The Merc News reports that several of the governor's top aides
received payments from his political committees in the first half of the year. "The campaign work by
Patricia Clarey, the governor's chief of staff;
Richard Costigan, his legislative-affairs secretary; and
Rob Stutzman, the director of communications -- all of whom earn more than $100,000 for their day jobs -- troubles government watchdogs, such as
Larry Noble, the executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics in Washington, D.C."
"
Costigan earned $25,000 this year providing policy advice to the California Recovery Team, which promotes the governor's agenda through ballot initiatives.
Clarey and Stutzman both earned $20,000 each this year advising Schwarzenegger's re-election committee. Both committees are funded by private donors, many of them business concerns that have a stake in state policy that the aides help shape. The campaign payments were disclosed in finance reports filed with the secretary of state Monday.
"The pay comes on top of their government salaries. Clarey earns $131,407 a year, and Costigan and Stutzman make $123,246. Clarey and Costigan did not answer e-mail seeking comment, and Stutzman said all questions were referred to [Schwarzenegger spokesperson
Margita] Thompson."
"The conduct is not illegal as long as the work is not done on state time or with taxpayer resources,
but it stands in stark contrast with the policies of former Gov. Gray Davis, who barred staffers from working for taxpayers and campaign committees simultaneously."
Check out the expenditures of the
California Recovery Team and
Californians for Schwarzenegger 2006 on ElectionTrack.
As expected the governor's political committees are fairly depleted, with the California Recovery Team reporting $570,000 on hand as of June 30 and Californians for Schwarzenegger 2006 reporting $150,000 on hand.
Dan Walters explains that
refilling those coffers may not be easy. "Chances are high, therefore, that by Labor Day, Schwarzenegger will be asking business executives anew for tens of millions of dollars for the special election and to gain that support,
he almost certainly would have to assure them that he will seek re-election next year."]
Yesterday's
reported take of $789,000 by the California Recovery Team is a start.
Speaking of telling people you're running for reelection, just what is going on with the Secretary of State's race. This graph, buried in
a fundraising piece in the Chronicle, begs the question. "On the other end of the fiscal chart, the leading candidates for secretary of state have a long way to go in the fund-raising derby. State Sen.
Debra Bowen, D-Marina del Rey, has $175,865 in her campaign fund, while appointed Republican incumbent
Bruce McPherson hasn't even opened a committee to accept contributions for an expected 2006 contest. "
Meanwhile, Assemblymember
Johan Klehs announced yesterday that he will introduce legislation upon the Legislature's return to
clarify that the governor has the authority to cancel the special election. Not necessary, says the office of Senate Pro Tem
Don Perata, which "released an opinion from the legislative counsel saying the governor already has the authority to rescind a special election until the day of the election."
The governor's kindler, gentler makeover continues this week with yesterday's order that employers
provide shade and water for agriculture workers who fall ill to heat, along with an educational component to teach workers about how to recognize heat-related illness. The governor borrowed from his personal experience, 'I've gone through all this when I was in Mexico doing a movie, 'Predator,'' Schwarzenegger said. 'I had no idea. I experienced headaches. I was throwing up, diarrhea, cramps, all of those things. I thought I had maybe caught a bug. The reality was I had to stay in bed for six days ... all because I did not know the symptoms.'"
Alas, now we all have an excuse when we stay out too late and get sick in Mexico. It's the heat.
From our
What, Me Worry? files, Rep.
John Doolittle says he's
given little thought to his primary challenge next year. " Doolittle and his chief of staff,
Richard Robinson, have questioned Holmes' Republican credentials. Holmes aims to raise $800,000 to $1 million in his campaign, but Doolittle said Monday that amount is "totally unrealistic" unless Holmes receives major help from Democrats."
NY Times' Felicity Barringer takes a walk in Topanga State Park, and gets paid to talk about it. All under the pretense of writing about California's air quality. The essence of the piece -- we've still got a ways to go. "For all this achievement, success - consistently healthy air for all 16 million Southern Californians - remains out of reach. The
ozone pollution is improving but the region remains, along with Houston and the San Joaquin Valley in Central California,
one of the worst three in the nation."
The LA Times' Steve Lopez
wants to be the amplifier for complaints about the state's troubled psychiatric hospitals. "Given their description of conditions [at the hospitals], it's not clear to me why the feds don't just bang the door down. Nor is it clear why there hasn't been a peep from the governor or state legislators.
Whether the problem is bad management, inadequate facilities, understaffing or all of the above, we're talking about dangerous and terrifying conditions for a population that's got more than enough problems already.
Someone ought to be demanding answers, and I'm happy to oblige."
Finally, a Roundup farewell to former LA Times media critic
David Shaw, who
died from complications of a brain tumor at the age of 62. Shaw became famous for long, 3,000 word take-downs of his own newspaper. "Mr. Shaw
differed significantly from most reporters covering the news media, who focused on the day-to-day doings ... Said
Dean P. Baquet, managing editor of The Times. "Not only did he take on his own paper, he named names."
