Simple Explanation for Most Recent 'Claims' Against Nick

The desperation of Andrew Hamilton to save his political future by ensuring the election of Dwight Robinson to the Lake Forest City Council has reached desperation level. Writing under the pen name “James Ross,” Hamilton as Ross has avoided all City Council issues that might defend his preferred candidate – for example, writing about the causes that Robinson has championed (there are none) or that Robinson voted in the best interests of residents by supporting the county’s high-kill animal shelter (conveniently left off any campaign literature produced by Robinson because maybe it didn't reflect the will of the people).

Ross/Hamilton described Councilman Adam Nick as “slimy” in his most recent rant and is throwing everything he can at the community wall to see what sticks, focusing on his self-described “educated” guesses to fill in the gaps of financial records, political strategies, and business actions involving Nick and Leah Basile.

In other words, he doesn't know the answers so he's making stuff up in order to prove his theory.

Additionally, the Ross/Hamilton arguments lack context that would provide value to the reader; instead, he focuses on sound bytes and salacious writer’s license so that Robinson and Hamilton don’t lose the Council majority they have exploited to control the mayorship and the issues that come to a vote before the Council – Saddleback Ranch Road improvement, for example.

There’s no mention of Robinson’s voting record, no mention of his accomplishments, no mention of his vision for the community (spoiler alert: houses, lots of houses). Ninety-seven percent of Robinson’s campaign contributions through Sept. 24 came from Political Action Committees representing developers.

Among Ross’ latest stories is Adam Nick’s “ABC License/FTB Suspensions keep campaign in downward spiral – can he ever recover.”

Downward spiral? Nick kicked Robinson’s backside in the candidate forum because his Council record is far superior, and Robinson was forced to lie about his past, claiming he didn’t lie on his campaign statement, that he voted in opposition to some of his campaign contributors, and that he kept his campaign promises.

It has been a week since the candidate forum, and Hamilton raised his camera phone above the audience every time Nick and Basile spoke, yet nothing has yet to appear on one of Hamilton’s copycat Facebook sites that has routinely mocked Nick and used the aforementioned sound bytes to create a community of hate toward the popular business owner of the Grab-N-Go 24/7 convenience store and gas station. And why hasn’t Hamilton posted anything from the candidate forum? Because he knows Nick and Basile killed it. You can view the forum here.

On Tuesday nights in Lake Forest, Nick listens to the people who elected him and Robinson does not; there’s no evidence to suggest otherwise.

As for the supposed suspension of sales for five days by Alcohol Beverage Control that Ross/Hamilton asserts? The document Ross cites spells out that it was “stayed,” which means nothing happened, a fact Ross/Hamilton omitted from his story.

Nick explained what happened.

“Several years ago, a beer salesperson took it upon himself to install a couple of illuminated signs directly on my windows, not at least three feet away,” Nick said. “ABC was notified by ‘someone’ last September and they came to inspect. They asked me to move them back to at least three feet away from the window, but I just removed them altogether. They could not help but issue a suspension. However, given this was nothing serious and I had no part in it, the order of suspension was stayed upon issuance. No fine. Nothing to it.”

Ross also dredged up a business incorporated by Nick that was “suspended” by the Franchise Tax Board for “failure to meet tax requirement (e.g., failure to file a return, pay taxes, penalties, interest).”

The financial information was not filed, Nick said, because no money ever changed hands; there was no income and no expenditure. It was simply a company Nick created and had plans for, but decided not to follow through with, he said.

Hamilton/Ross further describes Nick as “slimy” and unethical while failing to address his own candidate, Robinson, whose business overloaded 758 cargo containers and placed them on trucks that endangered motorists on the freeway; for that, Robinson’s business pleaded no contest and paid $64,402 in fines and penalties. He also fails to cite Robinson’s position on the South Coast Air Quality Management District as the Orange County representative; there, Robinson is able to enact laws that benefit his business on the piers in Long Beach and Los Angeles, which is what he did a couple months ago when he cast the deciding vote to relax regulations relating to air quality. Conflict of interest from the candidate who says campaign contributions don’t affect his vote?

Because there was only one candidate forum scheduled, and because “James Ross” is clearly on the opposite side of the political vision for the city, I offered to debate Mr. Ross publicly with his rules, his moderator, his format, his time and location, for the benefit of his charity. All he had to do was prove he’s James Ross of Lake Forest. So far, there has been no response from Ross because he doesn’t exist, and Hamilton can’t afford to be uncovered for even more deceitful behavior than he's already shown, such as secretly videotaping women and posting on his website.

About the author: Martin Henderson won several Los Angeles and Orange County press club awards while an editor at Patch in 2012-13.