Party ends up down the street

Dave Brooks

In the past, the Republican Party of Orange County has stayed out of

city races. Often, several Republicans vied for one seat and city

election rules prevented candidates from stating their party

affiliation on the ballot. But under the new leadership of former

Surf City Assemblyman Scott Baugh, now the Orange County GOP

chairman, the party has decided to weigh in on local elections and

try to tip the balances in its favor.

“The primary objective is to see if there is an opportunity to

defeat Democrats,” Baugh said.

Most of Baugh’s work involves traditional campaigning techniques:

lining up endorsements, sending out soft money political donations

and mobilizing the conservative voter base.

According to voter registration, Republican voters outnumber

Democrats nearly two to one in Surf City. But Democrats maintain a

simple majority on the City Council with Debbie Cook, Gil Coerper,

Jill Hardy and recently elected Keith Bohr in the blue column, and

now Don Hansen, Mayor Cathy Green and Dave Sullivan in the red.

“Speaking to other Republicans, they don’t feel the council has

reflected the voice of the community,” Sullivan said. “They feel

there are too many liberals on the council.”

That view may have helped Hansen win his seat.

One visit to his 11th-floor office and you’ll know where his

allegiances lie.

A small bulletin board over the recently elected city councilman’s

desk serves as a makeshift shrine to Republican leadership.

Autographed pictures of President Bush and his wife, Laura Bush share

space with a studio shot of California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Have no doubt about it, this is GOP country -- fitting for the

candidate who can sport the title of first official Republican

Party-backed Huntington Beach city councilman.

But beyond their party registration, the similarities among the

council members don’t always match the way theylegislate, and not all

agree that the party politics are relevant in city government.

Council votes rarely fall within ideological boundaries: Sullivan

has sided with Cook on ordinances that would restrict property rights

for mobile home park owners, and Hardy has promised to keep the

prayer invocation -- a nest egg issue for the city’s conservatives --

in place when she becomes mayor in December.

“Running the city is generally finding enough money to pay for

needed services and has nothing to do with partisan politics,” said

former Councilman Ralph Bauer, who argued that party politics leads

to squabbling at the expense of good policy making.

City election law does its best to keep the council nonpartisan.

Candidates are not allowed to write their party affiliation on

election material and are generally discouraged from discussing party

affiliation.

“The minute you identify yourself as a Republican or Democrat, you

have a polarizing situation, and reaching decisions in a polarized

situation is very difficult,” Bauer said.

Huntington Beach voters got a glimpse of feuding earlier this

month when Orange County Republicans sent out a mailer for Hansen and

candidate Joe Carchio that was signed by Green and attacked

“Democrats on the City Council.”

Campaign finance laws prevented Hansen from participating in the

mailer, but he said the piece was simply directed at helping

Republicans identify viable conservative candidates from the 16 names

they found on the ballot.

“It shows that I represent the core values that Republicans share

and clearly identifies me and my philosophy to voters,” he said.

Besides, Hansen points out, many voters aren’t aware of local

issues and when canvassing precincts, the first thing they want to

know is what party he affiliated with.

“These elections are fiercely partisan right below the surface,”

he said.

Despite having a majority of voters, Republican support doesn’t

guarantee a victory. Local restaurant owner Carchio also received

heavy Republican support, but Bohr beat him out by 1,100 votes.

As for complaints about the party’s involvement in local

elections, Hansen said those comments were themselves partisan.

“Anyone who usually opposed the fact that the Republicans were

making these statements, I very much doubt that they were registered

Republicans,” he said.