You know he won't leave in 4 years to be Governor! Chiang for Controller!

John is one of those elected officials I know personally. He is maybe one of the nicest people in the Democratic Party. He is also chicken shit which is why I almost didn’t issue this endorsement.

John originally entered the race for Treasurer – back in 2003. I was on the Executive Board of the Democratic Party of the San Fernando Valley when we made a huge mistake and did a record early endorsement in the race.

Then Bill Lockyer dropped out of the Governor’s race – even though he never officially entered it – in 2005 and announced he was running for Treasurer. Seemingly within the same day, John announced he was changing offices as did his other Treasurer opponent who has since dropped out all together, Dario Frommer.

He entered a race in which Orange County Senator Joe Dunn was already a declared candidate. Joe Dunn is a pragmatic liberal from conservative Orange County who is most notorious for “cracking Enron.” He was a successful trial lawyer before entering public office. With his record in the legislature and his hugely successful legal practice, he’d make an excellent Attorney General in a race that could use at least one decent candidate. Unfortunately, he’s running for Controller.

John on the other hand is a member of the Board of Equalization. The BOE is an ambiguous elected body that controls much of the state’s finances. Prior to his election to the BOE, he worked for the BOE. Oh, and the BOE works hand in hand with the Controller. This is probably the perfect fit for him. Except I’ve never heard him give a non-chicken shit answer as to why he made the change.

He’ll be a great Controller. Joe Dunn would make a great Attorney General. Unfortunately, only one of them is running for the right office.

To download the full version of Brian's Big Voter Guide 2006, click here! The voter guide is a PDF document with all of my recommendations and explanations.