Jerry Brown is poised to become the longest-serving governor in California history, a job that has changed over the years as much as Brown himself. Will the real Jerry Brown please stand up? Actually, he already is.
From Capitol Public Radio's Ben Adler: "In between his two stints as governor, Brown spent eight years as mayor of Oakland. Former Republican lawmaker Bill Leonard says that gave him a new perspective."
“It seemed to me he learned a lot about how the executive branch gets things done – or not – that he hadn’t really learned as governor the first time, and he had to really confront problems at literally the street level that governors don’t necessarily see,” Leonard says."
Brown tells Capital Public Radio his 40 years of experience help him “separate the wheat from the chaff.”
“Well, yeah, I do see government differently,” Brown says. “So having seen through the camouflage of rather grandiose, nice-sounding claims and phrases in politics, I have a more penetrating gaze when people say – well, sign this bill or don’t do this or that.”
Speaking of political journeys, it looks like San Diego Mayor Bob Filner's is coming to a close: A deal apparently has been reached that has him leaving office in return for getting his legal costs covered stemming from the allegations of sexual impropriety. The city council votes Friday.
From Tony Perry in the LAT: "The mediation over the sexual harassment lawsuit against San Diego Mayor Bob Filner has been completed, and the City Council will vote Friday on a proposal that could end the six-week saga, according to City Atty. Jan Goldsmith."
"At issue in the mediation talks was the possibility of Filner’s resignation in exchange for the City Council agreeing to pay some of his legal fees and potential damages from a sexual harassment lawsuit filed against him by his former director of communications."
"Late Wednesday night, an aide to a City Council member posted a video of Filner loading boxes into an SUV parked outside City Hall, reportedly after cleaning out his office and saying farewell to his staff."
A charter school advocate named Marshall Tuck -- I keep wanting to say "Marshall Tucker" -- intends to challenge state Schools Superintendent Tom Torlakson next year.
From EdSource's John Fensterwald: "The former chief executive of the nonprofit that Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa created to run alternative schools within Los Angeles Unified is challenging Tom Torlakson’s run for a second term as state superintendent of public instruction next year."
"Marshall Tuck, 40, was also president of Green Dot Public Schools when it grew from one Los Angeles charter school to 10, before becoming CEO of Partnership for LA Schools five years ago. It’s charged with turning around 17 high-poverty, low-performing district schools. He left that position earlier this year."
"In an interview, Tuck cited policy differences with Torlakson. Tuck said he would have pushed for a compromise on the use of test scores to evaluate teachers so that California could have obtained a federal waiver from the No Child Left Behind law. Instead, eight districts had to do somersaults to get the waiver that all districts deserve, he said. And, as CEO of Partnership for LA Schools, he opposed seniority laws, which Torlakson defended, that led to layoffs of a big percentage of young teachers at Partnership schools."
Gov. Brown needs to get on the stick and knock some heads in the BART labor dispute -- at least, that's the word from S.F. business interests.
From the San Francisco Business Journal's Eric Young: "Bay Area business leaders urged Gov.Jerry Brown to “break through the logjam” that is holding up an agreement on a new BART labor contract."
“With little progress made to date during the 60-day cooling off period,” a coalition of businesses said Wednesday, Brown should “convene a bargaining session with the BART board together with the international presidents of SEIU and ATU to negotiate a settlement that will ensure the Bay Area is spared of another harmful strike.”
"BART and its unions have said little publicly during the 60-day cooling off period that started Aug. 12 so it is unclear how much progress has been made toward a new contract."
It's only a study, but it's better than nothing: The LA City Council is looking at a multibillion-dollar plan to fix LA's pothole-plagued streets.
From the LA Daily News' Dakota Smith: "Los Angeles City Council members moved Wednesday to study a taxpayer-funded multibillion dollar plan to repair thousands of failing city streets."
"The City Council backed a plan to explore a $3 billion bond proposal to fix 8,700 lane miles of street, or about one-third of Los Angeles’ roadways. Taxpayers will foot a significant portion of the total bill, which could top $5 billion if curb and sidewalk repairs are included."
"Council members Mitchell Englander and Joe Buscaino pitched the proposal at a City Hall hearing Wednesday as a way to address a 60-year backlog of road repairs. They said they hope to put the bond measure on the November 2014 ballot and see the project completed in 10 years."
