Capitol Weekly's Shane Goldmacher continues to sift through campaign finance reports, and finds
the governor's new campaign manager is doing okay for himself.
"After less than two months on the job, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaign manager
Steve Schmidt has been paid more than $78,000 in campaign funds. Schmidt received paychecks of $26,250 on February 17, March 3 and March 15. That puts Schmidt
on pace to earn more than $470,000 during this year's governor's race.
The early payments to Schmidt can't necessarily be extrapolated to an annual salary. A source close to the campaign said there was "a signing bonus component" to the salary figures. Signing bonuses are not unprecedented in political campaigns. But numerous Democratic and Republican political operatives said the practice of campaigns giving signing bonuses is uncommon in California.
"'I've run five campaigns for U.S. Senate and governor,' said Democratic political consultant
Darry Sragow. '
I have never gotten a signing bonus and I have never given any other consultant a signing bonus.'"
"Sragow said the more common practice is a smaller salary and a bonus for winning in November."
"'If, in fact, this is what Schmidt is being paid for the year, every consultant in California, irrespective of party affiliation, ought to form a line at the door to the Schwarzenegger campaign and see if we can get in on the deal,' Sragow added."
Dan Walters writes that the governor's race
moved into high gear this week. "On Monday night, Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger staged a fundraising event in Beverly Hills and collected some big bucks, launching an almost nonstop series of Schwarzenegger events to raise the $75 million he says he needs to win another term."
"On Wednesday, too, Schwarzenegger and Democratic rivals
Phil Angelides and
Steve Westly filed reports on campaign fundraising. Schwarzenegger has already added $4 million to a campaign treasury that was exhausted by last year's ballot measure wars.
While that falls well short of what Angelides and Westly have banked - the latter mostly from his own fortune - they will be spending it lavishly on TV ads as they duel for the Democratic nomination while Schwarzenegger can hoard his money for the runoff."
Dan Weintraub reports the possibility of a June bond may have gotten
a new life as the governor called for immediate passage of the Assembly-passed education bond, following up on a Big 5 meeting Wednesday night.
The guv was in Oakland yesterday at American Indian Charter School, talking about ... the Assembly's school bond. "'No school should be in a building like this,' Schwarzenegger said during an hourlong visit to the school, whose students are crammed into five classrooms in an East Oakland church building," reports Contra Costa Times reporter Guy Ashley.
"Standing before about two dozen students inside a small classroom, he said: 'This school is bursting at the seams. We should have better facilities here.'
The school's sagging facilities fit nicely with Schwarzenegger's main message: The state Senate should act quickly on a $13.4 billion education bond measure passed by the Assembly."
"Atty. Gen.
Bill Lockyer filed a lawsuit Thursday to block a proposed six-lane tollway through San Onofre State Beach, a popular coastal park he described as 'a state treasure,'" report Peter Nicholas and David Reyes in the Times.
...a state treasure crowned by the
Dolly Parton National Nuclear Monument.
"The suit alleges that the Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency in Orange County failed to adequately explore more sensible alternatives or assess what environmental harm the 16-mile toll road might cause, in violation of the California Environmental Quality Act."
"'It seems to me that building a six-lane highway through the San Onofre State Beach misses an opportunity to meet transportation needs of this growing region without sacrificing public parklands that should be protected for future generations,' Lockyer said."
Toll road supporters see the toll road as the only opportunity.
"'It's the only option that significantly reduces traffic without removing homes or business,' [toll agency chairman
Ken] Ryan said. '
The only other option is to widen the I-5 freeway, take out 800 homes, 300 businesses and eliminate 5,000 jobs at a cost of $2 billion — funding the state doesn't have.'"
Meanwhile, "[a] judge signed off Thursday on administrative procedures to
eliminate California's backlog of overdue parole hearings, and she set an April hearing on other, more controversial reforms that were suggested by a prisoners' advocacy group," reports Claire Cooper in the Bee.
"The administrative steps were agreed to by the state in a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of thousands of inmates waiting for parole suitability hearings that are legally past due, in some cases by up to two years."
"Two men who were given long prison sentences for crimes they didn't commit
will share more than $1 million in compensation under legislation signed Thursday by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger."
"
The bill by Sen.
Kevin Murray, D-Culver City, would give $328,200 to
Peter J. Rose and $756,900 to Kenneth Marsh. The awards amount to $100 for each day of incarceration."
SOS
Bruce McPherson announced his support for a series of bills that would
alter the initiative process, reports Steve Geissinger. "One measure would require the Legislature to analyze qualified initiatives. In the process, proponents could let lawmakers amend their measure. If supporters accepted legislators' recommended changes, the initiative would become law without going on the ballot."
"But, proponents would always retain the right to place a qualified initiative on the ballot. [Assemblyman
Joe Nation] said
his bill would 'ensure that the laws governing our state are properly vetted.'"
"The other bills would:
-
Extend the signature-collection period for initiative proponents from 150 to 365 days, allowing grass-roots groups more time.
- Direct the Secretary of State's Office to
correct drafting errors in initiative petitions, which are circulated for signatures, to avoid recurrences of problems such as that with last year's Proposition 77, a redistricting initiative."
The Chron's Verne Kopytoff writes about the
close relationship between Gavin Newsom and the founders of Google, which has included lavish travel and frequent e-mail exchanges. Google is among bidders to provide citywide wi-fi service in San Francisco.
"'I sure as heck don't need Google for San Francisco to succeed,' Newsom said this week, adding that he won't have the final say in the selection of the city's wireless Internet contractor."
Department of Corrections: On Wednesday, we wrote about the $900 million maintenance backlog and shrinking budget at the state park system. We then questioned why wireless internet access had recently been added to several parks if there's a budget problem.
Smokey Bear's state representative called us and suggested that we failed to point out that the parks didn't pay for the internet access, as it was provided gratis by SBC under a two-year pilot. Kudos to SBC, or is that AT&T, and to the State Park system. Coming soon, the Roundup live from the redwoods...
