"Likely voters favor four of the five public works bond measures on the November ballot, but
overall support for the record $42.6 billion package is waning -- particularly among Republicans, according to a
new Field Poll," reports the Bee's Aurelio Rojas.
"Propositions to upgrade ports and roads, schools, water projects, and levees and flood control enjoy double-digit leads. But an affordable housing measure is trailing."
Here are the numbers among likely voters:Prop 1B (Roads-$19.9b):
Yes: 54%
No: 27%
Undecided: 18%
Prop 1C (Housing-$2.8b):
Yes: 33%
No: 42%
Undecided: 25%
Prop 1D (Schools-$10.4b):
Yes: 48%
No: 37%
Undecided: 15%
Prop 1E (Flood-$4.1b):
Yes: 47%
No: 33%
Undecided: 20%
Prop 84 (Water-$5.4b):
Yes: 49%
No: 31%
Undecided: 20%
Field Poll director
Mark "DiCamillo said that despite the overall drop in support for the bond package, 'I wouldn't paint this as doom and gloom.'"
"'But it's shaping up to be a more partisan contest,' he said. 'What that means is that in order for these things to pass ...
the governor will need to be quite visible to push this across the finish line.'"
Dan Walters
looks at the challenge facing the campaign, when some measures are faring much better than others. "It poses a dilemma for Schwarzenegger and other politicians and interest groups, such as construction companies and unions, who want the borrowing to be approved: Whether to concentrate on the measures faring the best, such as the transportation bond and $10.4 billion for schools (Proposition 1D), or continue to pursue a one-for-all, all-for-one approach that could endanger them all."
"With a third of the general election campaign nearly over, Republican Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger maintains a big fundraising advantage over his Democratic rival, state Treasurer
Phil Angelides," reports the AP's Tom Chorneau.
"Schwarzenegger began the summer with nearly $10 million in the bank, while Angelides had to spend virtually every penny he could find to win the Democratic primary over Controller
Steve Westly, which cost a combined $80 million."
"In the seven weeks since the June 6 election,
records show that Schwarzenegger has raised $3.4 million -- more than double the $1.6 million that Angelides has reported to the secretary of state over the same period."
"
Steve Maviglio, a spokesman for Angelides, said the Democrat has actually raised $2.1 million since June 6 but that not all of the contributions have been recorded."
Phil took his campaign to the Central Valley yesterday to campaign against asthma. "As polls showed tepid support for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides, even among his own party's rank and file, the state treasurer Thursday
stumped through the Central Valley, highlighting issues of special importance to the region's residents: air pollution and childhood asthma," reports Seema Mehta in the Times.
"
Angelides pledged to cut emergency room visits and hospitalizations caused by the respiratory illness in half by toughening air quality standards, expanding healthcare coverage to all the state's children as well as increasing state spending on asthma research and prevention efforts and other measures."
"'
I am going to wage an all-out attack on asthma,'' Angelides told a gathering at a town hall meeting at UC Merced's Center for Educational Partnership in Fresno. He offered only limited details about the cost of financing such an effort."
"'The valley is a very conservative place,' said
Susan Walsh, vice president of the Merced chapter of the League of Women Voters. 'But if he talks about the issues important to us, such as asthma and air pollution, we'll listen.'"
The Stockton Record's Hank Shaw
looks at the importance of the Valley in the gubernatorial race. "Most political experts believe Angelides must fight Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger close to a draw in the Central Valley if he has a hope of being the first challenger to unseat a sitting California governor in a general election since
Earl Warren defeated
Culbert Olson in 1942."
Way to get Culbert Olson into the paper, Hank! The Roundup will give a special reward to any reporter who manages to work
James Rolph into a story.
"Nearly two months after he won his party's nomination for governor and many of the state's leading Democrats endorsed him,
Phil Angelides has yet to secure Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's blessing," write Duke Helfand and Mark Z. Barabak in the Times.
"Villaraigosa says publicly that he is holding off for now because he needs to secure bipartisan support in Sacramento for legislation that would give him control of the Los Angeles public schools."
The answer, my friend, is twisting in the wind. The answer is making Phil twist in the wind.
"'
So what I've said to Phil, and he's good with that, is that after this is over, of course I'm going to be with the Democrat,' Villaraigosa said Thursday."
The governor will likely have until September 30 to act on Villaraigosa's L.A. Unified bill (Article 4, Section 10(b)(2)). So, Angelides might get the mayor's support for thirty-eight days.
But, that's not all.
"Villaraigosa ran for mayor twice in the last five years. Both times, Angelides was noncommittal. Villaraigosa also feels spurned because while he was speaker of the state Assembly, he went out of his way to help Angelides, who was then running for office, according to associates of the mayor who spoke on condition of anonymity.
"Now the tables have turned."
"'Eventually, he's going to endorse,' said one person close to the mayor. '
He's just trying to make a point to Phil. I'm sure Phil has gotten the point by now.'"
As has every political reporter in the state.
Meanwhile, British Prime Minister
Tony Blair is
making the political rounds in California this weekend, including visits with the California Golden Boys and Governor Schwarzenegger.
"The surprise trip by Blair, the first ever by a sitting prime minister to California, has been shielded by unusual secrecy and was announced just this week -- setting off a flurry of competition among celebrities for invitations to A-list social events like a reception at the Getty Villa in Malibu next week hosted by Los Angeles Mayor
Antonio Villaraigosa."
"Blair is expected to dine with former Secretary of State
George Shultz and his wife, state protocol chief
Charlotte Shultz, at their Russian Hill home Saturday. He'll visit Delancey Street [with SF Mayor
Gavin Newsom] and South San Francisco-based Genentech, the biotech giant, before heading to Long Beach on Monday."
"There, he'll
meet with Schwarzenegger and business leaders for a roundtable on global climate change issues before delivering a foreign policy speech Tuesday."
While this month's heat will give them plenty to talk about, it's unlikely they'll be watching
Al Gore's slideshow.
"'
It couldn't come at a better time for both of them,' said
Barbara O'Connor, professor of political communication at Cal State Sacramento. It shores up Blair's reputation back home, she said, to push business and trade abroad, while allowing him to bask in attention in the United States where he continues to have a positive profile."
Speaking of protection against disaster, "Last winter's severe storms and high water
damaged three dozen stretches of California levees so severely that they need to be fixed before the next rainy season to prevent potential damage to homes and other development, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced Thursday," reports Tim Reiterman in the Times.
"'The Central Valley levee system … needs significant investment, everyone living near them needs flood insurance, and we have to invest in flood management,'
Lester Snow, Department of Water Resources director, told reporters during a conference call."
From our
Men in Tan Files: "A state assemblywoman is
demanding a wide-ranging audit of the
California Highway Patrol on everything from how it buys guns to its decision to deny permits to people who wanted to gather signatures on state property," reports The Bee's John Hill.
"'Enough is enough,' said Assemblywoman
Bonnie Garcia, R-Cathedral City."
"When you have so many questions brought up about an agency, we have a fiduciary responsibility to do something about it."
"The matters Garcia wants investigated, including Commissioner
Mike Brown's use of a CHP airplane to attend a fundraiser and the department's use of overtime, have all been brought to light by The Bee in the past several months."
Brown isn't too crazy about getting the audit treatment. "'
I do not believe that an external investigation or audit of this organization is warranted and would not be an appropriate use of state resources,' he wrote in the prepared statement."
From our
Get 'Em While They're Young Files: "A childless teenager in Orange County, Fla., was
threatened with jail for not paying thousands of dollars in child support despite efforts by his mother to clear up the identity mistake."
Sounds like an
attack against Jenny Oropeza...
"The report featured
Timothy Williams, who received letters asking that he pay child support for several children."
"'At first I thought it was funny but it just kept coming and coming and coming,' Williams said."
"The first letter came in April."
"'It was from the Department of Revenue stating that my son was past due in child support payment,' mother
Arnell Williams said. 'I was like, 'Wow.''"
"The woman said she took the letters to the child support enforcement office in downtown Orlando."
"'I spoke to the young lady at the window who said she will make sure it will get taken care of,' Williams said."
"But the letters kept coming," Local 6 reporter Nancy Alvarez said. "So did payment booklet and court orders, all of it for money owed to
three different women for several children, including some who were older than Timothy. But the state still thought the teen was their dad.""
If they call again, why don't you just
shove the phone down their throats?