(8/31/2010, Los Alamitos)When our seven City Council candidates turned in their paperwork, they also were given the opportunity to submit a statement for the sample ballot and a Candidate Information sheet.
Although it cost a maximum of $1,400 to have a candidate statement translated into whatever languages are required for Los Alamitos and printed in all sample ballots, the Information Sheet is free.
The sheet indicates it’s purpose is “to provide information to the general public,” and candidates are asked to “Please fill out any item you are willing to issue to the press as public information.”
Surprisingly,one candidate, Dean Grose chose to submit no information–he didn’t even complete the sheet.
Equally surprising, to me at least, were the 4 questions Troy Edgar and Constantine “Dean” Zarkos left blank.
I understand why a candidate may not want to release their children’s names and ages, or even their home address, those weren’t the questions Edgar and Zarkos skipped.
What Troy and Constantine “Dean” did skip were
- Number of years in city:
- Civic Activities:
- Volunteer work:
- Hobbies/interest:
Obviously, Dean Grose skipped those four question and all others.
Here are the answers of all 7 candidates to the first of the 4 questions, in alphabetical order by last name:
Number of years in Los Alamitos
Troy Edgar: Declined to state
Gerri L. Graham-Mejia: 46 years
Dean Grose: Declined to state
Warren Kusumoto: 10 years
Brad Sheridan: 14 years
Johanna Schleuter: 24 years (25 in January)
Constantine “Dean” Zarkos: Declined to state
Why?
In Dean Zarkos’ case, it’s pretty simple. Although Dean Z’s been active in the Los Al Unified School District for several years, he’s done so as a resident of Seal Beach. He moved into a Los Alamitos condo owned by his adult daughter just months before being appointed to his City Council seat by Troy Edgar and the two Council Members that Edgar and Grose worked so hard to elect in 2008.
I remember that meeting well. As a citizen I felt that Mr. Zarkos was one of the two weakest of the five people the Council nominated to replace Dean Grose, quite possibly the weakest.
Two Commission Presidents were nominated, Brad Sheridan (who had been elected unanimously to Chair our Traffic Commission three times) and Pete Carvajal, Chair of the Parks and Recreation Committee, and a man who had both Marilyn Poe and Ken Parker signs in his yard in the 2008 election–a peacemaker who could build bridges.
The other two nominees were both long time Los Al residents with strong qualifications (click here for our 2009 post on the Grose replacement nominees)
Zarkos was no doubt still unpacking boxes from his move when he was appointed, and probably still has a few he hasn’t unpacked.
Troy Edgar has at least lived her for the four years since he was elected, but he moved here from Rossmoor not too long before announcing his candidacy.
I recall some controversy about Troy’s residency statements in some of his flyers about his residency back in 2006, but am not clear on the details. If you have the details and can confirm them, please post them in a comment.
Apparently, he didn’t want the press to release to the public how long he’s lived in Los Alamitos. Rather surprising for someone who talks so much about “transparency” on the Council.
As my mother always said, “Actions speak louder than words.”
Dean Grose‘s reluctance to disclose any “public information” is equally surprising for someone who also used to speak glowingly of “transparency.” After the negative national attention his actions drew to our city a year and a half ago, I can see why he might want to stay out of the limelight, but if that were the case, he shouldn’t have run for Council.
I hope to get another post up based on the Candidate Information Sheets within the next seven days.
As always, your comments are appreciated, but please use polite language, be diplomatic, and try to stick to the facts and issues. All points of view are welcome here, and hopefully we can use the interchange to build more bridges than walls.
Related posts:
Troy Edgar: Declined to state
Gerri L. Graham-Mejia: 46 years
Dean Grose: Declined to state
Warren Kusumoto: 10 years
Brad Sheridan: 14 years
Johanna Schleuter: 24 years (25 in January)
Constantine “Dean” Zarkos: Declined to state
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure this one out.
I don’t think Edgar really can remember who he told what about his actual time lived in Los Al. Several people say different years.
Same thing for Zarkos. He did a few things for the high school and that’s his claim to fame.
He got Grose’s seat because he used to work with Lisa/Lisette a former poster and sometimes toothbrush waver at the city council meeting. He was a ringer brought in to round out the 4-1 vote. He does his puppet job very well. I’m not sure who will get puppet of the year, to close to call for Zarkos or Stephens.
is “declined to state” spelled the same as “carpetbagger”?