The conversation

May 2, 2007

"He may be sidelined by the Constitution, but Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is determined to be a force in the 2008 presidential race, greeting candidates who want his endorsement and popping up in campaign forums where he's certain to attract notice," reports Peter Nicholas in the Times.

"On Tuesday, the governor met privately with Republican candidate Mitt Romney in Sacramento. And Schwarzenegger will attend the GOP debate Thursday at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley as a guest of Nancy Reagan.

"He has already made joint appearances with Republican candidates John McCain and Rudolph W. Giuliani.

"'He's doing exactly what someone does who has proven to have a very high skill level in politics: Allow yourself to be courted,' said Rich Galen, a Republican political strategist. 'That, in the end, gets you the best deal for the state.'"

"The executive director of the Los Angeles Ethics Commission on Tuesday accused Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa of 31 violations of campaign finance and disclosure laws stemming from his 2003 campaign for the City Council," writes Patrick McGreevy in the Times.

"If the Ethics Commission finds after a hearing that city rules were violated, Villaraigosa and his campaign could be fined up to $267,000, though commission officials are believed to be willing to settle the case for about $40,000 in penalties.

"The vast majority of candidates settle alleged campaign finance violations without a public accusation being issued, but the mayor has decided to contest one of the allegations.

"Villaraigosa was elected mayor last year on a campaign to bring higher ethical standards to city government, and a spokeswoman said there is nothing inconsistent in him challenging Ethics Commission officials over their interpretation of the rules of conduct.

"'We have a disagreement with only part of the decision, and will have a discussion with the full Ethics Commission,' said Janelle Erickson, a spokeswoman for the mayor, who was flying to El Salvador on Tuesday."

"California's population is closing in on 38 million and its biggest city has more than 4 million people, but the state's growth rate has slowed since the start of the decade, state officials said yesterday.

"The Department of Finance's demographics unit said California had nearly 37.7 million residents as of Jan. 1, up by about 470,000 since the start of 2006. One of every eight Americans lives in the state," reports the AP's Steve Lawrence.

"Los Angeles, the nation's second-largest city, added more than 37,000 residents in 2006, giving it a population of more than 4 million. New York City has more than 8 million people, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures.

"After Los Angeles, the largest cities in the state are San Diego with 1.3 million people, San Jose with 973,672 and San Francisco with 808,844.

"However, California's growth rate has been slowing since the start of the decade, when its population grew by nearly 2 percent. Last year, the state's population grew by almost 1.3 percent, senior demographer Linda Gage said."

"California snow surveyors found nothing to survey Tuesday during their last check of a dwindling Sierra snowpack," reports Carl Hall in the Chron.

"State officials renewed calls for voluntary water conservation to head off rationing after the annual May 1 survey found the Sierra snowpack at just 29 percent of normal statewide, the lowest since 1988.

"Frank Gehrke and Dave Hart of the state Department of Water Resources didn't even bother to take their measuring devices out of their vehicle before they hiked out into a barren field near Highway 50 at Phillips Station, a roadside stop established in 1859 at the 6,800-foot level.

"Patches of white lingered on the hills around them, and the Sierra peaks were snowcapped in the distance. But all the surveyors spotted on the ground at Phillips Station were lodgepole pine cones and a few scattered dog droppings."

"Department of motor vehicles officials from Western states on Tuesday urged the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to delay implementation of a law requiring states to standardize driver's licenses," reports the Bee's Aurelio Rojas.

"Besides unreimbursed costs, they cited security and privacy concerns during a hearing on the Real ID Act of 2005 on the campus of the University of California, Davis.

"'We have established a secure level of privacy and security, and we would say that should be the level that all states achieve before we would be willing to share information,' George Valverde, director of the California Department of Motor Vehicles, told a DHS panel.

"It was the only public hearing scheduled by the federal government on implementation of the Real ID. Inspired by the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the legislation would require drivers to present DMVs with a prescribed set of supporting documents and create an interlocking, 50-state database."

"At a rally at the Capitol on Tuesday, advocates said raising the rates the state pays foster families is a priority this year in their efforts to improve life for the nearly 80,000 California children who have been taken from their parents' custody," writes Clea Benson in the Bee.

"Assemblyman Jim Beall, a San Jose Democrat, has written Assembly Bill 324 to raise the rates by 5 percent and provide for cost-of-living adjustments over the next five years.

"But lawmakers and advocates say that's just one step. There is still a long road ahead, they say, before the foster-care system is strong enough to give children a good chance of success later in life.

"Driven in part by the threat of federal fines if improvements weren't made, lawmakers and state officials have worked over the past few years to improve foster children's safety and to speed up the rate at which they are placed in permanent homes."

"State and tribal officials will meet behind closed doors today to consider adopting federal rules, scuttled by a court ruling last year, that address internal security at Indian casinos," reports James Sweeney in the Union-Tribune.

"But some are warning that such a move might exceed the state's authority and lead to the same kind of legal challenge that thwarted federal oversight of tribal casinos.

"At stake is at least the perception of integrity at California's nearly 60 Indian casinos, which generate more than $7 billion a year in revenue.

"Tribes have the primary regulatory role, but the National Indian Gaming Commission established basic criteria for the internal security that monitors casino operations. The guidelines covered cash handling and counting, audits, surveillance and the games – from technical standards to how often decks of cards should be changed."

The Chron's Cecilia Vega reports, "The San Francisco mayor's election is now barely six months away and the less than intimidating field of candidates lining up to unseat Gavin Newsom includes a professional clown, a taxicab driver, an East Bay resident and a homeless man who calls himself "a champion of Jesus Christ."

Question: which of the above is hardest to find in San Francisco?

"Former Mayor Art Agnos also is on the list of rumored contenders and he said recently that "a number of people are coming to me (and asking me to run) and I'm listening respectfully to what they say and it seems to be sincere."

That's different than the professional clown, right?

Hillary Clinton has hired a new California campaign director. "U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton has hired 'longtime Democratic operative' Ace Smith as her California director for the presidential campaign. He'll be organizing the day-to-day operations in California, rounding up endorsements, corralling volunteers, setting schedules, and offering advice on politics," reports Robert Salladay.

"Smith was hired in 1988 by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, where he met Rahm Emanuel, now a congressman. They launched a political consulting firm in 1989 that produced, Nissenbaum writes, "one of Clinton's earliest 'vulnerability studies' - research reports candidates order on themselves so they know what their opponent can find out and prepare for the attacks."

So if Hillary didn't hire him, someone else would have...

And finally, from our Larry, Daryl and Daryl Files
Villagers at a wedding in eastern India decided the groom had arrived too drunk to get married, and so the bride married the groom's more sober brother instead, police said Monday.

"The groom was drunk and had reportedly misbehaved with guests when the bride's family and local villagers chased him away," Madho Singh, a senior police officer told Reuters after Sunday's marriage in a village in Bihar state's Arwal district.

The younger brother readily agreed to take the groom's place beside the teenage bride at her family's invitation, witnesses said."

Kind of sounds like the Indian Jeb Bush...