"Now that Arnold Schwarzenegger is being portrayed worldwide as the green governor, he
may be forced to choose between environmentalists on one side and well-heeled political donors on the other," writes Peter Nicholas in the Times.
"On Tuesday, the governor was sent a letter from a lawyer in Ecuador asking for help in a lawsuit against one of Schwarzenegger's political supporters, Chevron Corp. A copy was obtained by The Times.
"'I would like to invite you personally down to Ecuador to look at what Chevron has done to the rain forest here,' wrote
Pablo Fajardo, the attorney. 'I would plead with you to bring your friends who are executives at the company so they can explain to you what they have done here. And finally, I am asking for your public help in supporting the fight against this company.'
"Fajardo added: '
I have faith because I know you are a man of the environment.'
"The attorney plans to visit California next week and wants to meet with the governor. A spokesman for Schwarzenegger said the governor has yet to receive the letter and would not comment."
Capitol Weekly reports on
Don Perata's change of heart, backing away from authoring the Agua Caliente tribe's new compact. "
Some of Perata's top lieutenants are carrying the compacts in the Senate, though Perata himself has backed away from earlier signs that he would author one of the compacts himself.
Perata said earlier this year that he might carry the compact for the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians. But that compact is now being carried by Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Torlakson, D-Antioch.
Perata spokeswoman Alicia Dlugosh dismissed the authorship issue as insignificant, saying the political status of the compacts is "constantly evolving, constantly changing."
"He wants to ensure that the compacts as a group move off the Senate floor, and didn't want to be the lead on any one compact," says Dlugosh.
The LAT's Duke Helfand and Steve Hymon write that
times are tough for LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. "Villaraigosa will deliver his annual State of the City address tonight, outlining an anti-gang plan that calls for a different approach from that advocated by some civil rights advocates.
"On Thursday, Villaraigosa will unveil his 2-year-old administration's second budget, a financial blueprint that
will call for slashing $100 million from the city's $231-million structural deficit, amid declining revenue and upcoming contract negotiations.
"Villaraigosa's address will come a day after
a California appellate court panel unanimously overturned his hard-won state legislation that would have granted him partial control over the Los Angeles Unified School District. As an already-difficult week unfolds, Villaraigosa is facing pressure from civil rights attorney Connie Rice to align his gang plans more closely with hers. In a recent report commissioned by the City Council, she called for a new department headed by a gang czar to coordinate the city's scattered anti-gang efforts.
"The mayor is also experiencing
cooling relations with the City Council and facing dissent from his own police commissioners, some of whom complained Tuesday about a potential lack of funding for police equipment."
The Chron's John Wildermuth reports on the
war of the political reform plans. "A showdown is looming between a quartet of public interest groups who have put together a "politics-free" plan for redistricting and state legislators over who should redraw California's political boundaries.
The "Citizens Fair Districts'' ballot initiative, put together by the League of Women Voters, AARP, People's Advocate and California Common Cause, would strip the Legislature of its long-held power to draw the lines every 10 years for Assembly, state Senate and congressional districts and give it to a randomly selected panel of California voters.
The initiative is expected to clear the secretary of state's office and be ready for sponsors to gather signatures this week or next. Backers of the measure are calling it a "gold standard" initiative, one that includes everything good-government groups want to see in a new redistricting law.
The Bee's Peter Hecht
sits down with new FPPC chairman Ross Johnson. "In a wide-ranging interview with The Bee Capitol Bureau on Tuesday, Johnson held forth on a variety of topics, including his view that Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger's proposal to ban political fundraising during the state budget session won't work and is probably unconstitutional."'I personally think it's suspect constitutionally,' said Johnson, whom Schwarzenegger appointed to head the political watchdog agency two months ago. 'How can a contribution today not be an undue influence, but tomorrow it is? I don't know how you square that. In practical terms, I just don't think it would work. ... I don't think it would produce any real results.'
"Johnson, who in 1988 wrote the state's first successful ballot measure to impose limits on campaign contributions, vowed to bring new transparency to the FPPC -- speeding up investigations into violations of state election laws and better notifying the public of the agency's role."
"As lobbyists shuffled in and out of the corridors of the state Capitol Tuesday, a
bill to cut into their influence sailed through an Assembly hearing," reports Steven Harmon in the Merc News.
"The bill, AB 583, would create a 'Clean Campaign Fund,' in which candidates could bankroll their campaigns with taxpayer dollars - and match privately funded opponents. It was approved on a 5-2 party-line vote out of the Assembly Elections Committee.
"It's not a coincidence, said Assemblywoman
Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley, that two-thirds of campaign donations to California candidates come from political action committees and two-thirds of voters believe legislators are too influenced by their big-money supporters.
"'The idea behind this is to make elections about ideas, not money,' said Hancock, the bill's sponsor, who estimated her proposal would cost taxpayers 'a penny a day per adult - $3.65 a year. That's a cup of coffee and a muffin once a year. That's a small price for a democratic system based on ideas.'"
"Lawmakers
blocked legislation Tuesday designed to toughen criminal penalties in the wake of an alleged street race that killed a popular El Dorado County teacher three months ago," writes the Bee's Jim Sanders.
"Assemblyman
Ted Gaines proposed the crackdown after the death of
Susan McNew, whose vehicle was struck by a car driven by a 17-year-old boy who allegedly was street racing.
"Gaines' proposal, Assembly Bill 247, sought to allow juveniles to be tried as adults if they commit vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated or while street racing.
"The Public Safety Committee rejected AB 247 in a partisan vote, with Republicans supporting the measure and Democrats opposed."
The Merc News's Katherine Conrad reports on
bills by John Laird and Ted Lieu to require green building. "The proposed legislation would allow home builders to voluntarily build green for the first two years, followed by two years of builder feedback and potential revision of the guidelines. Then the law would become mandatory.
"If passed, California would be the first state in the country to mandate green home-building guidelines. AB 888, also co-authored by Laird and Lieu and introduced this session, would enact similar measures for commercial buildings.
"On Monday, both bills passed the Assembly Natural Resources Committee and are now heading through the Assembly committee process. They'll have to be voted on by the full Assembly before they can be sent to the Senate. The final hurdle is Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who last year signed a landmark bill to halt the effects of global warming."
"The Joint Legislative Audit Committee
delayed a decision Tuesday on whether to order an audit of contracting and personnel practices and other matters involving the California Highway Patrol," writes John Hill in the Bee.
"The audit was requested by Assemblywoman
Bonnie Garcia, R-Cathedral City, and Sen.
Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles, in response to reports in The Bee about contracting irregularities and other questionable practices.
"But the committee decided to hold off on asking state Auditor
Elaine Howle to launch the investigation after the two lawmakers pared down their list of requests just before the meeting.
"Committee members said they needed more time to review the scope of the audit. They requested more information about internal and external audits that have already been done of the CHP."
"The [Los Angeles] City Council
unanimously voted to support Assembly Bill 1634 by state Sen.
Lloyd Levine (D-Van Nuys) that would require residents to spay or neuter their dogs and cats by the time their pets are 4 months old -- unless they obtain a breeder's permit.
"Plain and simple, having thousands of animals stranded on our streets is animal cruelty and poses a risk to our public health," said Councilman Tony Cardenas, who is pushing for the bill and whose previous legislation created the city's animal cruelty task force."