Tip of the Hat to David Markland: Check Out His Blog about Bernie Parks' Website Steal

Just wanted to point out that David Markland's blog California Faultline (which he writes for KNBC) is probably the best source for news about Bernard Parks' website steal:

A few days ago, the Parks campaign wrote me saying they had contacted Uyi Ogbeide with 2 Way Star, their web designer, who “assured” them that “he did not commit any violations.”

Bullshit. They're just passing the buck. Again.

The Daily Breeze Just About Sums It Up

The Breeze has a fascinating look at the race:

"He's got years more education on the issue of health care," said Jim Lott of the Hospital Association of Southern California. "Parks is reading the Ridley-Thomas playbook and taking pages out of it. He's got a lot of learning to do."

That's just it. Like with his website, Bernard Parks routinely steals from other politicians. Why? Because his usual disposition is towards passing the buck incompetence.

What Happened at the LA Times?

Disappointingly, they endorsed Bernard Parks, but their rationale made little sense.

Parks' views on business and economic issues generally coincide with the market-based approach favored by this page. But we note with concern the focus placed on the business-versus-labor aspects of this race -- a focus that comes primarily from business and labor groups themselves. True, several prominent business groups back Parks, and unions are largely with Ridley-Thomas, but neither candidate is a one-note shill for interests that support him. Ridley-Thomas, for example, has support from business and development interests that appreciate the hard work he has done in the City Council and in the Legislature. He was instrumental in the recovery of South Los Angeles after the Rodney King unrest, and helped defuse potentially destructive tension with his Days of Dialogue series. He established the Empowerment Congress, which put his constituents more firmly in command of their government resources.

For his part, Parks has shown tough-mindedness and independence, holding his ground on issues involving public employee contracts and resisting the council stampede into such questionable areas as dictating a special minimum wage for workers at hotels near Los Angeles International Airport. As a frequent critic of LAPD Chief William J. Bratton, Parks has been the chief's nemesis, but he also has offered promising hints of his supervisorial potential, namely his defense of open records and proceedings, two areas in which the LAPD today is less forthright than it was under Parks.

I think the LA Times forgot about Rampart, which it mentions earlier in the article. Then, he was oh so open and public about what happened. Not like he executed the biggest cover-up in LAPD history and then passed the buck about it.

And what's up with the LA Times' fair and balanced slant? Can they read their own article with a straight-face? Parks isn't just a shill for business, he opposed labor unions, too? Are they serious? That's not a fair and open-minded view--that's just a reflection of his consistently opposition to bettering the lot of working people.

KNBC's Blog Covers Parks' Website Steal

Even KNBC's blog is getting in the game:

Make no mistake about it - the designer knowingly copied Obama’s page.
After reaching out to Parks office for comment, Bernard C. Parks, Jr. replied, “The Parks for Supervisor Campaign hired 2-Way Star, Inc. to do the website. And, we are actively attempting to investigate the allegations.”
I pressed for an answer as to how Parks and his campaign site didn’t notice the similarity between their site and Obama’s, especially considering Parks boasts that he was one of the first people to endorse Obama, and photos of the two together are featured on the site.

Parks, Jr: “Since we were made aware of it, we’ve been trying to make contact with the company. So far we’ve been unsuccessful.”

While Parks, Jr. did give me an email he said was for the designer, he has yet to answer how this designer was chosen, and if the site was paid for. An message sent to the email given for the designer has not been returned.

It's unfortunately typical for Bernard Parks. It's more passing the buck incompetence. As he tries to cover for why he's dishonestly posing as a big Obama backer (while running against a co-chair of the Barack Obama campaign), he and his campaign insist that it wasn't their fault. It was someone else's fault.

Just like how Rampart was someone else's mess.

My Friend Called Bernard Parks About the Website

My friend decided to call Bernard Parks' campaign to ask them about their website, and why it still contained links to BarackObama.com. He spoke to Domingo, the contact person for their campaign on the website, who denied any knowledge of that and insisted it was a software-related bug that he had never encountered before.

Because, of course, by using a Mac, any link anywhere automatically links to BarackObama.com. And it wasn't written about on a Los Angeles Times' blog. It's just some glitch related to using Safari, not a link to

Pathetic, just pathetic.

Especially when you consider that Mark Ridley-Thomas has a history of honestly supporting Barack Obama, from before there was an Obama bandwagon. He was supporting Obama back in 2007, before Iowa, before February 5th, before Obama looked like the next President. Mark Ridley-Thomas was a co-chair on Obama's campaign. He hosted two Obama events, the Walk for Change in JUNE, 2007, and the Vote for Change Registration kickoff just a few weeks ago. It was at the Walk for Change that I first met Senator Ridley-Thomas, and he consistently worked to elect Barack Obama, even loaning his chief of staff, Vincent Harris, to work on the Obama campaign as the state Political Director. It's not surprising that many of the leaders on that effort are now supporting Mark Ridley-Thomas, because Mark Ridley-Thomas has a record of honestly supporting progressive change while Bernard Parks...

...well, to put it lightly, Bernard Parks doesn't have that record.

Bernard Parks Now Impotent: More on Bernard Parks' Illegal Campaign Donations

Bernard Parks has accepted $21,800 in contributions from contractors with business before the MTA. As Supervisor, Bernard Parks would have to make decisions about those contractors. That would be in violation of SB 89 "Limits on MTA Contributions":

Prohibits any member, alternate member or employee of the MTA
from making a decision, or participating in, or using his or her
official position to influence, a contract decision if they have
received a gift or contribution of over $10 in the past four years
from the participant in the contract decision or his or her agent.

In other words, because of Bernard Parks' own actions, he would either be rendered absolutely impotent as a Supervisor when dealing with the very pressing and dramatic issues of transportation policy like the Red Line expansion or Bernard Parks would be breaking the law.

No word yet on whether Bernard Parks broke the law in accepting those contributions in the first place, but we'll keep investigating.

Parks Violating the Law with Illegal Contributions?

We have reports that Bernard Parks may be violating campaign finance law by accepting contributions from MTA contractors with business before the LA County Board of Supervisors.

More as we look into it...