Going to California

Apr 20, 2006

"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Wednesday 'it is inexcusable' that the federal government has not responded to his emergency request to help fix California's flood-threatened levee system and that he intends to press President Bush on the issue when the two meet on Friday," reports Andy Furillo in the Bee.

"A federal failure to act on California's levees, Schwarzenegger suggested, could leave the federal government taking blame for another New Orleans-style flood disaster that is lurking just over the levee walls from Sacramento and other vulnerable Central Valley communities."

"Schwarzenegger said Bush's acting secretary of the Interior, Lynn Scarlett, is 'dangerously misinformed' if she believes, as reported in one press account, that the federal government is already adequately funding state levee upgrades."

The guv will get the chance to tell the president all this and more in person as Bush heads to California to celebrate Earth Day, and raise some political money -- not necessarily in that order.

From our Take This Job and Shove It Files, the Chron's Mark Martin and Greg Lucas report the state is once again looking for a new corrections chief. "The acting head of the state's beleaguered prison system has told Schwarzenegger administration officials she is resigning, becoming the second corrections chief in the last two months to quit."

"Jeanne Woodford, who became acting secretary of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation when Roderick Hickman left the top job in February, is retiring from the department she has worked in for 27 years, sources close to the administration told The Chronicle."

George Skelton responds to Steve Westly's appearance at the Sacramento Press Club on Tuesday. "Not having seen this former EBay nerd and Stanford business lecturer for a while, I admit to being a bit mesmerized."

This is Skelton's way of giving someone a compliment. We think.

"Only months ago, he was a basically boring stiff behind a lectern. Now, he's a bouncing, gesturing performer with a mobile, clip-on mike and an effective PowerPoint presentation — sounding like he's peddling time shares at a resort or even emulating that used car salesman in the movie classic 'American Graffiti.'"

"Actually, the hard sell was a bit distracting, at first, until the message began penetrating and one realized this was a potentially salable product."

"'What I want you to remember about what I say here today,' he began — and then preceded to deliver and redeliver his main message: 'We're told every day there are only two ways to balance the budget. Raising taxes. Cutting essential programs. But I'm here to suggest to you there is a different way….'"

"He's going after tax cheats. Wants to hire more tax auditors. Proposes reducing the lottery prize pot to provide $126 million more for schools. Advocates procurement reform. Says to get tough collecting bad debt."

"'If all those things and others we're presently looking at don't help close the budget deficit, then we have to consider all other options,' he concluded. 'I'm merely suggesting to you that taxes should be the last resort, not the first resort. Try everything else first. So far no one has. I will.'"

While the state is expected to be flush with cash this spring, John Howard looks at the things that may devour the May Revise “surplus.”

That sucking sound you hear is the sound of money flowing from the general fund.

"First and foremost is the structural deficit. Schwarzenegger's January budget proposal does not eliminate the nagging, year-to-year deficit of $4 billion to $6 billion, although it seeks to reduce it. Even the governor's partisans in the Legislature say getting rid of that hole will take two more years at best, but more likely five to 10 years."

"The state could be on the hook for $500 million to resolve federal legal challenges prompted by the state's flawed prison health-care system. On Monday, an administrator appointed by U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson, as planned, took direct control of the correctional department's medical program, usurping state lawmakers' authority in this costly, critical area. Schwarzenegger's finance director, Mike Genest, visited San Quentin this week to discuss health-budget issues."

"The governor, who tapped education funds to balance an earlier budget, is on the hook for what education groups say was his promise to repay schools at least $2 billion. Critics charge that Schwarzenegger reneged on that commitment, which drew the wrath of the Democratic foes, led by the California Teachers Association. The issue is all but certain to arise again as the governor faces re-election."

"Lawsuits challenging diversions of money from pension and welfare-to-work accounts--perhaps $630 million in one and $500 million in the other—could further drain state resources."

"Another wild card is California's softening real-estate market.”

Meanwhile, the Field Poll results continue to trickle out.

Lieutenant Governor
Garamendi: 31%
Speier: 21%
Figueroa: 12%
Undecided: 36%

Attorney General
Brown: 59%
Delgadillo: 18%
Undecided: 23%

Controller - Dem
Chiang: 16%
Dunn: 15%
Undecided: 69%

Controller - Rep
Strickland: 23%
Maldonado: 14%
Undecided: 61%

Treasurer - Rep
Parrish: 16%
Richman: 13%
Undecided: 71%

Secretary of State
Ortiz: 21%
Bowen: 18%
Undecided: 61%

Capitol Weekly looks at how Democrats have helped Tom Harman again, even though the state no longer has an open primary. With Harman clinging to a 236-vote lead in his race for state Senate, its likely that Democrats put him over the top again, just as they did in 2000. “An analysis of votes cast in both Harman and Daucher's 2000 primary
races against more conservative Republicans found that both of the eventual winners of the Republican primaries actually lost the Republican vote.”

For a good primer on the smallness of California politics, and the political candidate as a species, check out Shane Goldmacher’s piece on the rush by some Democrats to file court briefs against the Bush administration.

Among those who have signed the brief is Assembly candidate Kelly Hayes-Raitt. ‘Kelly is being monumentally dishonest with voters when she says she is suing President Bush,’ said [Parke] Skelton, who is the consultant for Julia Brownley, a candidate running against Hayes-Raitt. "This is someone else's lawsuit. She and a number of other candidates have filed an amicus brief as a cheap political stunt. It is an attempt to mislead and deceive voters and to claim credit for work that she hasn't done.’”

"Shortly after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger marked the anniversary [of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake] by promising to improve seismic safety in the state, one of his aides told two outspoken members of the California Seismic Safety Commission that they were being removed from office — effective immediately," writes Sharon Bernstein in the Times.

"One was Lucy Jones, the U.S. Geological Survey seismologist famous for her calming appearances on television after Southern California temblors."

"The firings were rescinded within hours Tuesday, but the actions underscored a behind-the-scenes battle over the future of the commission, the state's only independent body dealing with earthquake safety."

Apparently, the California Performance Review still has a heartbeat, and the governor's staff is trying to implement a recommendation to remove the autonomy of the commission and bring it into the administration.

"'The state needs an independent Seismic Safety Commission,' Jones said. 'We need the best technical minds on earthquakes to be able to make recommendations that don't get filtered through politics.'"

CW’s Malcolm Maclachlan looks at the Assembly’s ‘Animal Caucus,’ informally headed up by Democrats Lloyd Levine and Paul Koretz. “If there were such a thing as the Animal Caucus, there also would be some disagreement amongst its Democratic members. The more outspoken wing likely would be led by Assemblyman Paul Koretz, D-West Hollywood, while the moderates might be under the directions of Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, D-Van Nuys. Both have a long history of introducing animal-welfare legislation. Each also has his fans and detractors within a diverse movement.”

Is Michael Ovitz going to buy the San Jose Mercury News? Or maybe it's Anthony Pellicano? Or is Ron Burkle offering to pay the Merc money not to buy him? We're starting to lose track. But luckily LA Observed has the 411 on how the two biggest stories in all of tabloidom are merging like a Los Angeles traffic jam.