Steve Westly and Phil Angelides filed
ethics complaints against each other's campaigns yesterday, setting the scene for the state party's convention in Sacramento this weekend.
The LA Times' Robert Salladay reports, "Westly's accusations against Angelides involve one of the most contentious issues in political campaigns: independent efforts to help candidates get elected. With new limits on how much money candidates can raise, more groups are being created to run television ads and otherwise support the candidates — free of such limits.
"Angelides' complaint against Westly accuses him of improperly using money from a campaign account created to finance his state controller race. Angelides contends that Westly used money from the controller account for things such as rent and conference calls for his gubernatorial campaign. California law requires the accounts to remain separate."
The Bee's Kevin Yamamura writes
a curtain raiser on the weekend's festivities.
"Heading into this weekend, the Westly take is that it would be a major disappointment for Angelides not to receive the endorsement. Westly himself does not expect to get the convention's backing, but he said he will try to block Angelides from doing so.
"I think most people expect the treasurer to get the endorsement," Westly said. "He's been working on this for years, so
it would be embarrassing for him not to get it."
Angelides has downplayed that view. He suggests it has always been difficult to receive the three-fifths vote necessary to win the party's backing. Delegates not only can choose one of the candidates, but also can opt for no endorsement.
The LA Times
profiles Rocky Delgadillo. "Delgadillo's campaign is promoting his humble-beginnings-to-Harvard life story like an Oprah-ready memoir, even as critics say the tale is about all he has to offer, not counting a sometimes-bruising ambition.
On party lines, the state Senate passed
a resolution by Sen. Gloria Romero supporting the May 1 boycott by illegal immigrants. "Opponents said the nonbinding resolution was misleading because it failed to mention a goal of the boycott was pressuring Congress to legalize millions of undocumented people," reports the AP.
"'It is a disingenuous effort to put the government of California on record supporting open borders,' said Sen.
Bill Morrow, R-Oceanside."
Los Angeles Mayor
Antonio Villariagosa is reportedly
set to endorse Assemblywoman Cindy Montañez over former city council president Alex Padilla. "Villaraigosa's repudiation of a former council colleague poses the question of whether he can afford to antagonize Padilla as his budget plan, which includes the trash fee increase, heads to a council vote in coming weeks.
Meanwhile, things are heating up in San Francisco, and not just on Castro Street. The race to succeed Leland Yee is starting to get nasty, as expected.
"The tempest roared into the race between San Francisco Supervisor
Fiona Ma and Golden Gate Bridge board member
Janet Reilly on two fronts: whether Ma ever worked for the anti-abortion governor of South Dakota -- the short answer is no -- and campaign money," reports the Chronicle.
This just in.
Osama bin Laden has been spotted, and he's headed to the jungle. "Osama bin Laden" is still on the run in the jungles of Sierra Leone -- after escaping with some 20 other chimpanzees from a wildlife sanctuary where they killed a local taxi driver on Sunday.
"The chimp, named by wardens after the wanted al Qaeda leader, was among a pack of apes which mobbed and mauled four men at the Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary in the forested hills outside the Sierra Leonean capital Freetown.
"We hope by the middle of the coming week we will get all of them back to the sanctuary," a Tacugama spokesman told Reuters.
Authorities said they're confident they'll be able to smoke Osama out of hiding.