Greater Orange News Service

eLECTION Watch 2010
an Orange Net News Special News and Analysis Series
Local Media goes into attack mode against Orange Mayor

In what appears to be a concerted attack on Orange Mayor Carolyn Cavecche, the Orange County Register and their OC Watchdog blog appear to have taken sides in the current Orange Mayor’s race. With wild stories spinning facts into innuendo, the unprecedented media attacks have been accented with local anonymous signs futher trying to sully the popular Orange Mayor and influence the mayor’s race.

The stories and signs appear to be part of a coordinated effort to paint Cavecche’s legal salary benefits from the City of Orange and the OCTA as out-of–the ordinary. An Orange County Register story and continued attacks on Cavecche by the OC Register’s OC Watchdog blog writer Tony Saavedra appear one-sided and use inflammatory rhetoric. The article and the blog postings lump all of Cavecche’s salary and benefits over a multiple years from two separate agencies together in what appears to be an attempt to exaggerate her salary. The attempt is clearly a poor impersonation of the truly noteworthy reporting that the Los Angeles Times articles concerning the City of Bell’s officials scandalous compensation packages. However, $200,000 in compensation divided by two agencies over up to seven years does not a scandal make.

The reaction to Saaverda’s blog later forced him to a follow-up post with a link to all the salaries and benefits for Orange City Council members. That link in the follow-up posting (SEE LINK BELOW) shows nothing out of the ordinary in Cavecche’s compensation. In the follow-up Saaverda states he will also be posting Orange Councilman Denis Bilodeau’s benefits from the Orange County Water District. However, Saaverda and the Orange County Register would have to post all of Bilodeau’s salary and benefits from all of his public service jobs (including his taxpayer supported job of Chief of Staff for Orange County Supervisor Shawn Nelson) over multiple years to come close to the damage they tried to inflict on Cavecche. Mysteriously absent from the mix are any mention of Cavecche’s challenger Jon Dimitru’s salary and benefits from his taxpayer supported job at the Orange County Fire Authority.

Almost simultaneously as the articles attacking Cavecche, anonymous signs attacking Cavecche as a PENSION ABUSER began to appear. The signs appeared all over Orange last week turning the contest for Mayor between the popular Mayor Cavecche and Councilman Jon Dumitru into one of the nastiest campaigns since the 2001 Orange School Board Recall. Photos of the signs have also appeared on Dumitru supporters Facebook pages. An inquiry to Councilman Dumitru about the signs from Orange Net News went unanswered.


Mayor Carolyn Cavecche has called the all-but anonymous signs posted around town saying NO CAVECCHE PENSION ABUSER " Not very classy" . In a statement issued to Orange Net News, Cavecche stated “The community deserves better then someone anonymously posting signs with false information. Not very classy. I am hearing from many people who are saying that anyone who knows Orange knows that we don't do things that here.” In her statement, Cavecche also points out “Fact is I'm not the one who has a pension.” Clearly, the supporters of Dumitru that are responsible for the signs are overlooking it is Dumitru that is employed by an agency that gives pensions, not Cavecche. So perhaps the real issue in the election is not over pensions or salaries, but over truth.

LINK To OC REGISTER Orange Officials salaries: ORANGE SALARIES

BE SURE TO VOTE IN THE POLL FOR ORANGE MAYOR BY CLICKING ON THE TOPIX LINK ABOVE

eLECTION Watch 2010
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