The PG&E-CPUC tribulations appear to have no end in sight. Federal prosecutors are now probing the company’s close ties with regulators.
Jaxon Van Derbeken reports for The SF Chronicle: “The company revealed the investigation by the U.S. attorney’s office as it released additional e-mails that it said violated rules against off-the-record communications between PG&E and state regulators, including one in which a utility vice president said the head of the commission was pressuring PG&E to fund the campaign against a state ballot measure.”
“PG&E said it had found the the e-mails among 65,000 exchanged between state officials and utility employees over five years.”
“The company said it would cooperate in the federal investigation. It did not say what laws may have been violated.”
In light of the situation, Gov. Jerry Brown gave back campaign contributions from six PG&E officials.
David Siders reports for The Sacramento Bee: “Brown received $9,000 in separate contributions from PG&E employees in July, including $2,000 each from senior vice presidents Kent Harvey and Karen Austin.”
“Dan Newman, a political spokesman for Brown, said in an email that the $9,000 in donations were returned “to be prudent in the midst of the inquiry.” Brown’s disclosure came in a routine pre-election campaign finance filing.”
“PG&E Corp. gave more than $50,000 to Brown’s campaign for governor in 2010 and contributed $25,000 to his initiative to raise taxes in 2012.”
He’s probably not running for president in 2016, but Brown might run for mayor of Oakland after he leaves the governor’s office.
Will Kane reports for The SF Chronicle: “"Well, it may not be the last. There are always races around," he said. "I certainly enjoyed being mayor of Oakland. That was a real wonderful opportunity. I never made the most of it."”
“Asked if the Oakland City Charter would allow him to return and run for a third term as mayor, Brown, who lives in the Oakland hills, responded without hesitation: "Yes."”
“Brown served two terms as Oakland's mayor, from 1999 to 2007, and remains popular in the city. Yet he said it's hard to predict what he'd do in 2018 at the end of another term as governor. He'd be 80 years old.”
While in Oakland, the governor threw his political weight behind a former aide running for mayor.
David Siders reports for The Sacramento Bee: “Gov. Jerry Brown, a former mayor of Oakland, waded into the mayoral contest in that city Monday, endorsing a one-time aide over Jean Quan, the Democratic incumbent.”
“In a letter to Oakland residents, Brown said City Councilwoman Libby Schaaf, also a Democrat, is “the most practical and would be the best choice” among more than a dozen candidates on the ballot.”
“Brown did not mention Quan in the letter.”
The Fair Political Practices Commission is imposing $5,000 fines on three Republican central committees for money laundering in the 2010 election cycle.
Laurel Rosenhall reports for The Sacramento Bee: “In all three cases, according to the FPPC, the donors had given the maximum allowable contributions to the candidates they supported, but wanted to contribute more. So they worked with campaign consultants to contribute money to the central committees, which in turn donated almost the same amounts to the candidates, the FPPC documents say.”
“That violates state law because donations to political parties are not supposed to be earmarked for specific candidates.”
Candidates running for a competitive congressional seat in the Bay Area’s 17th district sparred last night in their only debate.
Josh Richman reports for Bay Area News Group: “Larry Gerston, a San Jose State political science professor, said after the debate he saw "no big shot that ended it" for either candidate -- and no defining moment likely to sway a lot of voters.”
“Honda looked feisty throughout the debate, belying the notion that he has nothing left to offer, Gerston said. And while Khanna worked hard to question Honda's efficacy, Gerston said, "there's a high bar when you're replacing an incumbent."”
It’s a well-documented fact that Angelenos spend a ton of time in traffic, but not as much as you’d think.
LAist reports: “It turns out most people in Los Angeles don't really spend a third of their life in traffic, according to a new, interactive map that shows the average time it takes to get to work, divvied up by ZIP code.”
“The average commute time across the country is 25.4 minutes, and it will surprise no one to learn that Angelenos spend a little more time en route to work than that. However, it's really not that much more. These numbers come from the U.S. Census Bureau and are presented in a cool map by WNYC.”
