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Speaking About San Bernardino County Republican Party Endorsement Policies

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The endorsements issue is one thorny issue in our county party and we need a consistent policy that would be fair and respectful of the time of our members and guests. We should have the protocol announced in advance so we don’t deliver surprises to the candidates and our membership. It was unfair that in 2014 we were able to vote for all the races that had candidates interviewed instead of just going on auto pilot in 2016 for the majority of races.

We need to keep the system SIMPLE and FAIR. If we keep it SIMPLE and FAIR people will feel they were treated well even if they did not earn an endorsement and respect the time of campaigns and guests who may of traveled long distances as well. Angela Valles had her campaign manager travel to Ontario and felt annoyed that the establishment just railroaded the endorsement of Lovingood as an example and I also walked out in protest.

We also could consider having the endorsement votes in March and September on the weekends as another idea so we do not rush thru the duty.

politics

Measure U is an Unintended Bad Idea

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I am no drug warrior, but if a ballot measure is written badly I am always ready to challenge bad ideas. I would like reasonable safe access for marijuana in all cities in our state, but Measure U is no free market and will be just as destructive as prohibition.

Measure U is going to establish a monopoly where one business interest will control marijuana in the city of Upland. Namely the people who own T&A Video in Upland. Maybe they are thinking the digital market is killing adult video and they need to branch out in  the marijuana business.  They will want to concentrate the marijuana sector near Cable Airport in the city, but its going to lead to negative externalizes such as crime in the north west part of the city.

If the proponents wanted to try again, they should limit it to 1 marijuana business per individual or corporation. Also they could make set asides for ethnic minorities and even veterans to add some diversity to the marketplace.  Maybe establish 2-3 stores in each quadrant of the city instead of just three owned by one owner. The San Bernardino County Republican Party is located above a marijuana dispensary and it leads to vandalism, loitering and other crimes around the business park where its located. I think a private security officer should be employed by the landlord to help facilitate the customers to get in and out of the business.  I think when Proposition 64 happens, marijuana is going to be super saturated where the price of the product is going to be reduced which will hopefully kill down the value.

Monopolies suck, spreading the brunt of the establishments in one part of the city is also wrong.

I oppose U.

politics

Districting Is Not the Universal Solution for Electoral Justice

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The California Voter Rights Act is leading towards interest groups and trial lawyers suing local governments around the state to force them to elect members by districts. Many of the opponents who are against this because it only makes the district members care about their part of the city or school district than the good of the whole.

I think the main reason why they are wanting districts instead of an at large system is that progressives are having a hard time running locally and they want to stack the local government as how they have dominated state and federal elections in our state.

It should not matter what ethnicity, gender or even sexuality our candidates have. The main focus is the ideas our candidates carry through this upcoming election. As a challenger in the upcoming election the cost of a ballot statement is over five thousand dollars in my race. Although I would like the ability to purchase a cheaper ballot statement I would not want to sacrifice the function of the board either.

politics

Close The Two Race Loophole

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The dedication is lacking when you run for more than one office.
The dedication is lacking when you run for more than one office.

Believe it or not, its legal for people to run for more than one office in California as long as you are not running for two legislative offices. Paul Vincent Avila is running for State Assembly and Ontario City Council and two members of the Galvez family Sarah is running for Ontario City Clerk and Ontario-Montclair School District,  while Richard is running for Ontario City Council and also on the ballot against me for the Chaffey Joint Union High School District this November.

When I ran for State Senate in 2014, I knew that I had to expend my energies only on that race. I could not splinter off in two directions and run for a local office as well.  I know the Galvez family wants to build some name ID, but running for two offices makes people wonder which office will the members of the family want to keep if they ended up winning both races?

The only secondary office someone should be allowed to run for in addition to the local or legislative office should be is county party committee seats and President/Vice President.

Local politics watchers should also realize that the last man Christopher Agrella  who did this in 2010 ended up being a last place finisher in Montclair City Council and Ontario-Montclair School District race.

This would be one piece of electoral reform I would like to see in the state legislature. This loophole should be closed in the next session.

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Sounding Board for School Board Campaign

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Hello residents of the Chaffey Joint Union School District, I am here to run for the governing board in November. The district covers the cities of Montclair, Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga and portion of Fontana.  I have lived in the area for over 35 years, graduated from Chaffey High School, Chaffey College and UC Riverside.

My goals for the governing board are the following:

  1. Increased trades education and partnerships with organizations and schools to help get our students into these opportunities. Perhaps work with the carpenters union in Ontario, get more guest speakers at our high schools about other various fields such as computer networking, air conditioner repair and cooking to name some other fields. I want our young people successful and productive.
  2. Offer options for students to utilize a digital version of textbooks instead of taking home the book at home depending if the textbook vendors have digital versions available. Students could use the family PC or a tablet to view the books. This is also implemented in the Chino Unified district.
  3. Schools with high traffic congestion should consider staggering their start times so traffic would even out throughout the day. It is one way we can maximize our school sites and make it easier for parents and community members to navigate through the neighborhood. Medical studies have shown that middle and high school students should start school later in the day. Perhaps we could have juniors and seniors start their day at the second period and end with the seventh period as an example. Students who have activities such as marching band would still follow a conventional schedule as well.
  4. Over 60% of the Measure P bond money is still available. I support prudent expenditure of the funds so the money people pay in their property taxes is spent well. This money should last us for the next 16 years at the earliest. Since we borrowed 848 million over 40 years we should not be coming back to property owners unless an earthquake ravages our schools or we have a massive baby boom.
politics

A Message to Chairman Brulte

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I sent this email awhile back (May 31) to the general email box, but this was not forwarded to the chairman or the political director.

I know marginal races are not logical for the party to give 100 or even 500 dollar checks to, but perhaps after a candidate is endorsed the CRP could provide an email attachment of voter data for the primary if they are the endorsed Republican candidate (or if unopposed endorsed by at least 1 county party). The voter data would be something valuable and needed for a campaign and be just as good as a 100 dollar plus contribution. Then we could provide an attachment of updated data in August and October for the campaigns if they make it to the general election.

I understand with your presentations to local groups and the state party delegates that we can only fund races that have the best impact with our money such as the Clint Oliver special election, but small efforts to help our candidates would be a big morale booster.

Even if this cant be done in 2016, it could be considered in 2018.

This is one idea that would seriously would result in me paying for general member fees in addition to my delegate fees.

education, politics

Cookies for Admissions Equality (2003)

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Welcome to another edition of Highlander Archives, these are pieces that were submitted to the newspaper. Many articles were printed, but this one was not.

In February 2003, the Berkeley College Republicans challenged the dominant political establishment on their campus by participating in a demonstration by having an affirmative action bake sale. The bake sale offered baked goods on a sliding scale price structure depending on what ethnicity and gender you are a member. The organization’s president believes that holding people to different standards based on their race is inherently racist. The demonstration at UC Berkeley and UCLA were inspired by the impending Supreme Court case in April regarding the University of Michigan admissions policy retaining affirmative action.

Demonstrations regarding wedge issues do not escape controversy unscattered. Former State Senator Art Torres, chair of the California Democratic Party took offense of the actions of the College Republicans of California. Art remarked that, “Once again we see hard working students of color subjected to racist Republican rhetoric for simply seeking a good education and equal opportunity” and that “These college Republicans have opted to perpetrate the legacy of Trent Lott.” However, Affirmative Action is indeed reverse racism because assumes depending on your race or status you need a leg up. Democrats are not perfect angels either where race relations are a factor. Our Lt.Governor used the n-word accidentally during a Black History Month presentation while presidential candidate Al Sharpton perpetrated racist and anti-homosexual remakes at Kean University in New Jersey. Continue reading Cookies for Admissions Equality (2003) →

politics

An Open Letter to “Liberals” on Gun Control

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Found this on Facebook from one of the political pundits in my area that was worthy to share. -Matt

Dear “liberals,”

Do you see how easy it is for you to get illegal, banned drugs? Did anti-drug laws ever stop you from using any illegal drug? Now, take that same exact logic and apply it to guns. You can ban and regulate whatever you want, but buying an illegal gun is as easy as buying any illegal drug. Why? Because government trying to control and ban people’s actions fails every time it is tried. For those of you who don’t know, it is much easier to get an illegal gun than a legal one. The more uncivilized and controlling legislation you call for, the more illegal guns will pop up. If safety is what you actually cared about, then more control wouldn’t be your answer.

But you clearly aren’t interested in gun control or safety. What you’re really interested in is people control and forcing your emotional, baseless opinions on millions of unwilling participants. Next time your brain tells you it is a good idea to believe in something that includes controlling the actions of other human beings you don’t even know via government force, take the time to realize that it is not a problem with guns or any other controlled product, but a problem with your own thought process and behavior. Stop being a control freak. Thanks!

-Amir Zendehnam

politics

Congressional District 31

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Yes I am a moderate leaning member of the Republican Party and I am supporting Paul Chabot. Some in the establishment may think Chabot is a crazy lunatic, but compared to the other candidates running Chabot is the best candidate we have running right now.

If Joe Baca started to run earlier instead at the last minute I might of been supporting him instead, but Baca starting in March instead of January did hurt him. I think Joe Baca is more known and established and has voted more than part time politico Sean Flynn where the moderates should of backed him instead.

When people run for office people do look into your history such as your political donations. Back in January I was looking into if there was an alternative to Paul Chabot and I was intrigued by Sean Flynn. I wanted to know what candidates he backed so I looked into the campaign finance records and I was wondering if he supported far right politicians like Louis Gohmert or moderates like Mark Kirk. Instead I found out he donates 80% of the time to Democrats, but if one is a registered Republican he should of put his money into people like Mark Kirk. If Flynn is almost exclusively a Democratic Party donor then he should reconsider his partisan affiliation and become a member of the Democratic Party.

It is ironic that Dianne Harkey, San Bernardino Young Republicans and their friends are backing Flynn. They would just be as livid if someone was running for congress or state senate in their area and they were funding their opponents. Flynn did back an affordable care act supporter as late as 2014 and now he is attacking the affordable care act now what made him change his mind after he invested almost 8000 bucks to Senator Gary Peters (D-MI)? Establishment activists should of vetted their choices.

I find this personally offensive when a school board candidate wanted the county party endorsement and then one of its endorsement committee members found out that he endorsed my opponent in the 2014 general election. Why ask for the Republican Party endorsement when you have backed Democrats in partisan races?

The problem is Sean Flynn has barely voted. Even the mayor of Ontario Paul Leon got attacked by the Democrats for his lack of voting record where his voting history was spotty when he ran for the open seat in Assembly District 52.

Paul Chabot has served the community and is not afraid to go in neighborhoods that Republicans rarely visit. He wants to make sure the neighborhoods in San Bernardino are safe and small businesses in Rancho Cuccamonga are protected and treated with respect just as much as big established companies like Lewis Development. If you want immigration reform and the Second Amendment defended Chabot is your man.

I may not be comfortable with Chabot’s policy positions such as foreign policy and his love of the drug war, but he is a man of bold colors as what Ronald Reagan alluded to in the past.

politics

Ignore the Flyer for District 4 Central Committee

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Yes, you may have gotten a flyer from a PAC ran by Charles Munger Jr.  stating that these individuals may be good picks for central committee in San Bernardino County’s 4th Supervisor

Picks chosen by Charles Munger Jr's political action committee.
Picks chosen by Charles Munger Jr’s political action committee.

District. However I have an issue with one of those members on this slate mailer, DO NOT vote for Steve Davey, he has had a horrific attendance record in 2015.  If you want a conservative member to represent you, there are other quality individuals you can consider such as Ben Lopez or Earl DeVries.

If people do not regularly attend central committee meetings they should not be running for central committee. I am not against conservative people representing my county party, but people need to be active participants and Ben Lopez has done more for the county party than Steve Davey has ever done.

UPDATE: Steve Davey failed to show up for the May meeting.

 

 

Life in the Inland Valley