Feet To The Fire - Tired Of Waiting***

 WAITING FOR COVERAGE
Yesterday I spoke with Costa Mesa's Director of Communication, Bill Lobdell, about the video coverage of the Feet To The Fire Forum held last Thursday, September 18th at Orange Coast College.  I had hoped to provide you with a link to the streaming video of that event, plus other information.  He told me the streaming video would be available "soon".  Well,  it has been nearly a week and it's still not up and I'm tired of waiting for it.

ME
You can read what I wrote about that event HERE.

BRAD
You can read what Bradley Zint wrote about it in the Daily Pilot, HERE.

CHRIS
You can read the real-time live blogging done for the OC Political Blog by Chris Nguyen, HERE.

KOCI-FM AUDIO
You can hear the audio coverage from radio station KOCI-FM by clicking HERE, then on the audio link.

3RD PARTY VIDEO
You can view a third party video of the event in two segments, HERE and HERE.  It's not high quality video, and it doesn't capture every word, but it's better than nothing.

CMTV COVERAGE ON TELEVISION

You can watch the CMTV presentation on Channel 3 (Time Warner Cable) or Channel 99 (ATT U-Verse) starting next week on the schedule listed below:

***
AS PROMISED
And, if it ever becomes available, I will provide a link for the CMTV streaming video at this location.  You can link to the CMTV coverage HERE.

COSTA MESA BRIEF COVERAGE ADDED, TOO
And, I apologize to my pal, old Barry Friedland, for overlooking the coverage he and his "staff" provided at the forum.  They have produced 28 minutes of before-and-after interviews recorded at the event.  There is no coverage of the forum, per se, but it does provide some interesting - if one-sided - perspective.  You can view it on YouTube HERE.
Enjoy.

Lest There Be Any Doubt...

CENTRAL COMMITTEE ENDORSEMENTS
Last night the power elite of the Orange County Republican Party (OCGOP), members of the Central Committee, met to determine which brave souls and/or issues on the ballot in November were worthy of the Central Committee's endorsement.

THE PARTY PANCREAS
Like most Republicans in Orange County, I'm not one of those well-connected folks that form the pancreas of the of the local Republican Party - those who help the body-politic process and digest the political information available to it to, eventually, pass on through the system the blessing of candidates who are deemed sufficiently "right-thinkers" and will toe the party line in important local votes.  No, I'm just one of those guys who benefit from, or suffer the consequences of, the actions of those who are an integral part of The Party alimentary canal.

 INSIDIOUS ENTERTAINMENT
As is the case with many such organizations, unanimity is a rare thing.  Reading about the hijinks at these meetings as posted on blogs and on social networking sites can actually make for some entertaining reading.  That was the case with the meeting last night.

 PARTY OPERATIVE TELLS US ALL...
Chris Nguyen, who posts on the OC Political blog - the site that has picked up the slack as the old Red County blog has gone through a slow, painful death - posted a running commentary of the event last night.  You can read his running commentary HERE.  As a true Republican, I find myself wondering how I could get the movie rights for these things - truth being stranger than fiction.

ONE SIMPLE STATEMENT SAYS IT ALL
Which brings me to the reason for this long preamble to the important issue that occurred at the meeting.  As you scroll down through the chronology you'll find an entry at 7:31 that says, innocently enough, the following:

"7:31 PM: Baugh speaks of the Costa Mesa Charter Amendment being a priority of the Republican Party."

NO DOUBT!
In case there was ANY doubts about the attempt by the OC GOP to influence our local politics and the way our city is governed, that simple little statement of fact should erase them.  The fact that Baugh feels Jim Righeimer's Charter is a "priority" for them is quite telling.

BAUGH AS EMPEROR?
I've written many times in the past about the relationship with OC GOP Chairman Scott Baugh and his pal, Costa Mesa Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer.  To say they were tight would grossly understate the relationship.  And to say the OC GOP was trying to control every element of governance in our city would grossly understate that fact.

ATTEMPTING TO CONTROL OUR LIVES
If you look down the entire list of endorsements approved by the OC GOP Central Committee, HERE, you'll see many familiar names.  In every race that affects Costa Mesa - City Council, Mesa Consolidated Water District, Costa Mesa Sanitary District and Jim Righeimer's Charter, Measure V - the Central Committee has endorsed their fair-haired children.  And you can be certain that we will soon see slate mailers funded by the OC GOP in our mailboxes touting those candidates and issues.
  

GIVE THEM THE... RASPBERRY!
In my opinion, the interference by the OC GOP in our local races - theoretically non-partisan positions - is unacceptable and an egregious abuse of their power.  That being said, we know it's happening and it's important for all the voters of this city to understand that outside influences are attempting to take over our city.  We can figuratively give Baugh and his pals a big raspberry on November 6th by voting for candidates other than those endorsed by them and by rejecting Jim Righeimer's self-serving Charter. 

 AND NO "Ms" FOR ME!