accurate information?
Sometimes you just have to ask the candidates about subjects that you think are important and see what they have to say. I have done that with Bill Hunt who is an outstanding man and truly a fearless leader, the likes of which Orange County has never seen. I have asked Hieu "Hugh" Nguyen, candidate for Clerk-Recorder, what he planned to do when he wins the race. Hugh made it clear that he is a leader and a mentor. He wants to lead by example, not intimidation. I have had a few brief conversations with Shawn Nelson, who is a current Fullerton councilman and candidate for OC Supervisor. Despite being an attorney, Shawn is able to speak clearly and concisely to anyone. Ask him why he did or didn’t vote on an issue and he will likely give you a good education on the topic. And if you want to know where he stands on a given subject, just ask. I haven’t looked too deep into the other county offices and the candidates who are running for them but I will do some homework and see if I can’t find a gem in the pile.
I have tried contacting several other candidates, but none would return my emails or phone calls. Two of those were incumbents who were too busy wasting our tax-dollars to talk to me. I suppose I'm just a small fish in a big pond. But this small fish has found out some disturbing things about the current OC establishment, some of which I cannot prove without blowing the names of my multiple sources who still need their government jobs. Without getting into the name calling and HE said SHE said, I will just say that OC needs to elect some fresh blood to public offices like Bill Hunt, Shawn Nelson, and Hugh Nguyen. The others in the race, in my opinion, just aren't worth my vote. Don't take my word for it, go do your homework and learn who these people are that want your vote. Try to understand what they want. Most importantly, ask what motivates a candidate to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a job that pays $100K-$200K per year? Clearly, none of them are running for the salaries (but maybe a second pension)after spending so much of their own money (or is it their own money?). Is it ego? Is it power or prestige? Ask them and they just might tell you. They may give you the old "sense of civic duty" line or they may give you their vision for what they believe to be a better future. What exactly that better future will be will likely depend on your political philosophy.
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