The “Cowboy Capitalists” are at it again.
Yesterday on one of my errands I saw a multitude of Michelle Steel signs planted in the cement and grassy divider between Newport Boulevard and the frontage road which runs parallel, approaching 17th Street.
Since I always put up flags where my election partner advises, daring to never break any sign rules, I was very cognizant of the possibility that this is one of those places where election campaign signs should not be. I am well aware that Ms. Steele may not be the person who planted signs there, but now that she is informed, I am assuming that, if illegally placed, they will be removed.
I was going to counter with the placement of some Harley signs in the same location, citing that if the Steel signs were not removed, it must be okay to put signs there. The Head Supervisor of Orange County should know. But someone in Harley’s organization must know more than I, because when advised of the situation, I was told not to place any Harley signs there. Nice to know that they are trying to go by the rules in this tumultuous race.
On another front last week, Supervisor Wagner from Irvine asked President Trump to bypass the state and send future Coronavirus relief money directly to the counties.
He contends that counties have the right to come up with their own plans if they follow guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on topics such as physical distancing and masks.
Is he kidding? The BOS is the same body that, just a few months ago, sided with anti- maskers with conspiracy theories and in addition to not speaking up for the Health Officer who was getting death threats at her home from anti- maskers, they dropped the mask mandate.
Supervisor Steel on tape sympathized with the anti- maskers. Fortunately, Governor Newsom quickly restored the mandate.
And isn’t the CDC the Center for Disease Control and Prevention) the agency which has lately become politicized by President Trump and corporate interests? As much as the City Council of Newport Beach and the Board of Supervisors have tried to make COVID a political issue, we are much better protected by rules that guide the rest of the state, while recognizing regional differences.
This last spring some of the same local leaders of Orange County rebelled when they were told by the Governor to close their beaches for safety reasons.
Dr. Fred Smoller, an associate professor of political science at Chapman, said that elected officials like Wagner, O’Neill and Board Supervisor Steel who denounced the governor’s beach closure, speak for “the old Orange County of rugged individualism and making your own way,” and added, “I think they speak for a fraction of Orange County that is diminishing in size.”
Lynn Lorenz / Newport Beach
