Asm. Ling Ling Chang

Assemblywoman Ling-Ling Chang, R-Diamond Bar, has announced her campaign to replace termed-out State Senator Bob Huff.

Chang’s campaign for the 29th State Senate district sets up a showdown with former Irvine Mayor Sukhee Kang for a seat that Democrats see as an opportunity to reclaim their supermajority in the upper house. Her campaign came at the urging of the Senate Republican Caucus, which sees the former mayor of Diamond Bar as the strongest candidate to replace the termed-out Senate Republican leader.

On Friday morning, the Republican Assemblywoman, who has been on the job for less than six months, announced her campaign with endorsements from Huff, Rep. Ed Royce and Asm. Young Kim. With a united front behind a top-tier candidate, Republicans hope to take the 29th Senate seat off the table in 2016.

Chang: Self-Described Tech Geek

In just her first term in the State Assembly, Chang has quickly risen to the top of the freshman class. A powerhouse fundraiser, Chang raised more than $632,000 for her 2014 Assembly campaign.

That fundraising prowess helped her land a spot on Asm. GOP leader Kristin Olsen’s leadership team as Republican Whip. In addition to serving as Vice Chair of the powerful Assembly Rules Committee, Chang holds key spots on the Appropriations Committee, Business & Professions Committee and the Privacy & Consumer Protection Committee.

Senator Bob Huff

Her current district includes substantial portions of the 29th Senate district. Prior to representing the 55th Assembly District, she served on the Diamond Bar City Council and Walnut Valley Water District Board of Directors.

“My mom didn’t understand why a young girl would be so obsessed with computers, so she would try and prohibit me from going online. I found my way around it until my mom started removing the keyboard,” Chang told the Sacramento Bee earlier this year. “Now she completely regrets it. Technology, to me, it’s like second nature. I can actually work something without having to read the user manual.”

The self-described “tech geek” has endeared herself to her colleagues by being a team player. In advance of the 2014 general election, she contributed more than $60,000 to party committees and legislative targets, including colleagues Kim, David Hadley, Tom Lackey, Marc Steinorth, Catharine Baker and Eric Linder. However, she’s also stumbled in her first few months in the state legislature, backing a plan to bring back redevelopment that is strongly criticized by property rights advocates.

Shaw expected to withdraw from the race

Chang’s candidacy changes the dynamics of the race and likely brings to an end the short-lived candidacy of fellow Republican Tim Shaw, who currently works as an aide to Huff. A La Habra City Councilman, Shaw has struggled to raise money since announcing his campaign in February. He had yet to file a campaign finance report, according to the state’s financial disclosure database.

As a result of Shaw’s perceived weaknesses, Democrats recruited former Irvine mayor Sukhee Kang to run for the seat. During his final term as mayor of Irvine, Kang won praise from liberal Democrats for his plan to ban single-use plastic bags. That’s helped him secure early backing from prominent statewide Democrats, including Senate Pr­­esident Pro Tem Kevin de León and former Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg.

Kang’s candidacy has its own baggage. Namely, he only recently packed his bags and moved into the district. He’s also weighed down by the ongoing audit of the Orange County Great Park. According to OC Weekly, while on the Irvine city council, in an alliance with former councilman Larry Agran and councilwoman Beth Krom, “Sukhee Kang diverted more than $174,000 per month in park funds to three political operatives — George Urch, Chris Townsend and Arnold Forde — allegedly performing ‘public relations’ for a government park that still hasn’t been built — and then shrugged their collective shoulders about why there was no money left for the noble endeavor.”

In 2012, Kang unsuccessfully challenged Rep. John Campbell for the 45th Congressional District. A first-generation Korean immigrant, Kang hoped to appeal to the district’s more than 89,000 Asian American voters in a uphill race against Shaw, a white Republican.

As the first Taiwanese-born woman to serve in the state Assembly, Chang undercuts the Democrat’s campaign strategy. According to voter registration statistics from Political Data, Inc., there are approximately 10,000 more registered voters with Chinese surnames than Korean surnames. Voters in the 29th Senate district have requested nearly twice as many Chinese language ballots than Korean ballots.

Kang’s campaign adviser Garry South seemed unfazed by Chang’s announcement. “See ya in a presidential year!” he said, welcoming the news.

Republicans hold a 3.5 percent edge in voter registration, with 37.3 percent of all registered voters in the district, according to AroundtheCapitol.com. The district’s high overall registration rate makes it difficult for Democrats to invest in a registration program to close that gap. The GOP has 15,000 more voters than Democrats. Orange County makes up more than 70 percent of the 29th State Senate district, which also includes portions of Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties. In 2012, Huff retained the seat with 55.1 percent of the vote, after spending minimal funds on his reelection campaign.

Under the state’s revised term limits law, Chang is eligible to serve two terms in the State Senate as well as one additional term in the State Assembly.

Harkey and Wyland are both running for the Orange County/San Diego County/Inland Empire Board of Equalization seat now held by Michelle Steel that is a good bet to remain in GOP hands. It has a slight Republican registration edge. Also expected to run are three Orange County pols: Democratic state Sen. Lou Correa and former GOP state lawmakers Tom Harman and Van Tran.

But the key to understanding Harkey's suit isn't her pending political fight with Wyland. It's her thin-skinnedness, if that's a word. Let's look at some of her dealings with the media that reflect her perception of a world in which she is an unjustly put-upon heroine:

'Totally unfair and extremely biased'

This is from O.C. Register political reporter Martin Wisckol's blog of Oct. 19, 2007:…

“Diane Harkey left me a phone message today (that was Oct. 17), saying the blog was singling her out and posting unflattering photos. You can see the two photos I’ve used of her here.

“I’m not that unphotogenic,” she said. “I think it’s totally unfair and extremely biased.”

Then came Martin's story of March 17, 2009, which showed Harkey had been misleading and inconsistent in describing her involvement with her husband's troubled financial firm.

Victim of 'slander'? Or trapped in denial?

At that time, I interviewed Harkey, who at that point represented a big chunk of northwest San Diego County, for a Union-Tribune editorial that was published March 22, 2009. Here's part of the editorial; the image is from an extensive website on the Harkey scandal:

 “… Her husband, Dan Harkey, runs Point Center Financial, an Aliso Viejo company that lends investors' money to land developers. It is the target of a Securities and Exchange Commission probe. It is also facing a lawsuit from 53 investors who say Dan Harkey used their money for dubious loans – and to fund his wife's rapid rise in Orange County politics. Campaign disclosure firms show Diane Harkey has spent $2.1 million in personal funds since 2004.

“However, the suit presents no evidence for the alleged diversion of money. An aide to Diane Harkey told The Orange County Register last month that the campaign funds came entirely from the wealth she had accumulated in a 30-year banking career. Both Harkeys said she had never worked for Point Center. …

“But a follow-up Register report said Diane Harkey had been listed as a Point Center official in state documents and in campaign disclosure forms for two political donations to other GOP candidates. Harkey's own 'statement of economic interests' said she received more than $100,000 in annual income from a rental property that happens to be Point Center's headquarters. She also appears to be backing away from her claim that she didn't use her husband's money for political purposes.

professional writing service

“Plainly, this matter deserves coverage. Yet in a phone interview, Harkey told us our questions amounted to 'slander'; that news accounts of the mess were all 'libel' written by journalists determined to 'massacre' her family; and that she was the victim of a sexist double-standard.

“Given the holes in her initial story, this is a startling approach for Harkey to take. … If she wants to clear her name, step one is to get out of the denial stage of her grief.”

Routine budget questions an 'unbelievable grilling'

I wrote more about Harkey in a March 23, 2009, blog item for the Union-Tribune:

“How is it possible Harkey managed to get elected to any job, much less the Assembly? She has no conception of her role; of the proper role of the media; or of her responsibilities to the media. I have another example to offer.

“Last fall, the U-T editorial board met with nearly two dozen candidates for state Assembly and Senate seats. I asked every last one how they would balance the state budget and was ready with follow-up questions seeking specifics if they offered vague answers or it's-that-simple Ross Perot-style sophistry. Guess who thought that amounted to unfair treatment? You got it.

“Last week, after I had an unproductive phone interview with her, I wrote Harkey to say I needed to get fuller answers so I could understand her position. Part of her response was to harken back to the candidate interviews: '… you have a personal bias in my case. I recall the unbelievable grilling you gave me when I interviewed with your editorial board.'

“I asked the same questions of everyone, with the same follow-ups to all the evaders. To Diane Harkey, it was an 'unbelievable grilling.'

“Here's the kicker: The U-T ended up endorsing her, and I wrote the editorial! Despite my 'bias'!

“South O.C. and Oceanside, you have my condolences. There doesn't seem to be much of a learning curve on display with your Assembly rep.”

Incumbent Steel probably regrets Harkey endorsement

Four years later, that still seems true. It's just strange for Harkey to think her scandal isn't fair game for her political rivals; that the amazingly personal details in her lawsuit against Wyland will play well; and not to realize that her lawsuit has put a vast spotlight on Wyland's remarks that might otherwise have been largely ignored.

Michelle Steel, the incumbent, also may be regretting endorsing Harkey on Sept. 5.

By Steven Greenhut

SACRAMENTO — We all would laugh at a man who, sinking in millions of dollars in house payments, car loans and credit card bills, decided to fix his cash-flow problem by looking for nickels, dimes and quarters lurking underneath the sofa cushions.

Likewise, we should shake our heads at the way the state of California — groaning under a budget deficit approaching $16 billion and hundreds of billions of dollars in unfunded pension and retiree medical benefits — is stepping up tax collection to help plug a hole caused by its chronic overspending.

I met Tuesday in Santa Ana with about 12 owners of catering trucks — mobile eateries that sell mostly Mexican food — and they told a disturbing tale of how the state’s Orwellian-named tax agency, the Board of Equalization, is targeting and mistreating them. The business owners assembled in the room blamed their tough times more on state tax authorities than on the economy.

The truck owners say the state is handing them tax bills for tens of thousands of dollars, based on unrealistic estimates of their taxable sales. When you buy food at the trucks, a burrito and Mexican-bottled Coca-Cola (the kind with real sugar, rather than the icky corn syrup) may cost, say, six bucks. That’s all you pay, as opposed to a restaurant, where state tax would be added onto the transaction. The trucks don’t collect a per-item tax, but owners later estimate their sales and send their money to the tax man.

Unrealistic estimates

The BOE, truck owners say, used to tax them based on realistic sales estimates and used to account for the fact that many of the items they sell are nontaxable. They say the BOE also used to work with them to make their tax bills and treated them respectfully.

No more.

Desperate for cash, state officials now concoct unrealistic estimates of food sales and employ heavy-handed tactics, the truck owners said.

To make matters worse, the truck owners say police harass them — due, in part, to city officials who don’t like having the trucks around. Every city has different rules for placement of permits on the truck, and most of the owners report getting multiple citations for minor infractions. Each citation can cost $700, which can eat up days’ worth of taco sales.

The people I met with spoke mostly Spanish, which was translated for me by Lou Correa, the Santa Ana Democratic state senator who organized the group at my request. I promised to print only the first names of the attendees because of their fear of retribution from authorities.

“It reaches the point where you have to think about your health,” said Veronica. “They filed lawsuits against me. They said they would charge me as a criminal in court. I’m out of business. I sold my truck. There are people out there who get government aid who are driving brand new cars. They come after a person like me, who is not asking for anything. As long as I have two feet and two hands, I want to work.”

Welfare

Officials suggested to one truck owner that he apply for benefits from the welfare office. That’s just like California these days — hardworking people are ill-treated, but there are plenty of benefits available for those who prefer to live on the dole.

Many of those I met with told stories of long waits, complicated audits, confusing instructions, unhelpful officials, of bureaucratic indifference. Some also said the state tax agency reports violations to the IRS, which they say, can trigger a federal tax audit.

Those who work other jobs have their wages garnished to pay the state.

“We were paying an acceptable amount, and then the state needed more money,” Gilberto said. He told me that this is a group of mom-and-pop business owners who cannot afford attorneys and accountants.

I talked to the Board of Equalization’s Michelle Steel, the elected official who represents Orange County on the tax agency. She promised to pull the records of the truck owners and see what can be done to help them.

At the gathering in Santa Ana, one man blurted out the word “pensions.” Everyone laughed. In English or Spanish, these business owners understood that the state is shaking them down for money to pay for its reckless overspending, on programs including six-figure pensions for many government employees.

Concern for the poor

The state Capitol is controlled by liberal Democrats, who frequently invoke concern for the poor, working-class people and immigrants to justify spending schemes. Yet here is another example of how these officials, lawmakers and bureaucrats, put the demands of the well-paid and powerful public-employee unions over the needs of cash-strapped immigrants and working people.

State officials refuse to tackle solutions for the pension debt or rein in public spending. Indeed, they are busy approving fanciful projects such as high-speed rail. Yet, the state has no money. This is the end result of an infantile progressive movement that refuses to make hard choices, always blames the private sector and figures that higher taxes will solve every problem.

Sen. Correa also planned a meeting with owners of nail salons, who say they are being targeted by state regulators for large fines based on picayune regulatory violations.

I’m not arguing that small businesses shouldn’t pay their fair share of taxes or comply with reasonable rules, but it’s a sad day when the state government treats them like criminals – or like a piggy bank.

Read those surveys of business owners, including at least one that ranked California last in the nation in terms of business friendliness. The owners don’t complain so much about the state’s high tax rates, but about the prevalent attitude in which they are treated with hostility by authorities.

I love California. But if I depended on a catering truck for my living, I’d fill it up with my belongings and drive to Nevada.