The NYT's Jennifer Steinhauer and Raymond Hernandez
write that the electoral reform initiative could be seen as a California proxy war between Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani.
Of course, New Yorkers would think that...
"The effort to kill the initiative -- executed with a swift fierceness almost unheard of for an initiative in such an early stage -- has been led by a bevy of Clinton supporters, including a former Clinton White House official, prominent elected Democratic supporters and one of Mrs. Clinton's most prolific fund-raisers.
"'
Clinton's people have taken the Bush doctrine of pre-emptive military strikes against hostile nations and applied it to domestic campaigns,' said
Bruce E. Cain, director of the Institute of Governmental Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. '
As for Giuliani, he was trying to fight under the radar, and it must be clear to him now that that will not work with Hillary.'
"The Giuliani campaign insisted that it had nothing to do with the ballot initiative; the Clinton campaign also said it had no involvement, beyond opposing it. The same cannot be said for loyalists of the two camps.
Reflecting on the disintegration of the campaign, fingers are being pointed.
"Still, some Republicans are seeing a missed opportunity, worried that the Giuliani loyalists are being outmaneuvered by the Clinton loyalists.
"'
Lehane did a good job of rallying the entire Democratic establishment to be vocal and aggressively against this,' said
Scott Reed, a veteran Republican strategist who ran Bob Dole's 1996 presidential campaign. '
And the gang that couldn't shoot straight proved their worth.'"
With that measure apparently left on the dustheap, Capitol Weekly looks at
the rest on the June ballot.
"Three initiatives, which proponents expect will have strong support from more conservative voters, have set their sites on the June 2008 ballot. Now that the presidential primary has been moved up to February,
many political experts assume the June primary election will have a lower, and therefore more conservative, voter base."
But two of those initiatives do not look as if they will make the June ballot, and another faces a rival initiative on the same ballot that could affect its chances."
"Peter Henderson, who is leading the charge to
amend the state constitution to ban gay marriage, says he and his supporters were hoping to qualify for the June ballot. "
We're no longer on track for June," he said. "We simply have not been able to raise the money to get the signatures in time, so we're looking toward November."
"With California reservoirs low and a second dry winter sure to trigger rationing,
Republican lawmakers demanded Wednesday that California's next water bond include new dams," writes Nancy Vogel in the Times.
"Like Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Republican legislators insist that California needs to immediately begin the eight-to-15-year process of dam construction to supply millions of additional residents as global warming shrinks the all-important Sierra snowpack.
"That puts the Republicans at odds with Democratic lawmakers, who say less grand projects can capture more water more cheaply. If Democrats don't budge in the coming weeks, the Legislature could fail to craft a water bond for the February ballot to fund projects that would stretch the state's water supplies, because
Republican lawmakers said they would rather have no bond than one without new or expanded reservoirs.
"'
No surface storage, no deal,' said Assembly Republican Leader
Mike Villines of Clovis at a Capitol news conference. '
The idea that we let millions of acre-feet of water every year run to the ocean, totally wasted, is insanity,' he said."
The Sacramento River was unavailable for comment.
George Skelton
looks at the possibility of Bill Lockyer running for governor. "In 2010, Lockyer could have an easy reelection bid for treasurer. Or he could go for broke and battle it out in a crowded Democratic primary for governor. Potential entries include Atty. Gen. (and former Gov.)
Jerry Brown, Lt. Gov.
John Garamendi, Supt. of Public Instruction
Jack O'Connell, San Francisco Mayor
Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor
Antonio Villaraigosa. All have baggage or handicaps.
"Lockyer has $9.9 million stashed in a campaign kitty and veteran Democratic strategist
Bill Carrick on retainer. Will he run?
"'It just depends on how the cards get dealt,' he told me. '
With the current list of characters, I just don't see how it's possible to beat Jerry in a primary. The Brown name is so strong.'
"He has roughly two years to decide. But Lockyer is gearing up again, positioning himself toward the center and sounding sage, not shrill."
That's not going to work, is it?
The Chron's Bob Egelko looks at
a new lawsuit filed on behalf of foster parents. "California is paying foster parents far less than they need to care for children, with rates below the average cost of keeping a dog in a kennel, foster families and their advocates charged in a lawsuit Wednesday.
"
The suit, filed in federal court in San Francisco, contends that California's acceptance of federal funds for foster care requires the state to cover actual child-rearing costs, including food, clothing, shelter, school supplies and 'a child's personal incidentals.'"
"With mortgage foreclosures soaring, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
announced Wednesday that he will sign two bills to increase homeowner protections -- but neither will solve the current crisis," writes Jim Sanders in the Bee.
"Schwarzenegger characterized the two measures as steps toward increasing "transparency and accountability in the lending market that will help homeowners preserve their American dream."
"But Senate Bills 223 and 385 target policies and procedures for future borrowing, not the subprime loans currently held by many Californians struggling to survive rising costs.
"'These are really minimalist kinds of steps for making changes in the subprime mortgage market,' said
Paul Leonard of the Center for Responsible Lending, a nonpartisan public policy group."
"With obesity and its related diseases on the rise, a Bay Area lawmaker and health advocates
appealed to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's zeal for health and fitness by urging him Wednesday to sign a bill requiring restaurant chains to come clean about calories," writes Steven Harmon in the Merc News.
"The bill, SB 120, would require chain restaurants with 15 or more locations to post calories beside each regular food item on their menu boards. It also would require those restaurants to post calories, saturated fat and trans fat grams, carbohydrates and levels of sodium on their regular hand-out menus.
"'Health and fitness are priorities for this governor," said the bill's principle co-author, Assemblyman
Mark DeSaulnier, D-Martinez, who has owned two Bay Area restaurants. 'Just as he led the nation in getting sodas and junk foods out of schools, Governor Schwarzenegger once again has the opportunity to lead by ensuring Californians have the information they need to make healthy dining decisions when they eat out.'
"The governor must sign or veto the bill by Oct. 14. It faces heavy opposition from the California Restaurant Association, which is calling on its members to pressure Schwarzenegger to veto the bill."
"The average 12%
raises recently given top Cal State University administrators and campus presidents are an illegal gift of public funds and should be stopped, alleges a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court," reports Larry Gordon in the Times.
"The suit contends that the pay raises will cause "irreparable harm to the taxpayers of the state of California" and that their retroactivity, to July, violates the state Constitution.
"
Raul and Crystal Rodriguez of Hemet, the plaintiffs, are recent graduates of Cal State San Bernardino.
Lillian Taiz, president of the California Faculty Assn., said the union helped the couple with the suit.
"Saying the hikes were needed to keep executive recruitment competitive, the Cal State trustees last month approved controversial raises. Campus presidents will average about $292,000 year, plus annual housing allowances worth as much as $60,000 and other perks."
The head of a group opposing a February term limits initiative has been
indicted on voter fraud charges in Oklahoma. But now, he's fighting back.
"National term limits leader and initiative rights advocate Paul Jacob
defiantly blasted his indictment by the Oklahoma Attorney General�s office on felony charges of violating the state�s statute requiring petition circulators to be residents of Oklahoma."
"'This indictment is not about the law, but about politics -- ugly, anti-democratic politics,' said Jacob.
The LAT's Hector Becerra
tells the tale of the recalled members of the city council of Lynwood, who don't want to leave before easing the way for an NFL stadium development.
"'They won't listen to the county Board of Supervisors, they won't listen to [county Registrar-Recorder]
Conny McCormack, they won't listen to a senator or even the governor,' said
Maria Santillan, the one council member not recalled.
"Recalled Mayor
Louis Byrd said he and his colleagues had a right to continue serving office. Byrd, 75, said he would step down later this month, and there have been rumblings in town about a court challenge.
"The outgoing council members on Tuesday defied a new state law -- and bucked the advice of the city attorney --
by calling a special meeting to extend the life of a controversial proposal to build a 70,000-seat NFL-style stadium and commercial development.
"'
It's no different than the White House,' Byrd said. '
When a change of guard happens at the White House, the president signs pardons and this thing and the other. They clean house. They make something they want to happen, happen.'
And that, my firends, is the last time you'll ever hear the Lynwood City Ocuncil compared to the presidency...
"The stadium development was the central issue in the recall campaign, along with public corruption charges facing two of the council members.
The development project would require more than 1,000 homes to be leveled."
Is the pope taking Sharon Davis's ideas? It sure looks that way with the release of
a new papal biography, written by the pope's cat, Chico.
"The illustrated 44-page book is written by Italian author Jeanne Perego and set mostly in Germany in the years before Benedict was elected in April 2005."
Somewhere,
Capitol Kitty is fuming...
