Erin Kutnick’s Blog

I never aspired to be in politics, but somehow I’ve found myself right smack in the middle of it.  My desire to make things better, my willingness to speak up, and my intolerance for abuse have lead me to become involved in many different causes over the years.  All the way from Homeowners and PTA to School Board and now the Republican Central Committee.

I’ve been a Republican my whole life believing in limited government, fiscal conservancy, and local control just to name a few.  For the past several years though I’ve seen the party step away from many of it’s beliefs and engage in a power struggle of some type that is not really helping any of us out.

Earlier this year when I was frustrated with yet another poor decision coming from the Republican Central Committee, I called one of our local legislators who immediately suggested that if I was unhappy, I should run in June and try to make a difference.

So here I am.  Number 14 on the ballot for Republican Central Committee in the 73rd Assembly District.  I haven’t spent a great deal of time campaigning, but I am letting everyone know that if they too are frustrated with the Republican leadership in Orange County, then please vote for me.

For more information, go to
http://www.smartvoter.org/2010/06/08/ca/or/vote/kutnick_e/

Election is June 8, 2010!

I was at the Registrar of Voters this morning when over 65,000 signatures were submitted in the effort to recall Trustees Winsten and Maddox.  There was no official notice but we are pretty sure that this is the fastest that any recall of this type has been submitted in Orange County.  The ability to gather that many signatures in 60 days just proves how disatisfied people are with the current school board.

This effort, which began in January has been very exciting from the standpoint of how many volunteers came forward to help with the process.  I’ve had the opportunity to meet so many wonderful dedicated parents, teachers, and community members during this process as we have all come together to work for a common goal.

We need 22,000 valid signatures in order for the recall to qualify for the November ballot.  The registrar has until June 28 to count and verify the signatures.

The volunteer group, Parents for Local Control, announced late yesterday that they have already collected over 60,000 signatures in their effort to recall Trustees Winsten and Maddox.  That is more than 30,000 per trustee in less than two months! WOW!

This is truly amazing considering it was an all volunteer effort and accomplished in such a short time frame.  The group is now organizing all the petitions while they continue to gather signatures and will then turn them into the Registrar of Voters in a few weeks to be verified.

It seems very encouraging that with this many signatures, the recall should easily qualify for the November ballot.  Some folks suggested that they continue to get signatures and wait for a special election (like Winsten, Maddox, and Beall did in 2008) which would make the recall a guaranteed success but in the end, no one wanted to rob the school district of money the way that Maddox did when he was elected.

I’m very proud to have worked with some of the amazing volunteers who coordinated this effort and look forward to voting for new trustees in November.