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The excuse might have been made that he had no idea, and perhaps he was only taking the advice of Miranda's other notable Sierra Madre client, John Harabedian. But unfortunately too much time has passed for that one to fly anymore. The assumption must now be made that Gene Goss doesn't have a problem with a Calderon financial operative handling his campaign finances, and will do nothing.
Look at it this way. Let's say you were a candidate for an elective office, one where the trust and faith of the people are vital to your being able to do the job with honor and distinction. And then something like the following Sacramento Bee article was brought to your attention. What would your reaction be?
California state Sen. Ron Calderon sets up legal defense fund (link): Well-known for fundraisers at out-of-state golf courses and plush resorts, state Sen. Ron Calderon has a new reason to solicit money from friends, family and the interest groups that do business in California's Capitol.
The Democrat from Montebello has established a legal defense fund to cover expenses related to his "public corruption investigation," according to a letter Calderon filed with the secretary of state this week.
"These funds will be only to pay the attorney's fees and other legal costs related to the defense of the candidate as well as administrative costs directly related to compliance with record keeping and reporting requirements," says the letter signed by Calderon and Yolanda Miranda, treasurer of Calderon's committee.
Is this the kind of association you would want for your campaign if you were a candidate? Having the treasurer of a disgraced California state Senator's criminal defense fund handling your City Council campaign finances could cause considerable damage to your reputation. You'd make a change, right?
A reader took note of Gene Goss's delicate position in the Yolanda Miranda matter yesterday, and posted this new information for us:
In a Pasadena Star-News story about the Bell corruption scandal, they identify Yolanda Miranda and Associates as "a Covina-based political consulting firm." This political consulting firm is listed as Gene Goss' treasurer and has received $250 from Gene Goss' campaign.
Gene Goss is one of those people who claims he is going to keep it local, but doesn't. So basically Gene is lying and has been lying from the beginning of his campaign.
Human nature, guilty people have been making florid promises about their virtue from time immemorial. "The lady protests too much, methinks." - Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 2
The Pasadena Star News article our literary commenter refers to above is called "Cooley terms Bell scandal 'corruption on steroids'" (link). And wouldn't you know it, Gene Goss's campaign treasurer gets a mention here as well.
(Councilmember George) Cole, Bell's former mayor, has several long-standing ties to the San Gabriel Valley. In 2006, Cole worked with Jeff Monical, who runs Lavell Communications, a political consulting firm in Alhambra. Cole's connection to the San Gabriel Valley also includes a long affiliation with Yolanda Miranda and Associates, a Covina-based political consulting firm.
The former mayor is also linked to state Sen. Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, who represents South Pasadena. In 2004, Cole paid Cedillo's spokesman Conrado Terrazas $2,816 for "professional services" related to Cole's run for Bell City Council.
At a recent Monterey Park dinner honoring Cole for charitable work he performed in Montebello, Cedillo declined to discuss the association. In recent days Cole bragged to associates that his political ties made him an unlikely target in the criminal probe.
Look, either Gene Goss fires Yolanda Miranda, or it will have to be assumed here in that he has no problem with her Bell and Calderon associations. And rather than the "independent" he hopes to be thought of, instead he is in the thrall of Sacramento-style corruption.
All of which would mean that Unclean Gene completely lacks the ethical compass necessary to serve on our City Council.
Gene Goss Fudges On His Pledge To Keep His Campaign Local
On his website Gene Goss makes the following "pledge" (link):
The trend in recent years of outside organizations trying to influence Sierra Madre politics is unacceptable. Therefore, in the interest of the independence of this town, my solemn commitment to fellow Sierra Madreans is that I will absolutely not solicit nor will I accept any support from political parties, outside political organizations, outside political interest groups, outside political consultants, labor unions, law firms, developers, etc. All of my campaign expenditures will be funded by individual donations or self-financed.
In today's Pasadena Star News (link), Sierra Madre beat reporter Zen Vuong published an article that covers Tuesday night's debate at City Hall. Here is what she reports Gene Goss as saying:
“I believe my longevity in town and my experience as a parent sets me apart in my understanding of our community,” he said. “In terms of independence, I have taken a pledge not to accept campaign contributions from political organizations, developers, law firms, labor unions or any other organization.”
Notice the difference? Goss has gone from saying he will not accept any outside support, to "I have taken a pledge not to accept campaign contributions" from outside organizations.
Where I come from that is known as fudging. Goss has accepted outside support from both the United Teachers of Pasadena union (which he actually went out and asked for), and Yolanda Moranda's Covina-based political consulting firm. And he is now willing to rearrange the words in his pledge in order to keep that kind of support.
Perhaps we should take this to mean he intends to keep Yolanda Miranda.
Other Goss Nonsense
In the Star News article Goss claims that we need the UUT increase to make sure we have clean water. Any qualified candidate should know the UUT monies DO NOT go to the water enterprise. Even in an Elaine Aguilar run City Hall. Didn't we just get socked with a 61% water rate increase that is supposed to take care of that?
Besides, everyone knows that Measure UUT is to help pay for Cadillac health care plans and municipal employee union pension padding. Especially Gene Goss. It's why he's here and running.
Noah Nothing
A quote from Noah Green in Zen's Star News piece regarding the UUT:
"'What that really means is that the city employees who work here but generally can’t afford to live here are going to suffer layoffs and pay cuts, and I do not think that’s fair. I am in support of the UUT because I want my streets paved, I want my police here in three minutes when there is an emergency, and I want my water to be clean.’"
Say what? Again we have a candidate absurdly conflating the UUT with the Water Department. And why does he care more about the city staff than the residents? He said it just like that. Does he hate townies that much?
What is going on with KGEM and the City Council debate reruns?
I got a call from an aggravated neighbor last night about the total lack of debate reruns on SMTV3. She had called the Monrovia-based cable content provider KGEM to find out what is going on. It turns out they had just one re-airing of the debate on their schedule, and that was last night at 11 PM.
So can it be Goss and Green did so poorly that City Hall decided to cut reruns down to one solitary time?
Maybe they see it as an important financial move.
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