[Cross-posted from OC Blog]
The bitter battle between Corona Mayor Jeff Miller and Rancho Santa Margarita Mayor Neil Blais to win the GOP nod in the 71st Assembly District is well on its way to being OC’s nastiest June contest.
Lately, the Blais campaign is going over that fine line between political hard-ball and sleazy politics.
For example, twice in the past week I’ve received a press release from the Blais campaign basically accusing Jeff Miller of public corruption.
Plus, a commenter obviously affiliated with the Blais campaign has been repeatedly calling Miller a "tax and spend liberal" and charging him with the following sins:
– 300 tax and fee increases
– 12 eminent domain takings
– Opposed Tom McClintock’s eminent domain reform initiative
– Cesar Chavez holiday
While the burden of proof ought to be on the Blais campaign to substantiate these charges, I called Miller to ask him about the charges.
Let’s take the 300 tax/fee increase charge. This is a variation on the standard tactic of coming through a councilmember’s record and labeling every single vote that increases the cost of anything as a tax increase. For example, Miller said the cost to Corona of buying Colorado River water increased by $6 million last year. That cost is inevitably passed on to water uses — but it’s hardly a tax increase.
But the ludicrousness of the charge is best put in perspective when you consider there have been about 150 council meetings since Miller was elected to the Corona City Council — meaning the Blais campaign is accusing Miller of raising taxes and fees twice at every council meeting.
Then there’s the "12 eminent domain takings." According to Miller, the city has taken 3 or 4 eminent domain takings since he’s been on the council — meaning the Blais campaign must be counting the first and second reading votes on the same taking as separate takings. Not very honest.
Furthermore, these were transportation-related takings for things like freeway off-ramps. In other words, they were for precisely the purposes for which eminent domain is intended.
Miller told me one action involved a home. It’s owned by a 90-year old woman, and the agreement calls for her to remain in her home as long as she likes or until she passes away – at which time the city will pay her heirs the market value of the home.
Then there’s the "Opposed Tom McClintock’s eminent domain reform initiative" charge. This is a strange charge considering Miller was Riverside County co-chair for Proposition 90.
What about the "Cesar Chavez holiday" charge? The implication is Miller voted for a paid municipal Cesar Chavez holiday — which Corona doesn’t have. Miller thinks this charge must stem from a fall 2000 Press-Enterprise news story about a council candidate forum in which support for a Cesar Chavez holiday was mistakenly attributed to him instead of one of the other two candidates who were also named "Jeff." Miller sent a retraction letter to the P-E, but doesn’t recall whether the Press-Enterprise actually ran a retraction.
More later…