Termed-out assemblyman to consult

Alicia Robinson

Termed-out 68th District Assemblyman Ken Maddox announced this week

that he has opened a consulting firm in Dana Point. Maddox Government

Relations has already had its first success, he said, managing the

campaign of Janet Nguyen, a former Maddox staff member who was

recently elected to the Garden Grove City Council.

“I enjoyed the campaign, developing the message and the campaign

strategy and working with the candidate, but the part I think I

enjoyed the most was actually mentoring the candidate,” said Maddox,

a Republican who served three terms in the Assembly and lost a March

primary for a state Senate seat to Assembly colleague John Campbell.

As a consultant, Maddox also wants to work on government advocacy

at the local level, focusing on issues such as public safety and

redevelopment projects. He’ll help candidates get elected, but he’s

not expecting to run any campaigns on his own behalf.

“There was no greater reward for me than the opportunity to serve

in the legislature,” he said, but as for a return to office, “I’m not

so sure that’s in the cards.”

Cox not bound for the

White House as guessed

President Bush on Wednesday picked White House counsel Alberto

Gonzales to replace Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft, debunking yet another

speculation on a new job for Newport Beach Rep. Chris Cox. Ashcroft,

who had a major part in crafting the Patriot Act, resigned Tuesday,

the day after New York Times columnist William Safire mentioned Cox

as a possible contender for Ashcroft’s job.

Safire’s other incorrect picks were former Solicitor General Ted

Olson, senior appeals court judge Laurence Silberman and former

Deputy Atty. Gen. Larry Thompson. Already this year, Cox lost out on

the CIA director spot, but he shouldn’t despair. With more Bush

cabinet vacancies expected, he’s sure to be mentioned for all kinds

of positions he won’t end up getting.

Helium sale could help sink country’s deficit

Because of a 1996 law Cox wrote, ordering the federal government

to sell off its helium reserve, a deal on the reserve is expected to

be the third most lucrative sale of a government industry to the

private sector in history, a statement from Cox said.

The reserve has been around since 1925, when blimps were still

commonly used, but by the mid-1990s, it was obsolete and more than $1

billion in debt. The law requires the government to end its helium

operations and sell its stockpile by 2015.

The sale is expected to fetch at least $1.8 billion, which will

place it third on the list of high-valued government industry sales,

bumping the 1987 sale of Conrail for $1.65 billion to fourth place.

The $3.65 billion sale of the Elk Hills Petroleum Reserve in 1997 and

the sale of U.S. Enrichment Corp. in 1998 for $3.1 billion will

remain atop the government sales list.

Costa Mesa City Council race still a nail-biter

Don’t expect Costa Mesa Planning Commissioner Bruce Garlich to

have any fingernails until after Nov. 30. The City Council candidate

may be biting them until all ballots are counted and county election

results from Nov. 2 are certified.

Garlich narrowly missed winning one of three council seats, but

the vote gap between fourth-place Garlich and fellow Planning

Commissioner Eric Bever, who won the third seat, has been shrinking

as the Orange County Registrar of Voters adds the votes from absentee

and provisional ballots that are still being counted. Garlich is only

88 votes behind Bever.

“I got all kinds of calls in the last several days telling me

where I stood,” Garlich said. “It’s kind of nerve-racking.... I’m

guardedly hopeful, but I’m trying not to get my hopes too high.”