Anaheim Insider here.
As Dan Chmielewski of TheLiberalOC.com has already noted, the CATER claque has published a website for their club: www.anaheim-cater.com. CATER is run by a very loud person who has said very little about her non-profit 501(c)4. We know it is her, camp follower Brian Chuchua and her blogging sidekick Greg Diamond. They’ve filed two lawsuits against the City of Anaheim to undermine negotiations to keep the Angels in town and to torpedo the vital expansion of the Anaheim Convention Center. Although they demand transparency from others, they refuse to say who funds their activities.
At least CATER is being truthful about its purpose: “carrying on propaganda.” Yes, CATER really does says that on the “About” page of its website, which also says:
“[CATER] shall not participate or intervene in any campaign (including the publication or distribution of statements) on behalf of any candidate for public office; and, it shall not, except in an insubstantial degree, engage in any activities or exercise any powers that are not in furtherance of the purposes described above.”
That doesn’t mean CATER won’t participate or campaign for or against ballot measures. The “Issues” page consists of a three Orange Juice Blog posts; two are by CATER head Ward and one of those is a long complaint about why she thinks Measure E is a bad idea. It’s obvious from observing CATER’s that to a substantial degree it engages in political activity intended to influence the November council campaigns. It’s purpose is wholly political, focused on advancing the political fortunes of Mayor Tom Tait and harassing his political opponents.
Diamond’s Symbolic Wrecking Butt
TheLiberalOC.com also posted an amusing anecdote about CATER’s Greg Diamond’s bull-in-a-chia-shop routine at a Mills Act ceremony that Mayor Tom Tait presided over. Here’s the description of what happened by someone who was there:
Thanks to the good folks at the Anaheim Library and the Anaheim Historical Society for a fun event on Saturday celebrating the Woelke-Stoeffel House and Mother Colony House being placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
As always there was plenty of entertainment, some planned, some not. On the planned side was the chance to get a tintype photo made. Well done to the person who arranged for that because it was very cool. Folks from a company called F/395 were on hand with old bellows cameras and were doing tintypes for people. For free! They even brought a variety of hats you could borrow for the picture. The one of Richard Crawford honestly looked like it was 100+ years old.
****On the unplanned side we all got to hear what a National Register plaque sounds like when it is knocked off an easel onto a cement sidewalk. How it happened added to the fun, as it appeared that this tool, a non-Anaheim resident who is part of a lawsuit against the city, a “political blogger” (that about sums it up), and an all too frequent participant in the circus that has become the public hearing portion of our city council meetings, was so busy taking non-stop photos of the mayor that he bumped into the easel and sent the plaque crashing to the sidewalk. On the plus side it did propel “Anaheim…You Can’t Make This #### Up” into the lead position in the never ending quest for an official slogan for the city of Anaheim.****
It’s a metaphor for CATER: so focused on promoting Mayor Tait political fortunes that its blind to the damage its activities inflict on what’s around it.
Amazing that these clowns have been allowed to paralyze City Hall. Blame Mayor Tait. They’re his clowns.
Cynthia Ward will throw anyone away. Give her time. Today she is a Tait loyalist. She will drop him shortly. I am sure it will be shortly after Tait sells her down the river and has no use for her. When will Anaheim learn Tait is the worst Mayor Anaheim has seen?