Governor Schwarzenegger
apologized Wednesday for suggesting that the border with Mexico should be closed. The L.A. Times reports: "He said, 'And the bottom line is, I misspoke and I'm sorry if that, you know, offended anyone. But it was a language problem, because I meant
securing our borders rather than closing our borders ... I think we have a terrific relationship with Mexico.'"
Speaking at an Earth Day event on the roof of a building in Sacramento, Schwarzenegger said. "I think maybe my English,
I still have to go back to school and study a little bit."
Hey, maybe the governor has found a way out of that special election he's been threatening. Blame the language barrier.
Joining in the chorus of contrition,
Fabian Nuņez took the opportunity to clarify that he didn't really mean that he would hold up to budget to restore workers' comp disability benefits. "
I didn't mean to say I was going to hold up the whole budget for it," Nuņez told the Times.
In his lunchtime chat with the Bee, Speaker Nuņez said
he'd like to see a deal on the governor's policy proposals. "Here's what we're ready to do," he said. "We're ready to make a deal to get this entire collection of proposals out of the way. But it has to be all encompassing. ... In other words, what
we need is a peace accord."
Speaking of elections, the Commonwealth Club hosted a panel discussion on the future on initiatives in California. Among the panelists was
Bob Hertzberg, who
called for a limit on the number of initiatives the state should vote on at once.
"We have to limit the number of initiatives on the ballot. At some point, the door closes."
Is that a platform for a run for Secretary of State? Just asking...
Meanwhile,
Juan Vargas is trying to
prohibit the governor from smoking in his Capitol smoking tent. The Assembly Governmental Organization Committee "approved
a measure to ban smoking in enclosed courtyards of state buildings, including the one where Schwarzenegger put up a "smoking tent."
Put your hands in the air like you just don't care: We're not sure what's the
strangest part of this story: a) a protestor
nailed had his hands to a board on 10th and L yesterday; b) he was doing it to protest, among other things, the "illegal
incarceration of Aryan prisoners"; or that c) the city parks department said Gregory "Withrow
did not need a special-event permit to publicly drive nails through his hands."
Speaking of turning attention to oneself, the Thousand Oaks City Council has voted to
investigate itself after allegations that the city manager was forced to resign. "The council voted unanimously to call for the Ventura County district attorney or the state attorney general to
investigate potential violations of public meeting laws by the council and some members of the city staff. Another vote to hire outside counsel to investigate violations of city codes failed by a 3-2 margin.
Sludge Report: Dueling Dems
Dean Florez and
Nicole Parra have found common ground --
sludge. The unity comes after Florez "
rewrote his proposed ban on sewage sludge imports to limit it to Kern County alone."
It's unclear if the bill bans using sludge in Kern County political campaigns.
Since everyone is getting along, UC
settled with its service employees, which held a one-day strike last week.
Finally, from our Where Are They Now Files, we continue our update of former gubernatorial candidates in the news. Yesterday, we told you about
Mary Carey's arrest for
inappropriate touching Today, it's recall candidate
Scott Winfield Davis who has been the
prime suspect in a murder investigation in Georgia. The victim in the case was "romantically involved with Davis' wife ... Davis said that he is 'absolutely 100 percent innocent. I just think the police are here to harass me.' Prosecutors in Atlanta on Wednesday also downplayed statements made by [Atlanta police Sgt.
Rick] Chambers in Palo Alto that Davis would soon be arrested on suspicion of murder. Instead, [Fulton County District Attorney]
Paul Howard's spokesman
Erik Friedly said 'no arrest is imminent' in the case."