A stitch in time saves

Alicia Robinson

They say better late than never, but in this case later means more

expensive. Republican Don Wagner, a candidate for the 70th District

Assembly seat, may need to shell out a few bucks to pay fines of $10

a day for the 33 days between when campaign finance reports were last

due and when Wagner filed his.

The reports covering activity between June 1 and Sept. 30 were due

on Oct. 10. Wagner’s was filed Nov. 12. He has said the delay was

because of a change in treasurers. He had been acting as his own

treasurer but later decided to get someone else to do the job.

A letter was expected to go out this week notifying Wagner of the

fine, said Christina Avila at the county Registrar of Voters office.

A look at the financials

Anyone who’s curious or just has extra time on their hands can now

view the campaign finance disclosures of Orange County’s elected

officials online through the Registrar of Voters’ Web site at

https://www.oc.ca.gov/election. County Supervisor Bill Campbell

proposed putting the information online, and the Board of Supervisors

approved the suggestion in November. The information went online

Monday.

Assistant Registrar of Voters Suzanne Slupsky said Campbell “just

felt with technology ... we should be providing this at least for

county offices.” Campaign finance reports from candidates for county

offices will be posted after Jan. 10, the date the first batch is due

for the March 2 primary, and the registrar is hoping to set up

electronic report filing for the November election, Slupsky said.

Cox heads to Europe

Rep. Chris Cox hit the road Tuesday, heading a bipartisan

congressional delegation to Europe and the Middle East to talk to

foreign leaders about terrorism. As chairman of the Homeland Security

Committee, Cox brought along seven committee members including Rep.

Loretta Sanchez on the group’s first foreign trip, with stops planned

in Italy, Spain, Syria and Turkey.

A press release from Cox’s office said the delegation hopes to

discuss progress in fighting international terrorism and encourage

more cooperation among U.S. allies in the war on terrorism and in

furthering homeland security.

Vanguard University enjoys

a little Potomac pork

The omnibus appropriations bill passed by the House on Monday

included $550,000 for Vanguard University, proposed by Rohrabacher.

The school is seeking funds to establish a center training teachers

to teach math and science.

“It’s harder to shepherd through a proposal for a private

university than a public one,” Rohrabacher said. “I’m pleased that we

were able to get some help for Vanguard.”

The appropriations bill is now awaiting approval by the Senate.

Rohrabacher house set to grow

Though Rep. Dana Rohrabacher received a lifetime achievement award

Wednesday for his emergency preparedness efforts, the surfing

congressman is looking ahead to a much more important achievement --

or three: his wife, Rhonda, will give birth to triplets in April. The

children will be the couple’s first, second and third.

“I thought that I’d spent my life trying to save the world from

various threats and I wouldn’t be blessed with having a family,

especially a big family, but I wanted one,” Rohrabacher said. “This

is about the best thing that’s ever happened in my whole life.”

Although the honor may pale in comparison, Rohrabacher did return

from Washington on Wednesday to receive an award of merit from

California’s Emergency Management Commission for lifetime

contributions to emergency preparedness.

Rohrabacher’s office has worked for several years to create

specialized training programs for police and fire personnel and other

emergency responders. So far those programs have trained more than

3,000 people, Rohrabacher said.

“I’m on the [House] International Relations committee, so I’ve

been very aware of the threat to our security from different parts of

the world,” he said.

The award was presented at a reception at the Luminarias

Restaurant in Monterey Park.

The support keeps on coming

In endorsement news, 70th Assembly District candidate Chuck DeVore

announced he has the endorsement of fellow Republican and 75th

District Assemblyman George Plescia. A press release quotes DeVore

campaign manager Sergio Prince saying endorsements from Plescia and

other Republican legislators send “a clear message that Chuck DeVore

is the Republican favorite in this seat.”

An endorsement from the Orange County Professional Firefighters

Assn. is the latest for Ken Maddox, the 68th District assemblyman who

is seeking the 35th District Senate seat. Maddox, a former Tustin

police officer and a former L.A. County deputy sheriff, also boasts

endorsements from police and fire organizations in Huntington Beach,

Newport Beach firefighters, Tustin police and others.

John Campbell, the 70th District assemblyman and Maddox’s opponent

in the Senate race, sent word this week that he is endorsed by the

Corona del Mar Chamber of Commerce. Chris Wysocki, a Campbell

campaign strategist, said he got the endorsement because Campbell

“favors the free market and advancing the spirit of

entrepreneurship.”