The state Supreme Court yesterday
restored the electricity regulation initiative to the November ballot as Proposition 80, overruling the Court of Appeal's ruling last week. The appeals court had ruled that the measure
unconstitutionally delegated legislative authority to the Public Utilities Commission and would therefore be thrown out in its entirety if approved by the voters, while the
Supreme Court said that the voters should vote first before the issue is settled.
"'Now both sides have to go through a costly campaign. If we're correct that this is truly an invalid measure,
the campaign is just a waste of time and money,' said
Richard Martland, an attorney for the Independent Energy Producers Association."
That sounds a lot like what the proponents of the measure, the Alliance for a Better California have been saying about the entire special election.
Speaking of uncertain electoral futures, some Republicans are starting to get
a tinsy bit antsy waiting for the governor to declare his intentions for 2006. ""We, the Republicans,
would like to know that he's committed to run. And I believe the people of California would like to know that he's committed to run," said Assemblyman
Roger Niello, R-Fair Oaks.
Schwarzenegger campaign spokesman
Todd Harris said he'd be sure to tell all of us, just as soon as the governor decides.
Meanwhile, threatened with a lawsuit by the governor, Attorney General
Bill Lockyer rewrote the ballot summary on the governor's budget reform ballot measure,
de-emphasizing the measure's effect on the education funding guarantee. Lockyer spokesman Nathan Barankin said the decision was made after meeting with
Steven Merksamer, one of the attorneys for the governor.
"'We felt he made a pretty good argument,' Barankin said. 'People threaten to sue all the time, and we don't make changes. We make changes when they make a good point.'"
In that same spirit of bipartisanship, the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce
backed Rob Reiner's tax-the-rich-for-preschool initiative on the June 2006 ballot. Reiner said of the endorsement, "
I think this is the most important endorsement this initiative will receive." Translation: Who needs CTA when you've got the (Los Angeles) Chamber of Commerce?
Lockyer, however, is not expected to back down on his art display, which has drawn criticism for its anti-Bush stance and is
expected to draw competing rallies outside of his office today.
From our
Trend Watch files, voters in the Coachella Valley approved a
$16 per-homeowner tax to fight mosquitoes. "The money will help pay for inspections and surveys to determine where
ants and mosquitoes are, and for pesticides and larvicides to kill them, Gomsi said. It will also pay for more widespread
testing for West Nile virus, which has been detected since late May in several places in the valley, from the Salton Sea to Rancho Mirage.
The AP's Tim Malloy writes that
Antonio Villaraigosa is
trying to get Angelenos out of their automobiles. The new mayor, however, understands that it won't be easy at that improvements need to be made to the city's public transportation system before people give up their love affair with their cars.
"'We don't have a system that can take you anywhere you want to go,' said Villaraigosa. 'Until we do, and we make it convenient, safe, affordable, reliable and fast, we're not going to change those habits.'"
Good luck.From our
Walking on Eggshells in the Era of Political Correctness files, the Thousand Oaks City Council is the latest local government to take
a kinder, gentler pledge. " A modicum of civility returned to Thousand Oaks City Hall this week as the City Council reviewed a code of conduct designed to limit backbiting among members and curb personal attacks from residents. But though council members were pleasant to one another,
they were immediately criticized by residents who feared the code would quash dissent. One of those was free speech advocate
Terry Franke.
You have to be ready to take criticism, or even name-calling, as a cost of being in office. It's called politics. It may not be the best form of politics, but it's reasonably inevitable…. It's sort of
the psychological cost of doing business," Francke said.
From our
We'll Take the Silver files, the Roundup once again lost the annual Worst Writing in the English Language Contest. This time, we lost out to
a man from North Dakota who compared breasts to carburetors. "
"As he stared at her ample bosom, he daydreamed of the dual Stromberg carburetors in his vintage Triumph Spitfire," wrote winner Dan McKay, "
highly functional yet pleasingly formed, perched prominently on top of the intake manifold,
aching for experienced hands, the small knurled caps of the oil dampeners begging to be inspected and adjusted as described in chapter seven of the shop manual."
In related news, The Roundup announced the hiring of
Dan McKay, an award-winning writer from North Dakota with a deep understanding of women ... and cars.
