Tag: Nevada County

Juvinall forks out $2,500 for a mug with with LaMalfa and Boehner — and thinks he’s “special”

(Credit: Todd's blog)
“Grip and grin” photo (Credit: Todd’s blog)

CABPRO founder and former County supervisor Todd Juvinall is long delinquent on a property tax payment, at least according to the County.

But he still was able to afford a $2,500 donation to Doug LaMalfa’s campaign for Congress. Check out the details here.

But like American Express, “membership” has its privileges. This week, Todd has a post where he’s mugging with Doug and John Boehner, who has now stepped down as Speaker of the House. “I have my picture with him and Doug LaMalfa on my table,” he writes on his blog, waxing on about his political “genius.”

What Todd left out is that the photo was at a political donor gathering at Doug’s big rice farm in the Central Valley: “After mingling for a while, The Speaker of the House, John Boehner arrived. He was escorted by a few Sheriff’s vehicles and he was accompanied by some Secret Service people.  … After a short while we all stood in line and one by one we got our picture taken with Doug and the Speaker.”

The details are here.

So it sound like Todd didn’t earn this photo; he stood in a line and paid for it, like children who wait in line at Macy’s for a photo with Santa Claus.

This is the MO for national politicians, traveling to the hinterlands and getting country bumpkins such as Todd to pony up $2,500 for a “photo op.”

Doesn’t that make Todd special. ROFLOL!

Local Tea-Party leader Freedle: once led during a “bitterly divided” political scene

The biggest trend of the local election season is money from a PAC called “Americans for Good Government,” managed by Tea Party members, infiltrating local races for the first time, such as spending $2,222.37 for Districe 3 Supervisor candidate Dan Miller’s first campaign mailer, as well as $2,000 each for Cliff Newell’s campaign for DA and Anna Ferguson’s campaign for Superior Court Judge.

In Miller’s case, the PAC’s contributors include Stan Meckler, father of Tea Party co-founder Mark Meckler. The PAC lists its purpose as “providing support for candidates for office.” The PAC’s officers include Fran Freedle and Eddie Garcia,  who both are local Tea Party board members.

But Freedle is more than just a board member: She now publicly identifies herself as “leader of the Nevada County Tea Party” in an “Other Voices” in The Union this morning — confirming long-held speculation about her leading role. (The group’s website does not list a President).

Freedle was a County Supervisor during one of the most toxic times in local politics, garnering headlines throughout the region for a “bitterly divided” political scene. In her “coming out” commentary, Freedle states that the local Tea Party is “alive and well.” Voters would be well advised to educate themselves about this group’s far-reaching strategy.

The Tea Party, including Mark Meckler, has outlined 40-year plan to “take back our country.” It tackles four areas: educational, judicial, political and cultural, infusing them with traditional values by supporting conservative teachers, judges, politicians and musicians.

The effort is being aggressively pursued in our community, as evidenced by the Tea Party PAC funneling money into the local races this campaign season. The group also is infiltrating our schools, with a full-frontal assault on Common Core standards.

Toxic Times and Cronyism

Freedle has been a longtime hard-right political activist. She also is a former supervisor. In Freedle’s heyday, it was a toxic time in our community politically, as the Sacramento News & Review reminded us in 2004.

“Political discourse in the county seems one step away from open warfare,” the News & Review wrote.  The County Superintendent of Schools called it a “tinderbox, waiting to explode.” The News & Review article is here.

It also was marked by a “good old boys/girls” culture.

•In an editorial, Yubanet pointed out that Freedle was “coronated” as a clerk-recorder to fill out the term of another long-time political ally — though the plan ultimately failed. Here’s an excerpt from the Yubanet editorial,“Cronyism counts, literally”:

“So, how did Freedle wind up getting the job? Her application was retrieved from the recycle bin by 3rd District Supervisor Drew Bedwell and thrown into the pile of 6, making for 7 finalists.

“Not only did the BOS have to rescue Freedle’s application from the reject pile; she was the only applicant (of the 6 finalists) with no direct election experience. That’s not the point. The point is that the BOS ignored two professional panels and tore up their own procedures, just to grant a political favor. Period.

“No offense to Freedle, she is hardly the most trustworthy pick of the lot. On the contrary, she has cultivated a reputation for being bitterly partisan and downright mean to people, a rotten combination for a Clerk-Recorder who has to deal with the public non-stop. In sum, Freedle was the uncontested Wicked Witch of the Rood Center for four long years until she lost her bid for re-election to Bruce Conklin.”

•In 2010, Freedle was treasurer of hard-right activist Barry Pruett’s campaign for clerk-recorder against Greg Diaz.  Like Freedle, Pruett also had no election experience. He lost in every precinct. The same year Freedle wrote “Arizona immigration law needs support” in the CABPRO newsletter. “The Arizona law is prudent and fair; anything less is acquiescing to the presence of illegal aliens in our country,” she writes.

•Last fall, Freedle was pictured here with “Constitutional” Sheriff Richard Mack. “Former county supervisor Ms Fran Freedle chaired the small committee of women who worked months to plan, organize and bring about this occasion.”

Scoop: Pot-stirring CABPRO facing major strife of its own — just as election season heats up

logoThe 22-year-old California Association of Business, Property & Resource Owners relishes stirring the pot in our community with its extreme right-wing politics. Now CABPRO is facing its own major internal strife, complete with a lawsuit, Sierra Foothills Report has learned.

The political and legal imbroglio comes just as the election season is heating up. CABPRO has long been active in local politics, with endorsements and monetary contributions. It has been influential in the past, going back to NH2020, and local like-minded candidates are counting on its support again this year. The elections are in June.

“I’m sure you’ve all heard rumors of the recent unpleasantness at CABPRO, for which we are deeply sorry,” reads a letter recently sent to the membership by board members Kirk Pharis, Kim Janousek and Melinda Monaghan.

“In late October, the Board of Directors removed Chuck Shea from his volunteer position as Executive Director,” the letter alleges. “CABPRO’s attorney has advised us not to discuss details. But please understand, the decision was not made lightly, and there were major issues between the Board and Mr. Shea relative to the forward movement of our organization.

Shea on Friday denied the version outlined in the letter, citing legal action against the three directors. In “CABPRO v. Monighan, Janousek, Flores and Pharis,” it alleges:

“Defendants Melinda Monighan, Kim Janousek, and D. Kirk Pharis resigned as members of plaintiff’s board of directors on September 1, 2013, which resignations were accepted.

“Upon their resignation, Dick and Tina Marshall remained as plaintiff’s directors. They appointed Thom Forsythe as a director to fill the one required vacancy on the board under plaintiff’s bylaws.

“Defendants Monighan, Janousek and Pharis took it upon themselves to attempt to retract their resignations. These same defendants in concert with defendant Donna Flores have seized plaintiff’s books, records, accounts, computers, computer programs, website, and e-mail program and refuse to return that property.

“Defendants’ seizure of plaintiff’s property renders it impossible for plaintiff to conduct its affairs.

“Additionally, defendants Monighan, Janousek and Pharis are posting false information on plaintiff’s website and communicating false information to plaintiff’s members.”

CABPRO’s offices are located at Robinson Enterprises in Nevada City.

“Please know, we are making every attempt to resolve this dispute without being forced to spend CABPRO finances defending the organization in litigation,” Pharis, Janousek and Monaghan said in their letter sent to members.

The letter went on to say its general membership meetings are starting back up in February. (A new CABPRO newsletter said the meeting is February 18, at 5:30 p.m., at Penny’s Diner in the Fowler Center in Grass Valley).

“If you are interested in joining the CABPRO Board of Directors, or helping out as volunteers, please let us know,” they added.

In the new newsletter, Melinda Monaghan continued voicing CABPRO’s high-pitched rhetoric in an “editor’s letter”: “We need to elect people who are not satisfied with government grants in place of vibrant economies, we need to return the States to the forefront of government, we need to stand up and shout ‘NO!'”

Other authors in the February newsletter include JoAnn Rebane, spouse of hard-right blogger George Rebane, and Jean Gerard, whose mean-spirited opinion article in The Union about the Boardwalk touched off a polarizing discussion. In the end, the Boardwalk was retained, at least for a year.

“If you or anyone you know will be affected by (Mountain Yellow Legged Frog and Yosemite Toad) land grab, please notify us here at CABPRO. The Pacific Legal Foundation has made an offer to represent an owner or group of owners that may be facing the debilitating consequences of a potential designation,” Gerard wrote.

The local hard-right blogosphere includes Rebane, Todd Juvinall, a founder of CABPRO, and Russ Steele, a former CABPRO advisory board member. But none of them have written about the dispute, though the letter has been circulating for weeks. Self-censorship? You can decide for yourself.

The letter is here: letter

The court filing is here: court filings

The case # is here:
CL14-080276
Case Type:CIVIL – LIMITED Case Status:OPEN File Date:02/05/2014 Case Judge: Next Event: 06/02/2014

A CABPRO member survey is here: membersurvey

Diaz polishes off Pruett for clerk recorder — and McClintock “machine” suffers setback

Based on the very early returns, I’m already declaring that the county clerk-recorder’s race is over: Greg Diaz beat Barry Pruett.

I’m glad to see professionalism and experience win over small-town partisan politics. Details are here. I’m batting a thousand in my first — and only — foray into local political contributions.

My sources tell me Barry was sounding angry over on KNCO tonight. I’ll be LOL to see The Union backtrack on how it covered this race. Pitiful.

•All told, the McClintock political “machine,” inherited from the Doolittle regime, is losing. His “favored child” Steve Poizner got pounded by Meg Whitman for governor. Casey Tanner is losing big time in Placer County for auditor. Aaron Klein, a McClintock fan, endorsed both Tanner and Pruett. Keene, McClintock’s guy, is losing to LaMalfa. McClintock himself won, but that was expected. What’s going to happen in 2012?

•In Grass Valley, Terry Lamphier is closer than expected with incumbent John Spencer for 3rd district supervisor. Even if he loses, the narrow margin will be a “wake up” call for the “good old boys/girls” who think they run Grass Valley. If Chauncey Poston would have run against John, he would have won, based on the results between Spencer-Lamphier.

•Sue Horne is handily beating Rolf Kleinhans for assessor. The race will be closer than the current results, but Sue will win. She’ll be in for a “Rood” awakening at the Rood Center, however. A majority of supervisors sided with Rolf. She’ll need to do some “fence mending” to be an effective administrator. Her paid, out-of-county political consultant will crawl under a proverbial rock until November, I suppose. Yuck, but that’s what he gets paid for.