Gov. Brown has shut down a government Web site that provided an array of public records, including travel expenses and reimbursements of members of the governor's staff and senior agency officials. The governor says if anybody wants to see those records they'll have to request them under the Public Records Act -- and anyone who has done that knows how problematic that is. And the governor has also vetoed legislation to publicly disclose state contracts of $5,000 or more.
So much for transparency.
From the Bee's David Siders: "Many of the documents contained on the website – including information about state contracts, audits and salaries – can be found on other sites. But the transparency site, which was created in 2009 and shut down Tuesday, also included travel expense claims submitted by senior agency officials and employees of the Governor's Office."
"Brown's office said Wednesday that travel records can be requested under California's Open Records Act. Elizabeth Ashford, a spokeswoman for the Democratic governor, cited the time and cost of coping and uploading those documents."
"Ashford said the website was created in response to concerns about travel and spending during Schwarzenegger's administration. Staff and travel costs under Brown are far lower, she said.
Phillip Ung, a lobbyist for Common Cause, the government watchdog group, said there is a "large public interest in having a centralized disclosure, which is exactly what the transparency website was."
Yet another plan to cut public pensions, this one in the form of a proposed ballot initiative, faces two tests -- funding and the courts.
From CalPensions' Ed Mendel: "He said the next step is to raise about $3 million, enough to pay for a drive to gather 1.3 million voter signatures and provide a cushion well above the minimum needed to place a state constitutional amendment on the ballot."
“Not today,” Pellissier said, when asked at a news conference if the group had the money. “But we have some commitments for future funding, and we have what we think is a good path in order to raise that amount of money.”
"He said George Shultz, a former U.S. secretary of state in the Reagan administration, is a part of the campaign team and “has a tremendous amount of influence with major donors.”
"In addition, Mike Genest, a finance director for former Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, said he was “happy to be part of what’s become a pretty large coalition of people who have been trying for quite some time to make some progress on this issue.”
Meanwhile, the numbers on the high-speed rail project are in -- nearly $100 billion -- and the LA Times' George Skelton wonders whether the whole thing is a big boondoggle or a critical piece of California's future. We don't now either, but that won't stop us from quoting him.
"It's hard to know what to believe."
"In 2008 when this was on the ballot, voters were told that the completed project — including service to San Diego and Sacramento — would cost about $45 billion. Supplementing the nearly $10 billion in state bonds would be federal grants and private investments."
"The first phase — San Francisco to Anaheim — would cost $33 billion and be completed in 2020."
"Now we're told that was all wrong. Actually, the cost of the first phase alone has tripled to $98.5 billion. The completion date has been delayed until 2033. There's $3 billion in federal money available but no more on the horizon. And no private investors are in sight. They want to see passengers actually buying tickets."
State Controller John Chiang is doing more these days than keeping his eye on the state's money and the potential for new budget cuts in January. He's also looking at the 2014 race for state treasurer. The Bee's Kevin Yamamura tells the tale.
"Controller John Chiang, who manages the state's cash, may be best known for blocking legislative paychecks this summer and rejecting former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's attempt to pay minimum wage to state workers three years ago."
"Chiang, in his second and final term as controller, told The Bee Capitol Bureau on Wednesday he now plans "in all likelihood" to run for state treasurer in 2014."
"He recently reported California is $705.5 million, or 3.6 percent, behind expectations for the first quarter of the fiscal year. But he would not say Wednesday whether he thinks the state will impose automatic "trigger" cuts to social services and education that are supposed to occur if the state falls short of revenue."
What started out as a peaceful move by Occupy Oakland to close down the port erupted into violence later in the evening and early this morning. Some 40 people were arrested.
The Oakland Tribune's Kristin J. Bender, Sean Maher and Cecily Burt tell the tale: "As many as 40 people were arrested in downtown Oakland early Thursday after what was mostly a peaceful day during the general strike Wednesday turned heated."
"Late in the evening, protesters temporarily took over a vacant building, started fires in downtown and used homemade bomb launchers to fire M80s at police."
"At 1 a.m. police had used tear-gas and flashbang grenades in attempts to clear the crowd from downtown streets. Some protesters tried to calm the situation by chanting "Don't throw (crap)" and yelling "Stand still the world is watching" but others continued to stand off with police and refused to leave despite police calling an "unlawful assembly" at midnight."
