As he shapes his new administration, Gov.-elect Jerry Brown intends to keep many of the people that were put in
place by Gov, Arnold Schwarzenegger. The L.A. Times' Evan Halper and Michael Mishak have
the story.
"Brown advisors say the governor-elect is focused on the budget; filling a couple of thousand government posts with
new faces is not his priority now, they say. Even on
financial matters, Brown may not bring in a new top-level advisor. He has praised Schwarzenegger's budget
director, who people close to the transition say may
be invited to keep the job."
"Brown had consulted the budget director, Ana Matosantos,
for insight on state fiscal matters during the campaign.
At one point he showed up at her office unannounced
and without any entourage, and the two sat down and
drilled deep into budget policy."
The state budget is at the top of lawmakers' concerns,
and Democrats want to hold off until the new governor takes
office.
From Steve Harmon at the Contra Costa Times: "But rank-and-file Democrats appear reluctant to work out
anything with Schwarzenegger, though that doesn't mean
they won't begin work on
a midyear correction, said Alicia Trost, spokeswoman
for state Senate President
Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento.
"A lot of Democrats just want to deal with the
governor-elect," she said. "Of course, we'll take a look at what Gov. Schwarzenegger proposes.
But it's most likely going to be the same complete
elimination of IHSS (In-Home
Supportive Services) or a $700 million cut, or the elimination of CalWORKs. If
that's what he proposes, that solidifies the fact that
we'll just go ahead and
work with the governor-elect."
In California's political wars, water always floats
to the top. The Chronicle's Kelly Zito has the latest
example -- the fight over the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.
"Forty-three cities, counties and water agencies - including those serving more than 4 million residents in San Francisco, the Peninsula
and parts of the East Bay - say the plan is a blatant Southern California water
grab that could further harm the delta, constrict water
supplies and raise water rates in much of Northern
California."
"Earlier this month, the coalition made its case in
a letter to Karen Scarborough, undersecretary of California's
Natural Resources Agency and chairwoman of the Bay
Delta Conservation Plan steering committee."
Richard Katz, a former state lawmaker and mayoral candidate
in L.A., is stepping down from his position on the High-Speed Rail Authority, a move that comes as the agency faces scrutiny over
its finances.
From the LAT's Rich Connell: "Katz, who also serves on the boards of the Los Angeles
County Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Metrolink commuter
rail system, said Tuesday that he submitted his resignation to the
governor and will leave his state post Dec. 1."
"Katz and California High-Speed Rail Authority Chairman
Curt Pringle have been the focus of a state attorney general’s review to
determine if the state and local positions they hold
are legally
“incompatible” due to potentially overlapping interests on rights-of-way,
station locations and other matters. Pringle is mayor of Anaheim and a member of the Orange
County Transportation Authority board, but he will relinquish those
offices next month."
Meanwhile. foes of the governor's attempt to sell off
state property to raise money for the budget are going to have their day in court, reports the AP's Tom Verdin.
"A lawsuit filed Tuesday seeks to halt the sale of
11
California office complexes, alleging the process illegally
bypassed the state
Judicial Council and amounts to an improper gift of
public funds."
"The
lawsuit, filed in San Francisco County Superior Court,
wants a preliminary
injunction before the sale can be finalized, which
the state expects sometime
in December.
It
alleges the plan that was championed by Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger and approved
by the Legislature ignores the jurisdiction of the
Judicial Council, which has
authority over buildings housing the state's appellate
courts."
Working hard, some state lawmakers are enjoying Hawaii -- and why not? Sometimes you can do more on the beach
than in the Capitol. The Bee's Jim Sanders has the
story.
"The largest of two Hawaii conferences, held in Maui this
week, is providing free travel and lodging to lawmakers
underwritten by
donations to a nonprofit group from some of the state's
most powerful interests
– energy providers, pharmaceutical companies and the
prison officers' union."
"Lawmakers are joined by lobbyists and corporate
officials who will seek their votes when the Legislature convenes next month."
And finally, we open our "Pleasure Forever" file to observe the woman who was arrested after personally
enjoying herself in a hotel parking lot. No, we're
not making this up.
"A topless woman who was masturbating in a hotel parking
lot is facing a weapons charge after Illinois cops
investigating her auto
eroticism discovered a loaded pistol in her vehicle."
"A Naperville cop responding to an unrelated call spotted
Vikki Myers, 44, in a van outside the Red Roof Inn. After initially
claiming
that she was changing clothes, Myers admitted to pleasuring
herself in the
vehicle, according to police."
"That admission may have been prompted by a police
officer’s discovery of what an officer described as “adult items that were used
for self-pleasuring. In addition to copping to the
vehicular masturbation charge, Myers told cops that
that there was a loaded 9mm Sig
Sauer handgun in the car, a weapon for which she did
not have a state-issued
Firearm Owners Identification card."
Just another night in Naperville...
