"Legal
experts said the information is central to determining
whether state
open meeting laws were violated when the public and
reporters were shut
out of the private lunch.
"Schwarzenegger invited all 120
members of the Assembly and Senate to the steak-or-salmon lunch at the
private Sutter Club near the state Capitol. The governor's
senior
staff, political consultants and lobbyists also attended.
"Some lawmakers who attended said the gathering was
not subject to open meeting laws because it was a social
affair.
"The
problem is that it's inconceivable, in a gathering
of that size between
the Legislature and the governor immediately following
his State of the
State address, that official business wasn't being
done," said Peter
Scheer, executive director of the First Amendment Coalition,
a San
Rafael-based nonprofit that advocates for free speech and
eliminating
unnecessary government secrecy."
Capitol Weekly notes something a little different about the way John Perez
was elected speaker Thursday.
"As expected, Assemblyman John Perez, D-Los Angeles, was elected to be the next speaker of
the California state Assembly Thursday. But unlike
the four speakers before him, Perez was elected on
a party-line vote rather than by unanimous consent.
Republicans explained their change with recent tradition
in a number of different ways Thursday. But
many Democrats said that Perez's sexual orientation
was the reason Republicans refused to cast their vote
for him as their next leader.
"In the same
spirit of bipartisanship, I'd like to nominate Sam
Blakeslee for Miss Congeniality," Assemblyman Tom Ammiano quipped.
"The gay issue is obviously one that's a wedge in some
people's minds. Frankly, it seemed a little bit silly
to me, but luckily for all of us, John is above all
that."
Shane Goldmacher reports on an apparent truce between the new Speaker-elect and potential primary rival Gil Cedillo.
"What had promised to be a slugfest between leading
Los Angeles Latino Democrats is fast fizzling.
As
Assemblyman John Perez (D-Los Angeles) prepares to be officially
elected as the next speaker of the state Assembly today,
he has already
cleared the first political hurdle in his new job: gently pushing a
would-be opponent out of his next campaign.
"Cedillo said in an interview that he would not be
running against Perez.
“We’re lifelong friends,” Cedillo said. “We’re going to work something out that both he and I will
be very pleased with.” Asked
whether he would be swapping seats with a neighboring
lawmaker,
Assemblyman Kevin De Leon (D-Los Angeles), Cedillo demurred. “We’ll see
shortly,” he said. “Shortly, shortly, shortly.”
Martin Wiscol looks at progress toward a state constituional convention.
"Repair California - which has well-heeled backers to help fund
petition circulation - has until May 21 to collect 694,354 valid
signatures to put a measure on the November ballot.
That measure would
be a constitutional amendment allowing Californians
to vote for a
constitutional convention.
"A second proposition targeted for the November ballot
would be the
actual vote authorizing the convention to take place.
Backers need
433,971 signatures for that one - fewer, since it’s not a
constitutional amendment - by the May 21 deadline. Both measures were
cleared by Attorney General Jerry Brown for signature
gathering on Dec. 22, but have gotten little attention from the media -
including yours truly - thanks in part to the holidays."
And finally, from our Get Religion in Your Tuber Files, AP reports, "Move over, Virgin Mary Grilled Cheese.
Step aside, Fish Stick Jesus.
Online bidders, meet the Holy Cross Potato. Both of
them. Yes, the 2009
holiday season bestowed (at least) two miraculous spuds with crosses at
their centers. Aside from the sizes of the spuds, the
main difference
is price.
