The former best man in Tony and Audra Strickland's wedding and Tony Strickland's former campaign manager Joe Giardello probably summed it up best when he told the Ventura County Star: "I don't think he's in this for anything other than Tony Strickland."
Manipulators of both campaign donations and the truth to suit their own purposes, the Stricklands do whatever it takes to win, ethical considerations be damned. Tony is currently running for State Senate District 19; Audra for re-election in Assembly District 37.
Blatant campaign distortions
Tony Strickland's entire State Senate campaign is based on his claims of being a "renewable energy businessman" and "independent thinker." Yet records show that the wave energy company he is associated with was started by his political friends and has no paid employees or even a permit to do business. Strickland's "whoppers" have drawn jeers from environmental groups everywhere based on his 1.67% voting record on environmental issues. Even more laughable is his self-proclaimed "independent thinker" label after being president of the far-right California Club for Growth, a group known for destroying the political careers of moderate Republicans.
County School Board shenanigans
The Stricklands worked behind the scenes to stack the Ventura County Board of Education in Karl Rove-like fashion with politically minded right-wing zealots. Tony's former aide, Chris Valenzano, who was elected to the county board after financial help from his boss, first proposed hiring lobbying firms in 2006 and the board entered into a $396,000 contract with two outside lobbying firms who have both donated money to Strickland. These lobbyists have produced little more than additional bills for local taxpayers and a possible partnership with one of their own clients, a private Christian college in Indiana, which could help build the college a new $8.5 million building but do little for Ventura County students. Valenzano is in a very tight race for re-election against well-known and respected community leader Dr. Mark Lisagor. It is expected that Dr. Lisagor will win this race in large part because of obvious mismanagement of taxpayer dollars like this.
Corporate influence shows trail of pay-to-play politics
Beginning in his 1998 Assembly race and from every year thereafter, Tony Strickland took money from tobacco, alcohol, gambling, insurance and oil interests like Enron, and once in office repaid his benefactors by sponsoring bills for them and voting in their favor. This led to legislation such as his bill which was vetoed by the governor for "unacceptable expansion of gambling in California." His wife is equally drenched in these dubious campaign contributions.
Allegations of campaign finance misdeeds
According to the Los Angeles Times, "Over a little more than five years, Tony Strickland and his wife, Audra, who replaced him as a member of the state Assembly, paid more than $138,000 raised by their supporters to businesses owned by them and a staffer living in their Moorpark home. An additional $20,000 in campaign money was deposited into a nonprofit organization run by Tony Strickland."
Even Republicans were outraged. "How could people be so arrogant to blatantly transfer money like this?" Jere Robings, a Republican activist from Thousand Oaks told the Times. "It is obvious they are trying to circumvent the law," he said.
The Stricklands' money laundering practices would be investigated many more times, usually by fellow Republicans.
Out-of-control employees
In June, Audra Strickland's chief of staff (and Tony's former top aide) Joel Angeles got into a well-publicized fracas with anti-tobacco protesters outside the Hyatt Westlake in an apparent attempt to keep them from being seen by people entering the fund-raiser Tony Strickland was doing with Mitt Romney. He allegedly knocked a former minister to the ground in a scuffle in front of many witnesses, including the press. The man later underwent surgery for a torn rotator cuff. The Star reported the case is now with the State Attorney General after Republican Ventura County District Attorney Greg Totten needed to recuse himself because of his extensive campaign activities for the Stricklands. Sheriff's investigators typically do not send files to the District Attorney's office unless they believe charges should be filed. The photo above shows him yelling at protestors and Obama supporters.
And the list goes on. This kind of corruption and cronyism must end. The Stricklands must go.
Manipulators of both campaign donations and the truth to suit their own purposes, the Stricklands do whatever it takes to win, ethical considerations be damned. Tony is currently running for State Senate District 19; Audra for re-election in Assembly District 37.
Blatant campaign distortions Tony Strickland's entire State Senate campaign is based on his claims of being a "renewable energy businessman" and "independent thinker." Yet records show that the wave energy company he is associated with was started by his political friends and has no paid employees or even a permit to do business. Strickland's "whoppers" have drawn jeers from environmental groups everywhere based on his 1.67% voting record on environmental issues. Even more laughable is his self-proclaimed "independent thinker" label after being president of the far-right California Club for Growth, a group known for destroying the political careers of moderate Republicans.
County School Board shenanigans
The Stricklands worked behind the scenes to stack the Ventura County Board of Education in Karl Rove-like fashion with politically minded right-wing zealots. Tony's former aide, Chris Valenzano, who was elected to the county board after financial help from his boss, first proposed hiring lobbying firms in 2006 and the board entered into a $396,000 contract with two outside lobbying firms who have both donated money to Strickland. These lobbyists have produced little more than additional bills for local taxpayers and a possible partnership with one of their own clients, a private Christian college in Indiana, which could help build the college a new $8.5 million building but do little for Ventura County students. Valenzano is in a very tight race for re-election against well-known and respected community leader Dr. Mark Lisagor. It is expected that Dr. Lisagor will win this race in large part because of obvious mismanagement of taxpayer dollars like this.
Corporate influence shows trail of pay-to-play politics
Beginning in his 1998 Assembly race and from every year thereafter, Tony Strickland took money from tobacco, alcohol, gambling, insurance and oil interests like Enron, and once in office repaid his benefactors by sponsoring bills for them and voting in their favor. This led to legislation such as his bill which was vetoed by the governor for "unacceptable expansion of gambling in California." His wife is equally drenched in these dubious campaign contributions.
Allegations of campaign finance misdeeds
According to the Los Angeles Times, "Over a little more than five years, Tony Strickland and his wife, Audra, who replaced him as a member of the state Assembly, paid more than $138,000 raised by their supporters to businesses owned by them and a staffer living in their Moorpark home. An additional $20,000 in campaign money was deposited into a nonprofit organization run by Tony Strickland."
Even Republicans were outraged. "How could people be so arrogant to blatantly transfer money like this?" Jere Robings, a Republican activist from Thousand Oaks told the Times. "It is obvious they are trying to circumvent the law," he said.
The Stricklands' money laundering practices would be investigated many more times, usually by fellow Republicans.
Out-of-control employeesIn June, Audra Strickland's chief of staff (and Tony's former top aide) Joel Angeles got into a well-publicized fracas with anti-tobacco protesters outside the Hyatt Westlake in an apparent attempt to keep them from being seen by people entering the fund-raiser Tony Strickland was doing with Mitt Romney. He allegedly knocked a former minister to the ground in a scuffle in front of many witnesses, including the press. The man later underwent surgery for a torn rotator cuff. The Star reported the case is now with the State Attorney General after Republican Ventura County District Attorney Greg Totten needed to recuse himself because of his extensive campaign activities for the Stricklands. Sheriff's investigators typically do not send files to the District Attorney's office unless they believe charges should be filed. The photo above shows him yelling at protestors and Obama supporters.
And the list goes on. This kind of corruption and cronyism must end. The Stricklands must go.
Democracy Watch is a blog devoted to debunking extreme right wing Republican rhetoric, media, printed material, blogs, videos and all campaign TV ads that are untrue.
What's worse than one Strickland? Two Stricklands. This is the kind of politics that we are all sick and tired of. The era of Karl Rove and his clones has come to an end.
I noticed Helen Conly, Ms. Freedom of Speech (unless you disagree with her, of course) deleted a couple of pro-Strickland posts that were here yesterday. Just goes to show you. As with Prop. 8, unless things go their way, the liberals don't want to here about it. Pretty ironic, I'd say.
The Star's policy is to delete obscenity.
There was no obscenity. Just inconvenient truths.
I was on here the other night and I saw it.
Funny, I was on the other night and I didn't see it.
Well, apparently both Stricklands - husband and wife - have won - do y'all think this po' little ole county will eva savive ? Ah hope so. Puleeze don' erase mah comment Mizzzzz. Conley. Better luck next time.
Well, congratulations to Tony, but I won't hold my breath for any change in the next legislative session. He emulates McClintock, and Tom couldn't be bothered to even stay in the district. It's kind of hard to serve one's constituents when one is constantly in Sacramento.
During Tony's debate with Hannah-Beth in Oxnard, he stated one of the first changes he wants to accomplish as State Senator is to streamline (e.g., make easier) the permitting process for certain companies. Guess who that will benefit? Why Tony and his cronies, who apparently are having a really tough time getting permits for their fake wave energy company. I've seen this kind of "public service" before......in guys like Tom DeLay, Doolittle, and the like.
Give it a rest, Got_Hope. You guys are just so bitter that the better candidate won. You should just accept it and move on.
Tony will do a heckuva lot more to try and improve the State and County economy than Hannah-Beth, whose only strategy seems to be increasing taxes every time she's been in office. Thus, the "Taxin' Jackson" moniker, which scared people away during a down economy.
Mongo Flamo (Mike Gibson),
I'm not bitter about Tony winning, the outcome of the election just told me all I need to know about the people of Camarillo, TO, and Simi Valley. Still a majority of people who need to wake up and figure out that all politics are local. Hannah-Beth only lost by around 900 votes, so clearly the superior Democratic registration and GOTV effort paid off in a severely gerrymandered district. On the economy, however, it's gonna be really hard for Ventura County to get out of this recession when we've got two corporate-backed representatives who lack creativity and insight to pass effective legislation. Unlike the rest of us who actually have to produce something of merit in order to earn our paychecks, Audra and Tony can sit on their thumbs in Sacramento and still get paid. And they will, have no fear.
Audra couldn't think of a single thing she could do to help Camarillo citizens block the prison hospital. Instead, she pulls some lame-brain procedural move, trying to block funding she does not have authority over, in an effort to bamboozle her constituents into thinking she's on our side. Ha ha! Here's what Audra really stands for--corporations. Unbeknownst to most Ventura County residents, she showed who she works for this summer when she voted against a ban on underage teen drivers texting while driving a car!! Audra isn't looking out for drivers' safety, but she is making sure Verizon makes money. LOL!
Yeah, yeah, yeah, same old, same old, huh Got_Hope? Talk about lack of creativity. Tony and Audra are in the hip pockets of the big corporations.....blah, blah, blah.
When are you going to admit that this is nothing but sour grapes? Nobody listens to people who whine because their candidate(s) didn't win. Give it a rest!
You whined plenty when you didn't win the Ventura City Council elections Mr. Gibson. We all heard your sour grapes on the Dennert blog. You came in 7 out of 8 candidates or something like that? Your whining continues to this day.
You sure whined plenty, Mike, when your comments got deleted--all over the Star blogs, apparently. Can we add whining to the list of things that IOKIYAR?! And once again, no comment on the egregious action of your favorite local rep, Audra. I guess that means you would like to potentially share the road with a bunch of texting and driving 17 year olds?
Tell you what, when you start your own blog you can make the rules and tell people what to post......until then, I guess Bush hasn't completely taken away all my civil rights, so I'll still be using my Freedom of Speech, thank you very much.
Mike Gibson, nothing but another Strickland robot. He sure carried the ball for the VCRCC and the Stricklands this past election in the hopes that they'll support him when he runs for City Council again. I wonder if he's kissed Osborn's ring (and other parts) enough times to qualify for tobacco, oil, and gambling contributions next time he runs.
I, for one, will be watching those 460 Forms.
He shouldn't be allowed to run across the street. But if he does, let's hope he doesn't look both ways before crossing.
There's been talk about Tony being the new leader of the Ventura County Republican party. Wouldn't that also make him the most powerful politician in all of the county. Especially with his wife in the legislature,they're almost
Who said Tony Strickland is the new leader of Republicans in Ventura County?
Sourman, I couldn't agree with you more. The sad fact though is I'm sure he will run again and be bolstered by the Stricklands, Kunickis, and Osborns who just want another puppet they can dangle by their strings. Osborn has already been pimping him to the lemmings out there. Let's hope the voters in Ventura can see through the sham.
Gibson is already raising cash for the next city council election. I know he pals around with the likes of Michael Towbes and Wendy McCaw up in Santa Barbara. I'm sure he'll he be expecting some checks to be written to fund the extension of the Strickland machine into Ventura. He kisses Mike Osborn's behind regularly. Those incumbents planning on running better start to fund-raise now if they want to hang onto their seats.
Hey Not Gibson,
Jim Rondo interviewed Michael Towbes on Crosstalk today and Mr. Towbes sounded like a reasonable guy (the parts of the show I heard, anyway). I'm unfamiliar with Towbes, what's his story?
Towbes is a high flying real estate developer from the Santa Barbara area. He specializes in shopping centers, office buildings, and business parks, primarily in Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo counties. He also owns Montecito Bank & Trust.
He is known to lend his financial support to conservative political candidates in the tri-county region. I think Gibson has done some consulting work for him in the past, or some such thing, and they're pretty chummy, from what I gather. I wouldn't be surprised to see him show up on his donor list.
Thanks for the info. I checked out his website, and he seems to be on the same boards that McCaw is on. She's a psychopath, but I try not assign guilt by association. I wasn't sure if he served on boards because he liked her, or because the high flyers in SB just move in the same social circles.
I think it's the latter, got_hope. They both fancy themselves as kingmakers, so it doesn't surprise me that they move in the same social circles and serve on the same boards.
I think Gibson is tight with Travis Armstrong too (Opinion Editor for the Santa Barbara News-Press). He's the one who coined the "Taxin' Jackson" term that was used so plentifully in the SD-19 race by Phony-Baloney Tony.
Love how Mike Gibson is now calling himself Not Gibson and the Real Sour Grapes and trolling around on a blog like a psychopath talking about himself. He'll even slam himself for attention. He lies constantly. Don't believe a word he posts here.
Go admire yourself in the mirror awhile Gibson and find another hobby.
Whatever, BS. Not sure who you think you're talking to here, but, let me assure you, you're way off track. I've done numerous posts on Dennert slamming Gibson, the Stricklands, Kunicki, Valenzano, et al, before.
But I like your comments about the dude. We're in sync on that.
The only person who ever talks about Gibson is Gibson. Nobody else cares unless they just want to out you.
You're Gibson.
Bunch of BS, do you even know this guy? I do and he's a great guy. Sounds like you're expressing outrage at a phantom in your own mind. Much like little kids who are scared of some unknown bogeyman...
Of course you like yourself.
Gibson's ego is so over-inflated that he is now starting to sound like Mel Gibson. When people are constantly tooting their own horn, like this guy, you can only conclude that they are megalomaniacs.