Bolsavik.com

Actually, it’s gotten so it’s not even funny any more.

Former OC supervisorial candidate Hoa Van Tran’s financial disclosures sill have not figured out that there’s a problem with all the money and noncash contributions they get from VHN-TV.

Let’s go through this one slowly.

VHN-TV is also known as Viet Hai Ngoai TV. (”Hai Ngoai” means abroad, and there’s also a “Viet Abroad TV” but that’s not the same one.)

In Hoa’s reports for the period March 18 to May 17 — both the original and the amended — VHN is shown to have contributed a total of $2,600:

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Remember how the Bolsavik said (here) that the candidates in the June elections still had to file another financial disclosure statement even though the election’s over?

August 1 was the time to file. The reports by Janet Nguyen and Dina Nguyen are now online. Here and here. Hoa Van Tran’s isn’t yet. The latest filing available for Hoa is a late contribution report dated June 2, 2008. <The Bolsavik’s mistake — the limit is $1,600 not $1,500.>

Dina showed no new contributions and some outstanding balance. Janet raked in another $10k after the last filing. The advantage of winning, probably.

But there’s something funny (funny funny, not funny hah-hah) in Janet’s filing.

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The OC Superior Court this morning extended a temporary restraining order against Hoa Van Tran’s campaign manager to June 23. Chris Prevatt of The Liberal OC posted his entry here, and Jubal of Red County/OC Blog posted here.

The TRO against Edgardo Reynoso (pictured) resulted from an accusation that he tried to run former campaign staffer Courtney Rychel off the freeway (read here).

It had been set to expire at the hearing on a preliminary injunction this morning. However, Rychel asked for more time to hire a lawyer, and the court granted it.

As Misha Houser recounted to the Bolsavik, the attorney for Reynoso attempted to have the extension shortened. (more…)

Commenter Tien Huynh here asked the Bolsavik to issue this reminder, which the Bolsavik thinks is a good idea:

Now would be a really good time for Dina Nguyen and Hoa Van Tran to issue public statements congratulating Supervisor Janet Nguyen (pictured) for her well-earned electoral victory, and that Dina and Hoa are both open to help Janet with any issue that benefits the people of the First District.

And right after that would also be a good time for Janet Nguyen to issue a statement praising Dina and Hoa for being very tough and worthy adversaries and that Janet is looking forward to working with Dina and Hoa to make the First District a better place.

And then everyone should say this: “You know what, I didn’t mean it about you being a communist.”

Kumbaya.

This young man, whose name the Bolsavik failed to get (sorry!), showed off his athletic skills while watching the returns at Hoa Van Tran’s campaign office on election night.

His enthusiasm does not reflect the low number Hoa was getting. The candidate was garnering around 15% of the votes and wasn’t even in the office when the Bolsavik got there, and neither was his boss Phu Do Nguyen. His campaign consultants Edgardo Reynoso and Kimchi Nguyen were there, though, as were a lot of supporters milling about on the balcony. Paul Lucas, a former Democratic candidate for Assembly and now a controversial figure among Democrats, was heading out just as the Bolsavik pulled in to the parking lot.

Things were a little livelier at Dina Nguyen’s (pictured right) campaign headquarters, across the street from the Asian Garden Mall (”Phuoc Loc Tho”).

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Art Pedroza over at The Orange Juice broke the news that Edgardo Reynoso (pictured), the campaign manager that brought beaucoup problems to the Hoa Van Tran for Supervisor campaign, just filed a lawsuit against the women who accused him of trying to run one of them off the freeway.

Now, one of the women, Courtney Rychel, already has a lawsuit arising out of the same facts pending before the same court. So why didn’t Reynoso just file a cross-complaint in that lawsuit instead of filing a separate one? Who knows.

Rychel was a staff member in Hoa Tran’s campaign and is currently an intern in the offices of the Democratic Party of Orange County. The other defendant, Misha Houser, has accused Reynoso of various forms of harassment and physical threats.

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Hoa Van Tran (above, with staffer Kimchi Nguyen to his left) got off scot-free tonight when the Democratic Part of Orange County’s central committee voted not to rescind its endorsement of the only Democratic supervisorial candidate.

The meeting took place at a union hall in Orange, and who sat in the corner of the parking lot checking people who enter it, but two policemen in a squad car. No doubt related to the temporary restraining order against Hoa’s campaign manager Edgardo Reynoso for trying to run a woman off the freeway.

The decision was arrived at after three votes on three alternative motions. The first motion sought to take the whole thing off agenda, and was voted down after a tie-break by the chair Frank Barbaro.

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Chris Prevatt at TheLiberalOC.com reported here that the Orange County Young Democrats withdrew its endorsement of Hoa Van Tran, the only Democrat running for OC Board of Supervisor, First District (actually, any district).

Quote from the OCYD’s press release:

“Our organization placed our trust in Tran in the belief that he would run a clean and honest campaign for Supervisor.  His campaign staff’s behavior is embarrassing the reputation Democrats have in reaching out to minority groups in Orange County.  Therefore, we are withdrawing our endorsement of him for the First Supervisorial District election.”

Bensley went on to say, “Our endorsement means little if we support any and all Democrats, regardless of their merits.  We are not blind partisans that willfully disregard wrongdoing within a campaign.  We look forward to supporting a candidate for Supervisor that can genuinely represent the issues that young people are concerned with in the future.”

The press release, apparently drafted in a hurry, doesn’t identify who Bensley is. Nothing in the press release indicates whether Hoa Van Tran had the opportunity to address the OCYD before the endorsement was withdrawn. Considering that Tran’s own campaign wouldn’t let him speak, even if the OCYD didn’t it wouldn’t seem too bad….

Yeah dude.

Return that money.

Don’t violate campaign finance laws.

The Reg’s Martin Wisckol posted his interviews — three same questions for the three First District Supervisorial candidates. Janet Nguyen here, Dina Nguyen here, Hoa Van Tran here.

Told you to let Hoa speak.

See what he says about the next sheriff.

He can enunciate his position much better than his so-called “message control” one-french-fry-short-of-a-happy-meal henchman.

(Granted that he didn’t do his homework about some of the biggest issues facing the Board of Supervisors. But then again neither did Dina. But whatever Hoa needed to say, he said it, and said it well.)

Too bad Hoa allowed himself to be controlled.

Sorry Hoa, if you let people to do that do you, you have no one to blame but yourself when your campaign self-destructs.

You know what people say about not dating where you work? Yeah, the same thing applies to the running of your campaign.