The Insider sees no clear favorite in the scramble for sheriff. Here are the odds on who the supes will tap: Jack Anderson, 3:1,high marks for his bold moves as acting sheriff, but “guilt by association” with the Mike Carona regime and concerns over whether he could win over rank-and-file deputies; Santa Ana Police Chief Paul Walters, 3:1,political connections a double-edged sword; L.A. County Sheriff Cmdr. Ralph Martin, 3:1, “Clean Gene” reputation; Anaheim Deputy Police Chief Craig Hunter, 5:1,dark horse; former OC Sheriff Lt. Bill Hunt, 100:1,support of the deputies union a big plus in a ballot-box election, but a non-starter with the supes; the Interpol guy or any of the other four dozen candidates, 10:1,the national search does not appear to have produced a “wow” applicant …
Advising the sheriff candidates: John Lewis for Walters, Dave Ellis for Martin, Adam Probolsky for Anderson, Sinan Kanatsiz for Hunt …
Cal State Fullerton biz dean Anil Puri is the economist, but it’s his wife Sharon who spotted a negative turn in a key indicator. Puri says she began warning him a year ago that supermarket prices were on the rise. But because the Consumer Price Index was barely moving, “I told her, ‘No, the economists know what they’re doing.'” Now Puri says, “The CPI is not a good measure.” Puri recently revised downward his OC economic forecast: No recovery until mid- or late-2009 and another 10% to 15% drop in the next 18 months in home prices that are already down 20% in the past year …
Blame Craigslist: Uncertainty prevails at the OC Register. “We are still profitable,” says Scott Flanders, CEO of Irvine-based parent Freedom Communications. Home delivery and retail ads have actually ticked up and the strategy of zoning ads “is working.” But he acknowledges the discouraging prospects for near-term revenue growth or an economic recovery is adding difficulty to next year’s hoped-for buyout of Freedom’s private equity investors. Most troubling is the industry free fall in help-wanted ads and other classified advertising. Flanders says the Reg has lost two-thirds of this lucrative business in the past three years; the Insider estimates the annual revenue drop at $50 million to $70 million, leaving roughly $200 million in total ad sales. The Reg recently announced more layoffs and reported a 12% year-to-year drop in daily circulation; Reg officials said most of the circ loss was intentional as the paper cut back on hotel copies and other unprofitable distribution …
The Insider hears the L.A. Times may be faring even worse than the Register …
Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle has been criticized by some groups and fellow council members for opposing housing development in the resort district. But tell that to the National Association of Homebuilders. Pringle’s market-based incentives to spur housing elsewhere in the city have earned him the association’s Local Official of the Year award.
