Guest Opinion | Bill Paparian: Why I’m Supporting Antonovich for State Senate

In 1992 as a second term Pasadena City Councilman I ran against Mike Antonovich for the LA County Board of Supervisors finishing second in a crowded field of candidates. I don’t agree with many of Antonovich’s political positions but I am supporting him in the race for State Senate because he has always been an elected public official of solid integrity who has consistently delivered reliable constituent services. His opponent, Anthony Portantino, is a washed up political has been.

During his tenure in the Assembly, Portantino was one of the worst abusers of the gift laws in Sacramento. He earned a reputation for greedily taking everything he could. He was the recipient of thousands of dollars in free meals and booze and travel. But the real insight into his mendacious character comes from an examination of what happened once he was termed out in the California Assembly and began flaying about searching for another political office. Rather than return to his alleged career as a “filmmaker”, which a review of his credits on the internet movie database reveals is a sham, he actually attempted to run for Congress in three separate districts in less than one year: On February 28, 2011, he declared himself a candidate for Congress in the 26th Congressional District against David Dreier; six months later he declared for Congress in the 32nd District against Grace Napolitano; finally, he campaigned against Judy Chu in the 27th District.

Then in 2012 Portantino declared himself a candidate for State Senate against Carol Liu in the 25th District then switched over to the 21st District filing a declaration against Steve Knight in the Lancaster-Palmdale area, then back to the 25th District. By the time the election is held in November he will have been campaigning for 4 years! Along the way he has become increasingly desperate and actually engaged in voter fraud in a Democratic Party caucus. Previously, this was considered a little inside baseball, but this year, everyone knows what a caucus is. The fraud was so bad that the Democratic Party overturned the results.

Does he have any record of political achievement? Not really. Portantino was an avid supporter of SB 731 in 2008, which forbade our local communities from regulating massage parlors. Thus, houses of ill repute sprung up in our neighborhoods, which became hubs for human trafficking, ruining our property values and the lives of young women. No one wants houses of prostitution in their neighborhoods. This became a huge problem in cities throughout the district, and fixing it became a huge priority for local pols, like my former Pasadena City Council colleague Chris Holden.

Portantino’s shameless opportunism manifests itself in his unbridled pandering. He’s been breathlessly running around the community, from one free chicken dinner to the next, pretending to be everyone’s friend when in fact he’s a friend to no one. The glad handing shenanigans of this unemployed former Assembly member has continued unabated for 4 years. Thankfully on election day it will finally end when we elect Supervisor Mike Antonovich to the State Senate.

William M. Paparian
Attorney at Law