"Evoking memories from anti-war protests of a generation ago, state Senate leader
Don Perata proposed Thursday an advisory ballot measure calling for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq," reports Tom Chorneau in the Chronicle.
"If approved by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the measure would appear on the February 2008 presidential primary ballot.
"Although as many as 300 local governments have passed troop withdrawal resolutions, California would be the first to put the issue before voters statewide.
"Perata, D-Oakland, said he has no expectations that passage of the measure will have any impact on the White House. But he wants to make sure all the presidential candidates coming through California over the next few months are forced to take a stand on the measure.
"'Most of us know the time is long past that we should be leaving Iraq,' said Perata at a street side press conference in downtown Berkeley, adjacent to where Viet Nam war protests during the 1960s pit university students against police in historic confrontations that polarized the nation.
"'A lot of us baby boomers -- we've been here before,' said Perata. 'We lost our morale center in this country because of what happened in Vietnam - I'll be damned if I'm going to let that happen again, not on my watch.
As small as the perch I have may be, I'm going to use it.'"
Cynics believe that the measure is just an attempt to draw more Democrats to the February 5 primary, where Perata is seeking an extension of term limits. Meanwhile, Schwarzenegger will have to sign the measure to place it on the ballot, which is anything but certain.
Speaking of term limits, "California voters at least
initially support a plan to reduce overall legislative tenure by two years but to allow some termed-out lawmakers to retain power beyond 2008, including Senate President Pro Tem
Don Perata and Assembly Speaker
Fabian Núñez, according to a
Field Poll released Thursday," reports Kevin Yamamura in the Bee.
"The survey conducted last month found that
53 percent of likely voters back a proposal allowing lawmakers to serve up to 12 years total in one house, rather than existing limits of six years in the Assembly and eight years in the Senate. The poll found
39 percent are opposed.
"Perata, D-Oakland, and Núñez, D-Los Angeles, must leave office next year under the existing system. But the change would enable Perata to serve an additional four years in the Senate and Núñez an additional six years in the Assembly.
"While the term-limits change is ahead, Field Poll Director
Mark DiCamillo warned that voters know little about the proposal and that many initiatives have early support only to struggle once campaign season begins.
"'I think for most voters, this is the first they've heard of it,' DiCamillo said. 'You can't make too much of an early (poll) like this. Once the campaign starts, there will be an opposition, and voters could be influenced by who's in favor and who's not.'"
Also from the Field Poll, the Merc News's Steven Harmon reports: "As Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger heads into a crucial stretch of the legislative session - with a budget debate and high-profile issues looming - his
political capital is greater than it has been since his earliest days in office.
"Schwarzenegger's approval ratings hit a nearly three-year high in a Field Poll released Thursday, at 60 percent, a carry-over from his landslide re-election victory in November, experts said, and approval of the "post-partisan" tone he first struck with his inaugural speech earlier this year.
"'
What's striking about these findings is the appeal he has across the board,' said
Mark DiCamillo, director of the Field Poll. 'Perhaps his post-partisan message is contributing to that. He's returned to the man he was when he first introduced himself, kind of somebody who'll be an outsider, not tied to partisan politics.'"
"Among Republicans, 66 percent approve of Schwarzenegger's job; as do 58 percent of Democrats and 55 percent of non-partisans."
"The Schwarzenegger administration
sought Thursday to block a court ruling that the governor's program transferring inmates out of state is 'unlawful,'" writes Andy Furillo in the Bee.
"In the meantime, the administration is taking the ruling by Sacramento Superior Court Judge
Gail Ohanesian to the state's 3rd District Court of Appeal.
"Ohanesian ruled against the administration on Feb. 20, but the official order blocking the order wasn't entered until Monday. The state filed its appeal on Tuesday, and on Thursday filed the stay order on Ohanesian's ruling until the appeal is heard.
"In a statement, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said his office is prepared to 'fight to preserve our emergency efforts to address the prison overcrowding crisis.'"
"For every Californian who has been teed off, cut off, frazzled, sidetracked or enraged by a state agency's automated answering system, take heart,
there's legislation aimed at you," writes the Bee's Jim Sanders.
"Assemblyman
Mike Davis is proposing to take a giant step backward, to a time when phone calls were answered by a live 'hello' -- not by a recorded request to 'press one for English.'
"Davis' Assembly Bill 865 would require every state agency to have an employee answer calls to its customer service line during normal business hours."
Coming next: a significant reduction in "normal business hours."
Finally, from our
Tenant's Revenge Files: "Everything including the kitchen sink
was stripped from a rental home after an Internet classified ad invited people to take whatever they wanted for free.
"But the landlord says the ad, posted last weekend on the Craigslist Web site, was fake.
"'In the ad, it said come and take what you want. Everything is free,'
Laurie Raye said yesterday.
"Raye had cleaned out the rental
after evicting a tenant.
"Last Friday, an off-duty Tacoma police officer was cruising Craigslist when he spotted a “strange header” on a entry, Detective
Gretchen Ellis of the Tacoma Police Department said. The ad piqued the officer's interest because it listed an address in the area where he works, she said.
"The entry mentioned that people could come by any time and take what they wanted from out front or inside. 'Please help yourself,' it said.
"On Saturday, Raye got a phone call about what neighbors said were strangers hauling items away, apparently looking for salvage material.
"When she got to the house, she found the kitchen sink was gone. So was the water heater. And light fixtures. And some of the door jambs. And the front window, complete with frame. Even the porch light was gone.
"'I was sick to my stomach,' Raye said. 'It was a destroyed house.'
"The officer who saw the ad Friday heard about Raye's burglary report, put two and two together and alerted her to the Craigslist entry."