Primary Election Update

A Casta del Sol resident who attended Casta’s so-called Republican candidate forum emailed this blog with a request to expose the May 6 sham. It wasn’t just a sham forum; the sham has been going on for two years. A political club in the Casta HOA – where homeowners pay for their clubhouse and the exclusive right to use it – has been taken over by outsiders.

The outsiders are either on the payroll or under the thumb of a political operative, Frances Akhavi, who is known for attacking the Republican Party in Orange County. She recently made her debut in Los Angeles ( http://missionviejoca.org/html/article212.html ) by ruining a Tea Party.

On May 6, the Casta club invited only hand-picked candidates. Among the Central Committee candidates, the organizer selected herself.

Two years ago, the same Casta club held a sham forum for the three OC Sheriff candidates – Sandra Hutchens, Craig Hunter and Bill Hunt. Approximately 75 people attended, but few were Casta residents. Instead of having Casta homeowners ask questions, the panel consisted of Akhavi’s hand-picked GOP Central Committee challengers. Jack Anderson was in the audience, and he immediately saw what was going on. Craig Hunter caught on as well, calling the event an ambush. Hunter and Hutchens received “gotcha” questions from panelists who read questions that had been prepared for them. They threw softball questions to Hunt.

In OC, three groups are vying for control of the Republican Central Committee, and only one is genuinely Republican. Some members of the two non-Republican groups changed their voter registrations in order to run as Republicans in the Primary elections of 2010 and 2012. Formerly, it was one group, but it split last year. The original group called itself SOC912, and it was funded by Akhavi. SOC912 members publicly acknowledged her financial support – it was no secret.

What’s the harm if this new group took over the Orange County Republican Party? In the 2010 Primary, Akhavi’s candidates said their first goal was to get a majority of their members on the Central Committee. Their second goal – openly stated – was to shut down the Orange County Republican Party headquarters. Does anyone need further information?

In days of old, Democrats were the ones trying to remove Republicans from office. Some of the non-Republicans dress up in Colonial costumes (literally) and pass themselves off as Tea Partiers.

In the election next month, all three groups have slates of candidates in the Republican Primary. SOC912 has a slate of seven candidates, which they call the Tea Party Seven. With no financial backer, they’re all long shots.

SOC912’s Central Committee candidates were not invited to the May 6 Casta forum. The other group of non-Republicans was in charge. That doesn’t mean there were no Republicans there, but the organizers were Akhavi’s pretenders. According to those who know them, they are mercenaries posing as volunteers. Why else would five outsiders come back to Casta again and again to manage, organize, collect email addresses by “registering” attendees, serve food and clean up after Casta homeowners leave?

Casta del Sol could bar the door, but the outsiders are providing entertainment, refreshments and labor. If they expect a return on investment with Casta votes, it didn’t work in previous elections.