"Heading into the final weekend before a deadline to place road and levee bonds on the June ballot, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger still plans to attend the "Arnold Classic" bodybuilding festival in Ohio
but offered Thursday to remain in California if Democrats want him to do so."
"The Republican governor met for nearly two hours Thursday with Assembly Speaker
Fabian Núñez, D-Los Angeles, and said afterward that a June ballot would be possible 'if we're lucky,' but that timing is less important than 'doing the right thing.'"
"'I told the speaker that, to me, our infrastructure and our deal here and passing these bonds and getting them on the ballot is to me much more important than the Arnold Classic,' he said. 'If he sees that it would be helpful, I would stay here this weekend.'"
"As of Thursday, neither Núñez nor Senate President Pro Tem
Don Perata, D-Oakland, took Schwarzenegger up on his offer."
Meanwhile, the governor's attendance at the event provides an opportunity for critics to
claim he has conflicts of interest, write Edward Epstein and Carla Marinucci in the Chron. "The situation raises anew whether Schwarzenegger's continuing association with pro bodybuilding -- a sport where the use of steroids and other illegal muscle-building drugs is endemic -- is sending a mixed message from a governor who says he supports healthy lifestyles and opposes illegal drug use in sports."
"State Sen.
Jackie Speier, D-Hillsborough, who backs more regulation for supplements, said the governor's links with the lobbying group -- and his starring role at events this weekend that help promote such products -- suggest his priorities lie with manufacturers and lobbyists, not with consumers."
"'It's pretty clear that the industry made him,' she said. 'He's loyal to it, and he'll continue to do everything he can to support it.'"
"'I know the governor supports the use of most supplements and vitamins that are safe.
But there needs to be differentiation between supplements that are harmful and those that aren't,' [spokeswoman
Margita] Thompson said.
Speaking of the governor's calendar, AP reports "The governor has
scheduled a celebrity-studded fundraiser this month in Beverly Hills -- headlined by Arizona Sen.
John McCain -- that could pull in at least $2 million for his depleted campaign account. The host committee includes names from the entertainment and business elite, including 'The Terminator' director
James Cameron, Interscope Records co-Chairman
Jimmy Iovine, Yahoo Chairman
Terry Semel and Univision Chairman
Jerry Perenchio."
"Supporters are being asked to
kick in up to $100,000 for dinner, a private reception and photographs with Schwarzenegger. In some cases, the money will be divided with the state party, which can use the funds to support Schwarzenegger or run its statewide operations."
Meanwhile, local governments are
doing what they can to support the governor's infrastructure proposal, reports Dave Downey in the North County Times. "
Chris McKenzie, executive director of the Sacramento-based League of California Cities, said in a news conference at San Diego's Mission Bay that a coalition of city and county officials, contractors, builders, engineers, schools and water agencies had launched a lobbying campaign to see that the deadline is met."
"'It's a short time period, but we think it's a doable time period,' McKenzie said. 'We are urging the Legislature to seize this historic opportunity.'"
Los Angeles City Attorney
Rocky Delgadillo, who is battling Oakland Mayor
Jerry Brown for the Democratic nomination for state attorney general,
expressed regrets Thursday about his role in recruiting Wal-Mart to Los Angeles."
"A week ago, Delgadillo called Wal-Mart a "predator" on the middle class. His campaign also chastised Brown for bringing a Wal-Mart store to Oakland and accepting $10,600 in campaign contributions from Wal-Mart heir
John Walton and his wife, Christy."
"Brown, in response, resurrected a speech in which Delgadillo's former boss praised him for helping recruit Wal-Mart. Delgadillo said Thursday that he was carrying out the wishes of his boss at the time, former Los Angeles Mayor
Richard Riordan."
"'What's changed is the name on the door is different,' Delgadillo said. '
I was working for Mayor Riordan, and now I am working for me.'"
Speaking of serving other masters, "California regulators on Thursday
approved a so-called bill of rights for telephone customers but backed away from putting teeth into the safeguards — a combination derided as "an inducement to massive, pervasive and unaccountable fraud," reports James Granelli in the Times.
"The 3-2 vote by the state Public Utilities Commission in effect ends the agency's six-year effort to bolster consumer protections against confusing billing and deceptive marketing."
"In 2004, the PUC passed a far stricter version that carriers complained micromanaged their business.
Those rules were tossed out last year, after the makeup of the commission changed to include a majority more sympathetic to the concerns of telecom firms.As passed, the bill of rights
simply states the PUC's intent and provides no right to sue because of a carrier's violation of the principles."
"Commission President
Michael Peevey, who oversaw the version passed Thursday, said that tougher rules were overly burdensome because competition in California was so fierce that no company could afford to treat its customers poorly."
"Californians
support keeping the death penalty on the books by 2-1, a ratio that has held steady since 2000 but is lower than the support it received two and three decades ago, the Field Poll reported Thursday," reports Bob Egelko in the Chron.
"The survey, conducted in mid- to late February, also found an increasing minority questioning the fairness of the capital punishment system, while a majority was critical of the recent court-ordered delays in the execution of convicted murderer-rapist Michael Morales of Stockton."
"Overall, when asked whether the death penalty should be kept as punishment for serious crimes, 63 percent of those surveyed said yes, 32 percent said no, and 5 percent had no opinion. Among registered voters, support was slightly higher: 67 percent yes, 29 percent no, 4 percent with no opinion."
Here's the
full poll.
Opponents of the state's affirmative action law may not have been able to overturn it in the courts, but at least they
won't have to pay Ward Connerly's legal bills, thanks to a ruling by the state Supreme Court.
"The unanimous decision said private citizens who, for ideological reasons, take part in the defense of a law that the state has refused to defend should not be penalized by paying the other side's attorneys' fees if the law is overturned," writes the Chron's Bob Egelko.
And for our Quote of the Day, we go to
Bert Reeves, the mayor of Cottageville, South Carolina, after receiving a ticket for driving 110 in a 55 mph zone: "Thank god I'm not trying to get reelected."