Oct 7, 2005

Cock and bull story

The money fights continue between Democrats and Gov. Schwarzenegger. The LA Times reports "Attorneys for Democratic legislative leaders planned to appear in court today to press a suit against the Republican governor and a committee overseeing the campaign for one of his main initiatives, Proposition 77. The measure would authorize judges, rather than legislators, to draw boundaries for congressional and legislative districts. In the suit, the Democrats are seeking to force the Yes on 77 committee to disgorge $1.14 million and return it to Schwarzenegger."

But with only four weeks to go, the governor's campaign is ramping up. "The governor's campaign is spending more than $2.4 million a week on television ads, airing mostly in the Central Valley and Southern California markets. He has limited his television advertising to cable in the Bay Area, where his campaign aides say support for his measures is weakest, and is not advertising on the more costly network affiliates."

Univision head Jerry Perenchio has chipped in another $1.5 million to the governor's campaign. Wonder if that's to cover the guv's spanish-language media buy...

The Chron does it's explainer on Prop. 76. "The ballot measure, dubbed by supporters as the "Live Within Our Means Act," would repeal several provisions of Proposition 98, an initiative that set formulas for education spending, as well as change other laws that determine spending on everything from roads to health care for the poor.

In other words, after decades of California budgeting by ballot initiative, this 14-page measure proposes to change much of past initiatives while imposing new constraints of its own."

Senator Deborah Ortiz has finally settled on a statewide office to run for next year. In a letter to supporters, Ortiz wrote "I have made an exciting decision. And it feels so right."

Is this a campaign announcement or a dating service commercial?

"On September 15th, I took the first steps on the road to becoming California's next secretary of state." Ortiz had been planning to run for Insurance Commissioner, ostensibly to tackle the issues that she's fought for as a state legislator. Unfortunately, another Richie Ross client, lieutenant governor Cruz Bustamante pulled rank and bumped her.

The good news for Democrats is that they have lots of strong women on the primary election ballot on 6/6/06. However, they are generally running against each other as Liz Figueroa and Jackie Speier face off for lieutenant governor and Debra Bowen and Deborah Ortiz fight to move on to the general for secretary of state.

While hospitals and emergency rooms are closing around the state, thank god in heaven that the SPCA just received $13 million for a new pet hospital in San Francisco. The money comes courtesey of the estate of a local philanthropist who died two years ago. "The money will go toward construction of a $32 million animal care center that will be named after her.
The 60,000-square-foot center will be next to where the SPCA is located at 2500 16th St. It is scheduled to open in 2007."


The Bee tries to get to the bottom of the story surrounding Willie Brown's resignation from the PERS board. Apparently, he wrote his resignation letter to the guv back in May, even though his resignation just took effect last week.

The governor's office refused to disclose the resignation letter, but the Bee obtained it through a public records request.

"Sacramento education consultant John Mockler, a friend of Brown's since 1959, offered some insight. Mockler said Brown called Schwarzenegger following his landslide 2003 election victory, offering to step down upon request to make room for a Republican appointee.

"From Willie Brown's perspective, that was the honorable thing to do, and Arnold thanked him for it," Mockler said. "There was no quid pro quo. There was nothing strange."

Of course, that was after Brown made a run at becoming board president...


From our Smoke em if you got em files, the state Supreme Court is considering a ban on free tobacco . "R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. was fined $14.8 million for handing out cigarettes at six events in 1999, including auto races and a jazz festival in Southern California and the San Jose International Beer Festival. Attorney General Bill Lockyer's office sued the company under a state law, passed in 1991, that prohibits free distribution of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, except in limited circumstances when minors are securely excluded.

The LA Times breaks down Antonio Villaraigosa's first 100 days in office, and finds "a fizzy extended honeymoon, full of TV crews, autograph seekers and well-wishers, and a sense that something exciting is happening in Los Angeles."

Fizzy? Moving on...

"But with many of his most ambitious ideas — a school system takeover, a subway to the Pacific, an expanded Los Angeles Police Department — far from fruition, the mayor remains vulnerable to one of the main criticisms Hahn leveled in the spring campaign: that he was "a smile and a fancy suit," whose rhetoric would outweigh his accomplishments. Some of his political moves during the first 100 days leave him open to the criticism that he plays "both sides of the fence," as one observer suggested, in order to please as many people as possible.

Oh, and by the way, it looks like Villaraigosa wants control over LAUSD after all.

From our Governmental Cock Blocking files, all of you wanting to start that chicken ranch in Oakland may want to reconsider. The city council has placed a ban on roosters in the city, and residents can now only own three dogs. Fireworks when really fly next week when the council considers a one-child-per-family limit.