"Innuendo" about Tom Fuentes? Nope. OUTUENDO

     Good Lord!
     I only just now noticed a terrific Matt Coker piece (in yesterday's NavelGazing) that, well, makes yours truly look pretty damned good!

Frank Mickadeit, OC Register Columnist, Slams College Professor on Behalf of Late Tom Fuentes (NavelGazing)

     Thanks, Matt!
     Er, I mean: thanks for doing your job, being objective and fair and such.

     The upshot of Matt's post is that the Fuenteans, or, rather, one of their toadies—Frank Mickadeit, the OC Register columnist and Tomophile—responded to the board’s choosing James Wright as Tom’s replacement by screaming “disgraceful!” (see Fuentes family stung by college board)—and by going after MOI. According to the Mick, so hateful am I that I dragged out old “innuendo” to defame the sainted Tomster. (My so-called "innuendo" focused on Fuentes' close association with corrupt pols in his early days.) So I responded (says Matt) with research (old Reg and Times articles, not innuendo) that showed that Tom was a truly hinky fellow—and I'm not talking about any carnations he may or may not have worn.

     Well, Yeah.

     Check it out: here.

Caspers was an "able public servant" and "a human being." Anything else? Tom Fuentes counted heads at the service.

From the "Trustee Tom Fuentes files" [Fuentes got his start working for corrupt OC supervisor Caspers; Caspers' chief crony was the corrupt Fred Harber]:

     I unearthed an old Times article (“Caspers Eulogized as Uncommon Man in Political Arena,” Jul 16, 1974) that describes a memorial service for the “missing” supervisor Ronald W. Caspers and his two sons. It was held at “St. Michaels and All Angels Episcopal Church” “in the hills above Corona del Mar.”
     According to the article, the eulogy was performed by personal friend Rev. G. William Grady, who described Caspers as “an uncommon man”:

     “He was not an average man,” Mr. Grady said, “but in his election to the Board of Supervisors, he found the true love of his life. His reelection in June placed him totally in public service.”
     Mr. Grady also reminder [sic] those attending that Caspers’ battle to obtain the 5,500-acre Starr-Viejo Ranch as a county regional park was typical of his love for the outdoors.
     “He wanted to share the bounties of life with everyone,” he said. “He was an outstanding student, a successful businessman, a loving son, husband and father, an able public servant and, above all, a human being.
     Tom Fuentes, Caspers’ chief executive assistant, estimated that 500 persons crowded the chapel, stood along the walls or listened outside to the memorial service.

     Oddly, “None of Caspers’ fellow supervisors was on hand” – though “all sent aides to the service….”

* * *

     I also dug up a Times piece (“Services Scheduled for Fred D. Harber,” Jul 19, 1974) announcing memorial services for Fred Harber, the political consultant upon whom “Dick and Doc” (Richard O’Neill and Dr. Louis Cella)—the crafty duo who, with campaign contributions, virtually controlled OC government at the time—relied.
     He too was missing after the apparent sinking of his yacht the “Shooting Star” in mid-June. None of the bodies of the ten passengers was ever found.
     The article mentions that, beyond serving as mayor of Buena Park and City Manager of Cypress, “Harber also developed the first shopping center in Buena Park as well as apartment complexes.” He served as consultant or manager of campaigns for Ralph Clark, Jerry Patterson, Jess Unruh, and various others.
     He was, of course, a close associate of Ron Caspers.
     He hailed from Seminole, Oklahoma.

What a guy from Oklahoma sounds like