Berkeley’s Institute for Governmental Studies held their biennial election postmortem this weekend. The event was a who’s-who of California political types – both on the panels and in the audience. Press attendance was heavy… David Siders at the Sacramento Bee had five quick takeaways and also reported on Steve Glazer’s brutal primary in AD16, which wounded the Dems and handed a Bay Area seat to the GOP for the first time in eight years.
John Myers at KQED offered a blow-by-blow autopsy of the governor’s race as did Michael Finnegan and Seema Mehta at the Los Angeles Times.
“With the election nearly three months behind them, top aides to Gov. Jerry Brown and his Republican challenger, Neel Kashkari, let down their guard Saturday at a postmortem organized by UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies.
“In a candid back-and-forth, they shared behind-the-scenes recollections of how Brown coasted to reelection and trounced Kashkari, 60% to 40%.
“Neither candidate always listened to the aides. Brown suggested a whistle-stop train trip across California in his campaign for reelection. “We said that was a bad idea,” said Dana Williamson, the Democratic governor’s cabinet secretary.
Kashkari ignored the advice of advisors who urged him to stop dipping into his waning personal fortune to finance a campaign they knew he could not win. “We thought it was crazy, but that’s Neel,” said Aaron McLear, a top Kashkari strategist.”
Our favorite data nugget from the event? Mindy Romero of the California Civic Engagement Project’s comment that just over 8% of eligible 18-24 year olds cast a vote in the November election. Think about that for a minute….
Columnist George Skelton defends his proposal that the state chip in to outfit California’s aging school infrastructure against those who point to problems with Los Angeles Unified School District's use of bond funds. From the Los Angeles Times:
“Sacramento for decades has matched school district bond funds approved by local voters with state bond funds authorized by all Californians. But Brown hates acquiring debt — except for such pet projects as the bullet train — and is trying to get the state out of the school construction business.
“Let local districts pay for it, the governor says. They can do it more efficiently….
“The problem with this blanket attitude is that just as iPads and infrastructure are apples and oranges, so are L.A. Unified and other school districts that usually get it right. Got a gripe with the L.A. district, reject its bond proposals. But don't deny other districts their share of Sacramento money by turning down statewide bonds.”
Talk about a ‘data dump’ – PG&E officials released 65,000 emails on Friday, adding much fuel to the fire that is already roasting former Public Utilities Commission chief Michael Peevey.
From George Avalos and Josh Richman at the Contra Costa Times: “The tone of the emails stunned even longtime critics, who were mortified to see that PUC and PG&E officials were joking about gas pipeline safety just weeks after a natural gas blast in September 2010 killed eight people and destroyed a San Bruno neighborhood. Investigators concluded that PG&E's shoddy maintenance and flawed record-keeping, along with lax oversight by the PUC, were the key factors behind the explosion.
"’The PUC is now a rogue agency,’ Loretta Lynch, a former PUC commission president, said Saturday. ‘All the checks and balances that existed at the PUC have been corrupted. Peevey led that corruption.’"
And, your daily ‘who’s in/who’s out/who’s considering’ senate seat candidate update: Dan Morain talks with Representative Xavier Becerra, who is mulling.
From the Sacramento Bee: “Rep. Xavier Becerra was in Philadelphia with other House Democrats last week, trying to find a path back to relevancy after their November drubbing, when he took time to call his mother and father.
“’My father said that when you build something, you need to start with a strong foundation,’ the congressman said on a speaker phone as he contemplates giving up a safe congressional seat for a chancy run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated in 2016 by Barbara Boxer…
“Becerra said he won’t make a decision for a month or two. He is talking it over with his wife, a physician and the mother of their three daughters. The older two attend Stanford. The youngest will go to college next year.
“’I’m talking to my family about how this would help me help more folks,’ Becerra said.”
Meanwhile, Cathleen Decker says Attorney General Kamala Harris’ campaign for the senate began long before she announced for the seat two weeks ago.
And, an ugly story out of Los Angeles that will wreak havoc with some folks’ childhood memories: a Mighty Morphin Power Ranger has been arrested for killing his roomate with a sword.
“A Palmdale man who acted in a ‘Power Rangers’ television series was arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with the fatal stabbing of his roommate with a sword, authorities said Sunday.
“Ricardo Medina, 36, was arrested following the incident, which occurred shortly before 4 p.m. Saturday at a house in the 38000 block of San Francisquito Canyon Road, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department….
“Detectives have confirmed that Medina played a red Power Ranger on television, Sheriff's Deputy Amber Smith told the Los Angeles Times. According to IMDb, he portrayed the Red Lion Wild Force Ranger on the ‘Power Rangers Wild Force’ series in 2002 and voiced the character Deker on ‘Power Rangers Samurai’ in 2012-13, among other acting roles.”
