a Clockwork Orange

Unfit and ready to serve: MCOKER@OCWEEKLY.COM

Posted Sept. 29, 10:57 a.m.

BROWNIE MEET GEORGIE
Listening to Michael Brown blame local officials (New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and Louisiana Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco) during his House testimony on Sept. 28 revealed pretty much what we already knew -- that he was apparently no better at organizing horse shows than saving humans facing natural disasters. But political patronage -- winning the White House and then filling inessential jobs with your contributors -- is a well-established tradition in America. Andrew Jackson (president 1829-1837) turned the spoils system into a political philosophy: giving your friends plumb appointments was, he argued, a way of keeping the average guy in control of the federal government. Brown might not be average, maybe just below average, but his appointment is an an example of how badly things can go when the average guy runs, say, heavy machinery, the brain surgery unit at your local hospital or FEMA. And Brown brings to mind another guy who, come to think of it, really fucked things up for America: OC's own businessman-turned-Bush ambassador George Argyros. Here's Gustavo Arellano's story from last year on the subject.

Posted Sept. 27, 6:15 p.m.

COAD RED!
The El Toro Info Site includes an item on pro-airport, ex-Supervisor Cynthia Coad and her faithful sidekick, hubby Tom, having joined forces with members of the Juaneno Band of Mission Indians "to disrupt development of the Great Park in Irvine" because, the Juanenos claim, a portion of the so-called Great Park is on Indian land.

Now, another way of looking at this, of course is that a Great Park would be disrupting Indian land -- something obviously lost on the El Toro site managers, who instead paint a picture of Coad teaming with "a small Native American group" for no other purpose than to torpedo the Great Park, because her pro-airport stance torpedoed her political career. Perhaps.

To further alarm the masses, the site claims that the Indians, who for years and years and years have been awaiting federal recognition -- the lack of such recognition being much to the benefit of local developers who have had their way with sacred lands -- may want to plop an Indian gaming casino on their supposed chunk of Great Park land, a development that would throw the whole environmental impact report for the land out of whack because of the increased traffic such a facility would generate.

But if this is true, then Indian land would also complicate efforts to build an airport there, wouldn't it?

Posted Sept. 27, 5 p.m.
Jo Ellen: cover girl
Illustration: Bob Aul
Cover design: Heather Swaim
FOLLOW THE BOUNCING EMAILS

From: Jeanette Harvey
Date: Tuesday, September 27, 2005 11:13 a.m.
Subject: Orange County High School of the Arts Announces New Foundation Executive Board Member!

The Orange County High School of the Arts (OCHSA) is proud to name Dr. Jo Ellen Allen as the newest member of the Orange County High School of the Arts Foundation Board of Directors. Allen is currently the director of public affairs for the southern region of the Southern California Edison Company. She is a past member of the board of governors of the California State Bar and was the Republican nominee in the 69th Assembly District in 1992. Additionally, Allen has served as a panelist on NBC's Emmy Award-winning program Free 4 All and has been a guest on programs such as CNN and Company, The Today Show and more.

Allen has also served as a political science educator, columnist and author.

Please let me know if you would like to speak with Allen about her professional experiences and her recent appointment to the Orange County High School of the Arts Foundation Board of Directors and/or receive photographs of her. Please let me know if I can provide you with any additional information in helping you to cover this prominent businesswoman's appointment to the executive board of this nationally-recognized public arts school!

Best regards,
Jeanette Harvey

Editor's note: Obviously, Ms. Harvey apparently has not seen the cover illo above or this or this or this or this or this or this or especially this or -- ouch! -- that one or the one that really set her off, which brought this response from the author of this, the one that started it all!

From: Matt Coker
Date: Tuesday, September 27, 2005 2:38 p.m.
Re: Orange County High School of the Arts Announces New Foundation Executive Board Member!

Jeanette-We would love to talk to Ms. Allen. I'm not sure if she would be speaking to R. Scott Moxley, Will Swaim or myself (it depends on our schedules). We'll accept a photo of her, too. Thank you-Matt Coker, OC Weekly

From: Jeanette Harvey
Date: Tuesday, September 27, 2005 3:02 p.m.
Re: Orange County High School of the Arts Announces New Foundation Executive Board Member!

Hi Matt,
Thank you for your reply. I'll be happy to set up an interview for you and/or your colleagues with Ms. Allen as well as provide you with a photo. What is the deadline you're working on?
Best,
Jeanette M. Harvey

From: Matt Coker
Date: Tuesday, September 27, 2005 3:45 p.m.
Re: Orange County High School of the Arts Announces New Foundation Executive Board Member!