The governor's stagecraft reached another peak yesterday, as he
presided over the filling of a 10-by-15-foot pothole to illustrate his commitment to transportation programs. The twist is that a San Jose City Crew had
dug the hole a few hours earlier.
(For more information, see
metaphor)
The Chronicle reports: "
[Nick] Porrovecchio and his business partner,
Joe Greco, said that at about 7 a.m. they became fascinated watching "10 city workers standing around for a few hours putting on new vests,'' all in preparation for the big moment with Schwarzenegger.
But their street, he noted, didn't even have a hole to pave over until Thursday morning."
They couldn't find a real pot hole anywhere? Maybe
this study could have helped. Anyway, back to the Chronicle story...
"'They just dug it out,' Porrovecchio said, shrugging. 'There was a crack. But they dug out the whole road this morning.'
'It's a lot of money spent on a staged event,' said
Matt Vujevich, 74, a retiree whose home faced the crew-made trench that straddled nearly the whole street. 'We still have the same problems. Everything's a press conference.'"
But the governor did get some good news. AP's Tom Chorneau reports the guv raised between $2 and $3 million on his latest national fundraising tour. " The trip generated between $2 million and $3 million, said
Marty Wilson, a top campaign consultant who also helps oversee Schwarzenegger's fund-raising. Names of donors won't be available until contribution reports are filed with the Secretary of State's office, which Wilson said would likely be next week.
Steve Lopez reports on the
possibility of a Warren Beatty bid for governor. "'I talked to [Beatty] yesterday for a while,' Democratic strategist
Bill Carrick said of Beatty on Thursday, 'and I don't think he's going to end up running. But I think he is testing the water in the sense that he wants to lead the way for people to understand it's time to take the governor on.'"
And by "testing the water," Carrick of course means looking for a little free publicity.
Lopez continues "I don't know. Something tells me Beatty would have trouble resisting the idea of finding out what might happen in Sacramento if we were to substitute brains for brawn, Priuses for Hummers, Dick Tracy for Conan the Barbarian."
Note that when
Bill Lockyer announced he was running for treasurer, Carrick lost his horse in the governor's race...
The
legal fight over nurse staffing ratios continues, and it doesn't look much brighter for the governor. The Bee reports: "The GOP governor issued the emergency regulations in November. The one-to-five ratio has been in effect since March, when Holzer Hersher issued an injunction ordering the administration to put the new staffing rules into effect. Thursday's tentative ruling is the first on the merits of the case."
Dan Walters writes that the state needs more energy to meet its robust growth, the
possible solution of liquified natural gas, and the state-federal dispute over who has authority for siting plans.
The Register's Kimberly Kindy writes up the battle over legislation that would
require restaurant-style grades to be applied to child care centers. The bill,
AB 617 by
John Benoit, remains parked in Assembly Appropriations Committee.
The Assembly approved
AB 756 yesterday,
limiting state-approved textbooks to less than 200 pages. The Bee reports the reaction of the opponents: "'With all due respect,' said Assemblyman
Ray Haynes, R-Murrieta, 'this Legislature worries more about the rules than they do about whether children learn.'"
Bookmark that. You won't hear Ray Haynes alleging the Legislature worries about the rules often.
For our "Lost in Transition" Files, vanquished mayoral candidate
Bob Hertzberg is heading up
yet another political transition team. After serving on the governor's post-recall transition team, Hertzberg will spearhead LA Mayor-elect
Antonio Villaraigosa's efforts to get ready to take over on July 1.
