The Senate Rules Committee
rejected the governor's appointment of Cindy Tuck to be chair of the Air Resources Board. "On a 3-2, party line vote, including a no vote from Democratic Senate leader
Don Perata of Oakland, the Senate Rules Committee rejected Tuck, who was described by supporters and detractors alike as a savvy, personable representative for oil companies and electric power generators on environmental matters."
The Rules committee vote is just a recommendation, and Tuck will receive a vote from the full Senate. But the panel's decision is an almost-certain death knell.
"'Cindy is the right person for this job. Her more than 20 years of experience with air and water quality, coupled with her education in environmental engineering, make Cindy uniquely qualified for this position,'' the governor said in a statement after the vote on Tuck, who was trained as a civil engineer and attorney."
"'I ask the Senate to give Cindy the opportunity to continue and build upon this proven track record of protecting California's air quality in this important role,' he said."
Democrats could be
preparing to kill another Schwarzenegger appointee, reports John Howard in the new issue of the Capitol Weekly. ISO Chairman
Ken Wiseman escaped the Rules Committee, but may not get confirmation from the full Senate unless the governor gives the Legislature oversight of the energy grid operator.
The
new Capitol Weekly hits the streets this morning with stories on
Dennis Mountjoy's surprise
vote in favor of a gay rights bill and more on
the saga of embattled coastal commissioner Jim Aldinger, and of course, the latest in
gossip,
astrology and political advice from
Big Daddy.In Cover Your Butt news, the governor is in Merced today,
getting a sneak preview of the new University of California campus. KQED's John Myers
writes in his blog: "Still no word on why he's skipping the official celebration, or for that matter, what he'll be doing on Labor Day."
Don't expect him to be hanging out at any organized labor rallies.
But you may expect to
see him on the campaign trail next year, according to the AP."The Republican governor could announce his plans as soon as mid-September, around the state GOP convention in Anaheim and after the state Legislature adjourns for the year. Of all the cheap stunts to raise interest in a state party convention....
George Skelton writes that
Proposition 75's union dues restrictions were a major reason the governor and legislative leaders were unable to craft a deal on the special election ballot. "This initiative was the main stumbling block that prevented Schwarzenegger and Democrats from reaching a bipartisan compromise on the governor's 'reform' agenda.
He had offered to remain neutral on the anti-union measure if they could agree on the other initiatives. But Democrats demanded that he outright oppose Prop. 75. Republicans would have considered that heresy and probably rebelled."
"'The party activists think 'paycheck' is the single most important initiative out there,' says
Karen Hanretty, the state GOP communications director.
"So Democrats and unions decided not to deal, figuring that the governor was so unpopular they could beat his initiatives and humiliate him."
Meanwhile, the Times reports that the governor
wasn't so hands-off in his role as executive editor of two fitness magazines. "Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger kept his job as executive editor of two muscle magazines — and continued to collect a portion of ad revenue as payment — for five months after telling one of the publications' top executives that he found the ads for steroid-like substances and penis enlargement inappropriate."
"In the letter to Flex editor
Peter McGough,
the governor said he would sign an editorial denouncing efforts to limit the availability of dietary supplements. He also promised to speak to a gathering of supplement manufacturers at a bodybuilding exposition he sponsors each March in Ohio."
"But he criticized the publications' ads and urged that the magazines 'ensure that we do not leave ourselves open to criticism of misrepresentation by some of the ads we currently allow in Muscle & Fitness and Flex.'"
The Senate chamber
passed the Pit Bull Anti-Proliferation Act. "Set in motion by a deadly pit bull attack in San Francisco,
a bill allowing cities and counties to create local spaying and neutering requirements for specific breeds of dogs is now headed to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's desk."
Speaking of pit bulls, Jill Stewart targets schools superintendent
Jack O'Connell in her syndicated column this week,
alleging he isn't doing anything to improve school performance. "I used to muse that Jack O’Connell was a very nice but very dumb guy. After watching him do very little work but lash out at the governor and kiss up to teachers while pulling in a salary of $100,000-plus per year, however, I’ve had to reassess. Anybody with a deal that sweet couldn’t be so dumb after all."
The News and Review's Jeffrey Barker crosses the river to
profile a Yolo County Board of Supervisors race. The race finds Sacramento GOP political consultant
Matt Rexroad challenging one-term incumbent
Frank Sieferman, Jr., who surprised the county's sleepy political community when he defeated incumbent
Tom Stallard nearly four years ago.
Barker stopped by the candidates' booths at the Yolo County Fair to break down the race. "Sieferman’s is piled high with vote-for-me swag--
notepads with the supervisor's mug on them, pencils with his name printed on them, lollipops marked with the word 'vote,' drink coasters, pocket-sized copies of the U.S. Constitution, guitar picks that read 'PICK Frank Sieferman Jr.' There are even Sieferman-branded nail files--'for the gals,' he says."
"Rexroad’s table is comparatively bare," Barker continues, passing a chance to
make a bald joke. "Just a small stack of bumper stickers, some mail-in endorsement postcards and a stack of 8.5-by-11-inch fliers containing quotes from community members who support him."
"'I choose to spend my money differently,' Rexroad says."
After all, political consultants don't make money off guitar picks and nail files.