Apparently feeling the dual lawsuits filed by the attorney general and by civil rights groups are insufficient, Democratic chairs of the elections committees of each house
announced yesterday that they would hold hearings into whether proponents of the redistricting initiative intentionally used different versions for obtaining a title and summary and for circulation. "
The questions are whether there was any horsing around with the process of qualifying this initiative," said Sen.
Debra Bowen (D-Marina del Rey), who will conduct a hearing Aug. 17 with Assemblyman
Tom Umberg (D-Anaheim).
"'
The what, when and who - that's what I want to know,' said Assemblyman Tom Umberg, who chairs the Assembly's elections committee. 'What did they know? When did they know it? And who knew it?'"
Schwarzenegger spokesperson
Margita Thompson was quick to respond. "'They want to keep
drawing their own political seats,' she said. 'And it's clear from their inflammatory and inaccurate claims that they're staging a political stunt.'"
Surely, nobody in this town would
stage a political stunt.Speaking of drawing, the hits keep on coming over
the art in the attorney general's cafeteria. Lawyer and budding artiste
Stephen "Pearcy said "T'anks to Mr. Bush" took him about 20 minutes to complete on July 4, 2003. He said it was intended to reflect his concern about Americans and what he called their "'fanatical level of patriotism' in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. "
We at the Roundup, connoisseurs of the arts and patriots that we are, would like to challenge our readers to do better. So, we introduce the first ever
Roundup Coloring Contest! Break out the Crayolas, and give us your finest fine art. Winning entries will be printed out, and
hung in the Roundup cafeteria. We'll also make them available in a stunning, online museum, the likes of which none of us shall soon forget. You can send the entries via email
here, or fax them to
916.444.1713.From our
"It Ain't Easy Being Green" Files, looks like the governor's image as a champion of the environment has gone the same way his overall approval ratings have gone, according to
a new PPIC poll.The guv's overall approval ratings have
slipped below the president's among California voters, and he doesn't get many points for his moderate views on the environment. "Just
32 percent of Californians approve of the way Schwarzenegger is handling the environment" the Mercury News reports. "Strikingly, that's
the same approval rating on the environment that Californians give President Bush, despite the fact that Schwarzenegger has worked hard to establish himself as a moderate "green Republican'' who has disagreed with the Bush administration on a host of eco-issues, including global warming, smog rules, ethanol mandates and offshore oil drilling."
Strike out: Sacramento judge
Loren McMaster blocked a strike planned for today by the California Nurses Association against the University of California, agreeing with the Public Employment Relations Board that the strike was premature, since an impasse had not been formally reached.
Yes, that's the same Loren McMaster who, until earlier this week, was the subject of a recall by conservative activists.
The Phil and Steve Show With legislators taking a few weeks of R&R, the media focus shifts to the
men who would be governor. The Sacramento News and Review's Jeffrey Barker
profiles Phil Angelides's campaign and asks whether Phil will be California's version of
Howard Dean.
Meanwhile, George Skelton
asks whether Steve Westly's obscurity gives him an advantage."'When I got to Sacramento, people asked which side are you on?' he says. 'Are you on the side that wants massive tax increases that will drive every business out of the state and destroy our economy? Or are you on the side that wants to simply cut our essential programs, lay off teachers and close down health facilities?
"'It's like, time out. There's a smarter way.'"
Skelton summarizes the strategy of
Garry South: "The advantage of obscurity is a blank slate. Westly's task will be to paint an attractive self-portrait before opponents start heaving mud."
In
Seeking Their Fair Share of Federal Dollars News, LA Mayor
Antonio Villaraigosa took his new political celebrity to Washington D.C. to lobby for
federal bucks for the state's largest city.
"I'm a supplicant," he said. "I'm here to ask for funding." (In our political dictionary "supplicant" translates roughly to "kiss-ass.")
But the new mayor is showing deft aim with that pucker, the LA Times reports. "The new mayor, who took office July 1, may be a comer on the national political scene, but the first of his two days in Washington was
tightly focused on issues that matter to Angelenos: traffic and public safety. Villaraigosa went to Washington looking to maintain threatened homeland security funds for Los Angeles. And he made the case for a carpool lane project on the San Diego Freeway."
Congratulations of the Mexican American Political Association for winning our
Press Release Headline of the Week Award. We've had hundreds of entries, but MAPA took the cake with this: "Leading Latino organization backs governor's redistricting ballot proposition, calls for immediate withdrawl from Iraq."
Now that's covering some ground. Way to go, MAPA!
