Just when you thought it was safe to stop grumbling about
Susan Kennedy, the LA Times reports Kennedy will be
on the campaign payroll with a job of raising money for the governor's reelection. "Schwarzenegger communications director
Rob Stutzman said Kennedy would take vacation days to meet donors and work on the campaign, and would 'absolutely' separate her policy job from the fundraising effort. He said that 'her insight strategically on how the campaign will proceed will be invaluable.'"
Former
Gray Davis aide
Steve "Maviglio, who now works for Assembly Speaker
Fabian Nuñez (D-Los Angeles), said Democrats see problems with Kennedy and other Schwarzenegger officials moving back and forth between policy discussions in the Capitol and meetings with donors. The governor's former chief of staff,
Patricia Clarey, took time off from her government job to serve as Schwarzenegger's campaign manager last year." Maviglio states that the Gray Davis administration had "an informal rule prohibited staff members — including Kennedy — from attending any fundraisers, said Steve Maviglio, a former spokesman for Davis."
Instead, they picked up checks in area restaurants from
contributors with business before the state.
Speaking of Kennedy, Capitol Weekly reports the governor's chief of staff could be
heading for a showdown with Senate Leader Don Perata over the political fate of Energy Commission head
Joe Desmond.
"The task of shepherding
Desmond's confirmation through the balky Senate is being personally handled by Kennedy. Capitol sources say Desmond's reappointment is a major policy task for Kennedy, a former member of the Public Utilities Commision. It is also
the first overt demonstration of Kennedy's willingness to buck Democratic leadership to push for the governor's appointees.
Even if Desmond is ultimately defeated,
going through the confirmation process could be a boost for Kennedy, who will have a chance to demonstrate her loyalty to Schwarzenegger in the face of many skeptical Republicans,both inside and outside the Capitol."
Meanwhile, Republican "legislators
gave Schwarzenegger a list of demands in a private meeting in the Capitol, where the governor had hoped to assuage their concerns that he may be saddling the state with too much debt without enough to show for it," reports Peter Nicholas for the Times.
"At the top of the list was a request that the governor
pare the $68 billion in state borrowing his plan envisions and
relax environmental protections as a means to speedily shore up roads, levees and other infrastructure." Also, on the list is prevailing wage.
"'The Republicans have always been there, and the Republicans are also interested in getting this taken care of,' [legislative secretary
Richard] Costigan said. Republicans worry that Democrats will insist the rebuilding be done by union labor. That would prove unpalatable to Republicans, who say the exclusive use of union labor could delay construction and inflate costs."
Don Perata said that Democrats would like to find a deal. "'We're in a burning house,' Perata said. 'And if we don't get out, we all die….
The public is getting really tired of trying to figure out why we're up here.'"
Capitol Weekly's Shane Goldmacher looks at the bond's cap proposal, and finds the governor's ambitious bond proposal is in part a way
to limit future bonds for projects other than the governor's priorities. ""We want to take all the bonding capacity that we think is prudent for the state…and use the money wisely instead of letting it get chipped away with this or that flight of fancy," said DOF director
Mike Genest.
It's part of the reason Democrats are balking at the size of the package. "'It would not only lock up the borrowing capacity, it would lock up any flexibility in the budget whatsoever," said Assemblyman
John Laird, D-Santa Cruz, who is the chair of the budget committee and was recently appointed to the conference committee that will ultimately determine the shape of the bond."
CW's Malcolm Maclachlan looks at
some of the things that are not in the bond. "What's got a kitchen sink, but
no housing or high-speed rail and little in the way of environmental spending, rapid transit or healthcare? If you answered Arnold Schwarzenegger's mega-bond and infrastructure package, you'd be right. While many were lauding or criticizing the governor for moving to the left, some Democrats were focusing on their favorite programs that were missing from the massive spending proposals."
After all that borrowing, are
tax hikes inevitable in 2007? Dan Weintraub says if not inevitable, they are a very real possibility. "The most likely outcome at this point is a tax increase in 2007. At a minimum, the governor should be forced to admit, finally, that he cannot rule out that option as he runs for re-election."
Is
Bill Thomas in line to be the new
Tom DeLay? Vic Pollard reports the Bakersfield Congressman may be
interested in the gig. "A rumor posted on a Wall Street Journal weblog that Congressman Bill Thomas may run to succeed scandal-plagued House Majority Leader Tom DeLay sent shudders through both conservative Republicans and Democrats this week."
Or maybe not... "Thomas, R-Bakersfield, did not respond to repeated e-mail and telephone requests for comment. However, other accounts of the contest to succeed DeLay have not mentioned Thomas as a candidate."
Certainly intriguing...
The Bee's Clea Benson looks into the governor's
proposed budget changes to CalWORKs. "Fewer welfare recipients are working, and their need for cash aid is increasing as a result, changes that Schwarzenegger administration officials say drove their decision to cut CalWORKs child care funds in the governor's newly proposed budget."
"And because demands for monthly CalWORKs cash payments are higher than expected, Schwarzenegger is proposing $238 million in offsetting cuts to CalWORKs services, especially child care - $114 million this year and $124 million next year.
"
Frank Mecca, head of the County Welfare Directors Association, said the midyear reduction could have a destabilizing effect on county programs.
"'If the (Schwarzenegger) administration can get away with something like that, then no county administration could ever be sure from one day to the next that the rug won't be pulled out from under them,' he said."
From our
Unlicensed Immigrant Files: The guv
won't be cited for his unlicensed motorcycle affair, reports Andrew Blankstein for the Times. "Los Angeles police spokesman
Jason Lee said no officers observed Schwarzenegger riding the motorcycle so the department would not issue a citation."
"A spokesman for City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo said a decision whether to issue a traffic citation to Schwarzenegger was up to the Los Angeles Police Department."
"'The LAPD provided us with a collision report,'
Jonathan Diamond said. 'Those are not the sorts of the cases we handle and it has been referred back to the LAPD.'"
Carla Marinucci finds average Californians are
upset with the governor's motorcycle mishap. "'If you're a public figure, you don't get to decide (what laws) are important,' said
Hans Gut, 50, an accounting executive from Concord and loyal Harley rider -- one of an avalanche of readers who wrote to The Chronicle in reaction to the news. 'They all are.'"
Another reader wrote to Marinucci "'I was recently cited in Livermore for not having the M-1 endorsements,' he wrote. '
A CHP officer said he could have towed and impounded my motorcycle because not having the M-1 was like having no license at all.'"
Will "Lee of the Harley Owners Group said Schwarzenegger should seize the opportunity to educate millions on the matter."
"'He needs to do a public service thing to get the right message out there,' Lee said. 'Taking the (Motorcycle Safety Foundation ) course would be a great community service, and that would send a message" that can save lives --
and save him from more accidents, political and otherwise.'"
From our
Let There Be Light Files: The University of California tried to make things better by
explaining where $878 million in extra compensation went. "UC says is now believes the $871 million includes: $449 million to health sciences faculty members and hospital administrators from clinical revenue, $151 million to faculty members for additional teaching and research, $70 million in "differential pay" to union employees for working unusual shifts, $58 million in employee bonuses, $57 million in compensation under special contracts, $54 million in vacation and severance, $30 million for honorariums and stipends, $9 million in auto and housing allowances."
San Francisco's annual march and rally to honor
Martin Luther King, Jr. will insted be a
bus ride and rally, reports the Chron. "The thousands of people who usually march up Third Street from public transit stations and then up Market Street to rally at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium instead will be bused to the noon gathering Monday."
In a strange explanation... "Putting participants on Muni was billed as
a nod to the late Rosa Parks, who became famous for refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white man, and as an effort to place a stronger focus on the rally."
"'We are trying to give some variety, some change,' said the Rev.
Cecil Williams of Glide Memorial Methodist Church, which organizes the event. 'We want to inform and educate and have people participate rather than just march. Only a few people wanted to march anyway.'"
Also reportedly in development to aid the growingly lethargic population: the annual Bay to Breakers Taxi Ride.
