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Tuesday, September 02, 2014
GOP- no to bond, but Yes to....
eLECTION Watch 2014
Orange Net News /O/N/N/
The OCPolitical blog reported that at tonight's September 2 2014 Orange County GOP Endorsements Committee members voted to make recommendations to the full Orange County Central Committee at its meeting later this month that they oppose the OUSD Bond Measure K and endorse Trustee Rick Ledesma and Tim Surridge.
Measure K's opposition was spearheaded by Villa Park Councilwomen Deborah Pauly who called OUSD's long involved community stakeholder vision plans the "Taj Mahal" plans. General conspiracy theories of "fiscal mismanagement" were bantered around by other committee members.
At the August 18th Orange County Central Committee Meeting, members voted to send both Ledesma and Surridge to the Endorsement Committee based on their votes to place Measure K on the ballot.
When Ledesma was asked by the Endorsement Committee about his efforts to cut spending- Ledesma pointed to his efforts to sell off the district's surplus properties to developers.
At the August 14 2014 OUSD Board Meeting, Ledesma led the charge against an extension of the lease holders (Peralta Golf Partners) of the surplus OUSD Peralta site. Ledesma repeatedly stated he opposed the 18 month extension of the lease because of a provision that the district not offer the land for sale during the extension period. Ledesma repeated that he wanted to have the option to revisit selling the site after the November election and he took the lease owners to task for profiting off the lease on the site.
At the endorsement meeting, Ledesma stated that he has opposed the Bond Measures in 2004 stating that he did that because "He could not find a way to fund maintenance without the unions scooping out the money."
Ironically (and most likely unknown to the Endorsement Committee) just last week, both Ledesma and Surridge had interviews seeking to get the endorsement and money of the Orange Unified teachers' union- the OUEA.
In a surreal comment, ultra conservative Endorsement Committee member Mark Bucher (who was the attorney for the 2001 Recalled OUSD Reactionary Board) is reported to have made the comment that "the unions are trying to run schools into the ground and get conservatives to vote for higher taxes"
At that same August OUSD meeting, Surridge too opposed the lease extension calling on the owners to reveal their financial records. Progressive member Diane Singer immediately took exception to her self-proclaimed "conservative colleagues" line of reasoning. Singer pointed out that she had a problem the district as a government entity getting involved with telling a private enterprise what type of profits they could make.
Those who know Surridge well should not be surprised by his anti-capitalistic streak. Surridge February 20, 2014 rant against the Peralta business is well documented (see video).
Surridge's philosophical stance about capitalism appears to follow a growing fringe Christian anti-Capitalism movement.
In April of last year, Surridge shared this link on his Facebook Page:
Tim Surridge shared a link.
Thought provoking article for the philosophical.....http://www.marketwatch.com/story/capitalism-is-killing-our-morals-our-future-2013-04-27?siteid=yhoof2
The commentary article by Paul B Farrell is titled (Click on) Capitalism is killing our morals, our future: Commentary: In a Market Society, everything is for sale
The article begins:
Over the years we’ve explored the reasons capitalism blindly continues on its self-destructive path. Recently we found someone who brilliantly explains why free-market capitalism is destined to destroy the world, absent a historic paradigm shift: That is Harvard philosopher Michael Sandel, author of the new best-seller, “What Money Can’t Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets,” and his earlier classic, “Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do?”
The premise for what Surridge writes on his Facebook that is "thought provoking" is the philosophy of Christian Anti-Capitalism (Click on: CAC )
Live blogging from the GOP Endorsement Committee meeting (see below) gives an inside detailed look at the arguments and personalities.
Posted by Chris Nguyen on September 2, 2014
"We’re live from OCGOP Endorsements Committee tonight as they hold the first of two meetings to make recommendations for the September Central Committee meeting’s endorsements..."
(Blog posting on Measure K discussion)
"6:53 PM: Tim Surridge speaks about the Napa
6:54 PM: Deborah Pauly notes this is the largest bond ever proposed by a K-12 school district. She says the Taj Mahal plan would cost three times as much as the bond. She notes about the failure of the district to put enough money for maintenance.
6:55 PM: Robert Hammond speaks about finding better ways to fund repairs to the schools like his alma mater, Orange High School
6:57 PM: Thomas Gordon moves to recommend opposing Measure K, the Orange Unified School District
6:58 PM: Bucher speaks about fiscal mismanagement of school districts.
NO MEASURE K RECOMMENDED BY A 4-0-1 VOTE. (Mathews abstaining.)"
(Blog posting on Ledesma and Surridge discussion)
" 7:12 PM: Rick Ledesma explains he has served on the Board for years and is a financial analyst. He opposed the bonds in 2004. He could not find a way to fund maintenance without the unions scooping out the money. He reminds the committee that he is the only Republican running in his Trustee Area and that Surridge is the only Republican running in his Trustee Area.
Huang asks about his efforts to cut spending.
Ledesma speaks about his efforts to sell off surplus properties. He speaks about the cities inhibiting the full surplus property value.
Gordon asks if Ledesma opposes PLAs.
Ledesma says yes.
7:17 PM: Gordon moves to endorse Ledesma and Surridge. He is concerned about their liberal opponents. He urges them to continue opposing PLAs and to oppose future bonds.
Huang supports the motion and urges Ledesma and Surridge to act prudently if the bond passes and creatively if it fails.
Bucher says this is a tough one. He fears the unions are trying to run schools into the ground and get conservatives to vote for higher taxes.
LEDESMA AND SURRIDGE RECOMMENDED FOR ORANGE UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT 3-2 (BUCHER AND MCCURDY DISSENTING)."
For the complete report Click on: OCPOLITICAL
eLECTION Watch 2014
Orange Net News /O/N/N/
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Comments:
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Uh, you do realize OC Political is paraphrasing, right? You reported the paraphrasing of Surridge, Ledesma, and Bucher as if they were direct quotes.
Also, OC Political reported Todd Spitzer's comments on the bond. Why did you cut those out of the excerpt?
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Also, OC Political reported Todd Spitzer's comments on the bond. Why did you cut those out of the excerpt?
# posted by 
: 9/03/2014 5:28 PM
: 9/03/2014 5:28 PM << Home
