Team Fuentes: Davy "Doo" Lang and Mike "Felon" Carona, at Irvine Valley College, smiling plasticly
The Voice of OC’s Norberto Santana, Jr. posted today about the OC Treasurer’s race, which got seriously interesting three months ago, when Treasurer Chriss “Fraud Boy” Street got run down by a Fruehauf truck–in court.
Back in 1994, Street and John Moorlach were just citizens, but they saw that abysmal hinkytude was afoot in OC’s investment pool, which proceeded to circle the drain and leave everybody bewildered and annoyed.
Good times, man. I recall a colleague of mine dropped by the house. What’s up?
“We’re bankrupt,” he said.
“Uh, what?”
Soon thereafter, Mr. Moorlach became the OC Treasurer and Hometown Hero (almost, kinda). But then, after a few years, he moved on up to the Board of Supes, and so, naturally, his protégé, Chriss Street, became the new county bean counter. Then this nasty Fruehauf trucking fubar finally came into view (I guess Republicans don't read the paper), and, soon, Moorlach was struck with a hideous Street-sign: the scandal could end up making him look bad. Ohmygod!
So, right away, he turned on a dime and became Street’s biggest enemy (this is called “character” in Orange County), and it's been interesting ever since, reaching a climax a few months ago, when the Fruehauf thing finally crashed and burned and left Street in the street, dead and owing somebody a truckload of cash.
So that set up the race for the new and improved county bean counter between Moorlach’s handpicked filly, Shari Freidenrich, and Street’s pony pal, Keith Rodenhuis.
–And, oh yeah, SOCCCD trustee Davy “Doo” Lang, who’s wanted this Treasurer gig since 2004 and who even sold out his friends and supporters at the district to get the Big Fuentes’ imprimatur.
Yeah, but you know how Tom Fuentes is: he was then advising Street, who had the makings of a “star,” and so Davy Doo would just have to wait for his big chance til after that star had shone!
Tom has a history of backing GOP talent (think "Mike Carona") that, just under the surface, looks seriously dodgy–but, in Tom's world, being actually decent or honest is even lower on the list of desiderata than, say, niceness.
The star has fallen and so, up steps Davy Doo Lang, sporting, at long last, the Big Fuentes' hand on his shoulder:
Hoping to run right up the middle is South County CPA David Lang, who has served as a community college trustee for the last decade.
. . .
A poll conducted this week by Voice of OC/Probolsky Research showed that Freidenrich and Rodenhuis are in a virtual tie, with Lang in third. Freidenrich is at 16 percent, Rodenhuis at 15 percent and Lang is at about 7 percent.
Yet the vast majority – 56 percent – of the electorate is still undecided.
. . .
… [C]andidate Lang might end up benefiting the most from this good relationship [between Moorloch and Street] gone bad. He is the best-financed candidate in the race, having lent himself $100,000 to fund a series of slate mailers, and calls his candidacy is [sic] a direct reaction to the battle of the protégés.
Who knows? Prima facie, Lang looks like a chump, spending a hundred grand in a race in which he comes in third. But maybe Tom has finally lent him his famous crystal balls, and so Dave knows exactly what he’s doing–and that multi-bean investment will end up paying off dividends.
It’s possible. I guess.
