Trump to Moorlach aide: You’re hired
Which key member of state Sen. John Moorlach’s staff has said adios to the senator’s office and jumped on board a presidential campaign?
And can we really watch a building move at the O.C. Fairgrounds this Monday?
I’ve got the scoop on these stories, as well as an update on the Newport Beach Golf Course.
Moorlach’s April 13 email blast included news that his chief of staff, Tim Clark, was leaving to work as Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s California state director.
Clark sent an email to Moorlach April 10 informing him he’d been given this opportunity.
“By Monday morning, less than 24 hours later, Tim Clark had decided to do something that was on his bucket list, consult with a presidential campaign,” Moorlach wrote. “The possibility of working in such a setting usually does not occur in the state of California. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. So, he accepted the offer. He did so with my strong reservations.”
Reading the rest of Moorlach’s email, it’s evident he’s not on the Trump train, so to speak, and would have preferred Clark align himself with one of the two other Republican candidates.
But Moorlach says Clark has a good track record as a GOP strategist and has worked for candidates statewide in primaries. He calls him, “one of the best.”
“With the retention of Tim Clark, I would fancy that Trump now has a much better chance of garnering the necessary California delegates that he needs to secure the nomination,” wrote Moorlach.
Moorlach has yet to decide who he’ll support for president, but says he hopes to by the conclusion of the California Republican Convention at the end of April.
And in other Moorlach news, business owners around the state who have been subjected to attorneys bringing frivolous Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) lawsuits against them, could see an end to this practice with Moorlach’s proposed Senate Bill 1142.
The bill will be heard April 26 in the Senate Judiciary Committee and will address these predatory lawsuit abuses, where attorneys target a business with even the slightest ADA violation and then basically shake it down for money.
Moorlach’s bill proposes allowing businesses 120 days to cure violations before any civil action can be filed.
The senator feels this would weed out “serial attorneys and plaintiffs, who are only bringing these claims for a quick payout,” he told the Mercury News. “There is no point to these standards if a business is sued out of existence, if it could not abide by them.”
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Memorial Gardens on the move
If you’re around at 8:45 a.m. Monday you can watch history in the making at the O.C. Fairgrounds, as it moves the building formerly known as Memorial Gardens to a new location on the property.
Memorial Gardens is being repurposed to house the new Heroes Hall Veteran’s museum slated to open Veterans Day 2016.
“Similar equipment that was used to move space shuttle Endeavor will be utilized to move the building, which is currently in a de-constructed state and is awaiting a massive makeover,” according to the press release.
Sen. Janet Nguyen, who serves on the Governor’s Military Council, will address the public at the beginning of the program. Residents are invited.
No seating will be provided, but you can bring your own chair. Enter Gate 1 off Fair Drive and follow signs for parking.
And, of course, full disclosure: My husband serves on the Fair Board and I was recently elected to serve on the Heroes Hall Foundation board and am a member of the Super Heroes Guild
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A birdie on the golf course
Last but not least, I followed up on my recent story regarding the Newport Beach Golf Course and the status of the 50-year lease now being proposed to the county by businessman Buck Johns.
Jean Pasco, the public information manager at the Hall of Administration, confirmed “the county, through John Wayne Airport, has been asked to consider extending this lease agreement for the county parcel that comprises about half of the Newport Beach Golf Club. Airport staff is in the process of conducting an appraisal to determine the value of the property.”
Based on the appraisal, she said, airport staff will consider recommending whether to extend the lease with a new duration and new terms, and will bring that recommendation to the board. There’s no timetable yet to bring this matter before the Board of Supervisors.
Could this new lease extension ask trigger the county to put this out to bid?
It’s certainly a possibility.
Pasco explained the maximum term for a lease on county property by law is 99 years (50 years within Dana Point Harbor), but there’s no legal requirement to put expired leases out for bid, though the county has done so.
“The county also routinely negotiates extensions with existing tenants in an effort to get the highest and best value for the County,” said Pasco.
BARBARA VENEZIA lives in Newport Beach. She can be reached at bvontv1@gmail.com.