Throughout the day Wednesday, it was rumored that a
Kevin Shelley resignation was imminent. Late in the afternoon, however, campaign spokesman
Sam Singer said that Shelley "
does not intend to resign, that there's much work to be done in his office and he plans to carry out his duties."
Meanwhile, legislative leaders negotiated a plan to investigate Shelley's office, which included an agreement to hire independent counsels for both sides and share documents. In exchange, Republicans agreed to only ask questions about Shelley's handling of HAVA funds at the hearing next week. A defense attorney involved with the
Chuck Quackenbush affair said the new rules
clear the way for Shelley to testify. "It sounds like they've carved out a free zone for him, a bingo square,"
William Portanova said, "and as long as he stays in that one square, he'll be fine."
Joe Canciamilla needs to hear
lots of explanation from Shelley, otherwise "I think the momentum is certainly building toward a resignation or worse: indictment or impeachment."
Shelley's legacy is apparently alive and well on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, where the Secretary got his political start. Supervisor
Chris Daly, who has the reputation as the board's new bad boy,
engage(d) one of his colleagues in an increasingly profane exchange of insults" after one of Daly's bills went down to defeat.
For those looking for a primer in San Francisco politics, you really should read the entire article. But for the rest of you, let's join our tirade already in progress...
"As Daly moved to return, [Supervisor
Jake] McGoldrick asked him, "How come you gotta act like a baby?" To which Daly responded, "How come you're two-faced? I'm a baby because you're two-faced!"
"You know where you can kiss, don't you, Chris?" McGoldrick called from the corridor.
"Yeah, I'll kiss your ass," Daly tossed back. "Right after I kick it."
Here's our favorite part:
"The move to censure him came in November from Supervisor Michela Alioto- Pier, who said she had been intimidated in the past by Daly,
whom she also counts a personal friend."Speaking of Alioto-Pier, the former Secretary of State candidate (see how that all fit together?) succeeded in her effort to
ban smoking in SF parks. Daly voted "F--- you!" on the measure.
While Finance chief
Tom Campbell was playing
good cop at the Legislature's overview budget hearings yesterday,
Arnold Schwarzenegger was playing
bad cop at the Sacramento Press Club luncheon. "This time we're going to go all the way," the governor said, making it clear that he planned to take his proposals to a special election if the Legislature does not act first.
The governor argued that the Legislature hasn't done anything since returning January 3. Today's floor debate on
Dick Ackerman's resolution on the
college football Bowl Championship Series today will prove
him wrong.
"I think that the people of California have sent the legislators to Sacramento to do work, not to just hang," the governor said. "That's what they've been doing for the last three weeks, hang." Apparently, Legislative Counsel
Diane Boyer-Vine was unavailable to comment as she and her staff wade through more than 2,000
bills submitted by legislators over the last few weeks.
The gov has until June 15 to call a special election for November 8.
Campbell visited the budget committees of both houses yesterday for overview hearings, which were world's apart from
Donna Arduin's first appearance before the Legislature.
The Mercury News' Ann Marimow
writes up a new PPIC poll, which finds that the governor is still quite popular, but voters are troubled with his budget plan, particularly the impact on school funding. George Skelton
looks at the results and finds "The Terminator could meet his match in teachers — and schoolkids and parents." (
Poll PDF)
While the governor's popularity remains high among California voters, it seems to have fallen among Republican Congressmen, who aren't thrilled about the governor's redistricting plans.
Those plans have
gotten the attention of the White House. "
Ken Mehlman, the new chairman of the Republican National Committee, attended Tuesday's meeting of California Republicans where some participants expressed skepticism. An RNC spokesman said later the party hasn't taken a position and is still gathering information."
The
Little Hoover Commission caught an earful of objections yesterday to the
governor's plan to axe 88 state boards and commissions.
Cal State Hayward received system blessings yesterday to
change the school's name to "Cal State East Bay." Students, Hayward officals, and alumni are unhappy, with the best concern expressed by a student: "People are going to call it Cal State EBay," said sophomore Benjamin Lin, 19, referring to the Internet auction site. "I don't want people to say I got my degree off EBay."
Meanwhile, students planning on attending private colleges may have to turn to eBay for degrees, they argue, as they criticize
governor's plan to cut Cal Grants will put privates out of reach. That's private
schools. Moving on...
Double duty: We at the Roundup are sorry for the double e-mails many of you have been receiving from us over the last few days. The problem was due to a technical glitch on our end, but should have been fixed this morning. Hopefully, you're not reading this apology twice.
