We won't have Chris Norby to kick lobbyist reform around anymore; Mike Schroeder experiencing painful power subluxations

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New law would shine light on OC lobbyists (OC Reg)

     “Money talks,” the grand jury said, “and the lobbying industry speaks with a large megaphone that drowns out the voices of the electorate.”
     Strong words! We told you yesterday that the Orange County Grand Jury slammed county government for failing to force lobbyists to disclose who hires them, how much they’re paid, and which officials they lobby. With an operating budget of more than $4.4 billion, Orange County is the largest local government entity in California without a program to monitor and report lobbying activities, the grand jury said in its ominously-titled report “Lobbying: The Shadow Government.”

     Evidently, state Senator Joe Dunn and others had urged the county to do something about lobbyists earlier in the year. But the Supes, especially Chris Norby (who is no longer on the board; he replaced Scandal Boy in the state Assembly in January), said nope. “I don’t favor regulation of free speech,” Norby said.

     Government reform advocate Shirley Grindle has said that lobbyists have long exerted unfair influence in Orange County, and for decades, she fought for change. There’s a tendency for supervisors to try to protect lobbyists’ income, Grindle said, because many of the lobbyists are former aides of the supervisors. Or former supervisors themselves.

Moderate Republicans get a big win in conservative Orange County (LA Times)

     The election victory of Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens is being viewed by some political watchers as something of an electoral sea change.. . .
     Fred Smoller, who directs a public administration program at Brandman/Chapman University, said Tuesday's election suggests that the county Republican Party's more moderate flank may be gaining power over a conservative cabal that has long enjoyed a chummy relationship with county leaders.
     "Sandra was not particularly loved by the Mike Schroeders and the traditional power brokers, and she was able to win,'' said Smoller, referring to the former president of the state Republican Party who was an advisor to Carona. "It's not so much a revolution from the bottom as a split within factions of the Republican Party."

     Is Smoller referring to Tea Partiers?  Some think those people shook things up Tuesday--e.g., in OC Republican Central Committee elections, where seventeen incumbents lost and were replaced by at least 10 Tea people.

     Earlier today, Vern Nelson of OJ Blog had this to say about the efficacy of the Tea Partiers and others who seek to overcome the "establishment":

     [C]ould [Hunt’s defeat] augur badly in November for candidates who try to get their votes by appealing to racial resentment?....
     That was a nice thought, but it may be more realistic to remind ourselves that Hunt was beat by an incumbent with strong establishment support, and mediocre establishment-supported incumbents triumphed all over the OC against principled opponents – John Williams, Tom Daly, Ken Calvert, and Gary Miller, just to name a few – this is still much more the rule than the exception.
     I think there are two lessons, one encouraging and one discouraging:
     • Anti-immigrant positions and rhetoric aren’t enough to win you an election even in these dark days (and that just happens to be all Allan Mansoor, for one, has!)
     • It’s as hard as ever to defeat an establishment incumbent, or to make any meaningful political change at all really. While our gun-nut Fringer friends were up in Fullerton waving Hunt signs on the freeway, we pro-democracy activists were Freeway Blogging on the 405 for Prop 15, and both of us failed dismally in our quixotic hopes for anti-establishment change. It is a Sisyphean slog. I’m saying, it’s HARRD WORK!