If you thought that the war of words between the governor and Democrats had finally granted reprieve to
Kevin Shelley, think again. It looks like Mr. Secretary will be back on the front page of a local newspaper near you this week, one way or another. The Bee is reporting a blockbuster, that
Shelley may decide to call it quits. "It's hour by hour with him," one associate said. "His mood changes all the time."
If only
Carnac the Magnificent were here to tell us how this one ends.
Either way, it's going to be a rough couple of weeks for Shelley. The Chron
reported Sunday that the State Personnel Board will release a report on Tuesday criticizing Shelley's office environment and the hiring of
Andrew Lee, the son of fundraiser
Julie Lee. To bring you up to date for this week's water cooler discussions, Shelley championed a $500,000 grant to Julie Lee's nonprofit while he was in the Assembly. About $100,000 of that allegedly made it into Shelley's state campaign fund and, after election, Shelley hired Andrew for $57,000.
If you're still looking for a deserving target of Valentine's flowers, it may be Shelley's communications shop, the members of whom once again are, as they say in the trade, out there in the spitstorm armed only with an umbrella. OK, maybe the saying isn't "spitstorm," but this is a family publication.
Here's the latest No Comment to come from Shelley's shop "It would be irresponsible to comment on leaks, and once the report is released we will be happy to respond to those issues that we are not precluded from discussing because they are personnel matters," responded spokeswoman
Caren Daniels-Meade to Sunday's article.
Perhaps Shelley can take a little solace in the fact that, as a rule,
former politicians tend to do okay come payday.
Which brings us to
Michael Gardner's version of the annual
Legislative per diem story.
It's a tale that deserves telling every year -- as the Legislature and the governor seek the moral highground making arguments for fiscal austerity, they are manipulating schedules to make sure they continue to get paid over holiday weekends.
"Under the rules, lawmakers lose their per diem if more than three consecutive days go by without a floor session. But that hasn't interrupted the flow of the tax-free $138-a-day checks over three-day weekends. Most recently, the Assembly met for 22 minutes on Friday, Jan. 14, and just 14 minutes on Tuesday, Jan. 18. By doing that, members collected an extra $44,160."
Here's a trivia question for you: Which one of these two Democratic politicians gets it?
"A lot of us are here doing real work," said Assembly Speaker
Fabian Núñez, D-Los Angeles. "We have a huge agenda this year. You're looking at it from the standpoint of per diem. We're looking at it from the standpoint of doing what we need to do."
But Senate President Pro Tempore
Don Perata recognizes there is a perception problem when legislators bail out of the Capitol early but still get paid."We've gotten sloppy with the schedule," said Perata, D-Oakland. "We're going to be here to work. That's what our job is."
The headline in the Desert Sun is another sign that Democrats are struggling to get out front in the partisan PR war to shape the budget debate. Somehow, we think "
Democrats ready to fight reforms" doesn't exactly capture the message Donkeys want to convey.
In budget news, LAT's Evan Halper is
on message this morning with what will surely become Democrats' main line of attack against the governor's budget -- everyone takes a hit except the rich. "The governor has made a policy choice. He is willing to hit the poor more than the upper-middle class and the rich," said John Ellwood, a professor of public policy at UC Berkeley.
Dan Walters also says a
discussion of tax hikes should be part of the budget negotiations.
Apparently the guarantee of future revenues is not enough to stop the LA City Council from considering
another half-cent in sales tax. Of course, like any good tax hike sales pitch, this one is being billed as a tax hike for more cops. For those keeping score at home,
Jim Hahn is pushing the increase, while councilmembers
Parks and Villaraigosa are against it.
In the ongoing San Diego mayoral election, SD's Democratic city attorney
gives a boost to the incumbent Republican mayor,
Dick Murphy.
Is the bloom off the
Kevin McCarthy rose? Apparently one Assemblyman never thought the idea of Leader McCarthy was a very good one to begin with. And that Assemblyman,
Bill Maze, is now
positioning himself for a potential Senate showdown with McCarthy. ""He's a very weak leader," Maze says. "One that plays strong politics and is weak in the areas of policy and long-term decisions that are good for business and people."
When
Mimi Walters is ready to start putting together votes for leader, now we know the first person she'll call.
The Union-Trib reports
Juan Vargas was
dinged by the FPPC for failing to make campaign disclosures back in 2000.
Schwarzenegger to lose citizenship?At least one Austrian politician is asking for Schwarzenegger to be
stripped of his Austrian citizenship after he allowed a convicted murderer to be executed last week.
Finally, nothing says back to nature like
hanging out in a beautiful state park with your laptop, checking out the latest issue of The Roundup. We may be "working from home" tomorrow.