Nell Soto (1926-2008)

Former state senator and assemblymember Nell Soto passed away Thursday. She was 82.

Soto represented California's 32nd Senate District and stepped down last March because of declining health. Soto also served on the Pomona City Council from 1986 to 1998.

The Daily Bulletin has an article by Mediha Fejzagic DiMartino about Soto's life and political career. It quotes Soto's granddaughter, Danielle Soto, who herself was elected to Pomona's City Council this past November:

In 2007, Danielle spent her summer break working with her grandmother in Sacramento where she gained first hand insight to the legislative process.

"I was grandma's right hand woman," Soto said. "If you needed an appointment you had to go through me."

Some of the lawmakers would tell her "I remember you when you were just this high."

Danielle accompanied Soto to the state capitol every day and attended floor sessions with her.

"That was very good political education," Danielle said. "To see the way she was viewed at the state level, her professional manner, because she was just a grandma to me."

When Danielle was elected last year to the same seat on Pomona City Council, her grandma was happy and supportive.

"She told me `Just listen in the beginning, don't form your opinion, listen and learn'," Danielle said.

"I'll miss the benefit of her wisdom and knowledge ... But I'm just going to miss her more as a granddaughter."

The LA Times Dumbs Down

On Saturday the Los Angeles Times' California Section had a profile of Pomona Mayor Norma Torres. The article, by Times reporter Paloma Esquivel, did a very poor job of presenting a balanced view of Torres' record as mayor.

The Times piece was really a campaign kick-off for Torres, and we think the Times owes an apology, as well as equal coverage, to the other candidates running to replace Nell Soto. And we're not the only ones who feel this way. Ed Barrera at the Editor's Corner, a San Gabriel Valley Tribune blog, had a blurb about the Times article.

John Clifford at M-M-M-My Pomona also wrote about the piece and said:

An obvious PR piece in the news business is usually called a "puff" piece and this certainly qualifies. How anyone can spin the mayor's "feud" with chief Romero as a positive, really doesn't understand the outrage of the community.

Esquivel's article claimed that Torres is "considering a run for the state assembly." But it's no secret (except to the LA Times) that Torres is running, and the seat Torres is seeking, the 61st Assembly District, is occupied by Torres' mentor, former Pomona Mayor Nell Soto - another fact omitted from the Esquivel piece.

The article also barely touched on the feud Torres started with Pomona Police Chief Joe Romero, who is generally well-liked by Pomonans. And it completely ignored the fact that Three Valleys Municipal Water District board member Xavier Alvarez would never have been elected had Torres not endorsed Alvarez. Alvarez, as most of you know, is facing federal criminal charges for lying about having won a Medal of Honor. Alvarez also falsely claimed he was still married to his ex-wife so that she could get medical benefits from Three Valleys. Alvarez is also the fellow who is defending his behavior by arguing in court that he has a First Amendment right to lie.

The Alvarez affair alone should disqualify Torres from running for higher office. In endorsing Alvarez, Torres indirectly aided in the perpetration of a fraud on the the people of her city, and she was responsible for a highly qualified and experienced incumbent, Luis Juarez, losing his water board seat. Yet, no mention of any of this in the Esquivel article.

Torres' patron, Nell Soto, herself came under the spotlight last year when she missed months of Assembly legislative sessions due to illness. Although she remained at home in Pomona, Soto continued to collect tens of thousands in per diem for living expenses. Soto's absence wasn't really noticed locally until the Foothill Cities wrote about it.

As we've written in the past, the type of political machine that produced Torres seems to encourage incompetence because the people at top generally don't want to be shown up by surrounding themselves with underlings who might be smarter or more talented. Consequently, there's a gradually dumbing down of the process: Nell Soto begets Norma Torres begets Xavier Alvarez. With each iteration, the quality of leadership is diminished. We've seen this happen here in Claremont over the years, and it's hell pulling the community out of the pit that's been dug.

The LA Times and their reporter not only missed the pertinent facts behind their story, they also failed the voting public with what is at best lazy reporting and at worst a use of the paper as an adjunct to a political campaign. We expect better reporting from a national paper like the Los Angeles Times, and we trust they'll not repeat this sorry performance in the future.

Soto, Torres, and Alvarez do not emerge out of a vacuum, and the Times ought to devote its resources to understanding and explaining what is really happening here rather than presenting a People Magazine profile in its news section.

In the meantime, if you really want to catch the Pomona Troika, you can see them hawking themselves nightly on the Home Shopping Network:

AS SEEN ON TV!
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Soto Announces Retirement

The FC Blog noted Thursday that Nell Soto announced she is not going to run for re-election due to her ongoing health problems.

The Daily Bulletin also ran an article by Will Bigham about Soto's decision. Since the seat is considered in a safe Democratic district, the matter will likely be decided in the June Democratic primary. Bigham reported that a number of Democrats have filed papers for the primary:

Soto cited health issues in a news release announcing her retirement. She has been absent from Sacramento since September.

"As much as my heart and mind want to continue in public service, my 81-year-old body is in need of less stress and a less vigorous schedule," Soto said.

"On the advice of my doctor, this time I am going to listen to my body and not my heart."

Several Democratic candidates have filed papers to run in June's primary election for her seat: Pomona Mayor Norma Torres, Cal Poly Pomona and Chaffey College professor Ken White, Ontario-Montclair school board member Paul Vincent Avila and Maurice E. Ayala.

The FC Blog has done a really stellar job reporting on Soto's lengthy absences from the assembly dating back to last year when they were the first ones to write about the matter.

Incidentally, former Claremont Courier reporter Gary Scott has a blog called Reporter-G and recently mentioned the FC folks. Scott has moved over to public radio and is producing Warren Olney's two shows, "Which Way LA?" and "To the Point."

Soto to Retire?

Centinel at the Foothill Cities Blog came across a news bit from Capitol Alert, a Sacramento Bee website that covers state government, reporting that Assemblywoman Nell Soto (D-Pomona) has missed every legislative session since September and that she may not run again in November.

The FC Blog first broke the story last year that Soto had been absent from the Assembly for a couple months due to health problems and that she had continued to receive per diem during her absence. Soto, who was at her home in Pomona while she was sick, returned to Sacramento, but apparently has had additional health problems.

The Capitol Alert piece noted that while she was absent in 2007 Soto collected $22,032.00 in per diem for travel and living expenses (for an apartment Soto maintains in Sacramento). So far in 2008 Soto has collected $10,000 more.

Capitol Alert noted that ever-ambitious Democratic Party superdelegate and Pomona Mayor Norma Torres, is ready to seek Torres' seat:

Norma Torres, a Democrat, is laying the groundwork for a run in preparation for Soto’s potential retirement.

“To date, she has not pulled papers. I am getting ready,” said Torres. “The primary is just around the corner.”

This Friday is the deadline for incumbents to file for re-election. If Soto does not file, the deadline will be extended one week. The Democratic primary for Assembly District 61, which is considered a safe Democratic seat with a 12-point registration advantage, takes place on June 3. No Republican has filed for the seat.

Torres said Soto's deteriorating health prompted her to consider running. The legislator has battled multiple bouts of pneumonia since her election in 2006, [Soto campaign aide Mike] Lewis said.

“That’s one of the reasons I started exploring this and talking a little bit about what it means,” Torres said.

Capitol Alert also indicated that Torres will have some competition with Maurice Ayala, the son of former Chino state senator Ruben Ayala, for the seat. Ayala High School in Chino Hills is named for Ruben, who served in the state . You can read the Capitol Alert article here (registration required).

Torres for Assembly?

A reader sent us a link to California List, a political organization that describes itself as "a political network to elect Democratic women to California state government."

The organization's website posts the California List newsletter. The February 11th edition is interesting because it lists Pomona Mayor Norma Torres as a candidate for the California Assembly's 61st District, which includes Chino, Montclair, Ontario, and Pomona:

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Torres, you may recall, has had a rough past year, feuding with Pomona Police Chief Joe Romero and having Xavier Alvarez, the person she endorsed for the local Three Valleys Municipal Water District, arrested on a federal charge of falsely claiming to be Medal of Honor recepient.

Torres is seeking the seat currently held by Pomona's Nell Soto, who preceded Torres on the Pomona City Council (1986-1998) and on the State Assembly (1998-2000 and 2006-2008). From 2000 to 2006, Soto served as a State Senator.

Soto herself had some problems last June, when she was discovered missing in action because of health problems that were well-chronicled in The FC Blog.

Wikipedia's entry for Soto also had this to say about Soto's sick time in 2007:

Controversy

In 2007, Soto was not in Sacramento for 25 days while she was out sick, but collected a total of $22,032 as a per diem that is supposed to be for travel and living expenses - as long as the Legislature is not in recess for more than 3 days in a row. Soto's office defended her taking the money, claiming that she was entitled to it because she has to maintain an apartment in Sacramento and "The rent for the apartment wasn't waived by the landlord" while she was at home recuperating, as explained by her Chief of Staff, Paul Van Dyke.

If the California List information about Norma Torres' candidacy is true, perhaps Soto's health and/or age (she's 81) may account for her not running again since she is not being termed out from the Assembly.