OC Register Op-Ed

Worth re-reading is the OC Register's editorial on the 4th District race from March 22, 2010 titled "Editorial: Fourth District supervisor race draws six".  Here is a sampling to wet you whistle.

"Two members of the Anaheim City Council, Harry Sidhu and Lorri Galloway, have filed their intentions to run. Mr. Sidhu said he is running to "alleviate some of burdensome regulations in the county" in an effort to help create "more makers and less takers."
Ms. Galloway says in a video on her Web site that she wants to focus on jobs and the economy, though an example she gives as a job generator is high-speed rail, a tax-funded, big-government boondoggle."

The editorial closes out with this:

"The Register's Editorial Board plans to talk more with the candidates for supervisor in the coming weeks, assessing their positions and competence for the nonpartisan job. At the very least, the next supervisor must be a staunch advocate for property rights and opposing eminent domain, for reducing the size of county government, and, most importantly, for hard-nosed pension reform."

For those who missed it, the OC Register said that "At the very least, the next supervisor must be a staunch advocate for property rights and opposing eminent domain, for reducing the size of county government, and, most importantly, for hard-nosed pension reform."  It is clear who that person will be, Shawn Nelson.  He is the only candidate who meets ALL of the Register's requirements.  June 8th is fast approaching and I smell victory!

Harish "Harry" Sidhu - OC Carpetbagger

I saw these signs in front of Walgreen's at Chapman Avenue at Raymond Avenue in Fullerton.  With the June 8th Primary approaching quickly, I thought it would be good to remind my friends what it means to be a carpetbagger in Orange County.  

Back on February 3, 2010 I told you about Carpetbaggers and Their Luggage.  The term carpetbagging refers to a politician who runs for public office in an area in which he or she is not originally from and/or has only lived for a very short time.  It is implied that the politician does not fully appreciate or understand issues facing the constituents in the new jurisdiction.  The politician assumes that he or she knows best how to lead and manage the affairs of the servient tenement.  This arrogant elitist attitude is prevalent in carpetbaggers as the swoop in to a community to "save" them from their own undoing. 

Of course, this assumes that the carpetbagger's intentions are pure.  However, qualities related to purity as they may also relate to politicians are on their face questionable for a myriad of reasons.  I don't think anyone would necessarily want a politician that has NEVER strayed or deviated from what their constituents might believe to be core values.  Rather, I believe that constituents with certain life experience look for those and identify with others who have had similar experience.  Therefore, constituents look for familiarity at the expense of purity.  I believe when a politician sets their political platform's bar too high, constituents see this as a fraud being perpetrated on them by an outsider.  This higher-than-thou attitude is painfully obvious and seems to me to encourage a disingenuous pretense.  False purity in a politician has the same inverse effect on people as does someone who has to stoop to see through the eyes of their constituents that which is clear and obvious to all but the politician.

Looking inside the carpetbag we find an opportunistic political predator.  They tend to be career politicians who are either termed out or are simply looking for a promotion.  A politician facing term limits and who chooses to run for another office within their jurisdiction, I believe is an unfortunate fact we are faced with.  However, when the  politician is so desperate that they seek offices outside of their jurisdiction, we have to question their loyalty to and understanding of the people for whom they wish to represent.  

An important point to mention is that carpetbagging, so far as I know is not a crime.  Although I am not an attorney, I can think of no law in California that says a candidate shall be a resident of a jurisdiction for a specific period of time prior to seeking election to a public office within a given jurisdiction.  So, for the sake of discussion, we must assume that the carpetbagger has not committed perjury by stating a false address on their voter registration form thereby committing a crime.  Absent the fraud and perjury, what is it that makes carpetbagging an undesirable trait?  I return your direction to the second paragraph above:

"The term carpetbagging refers to a politician who runs for public office in an area in which he or she is not originally from and/or has only lived for a very short time. It is implied that the politician does not fully appreciate or understand issues facing the constituents in the new jurisdiction. The politician assumes that he or she knows best how to lead and manage the affairs of the servient tenement."

How do you know that "the politician does not fully appreciate or understand issues facing the constituents"?  Just ask them detailed and specific questions about some of the issue on your mind.  If you are concerned with government spending, ask them what will be the first program that is cut?  If you are concerned that the local women & children's shelter will get cut, ask them what they plan to do to save it.  Be direct and listen to their answer.  A politician worth your vote will likely have one of two answers.  Either they are sympathetic to your concern and will give a detailed response or they will quickly and directly admit that they know nothing about your concern but are willing to learn more before making any hasty decisions.  Conversely, if they stutter and search their notes for the answers, you need not give them your vote.  These are true with any candidate; you have to learn who they are and what they represent. 

The consummate carpetbagger will try in vein to hide or discount the relevance of being deemed a carpetbagger, but it is important to understand just how significant the negative impact of carpetbagging really is.  Carpetbagging is an indication of a candidates lack of ethics and their insincerity towards the office they seek and the constituents they represent.  In my opinion, carpetbagging is prima facie evidence contrary to that of traditional conservatism.  In fact, carpetbagging is rather strong evidence of a liberal philosophy that concedes a candidates position on certain topics is sufficient reason to vote for them without regard for the candidates clearly unethical behavior.  I believe this to be a strong indicator of a serious character flaw. 

This June 8th, I hope you will take a moment to consider all of the implications resulting from your vote for a carpetbagger and the detriment it will place on our community.

Now for some fun!  Can you identify these carpetbaggers?

And in case you missed a history lesson:

Northern General Milton S. Littlefield,

"The Prince of Carpetbaggers"

This former general was notorious for his role in the North Carolina railroad frauds. He was aided and abetted in his schemes by Wilmington carpetbagger George Z. French and fellow Northern general and carpetbagger Joseph C. Abbott, who came ashore at Fort Fisher in February, 1865.

(http://1898wilmington.com/TheCarpetbaggers.shtml)

The Problem With Harry

How Harry Became Harish - The Story of Harry "My Bag Is Packed" Sidhu

My carpetbag is packed!

One day a former City of Anaheim employee told me that Harry Sidhu was a licensed engineer and contractor. Being a licensed land surveyor registered and vetted by the same state board, the California Board for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors (http://www.pels.ca.gov/), I took it upon myself to verify his license. It’s a habit I got into while working for Orange County.

I went to http://www.pels.ca.gov/consumers/lic_lookup.shtml and typed SIDHU into the “Last Name:” field. There were 16 names returned and only one had an Anaheim Hills address. The name for the engineer is “Harish Singh Sidhu” and he is a currently registered mechanical engineer.

That seems a little odd since Sidhu is also licensed as a general contractor. I know several civil engineers who are also licensed as general contractors but this is the first mechanical engineer. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it is just a little odd. So, from this information came the use Harish S. Sidhu so as not to be confused with Harjit Sidhu who is a licensed civil engineer but up in Tracy.

Next, I looked at the contractor’s state license board website at https://www2.cslb.ca.gov/OnlineServices/CheckLicense/NameRequest.asp.

The name Harry Sidhu didn’t show up nor did Sidhu Harry which caused me to question the validity of the information I had received. Ah, wait- could it be Harish Sidhu? No, but I did find it under “Sidhu Harish”.

It would appear that he is a Class B general contractor with the designation under License Status that “This license is inactive and not able to contract at this time.” It also says, “The license will need a contractors bond to renew active or reactivate.” Ok, so he sort of has a license but he can’t use it because he needs a new bond or something like that.  Regardless, you can't find out much about Harry Sidhu unless you know he's really Harish Singh Sidhu. 

Alright, so let’s review:
We have a mechanical engineer who goes into general contracting, then into the restaurant business, then runs for Anaheim City Council, and then runs for a pile of vacant or open seats in Orange County! Are you kidding? Not at all. It seems that Mayor Harish “Harry” Sidhu appears to have been job hopping long before he got into politics. If Harry was just the average Joe Citizen and non-politician, no big deal. Or if he had numerous jobs within the same field, that might be ok, too. However, when you are talking about a job where he is supposed to represent his constituents for a 4-year term, I have to question if Sidhu has the willpower to overcome his flighty habit of electioneering every which way to Sunday. Since he is a first-class carpetbagger with a long history of packing his bag and running away, I doubt the people of the 4th can afford such a costly mistake by trusting him.

The California Republican Assembly of Orange County Endorses Carpetbagger

 You read the title correctly.  CRA OC endorses Harry Sidhu, the millionaire carpetbagger from Orange County's 3rd Supervisorial District who is running for the recently vacated 4th Surpervisorial District office.

To put this in context, let us look at what the CRA believes (taken from the CRA website):

"Inalienable Rights: We believe that man's "rights" flow from the Creator and the rights of life, liberty, and justice cannot be legitimately granted or rescinded by men.


Judeo-Christian Foundation: We believe in the guiding force of moral law as expressed by the Judeo- Christian ethic and contained in the Holy Scriptures of these historic faiths.

Self-Government: We believe that the only answer to the current moral decline that our nation now faces is a return to the beliefs and standards of morality which our founding fathers placed into the Constitution. We believe with the framers of that document when President Adams stated, "This Constitution will not work except with a religious people." We understand that the concept of self-government begins with governing one’s self first, then family, community, state, and nation.

Education: We believe in the rights of parents to a quality education for their children. We support parental choice to create competition among the schools. We must insure that no school or teachers union can compromise the education of our children or advance a particular political agenda at the expense of our future generation’s educations.

Taxes: We believe that the federal tax system is abusive to the American people while discouraging investment and growth. We believe in growth-oriented tax policies which would gradually eliminate punitive income taxes and move our tax system in the direction of use taxes and sales taxes only.

Free Enterprise: We believe in the free enterprise system as the best hope for men and women to fulfill their economic hopes and dreams. We know that the free market is the most efficient and the least costly system to deliver the highest quality goods and services at the lowest price to the consumer. We will support only those who support the free enterprise system through legislation to reduce or eliminate intrusive government intervention in the marketplace.

Family: We believe that the traditional American family, defined as any persons related by blood, marriage of a man and a woman and/or adoption, is the cornerstone of our American society, and the government is duty bound to protect the integrity of the family unit through legislation and taxation policies.

Sanctity of Life: We believe that the preborn child is a human being deserving the full protection of the law.

National Defense: We believe in a strong and consistent national defense. We believe in victory over, and not accommodation with, tyranny in any form or philosophy.

Right to Bear Arms: We believe in the unqualified right of our citizens to keep and bear arms without the intrusive hand of government.

Victims’ Rights: We believe in the concept of victims’ rights over the rights of any criminal. We support a system of restitution as a deterrent to crime and recidivism.

Term Limitation: We believe that public service is a privilege. We support term limits for public officials, not as an ideal but as a necessity to dissuade career politicians. It is the people who should rule, not an elite with little accountability.

National Sovereignty: We believe in an America first program in which Government’s first concern is the welfare and protection of the American people. We do not believe in trade protectionism but support political leaders who will adopt policies that create fair and competitive trade."

If you read those tenets of conservatism and believed that the CRA leadership in Orange County might actually practice what they preach, you would be mistaken. First, Harish Singh (a.k.a."Harry") Sidhu has ran for several offices in just the last couple of years. In 2004 he was elected to Anaheim City Council. In 2008 he ran and was reelected to the council. That same year, 2008, he ran an unsuccessful campaign for the California State Senate. Once again he's looking for a higher office (than the Anaheim City Council) to park his ambitions until something more lucrative opens up. Clearly his political ambitions are more important than actually serving the community.


Harish Sidhu is a Sikh. So how does his religion fit in with the first and second tenets above? I think these might be important and the local CRA members may want to re-consider their endorsement. Alright, so maybe these religious tenets aren't very important to many members. Then, why are they there as the first and second beliefs of CRA?

Does Harish Signh Sidhu really believe that that the traditional American family, defined as any persons related by blood, marriage of a man and a woman and/or adoption, is the cornerstone of our American society, and the government is duty bound to protect the integrity of the family unit through legislation and taxation policies? If so, why did the CRA send these out to voters in 2008?

I am concerned that the members of the California Republican Assembly (which I am a member of) did not vet this candidate at all.  I think a few key people through it out there and that was that.  Certainly, the leadership of the CRA wouldn't openly and overtly condone Harish Singh Sidhu's carpetbagging luggage...would they?

Carpetbaggers and Their Luggage

(from http://www.friendsforfullertonsfuture.org/)

When the sign showed up on our front lawn, my wife was deeply disturbed. It read “Ackerman Irvine Carpetbagger” and pointed out quite effectively that Linda Ackerman was “carpetbagging”. If you confuse “tea-bagging” and “douche-bagging”, you might think