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Restore America As all of you are aware, our country is in the midst of the worst economic situation since the Great Depression of the 1930s, and it is getting worse. Four years ago Obama promised changes that would move our country in a better direction, and he was elected based on those promises. His promises were either changed or not kept, and our economy has plunged deeper and deeper in debt, more unemployment and more homes underwater. We must remember, “SUCCESS IS THE RESULT OF WHAT ONE DOES, NOT WHAT ONE PROMISES TO DO.” Obama promised lots of things, but did he do what he promised? NO! One of the most, if not the most, frightening things we are facing today is the rapid growth of inflation. Since Obama came into power, the price of food, gas, clothing and most everything else we buy has increased by about 20 percent. That means the $100 you had three years ago is now worth only about $80. If that continues for another four years, the $100 you have today will be worth maybe $50. One of the worst aspects of inflation is that every time the product you buy goes up a dollar, the CALIFORNIA government collects another 7.75 percent in TAXES. Do you think Jerry Brown or Obama would be inclined to stop the inflation or would they sit back, smile, and count the extra TAX dollars that will be flowing in. Governments love inflation because they take in hundreds of billions of extra tax dollars to spend in whatever way they choose. We must put a stop to this. Our Nation was founded on the principal of the government being “OF THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE AND FOR THE PEOPLE.” That has changed since Obama took over and today is more like, “OF THE POLITICIANS, BY THE POLITICIANS AND FOR THE POLITICIANS.” If we sit back and watch the Liberal Media and believe their nonsensical baloney that things are getting better, we will see our country become a socialist state led by a self-centered dictator. This has to be changed, but to make this change and bring back our government, “OF THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE AND FOR THE PEOPLE,” we must have a goal and a plan. The lack of a goal and a plan would be like heading out on vacation without knowing where you’re going or how to get there. OUR GOAL: Replace Obama in November with someone who will respect America’s values, stand by the Constitution, build jobs, cut taxes, eliminate Obamacare and stop the ridiculous spending. Our PLAN: We must come together as a group to show support for that candidate who has the best chance of helping us reach our goal. We must turn off the TV get off our----- “SOFAS” ----- and get involved with our neighbors, friends, our children, relatives and business associates and ask for their help in accomplishing our goal. Walk the neighborhoods, get people to register to vote and leave information that would be helpful to educate people of the benefits of our goal. Make talks at any business meeting that you can, spelling out the benefits to AMERICA in our goal. Email, text or tweet everyone you know about our goal and ask them to do the same. This coming election in November will be the most crucial election this country has ever had. We must get Obama out of the White House so that our country can recover to what we know America is capable of. Your effort can make that happen. God bless you and God Bless America. [Speech presented during the April 16 Mission Viejo Tea party] |
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L.A. Tea Party Lament The following letter was posted on the L.A. Tea Party website on April 6, the day the L.A. Tax Day Protest was canceled. Planning committee members describe how an Orange County political operative destroyed plans for their Tax Day protest. Patriots: We had a vision for the Tax Day Rally. We wanted to unite conservatives behind the ideas of personal freedom, constitutionally limited government, free markets, and lower taxes and energize them to get involved in the 2012 election fight to unseat big spending/taxing politicians. This is a battle we should have all been able to get behind. Instead, sadly, a single woman has divided us against each other, dooming the entire event. We apologize for the length of this e-mail, but we feel compelled to explain what happened in some detail so that all of you can make sure this never happens again and to set the record straight in light of the untrue rumors that are flying around. Here is a nutshell of what transpired: Mark Sonnenklar decided to throw his hat over the wall on March 13 and spearhead a Tax Day Rally at the Federal Building in Westwood to occur one month later. He formed an organizational committee for the event composed of Ermias Alemayehu of the South Central LA Tea Party (Reverend Jesse Lee Peterson’s group) and Michael Fell, who had been recommended by a trusted source and had planned several similar events. Michael Fell told us he had a friend who could guarantee the permit within a few days and would also provide the stage, podium, audio/visual system and speakers, generator, videographer, and photographer, all at this person’s own expense. We were ecstatic! Michael Fell had not yet disclosed the name of his female friend, but we trusted Michael Fell and we were so excited about her contribution to the event that we didn’t think to check out her background. Admittedly, this was a mistake. We have since found out from many people that Frances Akhavi has ruined numerous past events with her controlling, divisive, and manipulating behavior. On March 16, less than twenty-four hours after Michael Fell told us that his friend could get the permit, without having met or spoken to Mark or Ermias, Frances Akhavi took it upon herself to drive from Orange County to the Federal Building in Westwood and secure a permit. Soon thereafter, Mark called Frances to thank her for what appeared at the time to be an altruistic contribution and to discuss working together on the event. It was a positive conversation, although Frances Akhavi essentially appointed herself as the organizer of Orange County on that phone call. On one of our organizational conference calls a couple days later, Michael Fell told us that he was having lunch with Frances Akhavi that day because he had been unemployed for years and she told him she may have a job for him. On March 27, with no prior notice of any problems in the relationship with Frances Akhavi, we received an email from Frances Akhavi telling us that she was pulling out of the event and withdrawing all of her equipment and people. She was angry that Mark Sonnenklar had responded to email questions from Orange County leaders without copying her on those emails. Nonetheless, she said she would send us the permit. This was the first of many times that she would promise to deliver the permit and then go back on that promise. Mark called Frances Akhavi the same day to address her concerns and invite her back into the event. This was the first of our many attempts to appease and pacify Frances Akhavi. She demanded that Mark not contact any leaders in Orange County, because, according to her, she was acting as their representative. Mark agreed to this to keep her involved in the event and avoid problems with the permit and having to find and pay for an alternate stage, A/V equipment, generator, podium, videographers, photographers, etc. That night, Frances Akhavi sent us an email with a list of 21 groups and instructed us not to have any contact with them. Those groups included the Tea Party Orange County, Laguna Beach Tea Party Patriots, Huntington Beach Surf City Tea Party, United and Independent Radio, Redlands Tea Party Patriots, North Orange County Conservative Coalition, 6 Miles Square Patriots, Oath Keepers, Chino Hills Tea Party, Tea Party North Orange County, Robert Ginnaty, Central Tea Party, Leadership Alliance, Irvine Republican Council, Constitution And Country, Eagle Forum, Newport Tea Party, Costa Mesa - Newport Tea Party, Santa Ana Tea Party, San Juan Capistrano Tea Party, and Atlas. Things were starting to smell very bad. She also sent us an email to “confirm” our conversation to add her group, Constitution and Country, as a sponsor of the event with the Hancock Park Patriots and the South Central LA Tea Party. She again threatened to pull out if we did not agree to her terms by noon the next day. Despite her characterization of the demand as a confirmation of what had already been discussed, Frances Akhavi had never previously requested being listed as a sponsor of the event. Ironically, if she had simply requested to be a sponsor before we became acquainted with her manipulation, we would have gladly made her group a sponsor. At this point, our experience with Frances Akhavi made it very clear that she was not a person with whom we could work. Yet, she still had the permit, she had promised to cover a lot of items for the event, and time was running out to replace those items. Mark called her the next day and offered to make her group a sponsor, as long as she understood that she would not be included in the organizational committee that included Mark, Ermias, and Michael Fell. In response, she threatened to hold her own tax day rally at the same location on the same day. She proceeded to hang up on Mark and did not respond to Mark’s multiple voicemails to her that day. Throughout this process, Michael Fell had been defending Frances Akhavi and her behavior on conference calls with Mark and Ermias and urging us to capitulate to her every demand. This was unfathomable to us, and we lost confidence in him. Rather than stand up to Frances Akhavi, Michael Fell resigned from the organizational committee. We have no explanation for why Michael Fell chose to stand with Frances Akhavi. At any rate, Frances Akhavi was not responding to our calls, and we were becoming very concerned that she was not going to provide us with the permit. So, for the next 6 days, we proceeded to ask for help from various tea party leaders who knew Frances, including Dawn Wildman of the CA Tea Party Groups Coalition and others. A pattern in those conversations emerged: Frances would promise each tea party leader to turn over the permit if certain demands were met, but, when those demands were met (and her demands changed continuously) or before anyone had an opportunity to meet those demands, she would change her mind and refuse to deliver the permit. She kept moving the goalposts. Yesterday, even though many people were still encouraging us to continue our efforts, it became clear to us that Frances Akhavi had no intention of providing us with the permit, and we decided to cancel the event. We have left no stone unturned, including searching for alternate venues. We made the mistake of trying to appease Francis Akhavi from the beginning. Appeasing her merely emboldened her. We have put much effort into only reciting the facts in this e-mail and avoiding editorializing. We do have numerous emails from Frances and others that support the facts as we have laid them out in this email. We are also well aware that Frances Akhavi has been calling and emailing many of you to rally behind her, and she will no doubt continue to do so. There are many things we do not know about Frances Akhavi; however, one thing we do know is that Frances Akhavi is quite willing to lie to protect herself. We urge you to take whatever Frances Akhavi might say to you with a grain of salt. We believe we speak with authority when we say she is not a person that can be trusted. Unfortunately, over the course of the past week, we have spoken with various Orange County leaders who know Frances and, for some reason, want to excuse her behavior. They say she has had a difficult life growing up in Iran. They say she just doesn’t understand how to communicate like an American. They say she is paranoid and distrustful and therefore must be handled with kid gloves. These are nothing but excuses. The conservative movement stands for personal responsibility; there are no excuses for Frances Akhavi’s behavior. Many of you will receive phone calls and emails from Frances in the coming days. Frances and her cohorts will tell you that the Hancock Park Patriots and the South Central LA Tea Party were only interested in getting credit for the event. Nonsense! We were interested in unifying conservatives and calling them to action in a critical election year. We would have gladly planned this rally without a sponsorship credit if we believed that that would have made the difference. Frances and her people will tell you that the Hancock Park Patriots and the South Central LA Tea Party wanted to plan the event by themselves without input from others. Not true! Since we began planning the event, we have held four planning committee conference calls to which approximately 180 conservative leaders were invited. Those meetings were well-attended (with up to 25 people from many different groups on the call), and we took minutes. They provided a forum for people to express their ideas, give their feedback, and get involved with the planning process. If we had had more than one month to plan the event, we certainly would have spent more time reaching out personally to all of you and building consensus. That was not a luxury we had. Frances Akhavi will say that Mark and Ermias demonstrated poor judgment for distributing a Tax Day Rally flyer that spoofed a communist symbol. Perhaps. We thought it would generate media attention to use the left’s iconography against itself. It was vetted by six PR/marketing professionals who had volunteered to work on this event, and it was shown to all of the participants on the third planning call the day before it was distributed. We received a number of emails and phone calls about the flyer after it was distributed. Many people did not like it. Some leaders loved it. The intense reaction of those who did not like it made us quickly realize that we had to retract it, and we did so within two hours of its distribution. Everyone makes mistakes; this was one of ours. Frances Akhavi will say that we were collecting money from co-sponsors for the benefit of our own groups. Not true! We recently sent out a budget that showed where we intended to spend the money. Bond Action (Reverend Peterson’s group) was collecting the co-sponsor checks, and, beyond the costs of the equipment, we planned to spend significant funds on public relations and marketing to boost attendance and media coverage of the event. Frances Akhavi will tell you that she didn’t provide us with the permit because we did not have liability insurance for the event. This is yet one more excuse that she raised at the last moment to again deny us the permit. Frances Akhavi will say that we cancelled the rally because the co-sponsors pulled out. Not at all! Despite Frances Akhavi’s campaign to encourage co-sponsors to pull out, we still have 15 co-sponsors, and several more contacted us this week to be added to the list. In the end, we are proud of what we were able to accomplish in such a short period of time. Within the first week, we had confirmed 19 co-sponsors for the event. We also secured Mark Meckler, Pat Boone, Reverend Peterson, Ben Shapiro, Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, Evan Sayet, and Tony Katz as guest speakers. We are also proud of the way that we comported ourselves with Frances Akhavi and Michael Fell. Despite how challenging the past nine days have been for us, we intend to continue leading the fight against the left and those on the right who seek to divide us. We believe it is possible to unite all of the conservative groups in Southern California, and we will not rest until that is accomplished. Finally, we would like to thank all of you who have reached out to provide us with your support during this very difficult ordeal. We might not have made it through without your kind words. You are an inspiration to us. There are so many fine people in the conservative movement, and we appreciate all of you. Let’s not dwell on this matter any further. Let’s get back to making a difference for this great country! Blessings, |
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Non-government Events Following is a sampling of events and activities that are not funded by taxpayers or promoted by the Nanny State. Please support private enterprise and non-profit groups. Mariachis at the Mission, Sat., Apr. 28, 10:00 a.m. to 11:15 a.m., second and fourth Saturdays each month, free with paid admission to the Mission, Central Courtyard, Mission San Juan Capistrano, 26801 Ortega Hwy, San Juan Capistrano, (949) 234-1300, http://www.missionsjc.com/ Concerts at Soka University: Pacific Symphony featuring violinist Karen Gomyo on Sat., Apr. 28, 8:00 p.m., Jazz Monsters featuring Dmitry Baevsky and David Hazeltine on Wed., May 23, 7:00 p.m., 1 University Drive, Aliso Viejo, (949) 480-4278, http://www.performingarts.soka.edu/news_events/events/default.aspx Rubber Ducky Derby, Sun., Apr. 29, 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m., Enderle Center, 17th Street and Yorba Street, Tustin., vendors, games and family activities, (714) 731-2911, http://www.enderlecenter.com/ Taste of Huntington Beach, Sun., Apr. 29, 12:00 noon – 4:00 p.m., samples from favorite local restaurants and tastes of wine and beer from California boutique wineries and craft breweries, Huntington Beach Sports Complex, 18100 Goldenwest St. (at Talbert), Huntington Beach, (714) 375-5023, http://tastehb.com/ OC Tastefest, Culinary Festival, Fri., May 4, 5:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m., and Sat., May 5, 1:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., inaugural event showcases OC restaurants, continuous live music in the newly renovated Main Mall at the OC Fair and Event Center, 88 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa, http://octastefest.com/ La Vida Drum Circle, Sat., May 5, 7:00 – 10:00 p.m., group meets on the evening of every full moon. Drummers are welcome to bring their own drums or use an extra the group has. Firewood is appreciated for the bonfire, Aliso Beach, Aliso and Coast Highway, Laguna Beach, (949) 275-7544, http://www.lavidalaguna.com/full-moon-drum-circle Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club Calendar includes a champagne brunch and prime rib dinner on Sundays, 26772 Avery Parkway, Mission Viejo, call for reservations at O’Neill Bar and Grill, (949) 305-5100, http://www.arroyotrabuco.com/index.aspx Movies, Edwards Kaleidoscope Stadium 10 in Mission Viejo, 27741 Crown Valley Pkwy, (949) 582-4020, get show times, watch movie trailers, see what's coming soon at Big Bucks Bingo, Wednesdays, 6:15 p.m. early bird and 6:45 p.m. regular games, Mission Viejo Elks Lodge, Marguerite and La Paz, Mission Viejo, 949-830-3557. |
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Political and Government Events Calendar El Toro Water District meetings: Engineering, Finance, Insurance Committee on Tues., Apr. 24, 7:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.; Board of Directors on Thurs., Apr. 26, 7:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. ETWD, 24251 Los Alisos Blvd., Lake Forest, (949) 837-0660, http://www.etwd.com/ Saddleback Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees will meet “if necessary” on Tues., Apr. 24, 6:30 p.m., at the district office, 25631 Peter Hartman Way, Mission Viejo, (949) 586-1234. The next regularly scheduled meeting will be Tues., May 8, 6:30 p.m. http://www.svusd.k12.ca.us/ Santa Margarita Water District Board of Directors will meet on Wed., Apr. 25, 7:00 p.m., 26111 Antonio Parkway, Rancho Santa Margarita, (949) 459-6420, http://www.smwd.com/about-us/meeting-agendas.html Capistrano Unified School District Board of Trustees, regular meeting on Wed., Apr. 25, 7:00 p.m., 33122 Valle Road, San Juan Capistrano, agenda and supporting documentation are published on the website 72 hours prior to a meeting, (949) 234-9200, http://capousd.ca.schoolloop.com/ Aliso Viejo Republican Women Federated, Thurs., Apr. 26, 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., featured speaker will be Bill Whittle, Aliso Viejo Conference Center, 31 Santa Barbara Drive, Aliso Viejo, RSVP to (949) 859-2818. Concert at the Nixon Library: Sun., Apr. 29, Santiago String Quartet. Doors open at 1:15 p.m., and concerts begin at 2:00 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Concerts are free and open to the public. Schedule is subject to change. Richard Nixon Library, 18001 Yorba Linda Blvd., Yorba Linda, (714) 464-1161, http://events.nixonfoundation.org/concerts/ South Orange County Community College District Board of Trustees, Mon., Apr. 30. Meeting times unless otherwise posted: open session convenes at 5 p.m., followed by adjournment to closed session, open session reconvenes at 6:00 p.m. or 6:30 p.m., adjournment by 9:00 p.m. Ronald Reagan Board of Trustees Room, Room 145, Health Sciences/District Offices Building, Saddleback College, 28000 Marguerite Parkway, Mission Viejo, (949) 582-4999, https://www.socccd.edu Orange County Board of Supervisors, Tues., May 1, 9:30 a.m., (no meeting is scheduled for April 24) Board Hearing Room, First Floor, 333 W. Santa Ana Blvd., Santa Ana, (714) 834-3100. http://egov.ocgov.com/ocgov/Government/Board%20of%20Supervisors/Meeting%20Schedule Moulton Niguel Water District meetings: Personnel and Salary on Wed., May 9, Engineering and Operations on Mon., May 14, 9:00 a.m., Finance and I.T. on Wed., May 16, 9:00 a.m., Board of Directors on Thurs., May 17, 5:30 p.m., 27500 La Paz Road, Laguna Niguel, (949) 831-2500, http://www.mnwd.com/board-of-directors/agenda.aspx Capistrano Valley Republican Women Federated, Wed., May 16, 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., program to be announced, 30800 Golf Club Drive, San Juan Capistrano, RSVP to Sue Schultz, (949) 240-6799, esue39@cox.net Saddleback Republican Assembly, Thurs., May 16, 7:00 p.m., election of board members. SRA meets on third Thursdays at the Norman P. Murray Community Center, 24932 Veterans Way, Jacaranda Room-B, Mission Viejo. For information call (949) 360-1717. Celebration of Justice, save the date, Sat., May 12, 5:00 p.m., Pacific Justice Institute fundraiser, Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel, Anaheim. |
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The Buzz The city staff’s budget for bringing a farmers market to Mission Viejo was supposed to be no more than $500 TOTAL. City Hall has either set a record for stretching dollars or it exceeded the limit long ago. Ongoing expenditures include full-page newspaper ads, live music, taxpayer-funded giveaways (e.g., reusable shopping bags), staff time to coordinate, promote, oversee, etc. An unknown factor is whether or not the city gets paid for use of the parking lot by a commercial enterprise. Instead of gradually withdrawing taxpayer support, City Hall has increased subsidies, particularly for promotion. *** City Hall proves with each endeavor that it cannot accurately predict costs, describe the scope of work, keep a project within budget or complete it on schedule. The latest large-scale fiasco is the tennis resort remodel at Marguerite Parkway and Casta Drive. Issues have been reported on the Mission Viejo Dispatch, including the latest setback – the budget as presented to the public didn’t include major landscaping costs: http://missionviejodispatch.com/budget/letter-omitted-landscape-shocks-tennis-budget/ From the beginning, concerned citizens questioned the need for such extensive and costly work. Tennis players asked only for one additional court, and the project mushroomed over the “need” for more parking. It is true the outcome will eliminate parking spaces instead of adding them? *** Look at the desperate effort of council majority members to transfer $5 million from the redevelopment account into a new agency, the Mission Viejo Housing Authority. When the state demanded that cities hand over their redevelopment funds, it didn’t mean transfer the money into another account. If the council majority was attempting to hide money from the state, it didn’t do a very good job. The state is broke, and it is not going to overlook $5 million the city confiscated. *** When the council majority approved Watermarke’s high-density apartment project on Oso, it involved deal-making whereby Watermarke received $5 million in city redevelopment dollars. Given the impact of the project – increased traffic and overcrowding, plus city services for new residents – the developer should have received no taxpayer incentive. Then, Watermarke is to pay City Hall $5 million in developer fees. If the $5 million the city is giving to Watermarke is the $5 million that belongs to the state, how long can the shell game continue? *** The city is not awash in cash nor does it have millions to spend on discretionary projects. Nearly all of the $20 million reported as “reserves” is already obligated for such things as payroll, police and other services. This sheds light on why such costs as the tennis resort landscaping are not accurately presented and why the city hasn’t paid the state its redevelopment money. *** Is the party over for the Tea Party? The OC Register sent a photographer to cover Mission Viejo’s April 16 event, and the article referred to the crowd as “small but enthusiastic.” The dramatic decrease in turnout actually occurred the year before, and that’s the way it is nationwide. The primary reason is the current lack of a national figure or conservative talk-show host driving the public to attend Tea Party rallies. The measure of importance will be turnout in the November election. In the most recent election in Mission Viejo, November 2010, the voter turnout was 61.44 percent. As an appropriate measure of comparison – the last non-presidential General Election of 2006 – Mission Viejo’s turnout was 54.6 percent. The improvement is stunning. |
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