Jerry, Jerry everywhere.
One day after announcing his candidacy for governor,
Jerry Brown went on a one-man media blitz talking to the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, the San Jose Mercury News, the Associated Press, the Sacramento Bee and CalBuzz.
And in the middle of it all, he bested the LA Times'
Michael Rothfeld ina chin-up contest.But more on that later.
First the highlights from each of the Brown interviews.
He tells Steve Harmon (for whom he also did some pull-ups) that he is an anomoly of political science. "No one has ever passed
laws and been around 35 years later to see what worked and what didn't
work," he said. "That's a very powerful lesson going
forward in
assessing what new laws should be enacted."
Brown played down
expectations that a Democratic governor would automatically
increase
government spending, even in light of $60 billion in cuts that have
been made over the past two years.
"Even increasing programs for
people in need will only meet a fraction of the needs,"
he said. "What
is the state role and how much can we do? We can only
do a part of what
is needed. So we have to be very careful of what we
spend our money on.
It's not possible to socially engineer the end of the
social
stratification that we have. So we gotta work at it
in a prudent,
thoughtful way, putting our money in the highest-yielding places. So,
that's never going to satisfy everybody."
Juliet Williams reports Brown implied strongly that Meg Whitman was not qualified
to be governor. "He said CEOs are used to hand-picking their employees, but a governor must confront
an independent and sometimes hostile state Legislature and deal with public employee unions and courts that
are constantly second-guessing their decisions.
"The
political process is about civic engagement, not autocratic
executive
decision-making in the corporate suite. The two have virtually
nothing
in common," he said in an interview with The Associated
Press at his
campaign headquarters in a converted warehouse in Oakland.
Jack Chang reports Brown will look at reforming public
employee pensions. "Asked about public employee retirement
plans, Brown said that while
he supports fixed pensions as opposed to 401(k) plans, he wants to be
sure they're actuarially sound.
"I think we have to look at the whole pension system,"
Brown said. "Particularly, the health benefits are
of even bigger concern."
He talked about the differences between yesterday and
today with Jerry Roberts and Phil Trounstine. "
“This is very different from 1975 when I was in a hurry, I was
impatient, I wanted to hit the ball out of the park,
new ideas and bold
appointments,” Brown said of his years as a brash, 30-something
governor. “Now what I’ve seen is that things take time.”
“I like this kind of work and I think I could really
make a
contribution to clean up the mess in Sacramento. .
. . I feel I’ve
invested an enormous part of my life in understanding
many of the
issues that are alive today and urgent and very much
call out for
solutions,” he told us. “So on balance it struck me as something that
I’d like to do. I’m very excited about doing it."
And then there was Rothfeld who accepted Brown's Quien
Es Mas Macho challenge and came up short.
"Brown, making jokes about the memories of reporters
younger than he,
said in an interview at his Oakland campaign headquarters
Wednesday
that voters should not worry about his fitness.
"I'm pretty darn healthy," he said. "So I'm in good
shape. I can do 11 chin-ups. Can you do 11 chin-ups
on that bar right now?" he asked his 38-year-old interviewer, motioning
to a nearby bar in the converted warehouse.
After the interview had concluded, the reporter took
him up on the challenge, tiring at 6½ chin-ups.Then it was Brown's turn. In a dress shirt and
suit pants, he did 12.
"I've been working out," he said.
In other news, Sen. Roy Ashburn was popped for drunk driving early Wednesday morning. Capitol Weekly reports, "State
Sen. Roy Ashburn, R-Bakersfield, was arrested early Wednesday morning on
suspicion of drunken driving. Ashburn was arrested
just after 2 a.m. by California Highway Patrol officers, who saw
Ashburn driving erratically near 15th and L Streets, the CHP said.
Another person was in the vehicle, a Senate-issued Chevrolet Tahoe, at the time of the arrest but
that person's identity was not immediately available,
the CHP said.
"They observed the vehicle going westbound on L Street, and they
conducted a traffic
stop. They observed the symptoms of alcohol intoxication, and
they arrested Ashburn for a DUI," said CHP Lt. Jay Bart, of the CHP's
Capitol Protection Section. He said Ashburn submitted to a chemical
test for blood
alcohol.
In other news, the new Assembly Speaker now says he sees a "pathway" for Abel Maldonado's confirmation.
"
“The ball is in his court, as he still needs to get
those votes,” said Perez. “I’ve given him some advice on how I think he
can get
there. It’s up to him to have those conversations and really
alleviate people’s concerns. I’d say he’s half way there and there’s
some time ahead of us for him to do it. I’m not going to rush him and
we’ll figure out a timeline that gives him a fair shot,
but also lets people address the concerns they’ve got.”
Perez holds Maldonado’s political future in his hands. Either house has the
power to reject Maldonado’s nomination, and Maldonado has said Perez’s support would be key to whether or not Maldonado
is allowed to become lieutenant governor.
Maldonado’s status in political limbo may have more to do with
legislative politics than any debate over his fitness
for the job of lieutenant governor. If Democrats drag
the confirmation process out long enough, it would
allow Gov. Schwarzenegger to consolidate the run-off election for Maldonado’s Senate seat with the November 2 election.
When asked if the Assembly was deliberately drawing
out the confirmation process beyond April 21 so that Schwarzenegger
would call a Nov. 2 election, Perez said, “there’s no guarantee the
governor would even consolidate
the election. And, the date is April 22, not April 21,” he noted with a
quick smile."
Torey Van Oot reports Perez is committed to putting a majority-vote budget measure on the November ballot.
Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
March 3, 2010
Perez to seek putting majority budget vote measure
on ballot
Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez said today he is prepared to ask the Legislature
to put California Forward's proposal to lower the vote
requirement for passing a budget on the November ballot.
"I'm still waiting to hear from California Forward
if they have finalized all the elements they have been
tweaking, but I'm prepared to take it to (my caucus) rather quickly," Pérez said in an interview with The Bee Capitol Bureau.
Officials from the foundation-funded reform group said earlier this week that lackluster
fundraising will likely sideline their push to qualify
a pair of proposed initiatives encompassing various
budget and governmental reforms, including lowering
the vote requirement for passing a budget from two-thirds to a simple majority.
And finally, looks like the lawn police in Orange County
are finally satisfied with one resident. AP reports,
"Prosecutors say a Southern California man
who removed his grass to save water now has enough
drought-tolerant
plants to comply with an ordinance requiring 40 percent of a yard be
covered with live landscaping. Orange City Attorney David DeBerry says he will ask that the case against 36-year-old Quan Ha be dropped at a March 16 hearing.
"Ha
was in court Tuesday, pleading not guilty to three
misdemeanor charges.
He could have faced six months in jail and a $1,000 fine if found
guilty."
What, no hanging?
