It's judgment day in the L.A. mayoral campaign, complete with last-minute shenanigans, confused voters and an array of choices.
From the LA Daily News' Dakota Smith: "L.A. voters are fickle these days. In a poll released Sunday, half of all voters who have picked City Councilman Eric Garcetti and Greuel said they may change their minds. Overall, 14 percent of likely voters hadn't decided who to vote for. The field also includes City Councilwoman Jan Perry, attorney/talk radio host Kevin James, and tech executive Emanuel Pleitez."
"Garcetti and Greuel led in the USC/Los Angeles Times poll, but no single top candidate has emerged decisively as a favorite, making Tuesday's election a tight, unpredictable race."
"There is a large number of undecided voters and that's a little surprising," said Jaime Regalado, professor emeritus of political science at Cal State L.A. "But on the other hand, there hasn't been a knockout by anyone. This race has been a little ho-hum."
Speaking of shenanigans, there's nothing like a slate mailer -- a venerable tradition in California politics -- to keep the pot boiling.
From KPCC's Alice Walton: "Eric Garcetti is often described as a liberal progressive, but is he (secretly) a Republican? One slate mailer implies that’s the case."
"Candidates pay to appear in slate mailers that are targeted to select groups of voters. Despite his liberal credentials, Garcetti paid $8,000 to appear on a mailer that is titled “Continuing the Republican Revolution.”
"Did Garcetti switch his party affiliation? No, according to the campaign."
Meanwhile, an outraged Mike Antonovich -- he's often outraged -- says he isn't endorsing contender Kevin James, despite the suggestion in a James mailer.
From the LAT's Catherine Saillant: "Antonovich said Monday he had nothing to do with the letter and was incensed that it used what he considered inflammatory language. The James campaign said it was inadvertently sent by email to "hundreds" of James' supporters and campaign volunteers."
"The letter contains comments I have never said in support of his campaign,'' Antonovich said in a statement condemning the release. "While I prefer Kevin James or Jan Perry for mayor, I would have never sent a letter using such negative rhetoric."
"The email blast bears the James campaign logo and appears to be signed by Antonovich. It asks readers to make a last-minute donation to help the James campaign get his pro-business, anti-union message out in the final hours of the race."
The money distribution from Proposition 39 includes billions of dollars for schools -- if they go green, energy wise. At least, that's the governor's plan. Not everybody is on board, however.
From Greg Lucas in Capitol Weekly: "This annual windfall for schools will be $450 million in the first year and $550 million thereafter until June 30, 2018 – a little over $64 per public school pupil next year."
"The money comes thanks to voter approval in November of Proposition 39, which returns California to a less generous tax system for large businesses operating in multiple states.
"Under the terms of the initiative, for the next five years, half of the more than $1 billion the state’s receives each year from reversion to its old tax methodology is earmarked for projects that “create jobs in California improving energy efficiency and expanding clean energy generation.”
Not that this is news, but the misery of Bay Area commutes is legendary -- try the 680 up the hill out of San Jose at rush hour, for example -- but the commutes have gotten really
bad.
From the Mercury News' Mike Rosenberg: "Think your commute stinks? Try being one of the Bay Area's "mega-commuters" -- a new Census demographic that defines the worst of the worst commutes: workers who spend at least 90 minutes plus 50 miles to get to the office in the morning."
"And the Bay Area, with its sprawling suburbs and nasty traffic, has a higher percentage of these road warriors than any other major metro area in the country, according to a first-of-its-kind Census Bureau report released Tuesday."
"About 2 percent of full-time workers living from Walnut Creek to San Rafael to San Jose -- and 4 percent of people who work in the area -- are classified as mega-commuters, compared with the national average of less than 1 percent. In other words, a Bay Area worker is four times more likely than the average American worker to be a mega-commuter, a sobering fact that officials say isn't likely to change anytime soon."
