Mixed messages

Jul 23, 2008

"A Field Poll released Tuesday reported that more Californians (46 percent) disapprove of the job Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is doing than approve (40 percent)," reports Steve Wiegand in the Bee.

"And the governor looks like an over-achiever compared with the Legislature. More than twice as many poll respondents (57 percent) hold the collective performance of legislators in disrepute than think they are doing OK (27 percent)."

 

Roughly 100% of legislative staff disapprove of the Legislature's performance, as they wait in line for a payday loan from Golden One while their bosses vacation.

 

"While approval ratings for lawmakers are historically dismal – the last time legislators got near a 50 percent approval level was in 2000 – the latest numbers continue a curious roller-coaster performance by the governor.

"In his full first year in 2004, about two-thirds of survey respondents thought Schwarzenegger was doing a swell job. Those numbers dropped as low as 36 percent in 2005 and rebounded as high as 60 percent last December before dropping back to the 40 percent mark in the latest survey.

"Mark DiCamillo, the Field Poll's director, said the low numbers for both Schwarzenegger and lawmakers can be attributed in part to the economy's general malaise.

"The poll found just 21 percent of Californians think the state is headed in the right direction, while 68 percent believe it's on the wrong track. Those numbers are slightly below a 23/68 split in May, and well below the 43/47 split the poll found last December."

 

Now, who exactly are those 21 percent? Perhaps Phil Gramm is now a California resident.

 

"Foreclosures across the state jumped to their highest levels in at least 20 years over the past three months as tens of thousands of Californians lost their homes and more than 100,000 neared the brink," writes the Chron's James Temple.

"Notices of default, the first step in foreclosure proceedings, rose nearly 125 percent from a year ago during the second quarter, and trustee deeds recorded, which reflect the actual homes repossessed, soared more than 260 percent, according to research firm DataQuick Information Systems.

"The number of defaults and foreclosures was the highest ever noted in company records, which go back to 1992 and 1988 for those categories, respectively. There were 63,061 foreclosures statewide during the second three months of the year compared to 17,458 during the same period a year ago."

 

"The state board that rules on appeals from unemployed workers fired its executive director Tuesday," reports Capitol Weekly's John Howard.

 

"The board 4-1 to fire Jay Arcellana, a veteran employee who serves as the agency's top executive and administrative law judge. The decision followed complaints from the board that workers' cases had been unnecessarily delayed, forcing workers to wait for their benefits. Arcellana rejected the allegations, and earlier referred calls to a board spokeswoman.

 

"'I think the board needed to take action as soon as possible,' said board chairman Rick Rice, who sought Arcellana's termination. 'When the new chair comes in and essentially we have a new board in the next few months, they can begin moving forward with the management team that they find reliable.' Board members Price, Fred Aguiar, Ann Richardson and Stephen Egan approved firing Arcellana. Board member Liz Figueroa, a former Democratic state senator representing Fremont, opposed the firing.

 

Dan Walters writes that, like Jerry Brown, the governor is a flip-flopper.

 

"Nobody knows where he is on anything. That not only thwarts governance – the deficit-ridden budget is one example – but angers Californians who didn't elect and re-elect him to spend his days jetting from one contrived, meaningless media event to another.

"How angry? A new Field Poll of registered voters finds that Schwarzenegger's popularity, 60 percent in December, now stands at 40 percent.

"Whatever Schwarzenegger is doing these days isn't winning much affection. Jerry Brown paid the price for indecisive governance in 1982. His one-time aide, Gray Davis, paid the same price for shirking his duty in 2003 by being recalled. Voters elected Schwarzenegger to get the job done, not play semantic games."

 

Meanwhile the governor used a lot of ink yesterday.  "Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill into law Tuesday that guarantees if California property owners plant a tree before a neighbor installs solar panels on their roof, then the neighbor can't require the tree to be cut or trimmed, even if it grows to cast shade on the panels," reports Paul Rogers in the Merc News,"

"State Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, wrote the bill in response to a Sunnyvale case that made national news and threatened to touch off statewide backyard battles as residential solar power installations grow in popularity."

 

"Legislation to ban the sale of Salvia divinorum to minors was signed Tuesday by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger," reports the Bee's Jim Sanders.

 

"Violators can be charged with a misdemeanor when the new law takes effect Jan. 1.

"Assemblyman Anthony Adams, R-Hesperia, predicted that his Assembly Bill 259 will save lives and 'prevent irreparable havoc on families and society.'

"'Whenever we can keep a dangerous hallucinogenic drug out of the hands of our children, we're doing something right,' he said in a written statement.

"Salvia divinorum, sold in tobacco shops and on the Internet, is produced from a Mexican plant used by Mazatec Indians for healing and ritual prophecy."

 

Sanders also reports:  "Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation Tuesday to crack down on the sale of downed cattle for human consumption in response to the largest beef recall in U.S. history.

 

"'I am committed to ensuring California's food supply is safe and secure,' Schwarzenegger said in a prepared statement after signing Assembly Bill 2098.

"'With today's action, we are strengthening California's food safety laws and sending a message that violating these laws will not be tolerated.'

"Assembly Bill 2098, by Democratic Assemblyman Paul Krekorian of Burbank, makes it a misdemeanor to buy, sell, process or butcher a non-ambulatory animal for human consumption."

 

A year after billionaire hotelier Leona Helmsley bequeathed $12 million to her dog, Trouble, thousands of California cats and canines may soon be in the money too -- though perhaps not so deep -- thanks to a measure signed Tuesday by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger," writes Patrick McGreevy in the Times.

 

"The bill the governor signed into law provides for enforcement of "pet trusts" set up by animal owners to pay for continuing care for Spot and Mr. Whiskers after the owner's demise.

"Unlike most states, California law has treated pet trust funds as honorary and therefore the trusts are often unenforceable, said state Sen. Leland Yee (D-San Francisco), whose law will take effect Jan. 1.

"'Pets are an important part of the American family,' Yee said Tuesday. 'SB 685 will make pet trusts enforceable and assure that the wishes of pet owners are respected.'"

 

"The San Francisco computer engineer accused of withholding access codes to the city's network surrendered the password during an unusual jailhouse visit by Mayor Gavin Newsom, authorities said Tuesday," reports the Chron's Jaxon Van Derbeken.

"Newsom came away with the access codes Monday night after talking with Terry Childs, 43, of Pittsburg, who has been held since July 13 on four felony counts stemming from what prosecutors describe as an effort to block administrative access to the network that handles 60 percent of the city's information, including sensitive law enforcement, payroll and jail booking records.

"Childs had given officials what turned out to be bogus passwords and then had refused to give the correct ones, even when threatened with arrest, authorities say. But Monday, Childs' defense attorney Erin Crane contacted the mayor's office, setting in motion the secret visit.

"The visit was so secret that the mayor did not tell District Attorney Kamala Harris' office or police about it. Newsom decided on his own to accept Crane's invitation, mayoral spokesman Nathan Ballard said."

 

See, Childs just wanted a little mayoral attention. Is that so wrong? 

 

While Newsom emerged as the hero in the computer case, the news wasn't so good from San Francisco's Central Coast office.

 

"The last illegal immigrant juvenile offender who had been in a $7,000-a-month group home as part of San Francisco's now-abandoned effort to shield young immigrants from deportation has bolted, authorities said Tuesday," reports Jaxon Van Derbeken in the Chron.

"The youth walked away from the unlocked center in Atascadero (San Luis Obispo County) on Monday, bringing to 12 the number of illegal immigrant offenders in the past month who have fled from youth homes hundreds of miles from the city.

"Ten of the 12, all of them from Honduras and all detained for dealing drugs, are still at large, including the youth who disappeared early Monday.

"The juveniles were among the offenders San Francisco juvenile probation officials had decided not to refer to federal authorities for possible deportation proceedings. The city flew several such youths to their native countries without telling the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, and when federal officials objected to the flights, city officials started sending the offenders to group homes outside San Francisco. City taxpayers picked up the $7,000 monthly tab for each juvenile."

 

"A proposal that would place at least a one-year moratorium on new fast-food restaurants in a broad swath of neighborhoods, mostly in South Los Angeles, won unanimous support from a Los Angeles City Council committee Tuesday," writes Molly Hennessy-Fiske in the Times.

 

"If approved by the full council and signed by the mayor, the law would prevent fast-food chains from opening new restaurants in a 32-square-mile area, including West Adams, Baldwin Village and Leimert Park. The moratorium would be in effect for one year, with the possibility of two six-month extensions.

"The measure, proposed by Councilwoman Jan Perry, whose 9th District includes much of South Los Angeles, defines a fast-food restaurant as 'any establishment which dispenses food for consumption on or off the premises, and which has the following characteristics: a limited menu, items prepared in advance or prepared or heated quickly, no table orders and food served in disposable wrapping or containers.'"

 

"The Los Angeles City Council voted Tuesday to ban plastic carryout bags in the city's supermarkets and stores by July 2010 -- but only if the state fails to impose a 25-cent fee on every shopper who requests them," writes the LAT's David Zahniser.

"Council members said they hope an impending ban would spur consumers to begin carrying canvas or other reusable bags, reducing the amount of plastic that washes into the city's storm drains and the ocean.

"'This is a major moment for our city, to bite the bullet and go with something that is more ecologically sensitive than what we've ever done before,' said Councilman Bill Rosendahl, who represents such coastal neighborhoods as Venice and Playa del Rey.

"Tuesday's vote comes as the plastic bag industry, formally known as the Save the Plastic Bag Coalition, is fighting efforts to regulate its products. The group filed a lawsuit last week challenging a Los Angeles County plan to reduce plastic bags about 30% by 2010." 

 

"Former U.S. Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, who is serving federal prison time for accepting millions of dollars in bribes, has asked President Bush to grant him clemency," reports the AP.

 

"The San Diego Republican has submitted a petition to commute his sentence, Erik Ablin, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Justice, confirmed Monday. No details were provided. Cunningham was sentenced to eight years and four months in prison after pleading guilty in November 2005 to taking $2.4 million in cash, trips, prostitute services and other gifts as bribes from defense contractors in exchange for government contracts.

"Cunningham is serving the sentence at a minimum-security prison camp near Tucson, Ariz. The Department of Justice will review the petition and make a recommendation to the president on whether it should be granted. However, the odds are against Cunningham.

"Of the more than 7,000 petitions for leniency the president has received, he has granted only 157 pardons and 44 commutations.

"U.S. Rep. Brian Bilbray, a Solana Beach Republican who replaced Cunningham as representative of the 50th Congressional District, said he opposed freeing his predecessor.

"'I don't think I can overstate the damage that Mr. Cunningham did to the institution of government,' Bilbray said."

 

And finally, at long last, we get an answer to one of life's age old questions, courtesy of Salt Lake City.