Local Politics

Appeals Court Finds Costa Mesa City Council Law Barring Disruptions Unconstitutional

Benito Acosta, who as a Latino rights activist goes by Coyotl Tezcatlipoca, won a partial victory from the state's Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Friday.The court upheld previous rulings finding Acosta was legally removed from a 2006 Costa Mesa City Council meeting, but the city's law against "disor ... More >>

Bob Wingenroth, Anaheim City Manager, Announces Resignation

Man, it seems like everybody's packing up and hightailing it out of Toontown these days! Anaheim City Manager Bob Wingenroth is the latest as he announced his sudden resignation not even a year officially into his tenure. In the past few months, City Attorney Cristina Talley, Police Chief John Welte ... More >>

Fundraiser For Anaheim's Resort Elite Hit With Residential Picket!

Last evening's "Bold Wine with Bold Leaders" fundraiser for the political action committee of Support Our Anaheim Resort (SOAR) was met with a bold protest! About a half dozen demonstrators took to the sidewalk holding signs in front of the home of event host Mitch Caldwell in the city's historic Co ... More >>

Peter Herzog, Lake Forest's Drunk Driver City Councilman, Gets Probation, Fines, Classes

I was out for four days looking for Easter eggs in Arizona, so I'm catching up on some stuff related to cases we've tracked here while gazing our navels (ouch!).Lake Forest City Councilman Peter Alan Herzog pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol with a blood alcohol content of .1 ... More >>

Pastor Shirley Broussard Tells City Council God May Have Allowed Seal Beach Massacre: Report

A Long Beach pastor reportedly told an aghast Seal Beach City Council this week that the October 2011 massacre in that city--the largest mass shooting in Orange County history--may have been allowed by God.Shirley Broussard is quoted as saying the could have Almighty turned a blind eye to the Salon ... More >>

Newport Beach City Councilman Rush Hill Catches Shit for Saying Shit

Newport Beach City Councilman Rush Hill caught shit last week for saying shit at a City Council meeting.The word that network television doesn't even bleep anymore reportedly left audience members "gasping" and "booing" and "leaving"--as if Hill had introduced a resolution to make it easier for Lati ... More >>

Larry Agran's Great Irvine Election Robbery

[Moxley Confidential] Yet more evidence emerges in the Democrat's Republican-vote-splitting caper

OC's Scariest People 2012!

Child molesters, Shaheen Sadeghi, serial killers, Dana Rohrabacher and so many more!

[UPDATED with Pet Industry Lobby Blasts Animal Ban:] Circus Comes to Anaheim City Hall

See Update No. 2 at the end of this post on a pet-industry lobby also having opposed the ban.See Update No. 1 on the performing animal ban proposal being pulled.ORIGINAL POST, SEPT. 25, 9:41 A.M.: In showbiz, timing is everything, which explains why Feld Entertainment is bringing the big guns to ton ... More >>

Gail Eastman, Anaheim Councilwoman, Credits "God's Hands" With Creating Anaheim Riots So Mayor's Agenda Could be Defeated

As I said in my essay on Anaheim's Troubles this summer, I've long stayed away from city politics to protect friends and family who work at City Hall from vindictive politicos. Well, thank God city politics are so rotten that they deserve my attention, especially the biddy councilwoman named Gail Ea ... More >>

Lorri Galloway, Anaheim Councilwoman, Seeks Exotic Animal Ban; Ringling Bros. Pushes Back

Most serious discussions emanating from the Anaheim City Council chambers of late involve bulls on parade, but Councilwoman Lorri Galloway carved out some time Tuesday night to talk about elephants on parade, calling for a city ordinance to ban the use of exotic animals within city limits. Though br ... More >>

The Little People's Park Riot of 1978

The scene that set the stage for Anaheim Latinos' eternal mistrust of police

Anaheim Community Coalition Presses for District Elections in the Midst of Social Unrest

A week after the streets outside Anaheim City Hall became the scene of a tense clash between protesters and police, community members gathered atop its steps today addressing the lack of Latino representation inside the council chambers. As it currently stands, the Mayor and three of the four city c ... More >>

Is Long Beach Biketown USA?

The seaside city reinvents itself (again) by hitching its civic reputation to cycling culture

Orange County Great Park Gets a $1.4 Billion Puncture in its Balloon

A court in Sacramento today denied the city of Irvine's temporary restraining order request that would prevent the state of California from seizing Orange County Great Park funds. It's part of the city's lawsuit against the state Department of Finance, which has ruled the Great Park is not entitled ... More >>

The Occupy Movement's Urban Struggle

While Irvine's is City Council-approved, Santa Ana's encounters resistance

Tustin To Mull Over Weekly "Family Fun Night" at Old Town

​I don't know why I was watching the Tustin City Council Meeting last night. It is usually just about as riveting as sitting through The Weather Channel's Local On the 8s ; but something they were discussing piqued my interest. During the meeting, the owner of Beach Pit BBQ, Tim DeCinces, stood ... More >>

[UPDATED: Mayor's Bar Vandalized; OCEA Comment] The Beat Goes On: Hundreds Turn Out to Voice Outrage Toward Costa Mesa City Council

Chasen Marshall/OC WeeklyMayor Gary Monahan​UPDATE, APRIL 18, 5:57 P.M.: After closing time on Saturday evening, someone sent a message to Costa Mesa's mayor, Gary Monahan at his place of business, Skosh Monahan's. The means of communication? A brick through the front window, with a note attached ... More >>

Tustin Sacks Popular City Manager 4 Months into Job

​Just four months after the Tustin City Council unanimously voted to hire David Biggs as city manager, he's been unceremoniously sacked from the job in a 3-2 vote. So far, no explanation has emerged for why the city would fire the former Redondo Beach assistant city manager so soon, but rumors hav ... More >>

Newport Marine Claims Veterans Day Yellow Ribbon on Hollywood Sign Tied Up in Red Tape

​A Newport Beach Marine and his unusual request are at the center of a Veterans Day dispute with a Los Angeles city councilman. David Weiss, who was a jarhead from 1981-86, wanted to put a yellow ribbon on the legendary Hollywood sign to honor U.S. veterans today.Cost of the mission: $11,000.

Robert Rizzo Wants Back Pay

​Jabba the Corrupt, "Want more food."Huntington Beach resident Robert Rizzo, the tiny city of Bell's disgraced former city manager, said through his lawyer that he is due severence pay and benefits for his $1.5 million yearly position.

Today's Vomit Inducing Story

​"Bell, one of the poorest cities in Los Angeles County, pays its top officials some of the highest salaries in the nation, including nearly $800,000 annually for its city manager."--Opening sentence in today's Los Angeles Times article by reporters Jeff Gottlieb and Ruben Vives. The story also no ... More >>

Westminster Tabs New Police Chief

Mitch Waller goes from captain to chief at Westminster Police Department.​Westminster Police Captain Mitch Waller will be promoted to police chief with the retirement of Andrew Hall, City Manager Don Lamm and the Westminster City Council announced.

Stupidest, Most Arrogant Line Uttered by OC Councilmember This Year!

Bustamante: As stupid in speaking as he looks here...​"Fifty, sixty years from now, people will be talking about what we did in this room, and how we moved forward"--SanTana Councilmember Busty Bustamante, talking during a nearly illegal city council meeting about plans to make the city into a reg ... More >>

For The Weekend: The 'Save Your City' Drinking Game

For some reason, your blogger spent half an hour yesterday purposefully getting yelled at by Orange County elected officials. The cause was Save Your City, a nifty-looking website that aims to stop the state government from diverting funds from municipalities to shore up the budget. They've got a ga ... More >>

The Spirit of Cooperation Prevails in Diane Harkey's Hometown?

Diane HarkeyThe latest "Soapbox" page in the Dana Point News provides a nice little study in contrasts. The bulk of the page goes to a column from Joel Bishop, Dana Point's jolly, Twittering councilman. He's all about "the power of collaboration": "I get weary of people in power blaming one another ... More >>

It's Thursday, Must Be Time for More Irvine City Campaign Sliminess

If you thought the man and organization behind Larry Agran's campaign slush funds was only involved in Irvine political shenanigans (as we previously reported here), now comes word that Frank Lunding is up to his eyeballs in it in the Carmel Valley as well. Jessica Lyons reports in the Monterey Co ... More >>

You Read the Irvine Election Results Here First

Kang, Krom and Agran: staying put. Allow me to take you way, way, way back in time to last Thursday, Oct. 30, when the following was posted here (and it was in the print edition that hit the streets that day, too): [Irvine mayoral candidate Christina] Shea and fellow incumbent Sukhee Kang are the ... More >>

Three Local Elections Worth Watching. Call It Morbid Fascination

Democratic Candidate Paul Lucas Says He's Still in Trouble for Playing Footsie With Republicans

Friday's Headlines & Surprises: Who the Hell Does Benito Acosta Think He Is?

Heil, err, Mansoor! Let’s see . . . Costa Mesa Mayor Allan Mansoor let people with the Minutemen Project stand during a 2006 city council meeting to show their support for his police-immigration plan. Later, at the same public meeting, other people lead by Benito Acosta attempted to stand in the ... More >>

Cable Guy

A lobbyists offer to represent Cox Cable at Irvine City Hall creates new trouble for Agran

Wrong Side of the Tracks

State investigates Placentia case that
OC grand jury said was legal

Whirlybird Brained

LA Sheriffs plan to PLOP air fleet in OC infuriates locals

Agran Trips on His Own Poll

Irvine mayor loses one more ally in latest scandal

Jingo Fever

YAFfers try to strangle Surf City council member with yellow ribbons

OC Weekly Marks the Passing of . . .

The Myth of St. Curt

Mayor Pringle wasnt a racist then, and he aint Cesar Chavez now

Business as Unusual

Garofalo with a pen is a danger to society

Court Date

DA readies grand jury case against Garofalo

You Dont Wanna Be Dave

Former HB mayors case goes to the DAs office

Redumpvelopment

City and residents clash over future of HB dumpsite

Super Dave Christensen

Racing councilman hits the special-interest wall

An F in Business

Once thought a model of financial wizardry, Brea Olinda High looks like a flop

Now Showing

Talking Shit

Words speak louder than action in cleaning OC beaches

Poster Bored

El Toro Airport Watch No. 120

Sodomized

Laguna officials now admit a developers oceanfront project will cost taxpayers up to $6 million

War of the Rose