Capitol Weekly looks at the ongoing fight to change term limits, and the new
initiative that has been filed for November.
"The initiative is similar to a measure backed by former
Speaker Fabian Nuñez and former Senate Leader Don Perata in 2008. That measure was also supported by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger,
but was ultimately rejected by voters – 53 percent of whom voted against it.
"But unlike the 2008 proposal, this measure does not seek to provide extra
terms for those already in office. The measure states
the intent is to prohibit “any current or former legislator from benefiting in
any way from this reform.”
A new Field Poll shows Jerry Brown increasing his lead over Gavin Newsom.
Jack Chang reports, "
Attorney General
Jerry Brown has built a commanding lead over San Francisco Mayor Gavin
Newsom in the race for the Democratic nomination for governor,
according to the latest Field Poll results released
today.
"On
the Republican side, former eBay CEO Meg Whitman remains locked in a
virtual tie with former Rep. Tom Campbell, but half of the voters are
undecided. Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner continues to
place a
distant third in his bid for the GOP gubernatorial
nomination, the
nonpartisan poll found.
"The former governor and Oakland mayor has support from
47 percent
while Newsom wins 27 percent support in a poll question offering only
those two Democratic choices."
Meg Whitman draws a little blood from the Sacramento Bee, earning a partial correction to the Bee's big "Meg Didn't Vote" story last month.
The Merc's Ken McLaughlin reports, "It
turns out Meg Whitman did register to vote in Santa
Clara County in the
late 1990s, though she never had the chance to cast a ballot
during her
eight months on the rolls.
"The revelation that the county
Registrar of Voters had overlooked Whitman's registration was a victory
for the GOP candidate for governor, who has been battered
in recent
weeks over her voting record.
"The registrar's office Wednesday
acknowledged it was wrong when it told the Sacramento
Bee and other
news outlets last month that Whitman hadn't registered after she moved
to Silicon Valley to become CEO of eBay, the online
auction giant.
"The
issue of the 53-year-old's voting record became a major campaign issue
— triggering discussion among the chattering class on
national news
shows — when the Bee reported that she'd never ever registered to vote
anywhere until 2002, when she was 46. The newspaper also reported that
Whitman had missed half of the elections between 2002 and 2007, the
year when she first registered as a Republican.
"But both of those assertions
are not true, according to information released Wednesday
by elections
officials in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties."
John Howard looks at the difficultly parties have had in recruiting top legislative
candidates.
"Local politicians who once lined up to get a shot at
a Senate or Assembly seat are now taking a long, second
look. In some counties, local political jobs – once a stepping stone to
the Legislature – are better, sometimes much better, than the
Legislature
in pay, longevity, power, stress level, public profile
and the ability to get things done. The Legislature’s public approval
ratings are at historic lows. Why
head into the eye of the storm?
“People may be scared to go up there. They see partisanship,
they see dysfunction. They run for the Senate or Assembly,
they get up there, and then they are torn a hundred
different ways. They are not allowed to vote for good
public policy because the heads of the caucuses want
them to vote on something else, and if you don’t go along with them, they threaten to run people against
them,” said Don Knabe, chairman of the Los Angeles County
Board of Supervisors, which has jurisdiction over the
most populated county in the nation and controls a
budget larger than 43 states.
Malcolm Maclachlan revisits
the birth of the Latino Water Coalition, and the governor's role in midwifing that birth. Or something like that.
"The California Latino Water Coalition, often described
as a grassroots group representing the Latino community,
was born in a closed-door meeting of Gov. Schwarzenegger and local officials
at Selma City Hall on March 21, 2007—and was “suggested” by the governor himself, according to a coalition
brochure."
CW reports on yesterday's Big 5 meeting, and the looming bill signing deadline.
"Capitol leaders reconvened in closed-door meetings this week, trying desperately to work
out a bipartisan solution to the state’s water problems.
"Legislative leaders and senior staff met with the governor
for more than two hours Wednesday, after a similar
meeting the day before ended amid a heated exchange
between Senate leader Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, and Senate Republican leader Dennis Hollingsworth,
R-Murrieta.
"Lawmakers were also trying to reach an agreement to
break a partisan logjam on nearly three dozen bills
that stalled in the Senate last month.
Capitol Weekly reports some San Francisco Democrats
got an unexpected visitor at a fundraiser last night.
"The crowd at this particular San Francisco Democratic
Party fundraiser got a bit more than they expected
Wednesday when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger briefly crashed
their party.
"Spokesman Aaron McLear confirmed the govenror took
the mic at the San Francisco Democratic Party Central
Committee's
Onward to Victory Gala Fund Raiser at the Fairmont Hotel Wednesday. But he had a good
excuse -- Willie Brown asked him to.
"Sources at the Democratic fundraiser say the governor
made a couple of quips about bipartisanship, including
an old joke he uses about the bipartisan nature of
his marriage. The governor was received warmly by some.
Others in the crowd booed throughout the speech.
"Some didn't even stay to hear. Assemblyman Tom Ammiano walked
out of the room as soon as the governor began to speak,
sources tell Capitol Weekly. Other elected officials
in the audience, including Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, and Sen.
Dean Florez, D-Shafter, sat and listened to the governor's remarks."
