Special Post-Election Edition of the Ass Clown Award given to Mario Beltran

Fresh, curvy and happy after months on bloggin furlough. 

Great Sunday afternoon to all in the political cybersphere. We  like to take time and reacquaint you with a cherish member of the Mayor Sam Family, the lovely unionize model for our dormant Ass Clown Award. We here at Mayor Sam had parted ways with our curvy friend and the award created by Mayor Frank, reasoning that our bloggin coverage merited moving beyond tabloid styled reporting . Thus, our award and its model were to enjoy an early retirement. 

But once in a blue moon ...... or Primary Election Cycle, comes a "perfect storm of bloggin news" that merited reuniting our former Ass Clown Award Team and all it took was this repugnant, asinine, and disparaging comment directed at a heroine of political reform in Southeast LA, City of Bell BASTA spokesperson and candidate for the 58th Assembly District Christina Garcia . Garcia pulled a major upset in the 58th AD by defeating City of Montebello's Tom Calderon which did not go over well with well known Bell Gardens ex Councilman,  Rin Calderon staffer and current Campaign Manager for 51st AD Candidate Arturo Chavez Mario Beltran, who penned this via the LA Weekly.

 City of Bell BASTA Spokesperson and 58th AD Candidate Christina Garcia.

Garcia the 33 year old that for the first time in her life became a Democrat last year and lied to the democratic voteres that she's been a democrat all her life!!! The DUI convict that makes bad decissions and put other at risk. The Garcia that's a lesbian and "only needs the votes of the woman" the Garcia that devided a community (Bell) and took over a city because it's her way or the highway!

 ........ and who is Mario Beltran?  Well .............

** Is this the same Mario Beltran who was convicted of  the following?

A Bell Gardens Councilman accused of embezzling campaign funds pleaded guilty today to multiple counts, prosecutors announced.Mario Beltran, 31, pleaded to four misdemeanor counts, including failing to file campaign disclosure forms and failing to deposit cash contributions, all violations of the Political Reform Act., Deputy Dist. Atty. Max Hunstman said in a press release.The charges stem from the defendant’s failure to report to authorities how he was spending campaign funds entrusted to him and his failure to deposit and account for cash given to him, according to the press release.Los Angeles Superior Court Judge George G. Lomeli ordered Beltran back for sentencing on Feb. 12. The defendant must resign from office before sentencing. Beltran is expected to receive four years of probation during which time he may not hold elected or appointed office and may not seek elected office or lobby.

** Is this the same Mario Beltran who had this "night out in Downtown LA"? 

The boozy circumstances of his wild night at the seedy Huntington Hotel might be enough to derail the careers of lesser politicians. But Beltran has friends in high places, such as state Senator Ron Calderon, for whom he works as a field deputy, and state Senator Gil Cedillo, who mentored him early in his career. Several witnesses including Cedillo were listed as character references for Beltran, so last Wednesday, as his trial began, he was as cool as a cucumber.That was until 6-foot-tall, rail-thin Sherrilynn Ridgeway, an African-American woman with weathered skin and a criminal record of drug dealing and prostitution, took the stand and described Beltran, a 29-year-old, 5-foot-5-inch immigrant from El Salvador, staggering around the Huntington in the wee hours of June 28 hurling racial slurs and menacing threats and, in her words, “grabbing a handful of my ass.”At that point, Beltran’s expression suggested he knew he was in for a long ordeal.The jury had been warned things could get ugly. They were going to hear allegations that Beltran degraded Ridgeway with words like “nigger” and “bitch,” Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Maureen O’Brien said in her opening statement — words that O’Brien said she did not feel comfortable uttering. They also were going to hear from witnesses with questionable occupations and backgrounds. “There are no angels as witnesses,” O’Brien said.Beltran’s lawyer, Philip Cohen, was not nearly as delicate. He spat out the N-word in rapid-fire bursts while shredding the testimony of one prostitute. And he accused prosecutors of misconduct, saying they offered an implicit deal to one witness, a hotel desk clerk who placed Beltran inside the hotel but also faces an unrelated gun charge in a Pasadena courtroom.Cohen confirmed that his client was “drunk out of his mind” last June after visiting the nearby 740 Club, whose owner is a friend of Beltran’s. But he urged the jury: “You will not be asked to decide if [Beltran] is an ass, a racist, a sexual assaulter or a drunkard. This case is about whether he knowingly and falsely [accused] someone of a crime.”

Thus, Mario Beltran now join former Assemblyman Gil Cedillo staffer David Galaviz as winners of the Ass Clown Award. Assemblyman Cedillo is the first lawmaker to have multiple Ass Clown Awards given to members or formerr members of his staff. quite a distinction not loss on the voters of Northeast LA.

Your thoughts ..............

Scott Johnson in CD 14.

Cedillo vs. Chu - It's a Race in the 32nd CD

After the huge voter turnout last November, it is almost embarrassing to note how few of us turned out for the various elections held this month in Los Angeles, Burbank, Pasadena and other cities. The aftermath of Prop. H8TE continues to play itself out but there are very few races to really get the blood flowing. The Open Primary legislation that state Senator Abel Maldonado was able to get on the statewide ballot for May 19th (as part of his budget deal concessions) is interesting—especially when coupled with the recent Redistricting measure passed by voters—but even then, the body politic will not have any heart palpitations over it.

The one race that has the promise of a real contest and political combat is the 32nd Congressional Special Election—also scheduled for May 19th. There are other candidates but the two frontrunners for the seat to replace former Representative and current Labor Secretary, Hilda Solis, are State Board of Equalization Member, Judy Chu, and State Senator Gilbert Cedillo. Many are friends with both progressive candidates and as one source who wished to remain anonymous noted, "It's like a fight within a family. I can't choose. I'm going to have to sit this one out."

The conventional wisdom is that Chu, known by many as a workhorse in political circles, has the edge given her endorsement by the L.A. County Federation of Labor, goodwill in the API community and Name ID in portions of the congressional district she represented while in the state legislature. She also has her husband and political powerhouse in his own right, Assemblymember Mike Eng, in her corner. Her campaign kick-off is tomorrow in Baldwin Park.

In terms of the 32nd Congressional District, it is located in Los Angeles County and includes portions of East Los Angeles and the San Gabriel Valley—the cities of Azusa, Baldwin Park, Covina, Duarte, El Monte, Irwindale, South El Monte, West Covina and portions of Monterey Park. It is a heavily Latino district—63%—and is thus considered to be a “Latino” seat. Voter turnout last November was 53.65% and Rep. Solis received 130,142 votes.

But if energy, shoe leather and the will to win has anything to do with it, we will be saying “Mr. Cedillo Goes to Washington” in a couple of months. He brings his own Name ID with his work on the DREAM Act and and Driver's License Bill--two issues of importance to working class communities in the 32nd CD. [I worked on Cedillo’s first special election back in ’97 as well as served on his staff in '04/'05 so I am not the most objective of political observers.]

Many were surprised at both the number of people and level of excitement at his campaign kick-off last Saturday in El Monte. Both Rep. Xavier Becerra and Supervisor Gloria Molina gave rousing speeches and encouraged the crowd to work hard on his behalf. Local Councilmembers Hahn, Alarcon and Reyes were there and an assortment of former and current state officeholders. The two things I know about Cedillo is also brings his own version of being a political powerhouse—going back to his days growing up on the Eastside, his leadership at SEIU and his tenure in the legislature--and has a knack for beating the odds.