Why I Support Tom Daly For Supervisor

Today at McCormack and Schmitz in Anaheim, Tom Daly will be celebrating his Irish roots with many of those from the political establishment of Orange County. It will be a gathering across the political spectrum. Why? Because even Republicans have to admit that Tom Daly is the best person for the job to succeed Towlie AKA Chris Norby on the Board of Supervisors.

Knowing Tom Daly personally, I can attest that this is a man of great character and great determination and I know he would stand up for the working family on the Board of Supervisors. Obviously those who now attack him are the enemies of working families and the enemies of a good quality of life, which I will explain later.

When Tom Daly became mayor, a gang problem was developing in Anaheim. During the 80’s, many Latinos moved to the city of Anaheim and unfortunately, some of them turned to gangs. The recession of the early 90’s also hit Anaheim particularly hard with the loss of places like Anaheim Plaza and the area around Disneyland was a dismal array of ugly motels. Crime was on the rise in the City of Anaheim, especially in neighborhoods like Jeffrey-Lynne and Downtown. Instead of hiding his head in the sand or in the happiest place on Earth, Daly sought out to solve the city’s problems facing them head on through getting tough on tagging and crime, working with the school districts to offer gang prevention measures.

Then he and his allies on the City Council worked with Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez to get finding to revitalize crime ridden neighborhoods such as Jeffrey-Lynne. Working with residents, the police and other community interests, he succeeded in taking back that neighborhood from the criminals who ruled it.

Of course there were some downsides to the war on crime. Some Anaheim police officers decided to abuse the authority they had been entrusted with and engaged in brutality. They went beyond going after gangs and engaged in racial profiling and the beating handcuffed suspects, sometimes they were just innocent day laborers. Yet unlike REPUBLICAN former New York Mayor Giuliani, who would excuse and justify such behavior and worse by the NYPD, Daly had no tolerance for such an abuse of authority. He and his allies on the Council demanded accountability for such abuse and the officers were fired and the chief was replaced with someone who went on to build trust among the overwhelmingly law a biding Latino community and focused on targeting the real criminal thugs roaming the streets.

Of course one key component in turning around crime ridden streets is responsible economic development, and Daly oversaw some of the best economic growth Anaheim saw in years. It was under Daly that Disney finally began to expand out of its shell with California Adventure and Downtown Disney. The master plan for the Disney District were begun and the prostitution ridden Harbor Blvd in Anaheim was cleaned up. Anaheim Plaza saw new businesses built. Although I wish they would have chosen something different than Wal Mart for the new Plaza, it has otherwise been a success. Taking advantage of the growing Latino community in central Anaheim, Daly and his allies welcomed in supermarkets that catered to Latino residents instead of trying to keep them out because it did not fit with a certain “vision.” Daly knew with economic growth and prosperity also lead to less crime and less people in gangs.

Daly, like my good friend Jordan Brandman, started off on the AUHSD Board. As Mayor, he continued to work with the Board in providing education opportunities to those in working class areas. During his tenure, Oxford Academy was developed, which was a public school that was meant for some of the best and brightest throughout the school district. He also worked with the Anaheim City School District to develop programs for children in Spanish speaking homes with an intensive programs to develop their English proficiency as well as to help them keep their Spanish language, recognizing the importance bilingual speakers will play in tomorrow’s global economy. A program for gifted bilingual students was developed by the Democratic majority on the Anaheim City School Board. Keep in mind this was not the same “Bilingual Education” that was pushed by Nativo Lopez but was a program to ensure children did not lose their Spanish and became proficient in English. He worked with Amin David in taking on Harald Martin’s hate filled stunts on the AUHSD Board when he tried to blame Latinos for all the district’s problems.

Of course there were those on the Council and those in the community who did not like everything Daly and his allies were doing and sought through character assassination and trumped up charges to derail the work and his allies were doing. Lou Lopez and Bob Zemel, who were Republicans and believed to be allies of Harald Martin bore false witness against Daly. So much so that even the GOP establishment refused to go along with this kangaroo court they created. They appointed their own special counsel when the City Attorney, DA and Attorney General refused to press trumped up charges. Instead of offering solutions to Anaheim's problems, they sought to create more problems.

Overall, Tom Daly was a success as Anaheim Mayor, he has been successful in streamlining the bureaucracy at the Clerk/Recorder’s office and I am positive he would make a successful County Supervisor. I support people based on character, experience and past record. Daly has proven himself on all three areas and is so far the only candidate for the 4th District, rumored or confirmed, who has done so. I am proud to be supporting Daly for Supervisor and look forward to helping him any way I can in 2010.