Dirty Campaigning for Dee Andrews in the LB Primary Race

By Shayne M. Whitehead/ 
Shayne Michael Whitehead/ 
LB Resident since 1996. 
MacArthur Park resident since 2004. 
Home owner/ CERT volunteer/ 
Long Beach Leadership Candidate/ 
Etc 


This is a breakdown of the following website: http://www.bestchoice6th.com/

Before I start it's deceitful, mean spirited and if Dee Andrews and they mayor don't condemn it they should both step down. 

I'm going to skip over why I'm personally offended by it, and paint a picture that I hope makes District Six voters very angry.

The cover of this website, which boasts it costs less than $20, therefor no disclosure is required was accompanied by flyers that said they were paid for by Mike Simphenderfer, 19611 Bellflower. Simphenderfer. The author appears to be a mortgage broker at that address. 

Here's his profile on Zillow. Here's the entry page to the website that requires no disclosure.

Look at the pictures, all of these candidates have appeared a functions dressed to the nines. Somehow Robert Harmon has a dorky smile and a Hawaiian garb. Erik is kinda dressed like a thug. And Josephine is painted as a floozie. Here's some background on why Josephine is puckering up in that picture, she had just found out her cancer was in remission and no more chemo was required. 

If you've seen what cancer does to people, you might forgive her that. Here's how easy it would have been to find a nicer pic of any canidate:

ROBERT HARMON: Candidate Page

Let's take a look at what the website says about Robert Harmon, whom I cannot support, but I still find the website offensive. Harmon, for the record feels we need a stronger police presence.  I understand those who fear the police and those who fear we have turned them into the enemy. What does the link say when you click on Robert? It's a single image, that shows a black man being attacked by police in full military gear.

Here's the source of the image, which I find offensive to associate with either candidate.


FERGUSON, MO - AUGUST 11: Police force protestors from the business district into nearby neighborhoods on August 11, 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri. Police responded with tear gas and rubber bullets as residents and their supporters protested the shooting by police of an unarmed black teenager named Michael Brown who was killed Saturday in this suburban St. Louis community.

What do you think is the intent of linking the Ferguson Riots with any District Six Candidate? 

By any chance is this an appeal to racism and reactionary behavior? 

I personally can't stand Robert due to his behavior in my district and neighborhood, for reasons I have kept to myself because I was honoring the same candidate oath they made Josephine Villasenor took,: and I still find this flyer over the line.

Way over the line.

Let's break down how this flyer treats everyone else. 

ERIK MILLER: Candidate Page

I knew I recognized the image used with Erik. I wanted to say it looked roughly like a character in a Charles Dickens Novel. Fortunately in inspecting the element Mike chose to to rename the picture. So what is Erik Miller being associated with? 

A Carpet Bagger. 

What is a Carpet Bagger?

"Carpetbagger" was a pejorative term referring to the carpet bags (a form of cheap luggage at the time) which many of these newcomers carried. The term came to be associated with opportunism and exploitation by outsiders. The term is still used today to refer to a parachute candidate, an outsider who runs for public office in an area where he or she does not have deep community ties, or has lived only for a short time. 

Some other terms that come up rather quickly when you search for images related to Carpet Baggers are sharecropper, scallywag, reconstruction and Grandfather Clause.

Why does the flyer say this?

The flyer itself says Miller has been in District Six less than 124 days. Or it implies it by asking how long have you been our neighbor. Miller grew up in my neighborhood across from Antioch Church and later moved to Wrigley. Both are in District Six. I am pretty sure hundreds of church members can verify the flyer here is just plain false.

The flyer asserts he's not part of any sixth district neighborhood associations. Unless they're nonprofit organizations many neighborhood organizations do not have formal membership lists. That doesn't mean the resident hasn't attended. Has Erik been at Neighborhood Association Meetings? Yes. I know I saw him at both Wana and Wrigley Association Meetings, with both other candidates.

Based on my personal observations: that's also false.

JOSEPHINE A VILLASENOR: Candidate Page

How is it interview Josie says she's been in Long Beach for 15 years and in the neighborhood for 11? Well for starters Long Beach has more than one neighborhood. Josephine lived in Wrigley for about eleven years, prior to that she was in Bixby Knowls and the border of Lakewood. Mike Simphenderfer could have turned that ? into an oh moment if he had bothered to contact her at work, Facebook, her candidate page etc: but that isn't what lazy journalists with an agenda do.

Let's look at the picture you that shows Josie on the cover of the website:

It really makes her look bad. But let's go to the source and look at some of the hashtags that were associated with that photo.

Here's the text Mr. Simphenderfer and I use that term lightly, left out: "
Don't care! Love my body, love my mind, love my soul, you can say and spread the lies but I am who I am, I know me, you just know the lies. Event Planner, Party Set Up Team, Pinup Model, Community Watch Leader, Writer, don't touch my star get your own! ;)♡♡♡ ☆ #pinup #simplydivine #pinupstyle #simplydivinevixenpinups #simplydivinepinups #longbeach #longbeachcity #smallbusiness #localbusiness #partystore #parties #rockabilly #rockabella #pyschobilly #plussizepinup #pinups #supportjosephine #wrigleylbc #wriglife #wrigleylongbeach #wrigleyneighbors #wrigleyneighborhoodcommunity #wrigleycommunitywatch"

For some reason, 77 people liked that picture. It may have to do with abusive people who turn self-acceptance into an excuse to attack people.

But now let's add some context. Around this time, Josie was undergoing chemo for Stage Two Cervical Cancer. She had recently learned the cancer was in remission and would undergo no more chemo and not have to endure radiation therapy. At the same time, someone in the Wrigley Association was spreading rumors about her and she basically said, "F you, I love myself." 

There are also pictures of Josie in this album volunteering for Ready Long Beach, the Special Olympics and watching over family. These pics didn't make the cut, but a picture from MySpace made the website.

Let me repeat that: From MySpace

Here's the picture when you click on Josie's name at the bottom. 

To give you an idea how old this photo is, it's from MySpace from around 2006.  That means in the picture is roughly ten years old. It also means, Mike Simphenderfer went as far as MySpace to find something to make her look as bad as possible and play into bigorty against gay an lesbians.

I would of course expect that from a crusader for those who are sexually abused. Take a picture like that, make it public, because you find it demeaning. What's what a crusader against sexual abuse does? Right? 

Let's Really Break Some Things Down

I'm including the video where Mr Simphenderfer because it shows one of the attributes of a hypocrite. This video is about protecting victims of abuse and neglect. Josie was a victim of abuse and neglect. You ignored the photos of her making the dean list. Here are some photos that did not make the cut. I'll lay off the videos of her dressed nicely, since I already shared them. And I won't go looking for pictures to demean your friends and family, because I am not a jerk.

But now that I've started breaking down misleading information, let's break down some outright lies. And then let's apply this same screening process to Dee Andrews and see how he fairs. Let's breakdown what is false and misleading. Let's breakdown what, once applied to Andrews, Andrews doesn't fair so well.

Since the flyer is airing dirty laundry, making an issue out of what would happen if we looked for unflattering pictures of Andrews, brought up his criminal record and then started quoting him out of context. 

Andrews has a criminal record for the sale of Cocaine. His first conviction is in 1984 for selling to an undercover police officer. Earlier campaign flyers assert he has a felony conviction for possession of Cocaine in 1995, 1997 and 1998. 

Andrews first registered in 1999, after his last conviction. At the time he was 57. His tenure with City Council started nine years later. Why bring this up? Because the flyer makes when you register an issue for Erik Miller: therefor it's an issue for everyone as far as I am concerned.

Now, in the past references to Andrew's drug convictions have been labeled a smear campaign. The author of this flyer calls out Miller for not attending public forums. In 2008, Andrews calls anyone who challenged him for failing to appear at the NAACP Forum for running a smear campaign. If you live in District Six you might want to read some of the damn comments regarding his drug convictions. 

Then ask yourself why Central Long Beach has such an issue with violence.

You don't know about the violence? Let's paint a picture.

But wait!  Andrews was endorsed by Long Beach Teachers, the Fire Department and Police. First look at the homicide map of 90813. Look at these stories. 

• City’s 2015 Year-End Crime Statistics Released; Confirm Rise in Violent and Property Crime
• Long Beach's Poorest District Also One of its Most Dangerous
• A Tale of Two Cities in Long Beach

And then realize that TALB, the Fire Department and the Police Union endorsed Andrews without reaching out to another candidate. Now, if you have a 2015 that is that bloody, with that much violence and that much division, you would think, someone would have asked the other candidates, "Hey, you got anything different for us?" 

Even if it was just for show. 

The comments of many of the articles related to the Cocaine arrests indicate they happened very close to when Andrews worked for the Long Beach school district. TALB not even interviewing the other candidates is negligent, especially when students and teens are getting shot or are doing the shooting

What is Wrong With This Map?

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The unions all endorsed Andrews without reaching out to the other candidates

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While Josie and I were actively fighting to end the loitering at 17th and Alamitos, I was getting emails from the LBPD that Andrews was actively defending that loitering. No I will not share which officer, but I have copies and can prove this.

That ended with two murders on 17th street on both sides of Orange. When I wanted the Press Telegram that loitering was going to lead to violence and Andrews was working against me, the next day there was a murder. I have copies of that email which I share below. 

The Press Telegram never so much as emailed me to ask, 
"Wow, how in the hell did you predict that?"

The Fire Department that endorsed Andrews trained two candidates for the Community Emergency Response Team: CERT. One had been active with the Fire Department through Ready Long Beach, the Christmas Parade and the Daisy Lane Parade. 

I know for a fact, two out of three candidates never heard from the Fire Department. Not only that, the Fire Department Union demanded Josephine be taken of the flyer for the Irish Heritage Festival, which she helped organize, or they would take their charity elsewhere. The organizers fortunately told the Fire Department no.

That's the kind of behavior I would expect from a five-year-old that's still acting like a three-year-old.

You would think after Erik Miller became a mentor and director for Operation Jump Start and The PEACE League the Police Department would have at least reached out to him. But then the City might have to address the map's I just shared. Josie organized a community watch that actually patrols the streets, because in many cases the police weren't. She wasn't contacted either. Mayor Robert Garcia was warned that violence is impending at 17th and Alamitos. 

Do you think there was a return email? In fact, notice Mayor Garcia's fan page, doesn't even have an email option anymore.

What does this mean: Despite the drug convictions, conflict of interest with the schools and the increased violence: the unions that endorsed Andrews never reached out to anyone else. Do you find that negligent? I do!

When I sent that letter to the press predicting violence at 17th an Alamitos above, I expected the murder the next day to bring the police to my door. I expected them to start asking for my alibi. 

It never happened. Nobody is listening, at least not in Central Long Beach.

What A Carpet Bagger is Meant to Invoke

Do you want this to continue?  Do you really want to support a canidate whose supporters link his opnents with pejorative terms, from the Civil War?

We're driving businesses out of Central Long Beach due to licensing fees, we're crushing jobs and have nearly three times elected a driver who is, at the very best, asleep at the wheel at the worst is ignoring the violence on purpose. 

It is time for a change. 

The flyer what was released here was shameful. Moreover, if paid for by Andrews or any on his campaign, it's a violation of LB fair campaigning laws. 

Josephine, Erik and Robert all had to sign pledges not to run a smear campaign. In the past Andrews has been "smeared," for drug convictions and a failure to vote. Andrews supporters are smearing his opponents for failure to vote and not attending neighborhood meetings.  They are associating them with the Ferguson Rots, Civil War Carpet Baggers and general hatred and bigotry directed at gay and transgender people.

When I first got involved with my neighborhood, getting Dee Andrews to answer an email was worse than pulling teeth. It never happened until I went to every last press outlet and stated outright, these are the issues I see in my neighborhood and Andrews won't answer hi email. Well, as long as I pay 8,000 in property taxes, I'll be damned if any City Council Rep is going to bully me into keeping silent. 

No matter who is elected to the 6th District they will be held to every promise they ever make. Both myself and Josephine A. Villasenor promise this. Also if you're annoyed the police department endorsed Andrews without bothering to reach out to the other candidates, here's a great place to talk with them about it. 

And to the Mayor and Dee Andrews. We are your boss. You said at the Candidate Forum: the word that describes you is Service. If you  This flyer doesn't spell service: it spells abuse of those you serve. I am closing this blog with a promise and a challenge.

* No promise you ever make to the residents of District Six will ever be forgotten. If you fail to keep it, I will be there to hold your feet to the fire. Josephine will be there beside me. 

* And if Dee Andrews and Mayor Robert Garcie do not denounce the flyer for the hate filled, anti gay/ racism it conveys and they should both step down.   

Minor Update:: We're going to start working to prevent this from happening again, by putting an end to exceptions to good laws.

One more promise, the next time anyone ever bullies me out of speaking out for my neighbors/ neighborhood/ the next article will be more in a lot more depth than this one. In case you're wondering: I'm holding things back. 

Update Two: The website is down. FYI the creator and whoever financed it: A domain usually takes more than $20 to reserve. #2: I have the whois information from ICAN. #3: I downloaded every piece of the website and had lots of friends including tech experts take digital shots. I am encouraging the candidates to take legal action since much of the information was misleading, mean spirited and or outright false. The definition i of libel is printing damaging information to a person's reputation that is false.

Here's what happens when you elect a City Council Rep asleep at the wheel for 12 years: http://lbpost.com/news/crime/2000008630-one-dead-in-shooting-long-beach-s-macarthur-park-neighborhood#disqus_comment 

Again. That's right about where those emails warned Garcia, the police and the press about. Maybe I need to purchase a billboard and put i on the public right of way.  

The Wrigley Association: Candidate Forum

Tonight the Wrigley Association hosted a forum between all six District Six City Council Candidates. Unlike the last write up, here I'm simply going share what each said about themselves that stood out in a brief paragraph. The forum was attended by about thirty to forty people. Questions were chosen by the association and by the audience for specific candidates. 

Josephine A Villaseñor hails from Whittier. She became involved in the community after forming the Wrigley Community Watch. Villaseñor who has her BA in business management with an emphasis in Early Childhood Development. She is also a member of the Community Emergency Response Team, a Red Cross Volunteer and a fund raising event coordinator chief for the VIDC at the Veteran's Hospital. When asked how to bring life back into the sixth district, Viillaseñor said her top three goals would be addressing homelessness, public safety and lessening restrictive business environment. For instance, in Signal Hill where license fees are $55 instead of the $400 they are in Long Beach. She also stated if we expected businesses to support our community, our community needs to shop locally and support out businesses. When asked how she'd get along with other members on City Council, Villaseñor replied when I patrol, I patrol Districts 1,2 ,3, 4, 7 and six. I don't see borders, I just see a community.

Erik Miller who asserted the sixth district had not changed since he grew up at 14th and Walnut across from Anioch Church. Miller, who left the neighborhood to get his degree in architecture, would later return to the Wrigley Community. There he became involved in the Gang Reduction Intervention Task Force and Operation Jump Start. He also helped fund the PEACE Basket Ball League. When asked which of Dee Andrew's votes he disagreed with, Erik cited the cutting of funding to Long Beach Police. In order to restore funding, Miller supports the Mayor's one percent sales tax increase. At the forum, if he won the April 12th Primary would first sell that sales tax increase to the public.

Robert Harmon. grew up in Seal Beach. He didn't go to college, he went to war. He's a veteran of Desert Storm who started the MacArthur Park Neighborhood Association. Harmon, who credits himself with driving the gangs out of MacArthur Park, said that to raise funds for police, safety and infrastructure we would need to take a hard look at the city's financial choices. In he end, he called the one percent a bitter pill. Harmon cites deferred maintenance in the district as the reason sand stated we would either pay for it now or pay a lot more later. Harmon, who attended every meeting of the Anaheim Corridor Re-Visioning, had submitted his own Cambodia Town Beatification Project, to several neighborhood stakeholders and stated it could be applied to every Long Beach corridor.

Dee Andrews is a 69 year resident of Central Long Beach. He is the incumbent City Council member in District Six. He has termed out, however the City Charter allows him to seek a third term as a write in candidate. Much of the time Andrews was responding to criticism. Several challengers cited a lack of change in his district during Andrew's tenure. Andrews called this a weak argument that "Ray Charles could see through." When asked why he should be re-elected Andrews stated he had just gotten the ball rolling and would like to be there when  his plans and projects come to fruition. According to Andrews one of the reasons for the budget short fall in past years was an over reliance on income from oil companies. And because of this, some hard choices had to be made.  Without cutting 200 jobs in public safety we might have had to cut 700 jobs that were tied back to the infrastructure.

The Primary Election will be held on April 12th, 2016. You can register to vote withe the City Clerk's office. You can also vote early by mail or in person at the City Clerk's Office. We're still going to cover the race for the LBUD board and the board of college trustees. And there will be a Go Long Beach Run soon. But spoiler alert: Jessica Alvarez, gets our support for LBUSD School Board due to her involvement with bringing Safe Passage to the Westside. We'd like to see it expanded to Franklin and Washington Middle Schools ASAP. That would have a huge impact on safety here in Long Beach, and it would do so very quickly.

Looking At the 2016 City Council Candidates

There was a Candidate's Forum on 03/02/2016 at the Long Beach Public Library. Among the district's Long Beach will be voting for are the 2nd, 4th, 6th and 8th District City Council races. Last night's forum featured all ten City Council Candidates.

The vote on April 12th will be for for the Long Beach City College Trustees, LBUSD Board Members and four City Council races. 

This write up will focus on the City Council Candidates only. We will cover the Board of Trustees and LBUSD Board races at a later date. During the debate each candidate was asked three questions prepared by the Neighborhood Leadership Program, which put on the forum. Each candidate was also asked one question from the audience and given a chance to provide a closing statement.

These are paraphrases of the candidates' answers, not direct quotes. We're not being subtle, the candidates we're endorsing have a star next to them.

District Two:

Erik Gray

What is the most important quality a leader should have? Vision. I believe the 2nd District is a District in transition. From 7th to Pine to the Promenade the city should elect someone with a vision to bring the District to a better place.

Do you support the mayor's one cent sale's tax? I support putting the sale's tax on the ballot. There are different ways to get funds as we're developing and we need to make sure our initiatives are business friendly.


What is the most important issue facing your district? Chose several issues but added parking. Altimos Beach residents may get home from work and need to drive  45 minutes to find a place to park.

Why we picked Erik Gray. Aside from being endorsed by everyone, Gray comes off as very down to earth, sincere and has already been very involved in the community before running for council. Of all the second district candidates Gray seems to be the best balance of the how to support business and the community as Downtown Long Beach grows.

Jeannine Pearce

What is the most important quality a leader should have? Integrity. Council members, wherever you reside must allow a seat at the table for everyone.


Do you support the mayor's one cent sale's tax? Supports the tax. Our number one priority needs to be supporting police and fire as our density increases.


What is the most important issue facing your district? Homelessness. We need a value base budget process. 

Joan Garnica

What is the most important quality a leader should have? Integrity. Somebody with integrity will embody all the 14 qualities a leader would be expected to have.

Do you support the mayor's one cent sale's tax?  Was less supportive of the idea. I am concerned that we need long term funding. We need to put ourselves in a place to succeed.

What is the most important issue facing your district? Parking, I am the only candidate who has imporved parking in the Second District. I would also say public safety and making sure we have a connected community.

District Six:

 
Josephine A Villaseñor

What is the most important quality a leader should have? Courage. It takes courage to stand up to the gangs, it takes courage to stand up to the violence, it takes courage do what's right for the community.

Do you support the mayor's one cent sale's tax? I support the sales tax. I'm a part of the Community Emergency Response team and we need to put our police, fire and first responders first.


What is the most important issue facing your district? The most important issue is the gangs. We need to stop them from recruiting from our elementary schools. That's why I started the Wrigley Community Watch which has grown from one person to 35 patroling not just District Six, but District's 1,2,5,6 and 7.

Why we picked Josephine Villaseñor: Every candidate running for sixth District listed public safety as the District's number one concern, Josephine is already very active within the community having been a part of CERT, the American Red Cross and forming a large community watch group in Wrigley that has dealt with everything from drug dealing to human trafficking.

Erik Miller:

What is the most important quality a leader should have? Accountability. 

Do you support the mayor's one cent sale's tax?  There's no question that there's a lot of violence in the Sixth District. You know when you've entered District Six and you know when you leave it.

What is the most important issue facing your district?  Violence in the 6th District.


Dee Andrews:

What is the most important quality a leader should have? Service. Service has been lacking in my community. Often times, they get to you when they get to you.

Do you support the mayor's one cent sale's tax?   Any dollar is a good dollar. Crime is up but, crime is up everywhere. A clean city is a good city.

What is the most important issue facing your district?  Our number one issue is public safety. But I don't think a lot of people know what it was like in the 90s.

Robert Harmon

What is the most important quality a leader should have? Integrity. Integrity is more than just a word, it defines a person. You have to do what is right all the time.

Do you support the mayor's one cent sale's tax?  It's a bitter pill we have to take. We have to do the right thing. We have infrastructure that needs to be maintained; it’s been deferred, we pay now or we pay later

What is the most important issue facing your district?  Why do people graduate without any financial literacy skills. Let's extend a ladder for people to move up and become home owners.




District Eight:

Al Austin II:

What is the most important quality a leader should have? Courage. It takes a lot of courage to run. Every word is scrutinized by the public and the press especially in a district like the 8th.

Do you support the mayor's one cent sale's tax?  I voted in support of this. This is about infrastructure and public safety. What do we put a value on. Long Beach is on the verge of becoming a world class or a third world city.


What is the most important issue facing your district?  What is the most important depends on where in the district you live. We already spend 70% of our budget on public safety. For those close to the airport the most important issue is airport noise.

Why we chose Al Austin. It's a close call between Austin and Turnbow. In the end, Turnbow's comment about negotiating hard with the unions, seems to imply more police at the expense of lower pay for police and fire. And we think that's a lot to ask of anyone who builds a career out of risking their life for their community. We also don't find it realistic.

Wesley Turnbow

What is the most important quality a leader should have? Accountability.   I want to bring Town Hall meetings where we connect citizens with City Council.

Do you support the mayor's one cent sale's tax? You must address crime, cities and sidewalks but you don't do it with short shortsightedness. We need to do things that are business friendly or businesses won't come up our city.

What is the most important issue facing your district?  Public safety. We have to negotiate hard with the unions to prevent cuts to police and fire during trying economic times.


Laurie C. Angel

What is the most important quality a leader should have? Respect. You have to respect the process, the neighborhoods, citizens, each other and the public.
 
Do you support the mayor's one cent sale's tax? The sales tax was not vetted in the businesses. We'll have the highest sales tax in the city and there is no guarantee it will be spent on public safety.

What is the most important issue facing your district? Safety. It's a long term and a long range issue. This starts with the youth by giving them constructive things to do and growing up understanding right from wrong.

About Early Voting

There are two options for voters who can't find time off for the April 12th primary vote. The first of those options is mail. Long Beach resident's can also vote early by going to the County Clerk's office and voting in person. 

Both options will be open starting on 03/14/2016. Both of these options are meant to fight off the disappointing turn out Long Beach saw in 2014 when only 14.2 percent of registered voters turned out for the primary vote.

The only candidate that did not sit at the table and get questions from the moderator was Daryl Supernaw, who is running unopposed. Instead Supernaw gave a three minute statement in between the candidate's answering these questions and the Q and A with prospective members of the LBUSD School Board.