August 2oo6,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, You are Reader #
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,,The Oxnard Journal
August 2oo6,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
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TEMPEST WITH A TEA POT Recent E-mail exchange with the Ox Jo
This inquiry came in Friday, August 25th at 10:55 AM.
Mr. Winter,
It's widely known that Mayor Holden bought Dierdre Frank from running
for office this election with her appointment to the Planning
Commission and I suspect some sort a deal was made with Saul Medina
also. What happened, why didn't they buy you and Phil Molina off while
they were at it?
Thank You - Concerned Citizen .................................................................THE OX JO RESPONSE . . . . . . . . . .
Dear Concerned Citizen:
Your e-mail is very interesting - I would
like to publish it on the site - of course you would be attributed as
"concerned citizen".....
Not knowing if you are Phil Molina, D.
Frank, Saul Medina, or an entity representing them, or just an average
citizen who sees the political landscape for what it is - a game in
motion...I will answer you from my heart and perspective.
First point - anyone wanting to be on any
City Commission or Board needs to submit an application package to the
City Clerk's office prior to consideration of their name by the
Council - thusly, Medina, Pinkhard, and Frank must have submitted
application packets prior to their nomination to the Planning
Commission.
D. Frank was seriously considering a run
for Council this election. She garnered 8-thousand-plus votes in 2004
in her first ever run against Holden for Mayor. Sources tell me that
Frank made calls to some of her faithful in a trial balloon to see if
she should run for Council and everyone told her to do so.
Perhaps, tipped off to the fact Frank was
inquiring about Council - she was nominated and approved for a seat on
the Planning Commission in July 2006. You will never hear that there
was deal for her not to run, but implied obvious appearance, as you
stated, - - add two and two and see how it factors out......
For Medina, I thought the same, so I asked
him recently and he told me family concerns kept him out of the race,
and that when he does run again, it will be a stronger candidate that
comes forth. Pinkhard as you know will be running for H.S. Board so
she cannot run for Council this year.
I would not say that Holden did any deals,
politics is politics and all politics is local, but collectively as a
Council, all decide whom they wish to see on the Planning
Commission. One person does not drive all decisions done by the
Council as all are equal voting members.
As for Molina and myself. Molina was a
surprise. No one saw him coming and by the time he got qualified and
on the ballot - he became the primary challenger of Holden for the
center seat on Council. Molina will be a formidable contender and his
mettle will be proven at debates and forums. He was never approached
for any Boards because he never applied and frankly, the City wishes
he would just go away as the power brokers would prefer he not play in
their backyard.
For me, I was not planning on a run this
year, but on the Wednesday before the Friday filing deadline, a local
power-player whom I know and respect called and asked me to please
run. My family would prefer I not be involved, but when called to
serve, I will do so. So I filed and became qualified for the ballot,
not knowing that I would become the lead contender against two strong
incumbent office-holders. But the Political Landscape changes and
many folks are not happy with how Oxnard has turned out. Basically we
have had the same people in Council since 1992 - so it is time
for some change - or at least one new face on the Council.
I appreciate your message - hope this
answers your query ---- please feel free to respond back and let me
know if I may publish your question on the Oxnard Journal....
Thanks
Bill WInter
Editor
Ox Jo
THE RETORT IS USUALLY BETTER THAN THE<< Tortellini >>. . . . .
Bill,
Thanks for your reply. First of all, I am not any of the mentioned
parties, nor anyone that is interested in political office. I just
have business interests that are probably not in my best interests to
publicly identify myself. You know how it is, you sometimes need
friends on both sides of the aisle.
I am certainly aware of the background of all the potential candidates
and know Ms. Pinkard and a couple of other candidates chose not to run
in order to not dilute the votes from Dean and Andres. I am not
personally involved with Mr. Medina so I guess I'll take him for his
word as to why he didn't run. I know in the past he has been tied
pretty closely to Manny Lopez who is not much of a factor anymore and
that may have had something to do with his decision. Besides, Maulhardt
and Herrera would be tough to beat without huge financial support.
I am fully aware of the application procedure for the Planning
Commission and my contacts close to city hall tell me that the
selection of the vacant position was delayed in order for Ms. Frank to
get her application submitted. I know she is very closely tied to Tim
Flynn, and he was her principal sponsor.
At the July 11th council meeting, the appointment of the new
commissioner was on the agenda, and I was told that the majority of
city council members were prepared to select someone other than Ms.
Frank. During the meeting the item was suddenly pulled off the agenda
at the request of the city manager. There is no way Mr. Sotelo would
have made that decision without direction from the Mayor. I reviewed
the video when that happened and it was obvious that Herrera and
Maulhardt were taken by surprise and even whispered comments to
Holden.
The item was then placed on the agenda for the following week (7/18).
If you'll look at the video of that section of the meeting that made
the appointments to the various commissions, when they got to the
Planning commission, the demeanor of the council seemed to change and
become quite tense. I found it quite odd that Holden was so fast to
nominate Frank. It makes no sense to so publicly push for one of your
political adversaries, and I knew then that the fix was in. If you'll
notice Herrera and Zaragoza they acted like they were reluctant to go
along with Holden. Flynn was already in Frank's camp so his vote was
not a surprise and Maulhardt voted for another candidate. By the way I
reviewed the applications and it could be argued that Frank was not
the most qualified applicant and knowing her past of being one that is
always on the opposite side of common sense, this appointment made no
sense unless a deal was made to keep her off the ballot. There can be
no other explanation why they would put a political opponent on the
most prestigious commission in the city. I even had a couple of
people tell me that Frank admitted to them at a social function a
couple of days after the appointment that she had made the deal and
will wait two years and run for Flynn's seat when he runs for
supervisor.
More as it happens . . . .
Concerned Citizen
Will there more to follow -= - Stay tuned . . .
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