The head of the Assembly “Mods” shocked the capitol community yesterday when he announced that he would be stepping down, a year before his term is up. Assemblyman Henry Perea (D, Fresno), said that he is leaving to take a job in government relations. Christopher Cadelago and Jim Miller, Sacramento Bee:
“Perea would have been forced from the Assembly by term limits after 2016. In an interview, Perea said he is considering two positions in government relations and expects to make a decision in the next 10 days.
“Sacramento is undergoing a generational shift, he said, indicating the departing officials in both potential positions have been there for decades.
“’These jobs don’t wait for you,’ Perea, 38, said by phone Tuesday. ‘You have to make a decision if it’s something you want to do.”’
And, in another shock from the lower house, Greg Campbell, Chief of Staff to Speaker Toni Atkins, announced that he is leaving on December 15 to start his own consulting firm/lobby shop.
The governor gave a flurry of interviews today, spreading his message of climate awareness ahead of his trip to Paris where he will participate in a U.N. summit on climate change. While climate change was largely unknown during his first terms in office, Jerry Brown has always tried to minimize mankind’s impact on the environment – fighting climate change is just the latest step. Chris Megerian, Los Angeles Times:
“Four decades ago, his focus on the environment -- talking of ‘Spaceship Earth’ and exhortations that ‘small is beautiful’ -- was a curiosity. But as 50,000 people gather in Paris in an ongoing effort to stop global warming, it’s clear that the world has caught up with Brown.
“During his weeklong trip, the governor will tout California’s policies, rub shoulders with corporate executives, sign agreements with foreign leaders and be feted at the U.S. ambassador’s residence for his efforts to urge a stronger international accord at the summit.
“’They’re not calling him Moonbeam anymore,’ said Tom Hayden, an environmental activist and former state legislator who has worked with Brown for years. ‘This is his moment.’”
Brown goes to Paris with significant clout - as the Governor of the richest, most populous state, Brown has been able to do what Presidents have not: make significant efforts to combat climate change. James Nash, Bloomberg Politics:
“Brown, a Democrat who once called himself the president of California, said states are compelled to act on climate change because congressional Republicans are tying Obama's hands.
"’We're trying to spur on the nation-states,’ Brown said of the 60 states, regions and provinces around the world who plan to sign a sub-national agreement in Paris to limit the increase in global average temperature. ‘We need to work from the bottom up. The United States is somewhat of an outlier because of bitter opposition from Republicans in Congress to any kind of climate leadership. The Republicans want Obama to fail.’”
Campaign disclosure filings have revealed that over $2 million donated by charter schools supporters during a Los Angeles school board election were undisclosed until after the election was over. Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times:
“Those contributions — from philanthropist Eli Broad, heirs to the Wal-Mart fortune, former New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and others — were made prior to the May 19 election to California Charter Schools Assn. Advocates, a political action committee in Sacramento. That group then forwarded campaign funds to a local affiliated committee.
“The Los Angeles-based PAC was required by campaign laws only to identify the state charter group as the source of the funding, not the individual donors.
“As a result, the donors remained anonymous in Los Angeles campaign filings. In September, the state charter group filed a required state report listing all its contributors.
“While the practice appears to be within the law, state campaign regulators said they are concerned about how the contributions remained unreported for so long.”
Police shootings of unarmed suspects have ignited furious protests in places like Ferguson, Missouri and Cleveland, Ohio, but the county with the most police shootings per capita is strangely quiet. Jon Swaine and Oliver Laughland have an engrossing read in the Guardian looking at Kern County, California, home of the most lethal police force in the United States. Accompanying video and photography by Mae Ryan.
“In all, 13 people have been killed so far this year by law enforcement officers in Kern County, which has a population of just under 875,000. During the same period, nine people were killed by the NYPD across the five counties of New York City, where almost 10 times as many people live and about 23 times as many sworn law enforcement officers patrol.
“The deaths span from January to the early hours of last Sunday morning, when a man accused of firing at officers during a foot chase in downtown Bakersfield was shot and killed. One senior Bakersfield police officer has been involved in at least four deadly shootings in less than two years. Another officer separately shot dead three people within two months in 2010. Other law enforcement officers in Kern County have meanwhile been involved in deadly beatings of unarmed men, sex crimes against women and reckless car crashes resulting in criminal convictions.
“’They have some fine officers here, but unfortunately they have some bullies and thugs who often run the show,’ Henry Mosier, who worked for the county as a public defender for a decade before his recent retirement, said in an interview.”
And finally, a remembrance of LA’s Redwood House- a story of the days when when newspapering was newspapering, and each edition required nearly as much alcohol as ink. Steve Harvey, LA Observed:
“One of the exhibits at the recent "To Live and Dine in L.A." display at the Los Angeles Central Library was a menu from the old Redwood House on First Street. The menu, resembling a round slice of tree trunk, failed to mention two interesting features of the Redwood when it was next door to the Times.
“The first feature was a passageway that enabled thirsty Times employees to discreetly travel between the newspaper and the bar without going outside (their bosses didn't care; many of them used it, too.)..
“The second unique feature of the Redwood was a direct telephone connection (ext. 5116) to the Times.
"’The day bartender (I recall his name as Frank) knew us all so well that if the Times extension would ring he'd look around to see who was represented and either answer 'National Desk' or 'City Desk' as appropriate,’ recalls former deputy managing editor Dennis Britton. ‘He even once answered it “Dennis Britton's Office.” It's possible I was there a bit too often.’"
