I read the Los Angeles Times article about Michelle Steel working at as Claude Parrish’s chief deputy at the Board of Equalization for only three months — and then quitting as soon it was certain she could list "Equalization Boardmember’s Deputy."
Yawn.
With all due respect to the respected publisher of this respected publication, I’m more outrraged that Marcus Frishman is making $111,768 a year as Parrish’s deputy.
Like many conservatives, I find myself in an odd situation vis-a-vis the BOA 3rd District race. The choice is between two excellent conservatives: Michelle Steel and Assemblyman Ray Haynes. Ray has long been an inspiring and tireless conservative voice in the California wilderness. I have been friends with Shawn and Michelle Steel for many years, and know Michelle to be as relentless in her conservatism as Shawn.
Naturally, Ray is professing shock and outrage at this maneuver. He’s trying to defeat Michelle at the polls in two-and-a-half weeks, after all.
All this outrage has a Captain Renault-quality to it: "I’m shocked — SHOCKED! — to find there is politics going on in state government!"
What happened, exactly? Parrish shuffled his staff to put Steel in the deputy slot for three-months, while Frishman was temporarily moved to a lower-paying job — with the difference presumably being made up out of the campaign.
Hhmmm – now that never happens in Sacramento, does it? It would be unheard of for legislative staffers to go from full-time to part-time employment, and have the difference made up out of the campaign fund. Or to move back and forth between campaign and state jobs. Why, that would be…outrageous!
Here we have a case of someone leaving the government payroll, and there are conservatives who are upset?
I do agree with my friend Jon on this point: this tempest-in-a-thimble will have zero impact on the outcome of the 3rd District BOE election.
May 19th, 2006 at 12:00 am
Matt, you are certainly correct that this happens all the time. But shouldn’t we Republicans shun the very appearance of this kind of stuff…especially in light of Cunningham (the Duke not Jubal), Delay, Lewis’ staffer, etc.
If Steel wins the primary she better watch out for Mary Christian-Heising (D). She has run for this seat so many times her name ID has to be at least 5% by now.
May 20th, 2006 at 12:00 am
Matt, you know better than that. Do you really think there is no difference between staffers taking their campaign leaves every other year, and having a candidate pay off an elected official and his long-loyal aide for a cush job just long enough to get a key ballot designation and then quitting before the election but
after the filing deadline?
At a minimum it is sleazy, at a maximum it is illegal.
(Disclosure: I worked for Ray
for a long time and still like the guy)
Jeff
May 22nd, 2006 at 12:00 am
“Everybody does it, so it must be ok.” Yeah that’s the way to get conservative voters to the polls.
January 21st, 2007 at 12:00 am
For the record I had nothing to do with it. I was a victim of this maneuver. I was also out of the USA for about 6 weeks when they did this.I did not have advace notice to this.It was wrong!!
Marcus Allen Frishman