So are you scratching your head over my State Senator, Lou Correa, being locked out of his own office?  Well, there’s plenty of outrage from left to right in Orange County on this episode. And since I don’t want to say too much more about this, I’ll let you read what everyone else here in OC has to say about this nasty incident after the flip…

Chris Prevatt on The Liberal OC:

Well, Perata did spend a lot of money buying the office for Lou. I guess he can change the locks if Lou doesn’t do his bidding. That is why they call it “being bought and paid for.”

Lou had to know that the Perata controlled money, spent in the primary and general elections, came with a leash and collar.

I believe the dog-tags read something like “Senator Lou Correa”
“If found astray Call Don Perata”

But seriously, how much more childish can Perata get? He’s got a serious “Caesar” complex. Locking Senators out of their offices!

Apparently, Don hasn’t read much Shakespeare, he should know better than to piss off Senators.

Jubal/Matt Cunningham on Red County/OC Blog:

One of the strangest aspects of the Don Perata/Lou Correa lock-out episode is that Perata would go so far to punish a man he personally recruited to run for the state Senate.

Perata lobbied Corea [sic] long and hard to give up a supervisor’s [seat that] he’d held for less than two years in order to run in a bruising primary against Tom Umberg, which led to an even harder-fought and mega-expensive general election against Lynn Daucher.

Perata raised and spent millions to elect Lou Correa to the state Senate, so it’s surreal to witness this petty act of tyranny because Lou had the nerve to help raise money for a moderate Democrat caucus.

Bladerunner on Red County/OC Blog:

Getting yanked off juicy committees and being moved into tiny offices is the usual stick thats applied(I imagine Curt [Pringle] has some memories of his original home on the 6th floor and ask Arambula how he likes his closet). Locking them out completely does appear petty and is over the top. It could be that perata is still insecure about his position, which he won by one vote in caucus.

You’re right,it is surreal Jubal. Perata elected to go with a more electable but unpredictable Correa over a less electable and more predictable Umberg. he shouldn’t be surprised–he got what he paid for. Locking Lou out of his office is not going to change his independent ways.

Dan Chmielewski on The Liberal OC:

Perata would be smart to get to know Lou better; and Lou should be more proactive too. Locking someone out of their office is nothing but childish and doesn’t help us.

And finally, Claudio Gallegos on Orange Juice:

… Don Perata’s actions should be condemned by all the Senate Democrats and Assembly Democrats. This behavior amounts to nothing more than a temper tantrum and it should not be tolerated. Does Don Perata have any political sense at all?

First off, he was the one who coaxed Correa into the State Senate race to begin with. It was no secret that Correa was the most conservative of all the Central OC Democrats. Second, Correa has a right to attend whatever fundraisers he wants to. If its for our team, moderate or liberal, I have no problem with it. Third, instead of alienating Correa, he should be giving him with whatever he wants. Correa took one for the team, he and his family went through hell over the past year and in the end he WON. He barely allowed the Democrats to hold onto the 34th SD, Perata is the one who owes Correa. This treatment is inexcuseable. Villaraigosa went all out to help Correa win in 1998 and made sure he was well taken care of so the 69th would become a safe Democratic district. If Perata was focused on actual strategy and leadership instead of blind control, he would be working to make the 34th safer and make it so Correa coasts to re-election in 2010.

Instead, Perata made a series of stupid decisions. First, he screwed Lou on his office budget, allegedly because Correa raised no money for Perata. HELLO PERATA! You do realize he had the toughest legislative race in the state. Every cent he raised he needed to fight off a very tough Republican candidate. Lets face it, he may have a real challenge in 2010. What Perata should have done is shower Lou with all the money he needed to run a good district operation. Lou should have gotten money to open TWO district offices and hire staff for EVERY city in his district. Instead Perata only saw things in black and white and decided those who paid the tithe got the big bucks, those who did not pay the tithe did not.

So before anyone else calls me some “corprocrat”, or lectures me on “party discipline”…
Well, tell it to everyone here in Orange County!

Hopefully, this is the last that I’ll have to say about this sad episode. Lou’s back in his office, and hopefully Perata won’t pull any more stunts.

“This morning, I kissed my children goodbye, dropped my daughter off at school, got on a plane, got here, found out I was locked out of my office,” said [Senator Lou] Correa, D-Santa Ana.

This is what Lou told Brian Joseph at The OC Register when asked about the lockout. Yes, you heard me right- Lou Correa, along with Sens. Gloria Negrete McLeod (D-Chino) and Ron Calderon (D-Montebello), were locked out of their own offices. And why? Because Don Perata was being a brat.

Follow me after the flip for more on this nonsense…

So why, again, did Senate President Pro-tem Don Perata lock my State Senator out of his office? And why were the other two locked out? Well, the three of them committed the “horrible sin” of attending a fundraiser for fellow moderate Democrats.

Perata, D-Oakland, declined to discuss the matter with reporters, saying it was an internal matter. But the Capitol buzz, including an Internet posting by Orange County Republican Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, said Correa and Sens. Ron Calderon and Gloria Negrette McLeod were shut out because they attended an event for moderate Democrats last week.

Moderate Democrats like Correa and the others sometimes support positions that are contrary to the official stance of the Democratic Party or its leaders. Perata has said he would not tolerate any members of his party organizing to block its agenda.

OK, so Lou’s a moderate Dem. And yes, he sometimes votes against legislation that I and other progressive Democrats support. Yes, we may not always agree with Lou. But lock him out of his office? Is that really a proper, grown-up response? And oh yes, this wasn’t even about a vote… It was about some silly fundraiser!

So why is Perata punishing Lou like this? Even after Calderon’s office was reopened yesterday, and McLeod’s office was reopened yesterday, Lou’s office remains locked. So long as Lou’s office remains locked, he can’t work for all of us in Orange County very effectively. He can’t receive our phone calls, or work on writing response letters to us. He and his staffers can’t decide on what legislation to support. Basically, we can’t have our Senator work for us, and we have Don Perata’s ego issues to blame.

Now I first found out about this lockout on Red County/OC Blog. And while I usually don’t agree with any of their right-wing agenda, I do have to thank Assemblymember Chuck Devore (R-Irvine) for his graciousness and compassion here.

Since my office is on the same floor as Sen. Correa and Sen. Calderon, I walked by a couple of minutes ago to check, and, sure enough, Sen. Correa’s office was locked. I stopped by Sen. Calderon’s office next and found it just opened and staffed by one tight-lipped staffer who seemed none too pleased.

I’ve called Sen. Correa on his cell phone to offer him use of my office as a place to hang his hat and make some calls, if need be.

Crazy place to work, Sacramento…

How nice of him. Really. Devore doesn’t have to do that, but he is. Too bad that Don Perata can’t act that mature, and work out his differences with Correa, Calderon, and McLeod in a mature, responsible manner. Nope, instead Perata has to act like a brat… And my Senator has to be punished for it.

Maybe Don Perata needs to face some type of consequence for his petulant, childish behavior. After all, it’s not like he’s the most blameless or most progressive pol of them all…