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Below are the links to the records of the Superior Court of the State of California, County of San Diego, East County District, Case # EC006914 entitled "Complaint for Recovery of Personal Property" for $86,492.28 and the subsequent Bankruptcy of Frederick F Blas.
http://libertypolepost.com/blasbankruptcy.pdf
http://libertypolepost.com/topavblas.pdf
http://libertypolepost.com/writofpossession.pdf
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Quick, tell the Hawaii Tribune Herald, maybe they'll care.
Oops, too late!
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Paul, you're hilarious. What's even funnier is that all the papers missed it, not just the Hawaii Tribune Herald.
"He worked for 11 years as a Sears automotive manager in Costa Mesa, Calif., and then opened his own tire dealership. It was a successful business, he said." Peter Sur, Tribune Herald 10-21-10
Big Island Weekly missed it: "Blas came to politics late, after retiring from a successful career in the private sector." Alan D. Mcnarie Wednesday, October 6, 2010
West Hawaii Today missed it: "Blas, 63, retired as a business owner for franchised Firestone and Goodyear stores, a business background he said will help with budgeting and cutting expenses." 10-24-10"
Tiffany and Rob missed it:
"It is reassuring to me that Fred has been in business and has had enough success to retire. If you can’t count the beans, control your costs, provide a useful product or service you fail. So Fred’s history is a level of experience I think we can all welcome. Our county could use some of that."
Rob Tucker 10-14-10 Guest Column Big Island Chronicle - "Why I am supporting Fred Blas"
But what's absolutely gut splitting is that well meaning people still believe the media is suppose to be vetting these candidates.
"Our newspaper people are in a better position to check backgrounds and are paid to do that kind of stuff." Rob Tucker Punatalk 10-29-10
Now all chuckles aside, whether you're for Emily or Fred, I gotta believe that somewhere beyond the ad hominems, the jokes and the deflections, there is a bigger issue here. This is one of the most beautiful places in the world and we all need to be vigilant to keep it that way. I just don't feel it's anything to gloat about when any candidate, Fred or Emily, can go around misrepresenting something that should be important to the voters and no one calls them on it. Cause in the long run when that happens we all suffer. Can we all just agree on that?
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Having personally had some business ownership experience, I don't get where having had a bankruptcy in your business past keeps you from having been a successful business person. I've never filed but have thought about it and fortunately pulled through the hard times. Check Donald Trump's record. If I recall correctly, he was so big his creditors rewrote his loans because they couldn't afford for him to fail. (Sounds kinda like what happened in Washington recently.) This just sounds like more of the negative campaigning that has turned so many people off this election season.
(Edited for spelling)
Pua`a
S. FL
Big Islander to be.
Pua`a
S. FL
Big Islander to be.
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I will say that examining Fred's past is not wrong. But assuming that every plaintiff claim in a lawsuit is fact is cherry picking the data to serve a predetermined position. There was apparently no examination of the S&L that I could see. Without much effort I was able to find a 1993 news article for example showing that the Topa S&L has been slammed by the Feds for "bad business practices". I can't say that the two things, lawsuit and Feds, are related but in a lawsuit there are always two sides or it would not be before a court. jtkong was taking the plaintiff's case as gospel. So it is difficult to impossible for me, from the documents presented, to draw a conclusion.
As I said in my first comment on this: "There is just enough there to be interesting but not enough to be satisfying."
I stand by that.
Assume the best and ask questions.
Punaweb moderator
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Very well put, jtkong, and I agree with you: looking and checking each candidates' past is fair game.
However, you have made no mention of Emily's past. How come you're not interested in digging up dirt there? I think there have been some lawsuits in her past as well. Frivolous ones also.
You haven't been able to find any hard facts on Fred (e.g. an actual result to an actual court case) so you come here to spread doubt and rumor and half-truths. We've seen it all before. It's the dirty side of politics.
What exactly is your goal? That we don't vote Fred? But then that only leaves.... Emily!
How Fred will do in council remains to be seen, but even if he just shows up and says nothing he'll have done as much as that complete waste-of-space Emily.
I bet we won't be hearing from you again after the election.
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rob, thanks for keeping this thread alive with your research into TOPA and your analysis of what exactly can and can't be gleaned from the court documents. i do appreciate it, since you seem to be one of the few actually trying to get their arms around the facts. all to your credit which is why i am continuing this post exclusively on punatalk.
here's my response to your last post:
1. there are not two sides to fred's bankruptcy. it was filed with the court and i previously provided a link to the actual court record. ad hominems aside, the source of this document is the public record not jt kong.
2. a writ of possession was issued to TOPA so that fred blas firestone's equipment could be seized by a sheriff. this means that the superior court judge in the case, after considering the totality of the circumstances, including all the easy to find records of TOPA's business practices, concluded that TOPA's claim was valid and that the facts presented by both sides supported TOPA's position and not fred blas firestone. Otherwise, the writ allowing them to seize the equipment would have been denied by the court.
i am not saying it's bad to go bankrupt, that fred is a bad person because he went bankrupt, that TOPA should have seized fred blas firestone's equipment or even that fred can never have business successes in the future.
what i am saying is, even though this happened years ago, fred made this a current issue by telling the papers, the blogs and the voters of district 5 his firestone dealership was successful, when it was not. that's the rub for me and it should be for you.
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Topa ""bad business practices"".
Mr. Blas, via court docs, 'bad business practices'.
District 5, November 3, politics as usual.
Toni, who is a 'critter lover'
www.write-matters.com
"Q might have done the right thing for the wrong reason, perhaps we need a good kick in our complacency to get us ready for what's ahead" -- Captain Picard, to Guinan (Q Who?)
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Well, Since the 1993 recession it seems that Topa S&L has prospered going from $1.5 billion in assets to $46 billion in assets. It would appear that Fred Blas also prospered since 1993 too if retiring and then donating $10,000 to the Pop-Warner football league is any indication.
So the main thing I see in all this is that there are good times and bad times in the course of life. Perhaps the adage "all's well that ends well" comes to mind. Seventeen years covers a lot of ground.
Assume the best and ask questions.
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Aloha Rob,
And so you surmise, and it may prove to be true. Guess the opportunity to have asked for an explanation from Mr. Blas himself has passed. There had been mention he was to take the 'hot seat' with Tiffany. Apparently, that bit of news [not originating from Tiffany] has changed. He will not be taking the 'hot seat'. WHY? [Allegedly he was too busy] It would have no doubt been the most attended, most active, and definitely if he is 'the' candidate for district 5, a most brilliant move.
With 'letters from the readers' like the one in today's paper by a Thomas Jelf, in absolute support of Ms. Naeole, having had a chance for Mr. Blas to actually 'do the time' on the 'hot seat' might have convicted more individuals in their vote. Ironically, the letter by Mr. Jelf takes issue with people from 'Puna' who have claimed embarrassment from Ms. Naeole's representation [though to be honest he never mentions her name] and then sets out to tell everyone the 'culture of Puna' as he sees it. It is a letter which screams IRONY! If and as you read it, please take note of the locale under his name. But, for those who live and breath by the word of HTH, his letter in support of Ms.Naeole will ring true if only in the tug on the heart and will no doubt add votes tomorrow. We'll see if Mr. Jelf's letter pulls more votes for Ms. Naeole than the HTH endorsement of Mr. Blas.
No matter who wins, we are in for some 'newsy' times which will provide much fodder.
Toni, who is a 'critter lover'
www.write-matters.com
"Q might have done the right thing for the wrong reason, perhaps we need a good kick in our complacency to get us ready for what's ahead" -- Captain Picard, to Guinan (Q Who?)
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