Moorlach to discuss county aspirations

Paul Clinton

Mesa Verde’s John Moorlach is chasing Orange County’s top staff job:

the often politically perilous chief executive post.

Supervisors fired Michael Schumacher in January after a relatively

short tenure. The board also cut loose Jan Mittermeier and, earlier,

clashed with William Popejoy.

Moorlach, the county’s treasurer, will discuss his candidacy for

the post at noon today at the Newport Irvine Rotary Club. The meeting

will be held at the Atrium Hotel, at 18700 MacArthur Blvd., Irvine.

Supervisor Chris Norby urged the 47-year-old Moorlach to run for

the post.

Maddox appointed to conference committee

Republican caucus leader Dave Cox (R-Sacramento) has appointed

Assemblyman Ken Maddox to a conference committee, thus raising his

profile in a burgeoning effort to reform workers’ compensation.

Cox added Maddox’s name as the sole Republican on the Assembly’s

workers’ compensation insurance conference committee.

“Californians are being punished because of problems with the

workers’ compensation system,” Maddox said. “Businesses are forced to

cut costs or move out of state.”

Maddox will participate in several strategy sessions. He brings

five years of experience as vice-chair of the Assembly’s insurance

committee.

The committee is expected to develop legislation to change a

system that has resulted in a doubling of premiums for businesses in

the past four years.

Amber Alert anniversary celebrated

Gov. Gray Davis, former Assemblyman George Runner and law

enforcement officials gathered in Culver City on Friday to celebrate

the one-year anniversary of the Amber Alert, which was put in place

by a bill introduced by Runner and Maddox.

Assembly Bill 415 implemented the alert, which sends text messages

to law enforcement officials and Caltrans when a child has been

abducted.

“Before anything, I’m a parent,” Maddox said. “Few of us can

imagine the terror a parent feels when a child is kidnapped or the

heartache that follows when that child is not returned safely.”

The bill was passed and signed by Davis shortly after the daylight

abduction and murder of Samantha Runnion from her home in Stanton.

Before running for office, Maddox served as a Tustin police

officer. He is now a reserve police officer there. He was also a

Garden Grove councilman.

Issa asks for fairness in campaign

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista) fired off a letter to the California

Fair Political Practices Commission on Tuesday from his Costa Mesa

office, calling on the watchdog to hold all gubernatorial candidates

“to the same stringent standard.”

Issa wants the commission to ensure that the candidates file each

contribution of $1,000 or more with the secretary of State

electronically. Proposition 34 set a $3,200 per donation limit on

candidates.

“Given the increased penalties enacted by Proposition 34, we are

concerned that with so many candidates, including some whose

intentions are not to be taken seriously, but rather to exploit media

attention, there may be widespread violations of the campaign finance

law.”

Issa contributed $1.5 million to the effort to recall Davis.

* PAUL CLINTON covers the environment, business and politics. He

may be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail at

[email protected].