Is FPPC complaint selectively targeting Latino officials?

When Santa Ana resident Glenn Stroud, at the urging of Liberal OC blogger Chris Prevatt, filed a complaint with the Fair Political Practices Commission against Mayor Pro Tem Claudia Alvarez and Councilmember Vincent Sarmiento it was no doubt a case of “selective” complaining.  The question is did Stroud and Prevatt selectively target the two because they are Latino?

The complaint filed last week alleges that Alvarez and Sarmiento violated state law by voting for their own appointments to the Orange County Water District Board and the Transportation Corridor Agency respectively.  Elected officials voting on their appointments to such boards has been going on for years and it happens in communities across the state including right here in Orange County.  Stroud and Prevatt ignored history and the others and simply zeroed in on two Latino Democrats.

As was stated there is quite a long history of elected officials voting on their own appointments to the boards going back many years and nobody has ever made an issue of it.  When the Santa Ana City Council was Anglo dominated this was not an issue.  Let me cite some examples to demonstrate just how long this practice has been going on:

• July 1, 1973:  Santa Ana Mayor Jerry Patterson announces that Councilman John Garthe has been appointed as Delegate to the Orange County Sanitation Districts  2 and 3 and that he Mayor Patterson would serve as the alternate.  He also announced that he would continue to be the delegate for Orange County Sanitation Districts  1 and 7 with Councilman Garthe as the alternate.
• April 10, 1979:  A motion was made by Councilman Gordon Bricken and seconded by Councilman Dan Griset to appoint Councilman Harry Yamamoto as Director of Orange County Sanitation Districts 2 and 3 and as alternate Director to districts 1 and 7.  The motion was unanimous with the appointee Yamamoto voting in favor of it.
• April 10, 1979:  A motion was made by Councilman Gordon Bricken and seconded by Councilman Dan Griset to appoint Mayor James Ward as Director of Orange County Sanitation Districts 1 and 7 and as Alternate Director to Districts 2 and 3.  The motion was unanimous with the appointee Ward voting in favor of it.

From reading the Liberal OC and other local media outlets one might get the impression that it is only the city of Santa Ana that does such things.  However if Prevatt had any journalistic integrity whatsoever he would have investigated and reported on the actions of other cities as well.  With little effort whatsoever New Santa Ana discovered that elected officials voting on their own appointments is quite common.  Here are some examples from Orange County:

Anaheim

• December 15, 2009:  Item#21 on the city council agenda calls for the “Review (of) regional agency appointements and consider (re) appointing representatives to serve on the regional boards and agencies”.    According to the official minutes of that meeting, “Council Member (Bob) Hernandez moved to reappoint all incumbent representatives to the various regional boards and agencies and to reappoint Council Member (Lucille) Kring to the Vector Control Board for a 4-year term, seconded by Council Member Kring.”  The vote was unanimous with all the Councilmembers  voting in favor of their own appointments.
• December 14, 2010:  Item #43 on the city council agenda calls for the “Review (of) regional agency appointements and consider (re) appointing representatives to serve on the regional boards and agencies”:

1. Fire Training Joint Powers Authority:  (RE) Appointment of Councilmember Lori Galloway, vote is unanimous with Councilmember Galloway voting in favor of it.
2. HAZMAT:   (RE) Appointment of Councilmember Lori Galloway, vote is unanimous with Councilmember Galloway voting in favor of it.
3. Metropolitan Water District (MWD):   (RE) Appointment of Councilmember Kris Murray, vote is unanimous with Councilmember Murray voting in favor of it.
4. Orange County Sanitation District (OCSD):   (RE) Appointment of Councilmember Harry Sidhu, vote is unanimous with Councilmember Sidhu voting in favor of it.
5. Orange County Sanitation District (OCSD) Alternate:   Appointment of Councilmember Gail Eastman, vote is unanimous with Councilmember Eastman voting in favor of it.
6. Four Corners Transportation Coalition:  Appointment of Councilmember Gail Eastman, vote is unanimous with Councilmember Eastman voting in favor of it.
7. Santa Ana River Flood Protection Agency (SARFPA):  Appointment of Councilmember Gail Eastman, vote is unanimous with Councilmember Eastman voting in favor of it.
8. Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG; also OCCOG):   Appointment of Councilmember Kris Murray, vote is unanimous with Councilmember Murray voting in favor of it.
9. Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG; also OCCOG) Alternate:   Appointment of Councilmember Gail Eastman, vote is unanimous with Councilmember Eastman voting in favor of it.
10. Transportaion Corridor Agency, Foothill Eastern Area (TCA):  Appointment of Councilmember Kris Murray, vote is unanimous with Councilmember Murray voting in favor of it.
11. Transportaion Corridor Agency, Foothill Eastern Area (TCA) Alternate:  Appointment of Councilmember Gail Eastman, vote is unanimous with Councilmember Eastman voting in favor of it.
12. Growth Management Areas 1 and 2:   Appointment of Councilmember Harry Sidhu, vote is unanimous with Councilmember Sidhu voting in favor of it. 
13. Growth Management Areas 3 and 4:   (RE)Appointment of Councilmember Lori Galloway, vote is unanimous with Councilmember Galloway voting in favor of it. 

• December 10, 2010:  Item #1 on the city council agenda called for, “Appointments of city council representative to outside agencies and subcommittees”:

1. California Joint Powers Insurance Authority:  Appoint Councilmember John Taylor member and Mayor Pro Tem Larry Kramer alternate member.  The motion passed unanimously with Taylor and Kramer voting in favor of it.
2. League of Cities – Orange County Division:  Appoint Councilmember John Taylor member and Mayor Pro Tem Larry Kramer alternate member.  The motion passed unanimously with Taylor and Kramer voting in favor of it.
3. Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG):  Appoint Mayor Sam Allevato member and Mayor Pro Tem Larry Kramer alternate member.  The motion passed unanimously with Allevato and Kramer voting in favor of it.
4. Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA):  Appoint Mayor Sam Allevato member and Councilmember John Taylor alternate member.  The motion passed unanimously with Allevato and Taylor voting in favor of it.
5. Orange County Library Advisory Board:  Appoint Councilmember Laura Freese member and Councilmember John Taylor alternate member.  The motion passed unanimously with Freese and Taylor voting in favor of it.
6. Orange County Transportaion Authority  –  Inter-Jurisdictional Growth Management Areas 9 & 11 (OCTA):  Appoint Councilmember Derek Reeve member and Mayor Sam Allevato alternate member.  The motion passed unanimously with Reeve and Allevato voting in favor of it.
7. Orange County Vector Control Board:  Appoint Councilmember Laura Freese to 2 year term, ending December 31, 2012.  The motion passed unanimously with Freese voting in favor of it.
8. San Juan Basin Authority:  Appoint Councilmember Laura Freese member and Mayor Pro Tem Larry Kramer alternate member.  The motion passed unanimously with Freese and Kramer voting in favor of it.
9. South Orange County WastewaterAuthority Joint Powers Authority (SOCWA):  Appoint Councilmember Laura Freese member and Mayor Pro Tem Larry Kramer alternate member.  The motion passed unanimously with Freese and Kramer voting in favor of it.
10. Transportation Corridors Agencies (Foothill/Eastern & San Joaquin Hills):  Appoint Mayor Sam Allevato member and Councilmember John Taylor alternate member.  The motion passed unanimously with Allevato and Taylor voting in favor of it.
11. Desalinization Project Participate Committee:  Appoint Mayor Pro Tem Larry Kramer member and Councilmember Laura Freese alternate member.  The motion passed unanimously with Kramer and Freese voting in favor of it.
12. South Orange County Watershed Management Area (SOCWMA):  Appoint Councilmember Laura Freese member and Mayor Pro Tem Larry Kramer alternate member.  The motion passed unanimously with Freese and Kramer voting in favor of it.

The above items demonstrate clearly that Santa Ana officials are not alone in voting on their own appointments to these special outside boards, agencies and commissions.  If the FPPC does rule that the law has been violated by the actions of Alavarez and Sarmiento they will then have to take action against all the others across the state that have done the same thing including those mentioned above.

The question we here at New Santa Ana have is what is the motivation behind selectively targeting Alvarez and Sarmiento?  Is it racial or is it simply sour grapes and petty politics on the part of Stroud and Prevatt?

If it were simply about exposing the perceived illegal actions of elected officials you would think they would have gone after all of them and not just Vince and Claudia.  They conveniently forgot to complain about Counclmembers David Benavides and Carlos Bustamante doing the exact same thing when they voted in favor of their own appointments in 2007 and 2011.  Wonder why???

Art Pedroza Editor

Our Editor, Art Pedroza, worked at the O.C. Register and the OC Weekly and studied journalism at CSUF and UCI. He has lived in Santa Ana for over 30 years and has served on several city and county commissions. When he is not writing or editing Pedroza specializes in risk control and occupational safety. He also teaches part time at Cerritos College and CSUF. Pedroza has an MBA from Keller University.

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