The Political Landscape:

Retired Newport Beach businessman Jack Croul may have tipped the fundraising scales even further in Measure B’s favor earlier this week with another $50,000 donation to the City Hall in the Park campaign.

Croul has given the pro-Measure B camp more than $500,000, campaign disclosure records show. Croul’s latest gift has supporters of the opposition group Newporters Vote No on B crying foul. No on B members say City Hall in the Park’s big money gives the group an unfair advantage in the Feb. 5 election. Measure B would amend the city charter to require the next city hall to be built on a piece of city-owned land next to the central library on Avocado Avenue.

“This amount of money given for a local measure is unprecedented and an obvious attempt to undermine the democratic process in this election,” said former Newport Beach Councilwoman and vocal B opponent Jean Watt.

Newporters Vote No on B has raised about $150,000, most of it from heiress Audrey Steele Burnand, compared to City Hall in the Park’s $570,000, which is mostly Croul’s money.

Lead Measure B proponent Bill Ficker said Croul’s intentions are noble.

“He, [Croul] is a person of total integrity, and he sees things the way I do,” Ficker said. “He believes we (Measure B) should have a fair hearing. It’s about that simple.”

RON PAUL SUPPORTERS SWEEP WEB POLL

The only thing a poll on the Republican Party of Orange County’s website seems to measure is the Internet savvy of local Ron Paul supporters.

The unscientific poll shows Paul as the clear front runner in Orange County, with 34% of the vote. Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney are tied for a distant second place with 19% of the Web vote.

“The Ron Paul people, God bless them, are very tech savvy,” said George Andrews, executive director of the Orange County GOP. “They realize that all they have to do is delete the cache and vote again. It’s really a reflection of the genuinely grassroots support Ron Paul has.”

Andrews noted that Duncan Hunter supporters may have a bit less Internet smarts than those in the Paul camp. Hunter is in last place with only 1% of the vote on in the Orange County Internet poll.

MANSOOR’S HAVING ‘TOO MUCH FUN’ ON THE DAIS