The redrawing of California's political districts resulted in a kind of limbo for many Californians who live in areas represented by lawmakers who won't be on the ballot this year. It's a peculiar situation -- just take a look at the mailers and you'll see what we mean.
From the Press Enterprise's Jim Miller: "Millions of California residents have been essentially cut off from the glossy surveys, town hall invitations, newsletters and other mailers from their state representatives in the months following the redrawing of the state’s political map..."
"Last summer’s overhaul of congressional and legislative lines by the state’s independent redistricting commission created large swaths of California where people will not see their current state senator or Assembly member on the ballot in 2012."
"Since then, these lame-duck constituents have received relatively few of the mailers churned out at taxpayer expense by the offices of more than a dozen lawmakers facing close races this year, according to a Press-Enterprise review of Assembly and Senate mail records."
"Those offices sent a disproportionate share of their government mail to parts of their districts where people will get a chance to vote for them, the analysis showed. Legislative rules require only that lawmakers’ mail stay within their districts."
The Administrative Office of the Courts, the staffing agency that serves as the backbone of California's court system, is too big, too expensive and insufficiently accessible to the public, according to a new report put together by a committee appointed by the state Surpeme Court chief justice. The harsh review, which couldn't come at a worse time given the state's fiscal woes, provides ammunition to the AOC's critics who have long complained about the system's management practices.
From Capitol Weekly's John Howard: "The burgeoning growth of the state courts’ staffing agency, coupled with a lack of candor and overlapping responsibilities, has resulted in a bloated agency that needs to be downsized and better focused, according to a harshly critical report from a special committee appointed by state Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye."
"The panel, composed of judges and government staffing experts, said the Administrative Office of the Courts has “become dysfunctional in many ways. A fundamental overhaul of the agency’s organizational structure is needed.”
"The AOC is the staff arm of the courts and answers to the Judicial Council, which is headed by the chief justice. The AOC began in 1961 with 18 workers. Some 30 thirty years later, in 1992, it had 225 employees. It currently has 1,100 employees."
One piece of the budget-balancing puzzle offered up by the administration is to tap hundreds of millions of dollars in mortgage settlement money. But there are problems here, reports the Bay Citizen's Aaron Glantz.
"Gov. Jerry Brown’s plan to use more than $400 million from a national foreclosure settlement to help balance the state budget would put struggling homeowners at risk of criminal scams, California housing officials say."
“We are already hearing from three or four families a week who have been approached by scam artists,” said Javier Hernandez, a housing counselor at Neighborhood Housing Services of the East Bay, which is in the heart of Richmond’s hard-hit Iron Triangle."
"Under the terms of the settlement – part of a national agreement to resolve allegations of wrongful foreclosures by Bank of America, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, Citibank and Ally Financial – troubled California borrowers are slated to receive about $17 billion in direct assistance over the next three years. That amount includes $12 billion in mortgage write-downs for borrowers who owe more on their homes than they are worth."
Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat, really likes Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher, a Republican-turned-independent who is running for mayor of San Diego.The governor stopped short of endorsing him, however.
From Liam Dillon in the Voice of San Diego: "Gov. Jerry Brown likes San Diego mayoral candidate Nathan Fletcher."
"Here's how much: "Nathan Fletcher stands out from the pack, especially when he voted to close a big tax loophole that rewards companies that ship jobs out of California," Brown said in a statement released today. "In the face of partisan pressures, he maintains his independence and calls it the way he sees it."
"Brown was referring to a deal that he and Fletcher, an assemblyman, engineered last year that aimed to end tax breaks for out-of-state businesses, and lower personal income taxes and add tax breaks for small, in-state businesses. The deal failed to pass, but both Fletcher supporters and opponents highlight it on the trail."
