|
The
DeVore-Spitzer Debate Turns Into Monologue - Spitzer MIA, DeVore Lacks
Substance
An
interview of a different kind
Posted By CotoBlogzz
Rancho Santa
Margarita, CA - We were
looking forward to a substantive debate between Mr.
Chuck DeVore and Mr. Todd Spitzer
as they attempt to make their case for a Third District Board of
Supervisors seat in 2012. Given
their collective experience in public service, the operative question
is whether they have become part of the problem, or part of the
solution. We are still looking.
We publicly
challenged both candidates to see whether they had any specific bold
proposals - emphasis on bold, for what should be obvious
reasons- for the fiscal tsunami facing the county, and to make sure
they got the memo, we tried to reach them multiple times via their
Facebook accounts, asking them to respond by no later than April 29,
2011 at 5:00 pm. Mr. DeVore was gracious enough to respond.
We have yet to hear from Mr. Spitzer.
Unfortunately, Mr.
DeVore’s response was in essence an exercise in wallowing in the
never never nebulosities of open-ended
possibilities.
Below are the
questions asked of both candidates, followed by
the un-edited responses from Mr. DeVore, along with our
succinct comments. We
would be more than glad to expand, If there is enough interest.:
Questions
for Mr. Spitzer and Mr. DeVore
1. Success: How
do you define success for your next OCBOS term? In other
words, voting Yes to support your initiatives, or No to defeat the
initiatives counter to your principles is necessary, but if you fail,
then it does not much matter. Almost analogous to the President voting
Present when he was in the legislature, to avoid making the
tough decisions.
2. Experience: Given
your political experience, seems like you have decided to be a career
politician, not unlike Governor Brown, and given our assertion that
power is more seductive than any mind altering drug, what can you do
to stay grounded and responsive to Joe the homeowner?
3. Boldness
– Experience in
many cases is a very powerful creativity buster as described above.
Additionally consider the politicians who are currently dominating the
national debate such as Paul Ryan, Marco Rubio, Governor
Chris Christie and others, relatively inexperienced in
their news posts. Now consider Governor Brown’s proposals
to resuscitate California’s economy..
The
Orange County Board of Supervisors had a golden opportunity to
show boldness in the appointment to replaced disgraced Sheriff Carona,
instead, it went to safe route.
 |
|
 |
|
Chuck DeVore |
|
Todd Spitzer |
Unedited
Response from Mr. Chuck DeVore followed by brief comments
1.
For me, success on the Orange County Board of Supervisors will be
defined by the answers to these questions: is county government more
or less financially healthy, including unfunded pension liabilities;
is county government a better steward of tax dollars; and, does county
government promote more liberty?
Editorial
Comment:
Unfortunately, the goal is not SMART –
Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic
and Time bound – that is, whatever the outcome, either
candidate can claim success or failure.
2. It’s been 26 years since I graduated from college. During that
time, I worked 15 years in the private sector, including 13 years as
an aerospace executive versus a combined 11 years in public service,
including time the uniform of the U.S. Army, working as a White House
appointee in the Defense Department, serving as a Congressional
staffer and six years as a State Assemblyman. My faith, my wife and my
strong support of the Constitution and the Preamble of the Declaration
keep me grounded. Government is our servant, not our master; it exists
to protect our liberties.
Editorial
comment:
The question remains, how does Joe the taxpayer know that he
does not have to go through a lobbyist to contact an elected
representative?
3. Let’s first discuss the examples you offered: Rep. Paul Ryan is
in his seventh term in Congress after having been a Congressional
staffer; Sen. Marco Rubio was a Congressional intern, a city
commissioner and a member of the Florida House for nine years in which
he became Speaker of the House; Gov. Chris Christie was a county
supervisor (called Freeholders in New Jersey), lost a bid for the
state legislature, worked as a lobbyist, then served as U.S. Attorney
for New Jersey for seven years. Rep. Ryan, the most experienced,
appears to be the most bold and creative at this time in offering
budget solutions.
California’s problems can be summed up in one phrase: government is
too big and powerful. Taxes are too high. Debt is too large.
Regulations stifle job creation.
California’s 58 counties are administrative units of the state. That
said they do have some flexibility in how they can operate. For
instance, counties negotiate labor contracts with employee unions. In
the past, the Board of Supervisors has been overly generous with
taxpayer money, obligating future taxpayers to pay billions in
unfunded pension liabilities. Board members need to be taxpayer
advocates.
Regarding audits, the county has the authority to order its own
audits, and it should. The Joint Legislative Audit Committee (JLAC) in
Sacramento is not the body from which to request assistance. I served
on the JLAC – they only approve a handful of audits each year and
those are focused on state programs.
Regarding Gov. Brown’s proposed $60 billion tax increase, I oppose
it, just as I did Gov. Schwarzenegger’s tax increase. The fact is
that the $14 billion in supposed “cuts” made in the current budget
are largely illusory – accounting smoke and mirrors. There has been
little to no real reform out of Sacramento in decades.
County government’s budget should ideally be zero-based. In other
words, every budget cycle should start with the presumption that a
bureau’s budget is zeroed out, making them justify their spending
every year – not put on autopilot with growth based on population
and inflation. For state programs that the county administers where
this is not legally possible, the service delivery mechanisms should
be reexamined periodically to see how they can be made more efficient.
If something’s been done the same way for 20 years, it can likely be
done better.
When I worked in business for 13 years, profits weren’t just a
theoretical textbook concept. If we didn’t make a profit, I
wouldn’t get a raise, much less a bonus. I’m the only candidate in
the race for Orange County Supervisor that can draw on a successful
career in business for inspiration on what might be done to improve
county government on behalf of the taxpayers.
Editorial
Comment:
The question remains – what bold proposals do you have?
Preliminary conclusion
Clearly we have failed to kick start the long-awaited substantive debate. However, we think the Orange County Third District does deserve to hear from the
candidates at some point prior to the election, and to determine if either candidate
is bold enough to break from the mold that has made a shambles of the Golden State.
We are not ready to give up. We hope the Third District
does not give up either.
###
RELATED
STORIES
DeVore
on ANDRES BOCELI - Rancho
Santa Margarita, CA- Candidate
Obama rightfully demanded that words must mean something.
President Obamaregularly
parses words not
unlike the infamous "it all depends on what is is".
Politicians regularly use the terms accountability and transparency,
but when pressed as to what they are ready to do, they deflect, deny
or ignore, perhaps even lie - that is, the political game of DIDL.
California's
Triple Threat - Rancho Santa
Margarita, CA - We
assert that the sucking sound you hear are all the jobs California is
losing to Nevada, Texas and Utah, in large measure do to what we refer
to as California's
Triple Threat: 1) Public
sector organized labor, 2)
un-elected,
un-checked parasitic bureaucracies and
3) lobbyists.
Economic
Freedom and the Triple Constraint
- Rancho Santa
Margarita, CA -
The Heritage Foundation & The Wall Street Journal compared 183
countries across ten
specific freedoms such
as trade freedom, business freedom, property rights, investment
freedom and others, to come up with the so called The Link
Between Economic Opportunity and Prosperity: The
2009 Index of Economic Freedom. Such index ranked
Hong Kong at the top, while the United States was relegated to the
number six slot
A
view of Senator Obama Using a Disgruntled Homeowner Prism
During a recent
blogging exchange with Assemblyman
Todd Spitzer , he referred to a particular constituent as a
disgruntled member of a homeowners association. Now,
we have heard the term disgruntled employee regularly in
employer-employee spats and usually in whistle blowing scenarios. We
have also hear the term disgruntled resident in the context of an
argument between representatives of a homeowners’ association and
the resident itself. Never
from a politician to characterize a constituent.
A Winning
the Future Moment, or Simply: WTF?
- Rancho Santa
Margarita, CA – President
Obama has ditched the car in the ditch metaphor and the Hope &
Change slogan in lieu of taking the engine off of an airplane metaphor
and Winning the
Future slogan
. Critics say
that the new metaphor does not work, since the airplane is heading to
China to mortgage future generations of American, when the airplane
has no fuel, while Governor Sarah Palin characterizes the new
slogan as “What Were They Thinking” (WWTT)
or in the vernacular: WTF?
The
2010 Union Voting Guide - Use at your Own Peril
- Rancho Santa
Margarita, CA -
There is a lot of truth in the old adage that "we should not
judge a book by its cover." But what if we have access to the
Cover, the Table of Contents and the Appendix? Can we get a good idea
as to the contents of the book? In other words, using another adage
"tell me who you associate with and I will tell you who you
are?" and applying the latter to political elections, if we know
the candidate's supporters, we should be able to have a good idea
about how that candidate will govern. Take for instance Van Jones,
Reverend Wright, the National Representative of the Nation of Islam's Louis
Farrakhan, the Reverend Al Sharpton, terrorist William Charles
" Bill" Ayers and former White House Chief of Staff Rahm
Emanuel all supporters of candidate Obama. Should this not have
been a good indicator, largely ignored, of the contents of the now
Presidential Book?
THE
FORUM: Vote "Yes" for 23; support jobs
The California Air
Resources Board acknowledges that "no direct public health
impacts" are expected from Prop 23. The proposition delays
control of greenhouse gas emissions, implicated in global warming. It
delays implementation of AB 32 (the global warming solution), which
penalizes sources of emissions, especially refineries and fossil fuel
power sources.
The
2010 Union Voting Guide - Use at your Own Peril
Rancho Santa Margarita, CA - There is a lot of truth in the old adage
that "we should not judge a book by its cover." But what if
we have access to the Cover, the Table of Contents and the Appendix?
Can we get a good idea as to the contents of the book? In other words,
using another adage "tell me who you associate with and I will
tell you who you are?" and applying the latter to political
elections, if we know the candidate's supporters, we should be able to
have a good idea about how that candidate will govern. Take for
instance Van Jones, Reverend Wright, the National Representative of
the Nation of Islam's Louis Farrakhan, the Reverend Al Sharpton,
terrorist William Charles " Bill" Ayers and former White
House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel all supporters of candidate Obama.
Should this not have been a good indicator, largely ignored, of the
contents of the now Presidential Book?
2010
California Propositions Voters Guide
Rancho Santa Margarita, CA - While heuristics indicate that a NO vote
in any California's direct special interest democracy is a wise move,
following the money may be even better. Below is a list of the 2010
California propositions, their main supporters and our
recommendations, including a brief rationale.
|
|
|
BOTH USELESS
I'm sick of both of these guys and with good reasons, plural, too numerous to list here. Every politician, now especially a Republican politician says whatever they think other constituents want to hear. You nailed it Buzz, HE DID NOTHING. NADA. NOTHING. Which is what most of them do: NOTHING. They want the perks of the job, the limelight,
Meanwhile the constituents are left to fend for themselves, how is this any better than what Obama is doing: NOTHING.
Both these men have had chance after chance TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE in their districts and they have been pedestrian in their attainment and marginal in their so-called successes (which really are no successes at all) . We are sick and tired of promises. We need some damn ACTION. Stop blaming the legislative gridlock, its a cop out. We want JOBS. We want to get rid of NAFTA. We want our local agriculture businesses to be given some breaks so we can buy and sell local produce. We want reduction in utility rates. We want lower taxes. And the list goes on.
It really doesn't matter what the list is, because once either of these two get in, they put their feet up on the desk just like all the rest of them and start collecting their paychecks. I CAN TELL YOU THIS: NEITHER OF THEM HAVE ANSWERED MY TELEPHONE CALLS. BOTH of them have palmed me and other callers off to stupid IQ-less "aids." And we all know who the "aids" are, people who donated to the campaign, its THEIR KID. Useless.
YES it is absolutely true, one must know a lobbyist to get close to either of these gentlemen, after all, they're just looking for a job aren't they. WHERE ARE THE JOBS IN YOUR DISTRICT FOR THE REST OF US?.