Saturday, October 22, 2016

Bobko Sets Record Straight: Muratsuchi Did Nothing for Hermosa Beach

Patrick "Kit" Bobko, former mayor of Hermosa Beach, worked with his colleague Michael DiVirgilio to ensure pension reform.

They also teamed up to protect Hermosa Beach from a bankruptcy inducing settlement in court following the city's decision to ban oil drilling in the city.

And yet ... in spite of all their work, Al Muratsuchi and his dwindling number of supporters claim that the fired former assemblyman did much of the work to stop drilling and save the city.

Kit Bobko


Here are Bobko's words on what really happened.

Where was Muratsuchi?

Dear ER:

George Orwell wrote “He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past.” I was recently reminded of this quote when I got a piece of campaign mail from former Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi and Hermosa Beach City Council member Stacey Armato suggesting that Muratsuchi’s opponent, Assemblymember David Hadley, was a responsible for the prospect of oil drilling in Hermosa Beach. 

Now this is the stupidest lie yet. Who would even begin to believe such nonsense?

This assertion is 100 percent false. Muratsuchi, not Hadley, was a member of the state’s legislative majority when our city was facing the prospect of an adverse judgment at trial and inevitable bankruptcy (and possible city-hood disincorporation?). Muratsuchi, not Hadley, was our representative in Sacramento when the trial against Macpherson and its $750 million damages claim was coming to a head in March 2012. 

That's right. How quickly Democrats forget!

One would think the financial extinguishment of a constituent city would be enough to move an elected official to action, particularly when the injury would come at the hands of (gasp) an oil company. But it wasn’t. Muratsuchi didn’t sponsor any last-minute bills to protect Hermosa Beach. He didn’t do anything at all. If he was so gravely concerned about oil drilling in Hermosa Beach, this would have been the time to help. I know this because I was on City Council and we asked. Muratsuchi left Hermosa Beach to fend for itself.

Stacey Armato


I will ualify this comment. Muratsuchi floated an emergency loan to cover the $17.5 million settlement, but rescinded within weeks. It was a PR stunt. Nothing more. On principle, why should the entire state pay for the settlement of one city, especially one with such a high retail index and some of the wealthiest residents in the state?

Miraculously, the City Council was able to settle the case, and in 2015 Hermosa’s voters decided to pay off the $17.5 million settlement instead of allowing oil drilling in our community.

Which brings us to the present, and Muratsuchi and Armato’s mail piece, which would have you believe David Hadley is the real life incarnation of Daniel Day Lewis’ character from “There Will Be Blood.” Hadley had nothing to do with the Macpherson settlement or the oil vote in 2015. The truth is Hadley had as much influence over oil drilling in Hermosa Beach as my mailman. Maybe less.

Exactly!

Understandably, it is politically expedient for Armato and Muratsuchi to revise the history of the oil issue, now comfortably (and rightly) in our city’s past, and claim credit for a victory neither had any hand in winning. But it’s unfair and untruthful to accuse Hadley of something he didn’t do. Don’t be fooled by their mail. And don’t let the people who are in control of the present rewrite the past to control our future.

Kit Bobko

Final Reflection

Stacey Armato and Al Muratsuchi are engaging in some slimy politics.

Should anyone be surprised?

We don't call him "Oil Muratsuchi" for nothing!


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