Gov. Jerry Brown has agreed to Republican Neel Kashkari’s debate challenge, but only to one of the ten.
Scott Detrow reports for KQED: “Kashkari had challenged Brown to 10 debates, but until now, Brown had brushed off that proposition. Most polls show Brown leading Kashkari by about 20 points, and last month the governor told reporters he “hadn’t made up (his) mind” as to whether or not he’d debate the former U.S. Treasury Department official.”
“But both Brown and Kashkari campaigns have now agreed to the September debate, which will be produced by KQED, the Los Angeles Times, the California Channel and Telemundo California. KQED’s senior California politics and government editor, John Myers, will moderate the one-hour forum. Journalists from the Los Angeles Times and Telemundo will ask the candidates questions as well.”
Another November ballot measure appeared to be in the works. But now it looks like voters won’t be asked to decide if suspended lawmakers deserve pay.
Laurel Rosenall reports in The Sacramento Bee: “The California Senate passed Steinberg’s Senate Constitutional Amendment 17 in May. But the Assembly has not taken the measure up for a vote, and the deadline has now passed to put measures on the November ballot.”
““The pro tem still wishes the bill to be considered before the end of session, and that would put the constitutional amendment on the 2016 ballot,” said Steinberg spokesman Rhys Williams.”
Lawmakers did move other “good government” legislation yesterday.
The Associated Press reports: “Questionable campaign practices at the state and local level prompted state lawmakers to approve three reform bills Monday, including one adopted after a lobbyist was fined for hosting fundraisers at his home.”
Racial data is being collected, but rarely shared by law enforcement.
Vivian Ho reports for The San Francisco Chronicle: “While many of the Bay Area's biggest police forces collect what is known as racial stop data, the agencies rarely tabulate the numbers and share them with the public. Even when the information is reported, the figures aren't analyzed, with officials saying they lack the funding and staffing to do so.”
“By not digging through the numbers, civil rights advocates say, police departments create an appearance of transparency but miss an opportunity to learn about - and potentially break - patterns of racially biased policing.”
Three deaths at the new Stockton prison facility have shed light on its emergency care practices.
Paige St. John reports in The Los Angeles Times: “In one case, prison staff answering an emergency alarm allegedly made no attempt to revive a fallen inmate for more than six minutes, until a physician arrived. Another inmate's death in June was found by a prison committee to be "possibly preventable" had he been given an ultrasound test called for by a specialist months earlier. On the day he died, the memo describes confusing and conflicting accounts on how long it took an ambulance to be called and to reach the prison.”
“A third inmate's death in June also was deemed by a prison review committee to be "possibly preventable" had he been diagnosed and treated properly.”
California’s high-speed rail project appears to be in constant turmoil, with Rail Authority Chairman Dan Richard sitting right in the middle of it.
Jim Cameron reports in Capitol Weekly: “Richard is no stranger to difficult undertakings. As board president at the Bay Area Rapid Transit District, he led efforts to secure $4 billion in capital for the transit system’s expansion to the San /Francisco Airport along with seismic retrofit and other rehab programs.”
“It was a turbulent time, and Richard was in the middle of a BART strike, a bankruptcy, and a state energy crisis while at the same time playing a pivotal role in BART’s extension to the San Francisco Airport, in itself a major undertaking that was successfully completed10 years ago.”
