If
Kevin Shelley emerges from his seclusion tomorrow and sees his shadow, does that mean he has six more weeks in office? (By the way, the rodent said "
six more weeks" at 4:30 this morning.)
Two Assembly Republican members of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee are going to miss Thursday's hearing starring
Shelley to attend the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington DC. (Maybe they'll put in a good word for the secretary.)
Kevin McCarthy has named his picks to replace
Tim Leslie and Rick Keene. The details are in
Political Pulse.
However, judgment day may not be tomorrow after all.
Perata and Ackerman yesterday both said that it made sense to
postpone the hearing so two newly hired attorneys (
Malcolm S. Segal for the Dems, and
Jim Sweeney for the Reps) have more time to prepare. And, perhaps, so Shelley has more time to negotiate his departure.
"Secretary of State Kevin Shelley's much-anticipated appearance Thursday before California lawmakers scrutinizing his conduct might be
delayed by weeks, if not months, to give attorneys and investigators more time to delve into the controversy. "Shelley is quietly trying to work out a deal in which he would step down if he can find another job and state lawmakers agree to ease up on their investigation, according to two sources who have spoken to the secretary of state.
'I think this could all be over in a couple of weeks,' said one Shelley confidant."
Meanwhile, in the O.C.,
Assembly Democrats continue to develop their strategy for taking back Newport Beach, holding their annual policy retreat at the Hyatt Regency. Some labor leaders are irate at the caucus's choice of a
non-union hotel. And from our "Quotes we couldn't invent ourselves files", there's this line at the bottom of the story: "
Nicole Parra (D-Hanford) walked out of the lunchroom with her arms full of brown paper and tape, mumbling about a broken piņata."
A little further north,
Steve Lopez takes a tour on
Mr. Hertzberg's Wild Ride. "For three hours, we review the history of California, draft solutions to every one of L.A.'s intractable problems, learn about pickles, find out why
Hertzberg sued his own father, and talk about Hertzberg's ex-wife going to court to block his run for mayor." Apparently, not
everything can be fixed with a hug.
Bill Lockyer takes a step toward
shoring up his enviro cred by filing suit against the Bush administration's plan for managing 11.5 million acres of the Sierra Nevada National Forest. "Their plan will increase harvesting between 470 percent (in the first decade of the plan) and 640 percent (in the second decade). I think that's their goal," Lockyer said in a conference call with reporters Tuesday.
As the fight over state workers' pensions heats up,
this little story from San Luis Obispo is a reminder why
Pete Wilson never liked the idea of letting local governments hold on to their money in the first place. "Paso Robles will give its employees
a long-promised boost to their retirements that will cost taxpayers more than $450,000 in the coming year. For police, the new deal will mean a potential 30 percent jump in retirement income. Other city employees could receive up to a 15 percent increase while firefighters won't see a change."
Wilson helped orchestrate the so-called ERAF shift, which began taking money normally set aside for local governments, and moving it into state coffers, because he felt unions had too tight a grip on many city and county governments.
Amount of cash on hand in the
Angelides 2006 campaign committee: $12,366,161.63
Amount of cash on hand in the
Lockyer 2006 campaign committee $10,914,709.29
Watching Democrats beat each other senseless in a June primary: Priceless
In other campaign finance news, taking a cue from "Insurance Commissioner candidate"
Willie Brown, John Burton has tucked his money in a "
Burton for Superintendent of Public Instruction" account.
Given Burton's lack of attention to education policy during his Capitol tenure, we're guessing his choice of offices for which to open an account is a bit of an inside Capitol joke.
On that note, Willie became Da Benefactor last year, doling out
$550,000 in civic donations from his campaign account.
State of the Union Madlibs Which adjective will the President use in tonight's speech to describe the state of the union? Strong? Determined? Resolved? Other? Also, our pick for the gallery guest: A woman who voted in this week's Iraqi elections. You heard it hear first (unless, of course, we're wrong, in which case you'll never hear us mention it again.) Email us your best guess
here.