"I have represented every part of this district for the past 10-1/2 years," Garamendi said via telephone over the din of his campaign party in Walnut Creek late Tuesday. "The people of this district understood that I knew the issues that they cared about and that I could be a good and forceful representative."
"The well-known Garamendi will advance to the Nov. 3 runoff as the prohibitive favorite in this heavily Democratic district.
He will most likely
face Dougherty Valley attorney David Harmer, who won by a substantial
margin among the field of six Republican candidates."
Garamendi's victory means the governor will have a lieutenant
governor appointment to dangle during the next round
of budget talks...
You can see the full election results here.
For all you folks who need a crash course in the new Assemblyman, check out Malcolm Maclachlan's feature on Bradford from July in Capitol Weekly.
Meanwhile, the water debate got off to a rocky start in the Capitol as appointees of a 14-member were named by legislative leaders Tuesday. Eventually
E.J. Schultz reports, "With only 10 days to go in the session, state lawmakers are taking a final stab at solving California's water woes. But the last-minute push for legislation got off to an inauspicious start Tuesday after leaders had trouble deciding who would serve on a newly formed committee charged with drafting a plan.
"Senate Leader Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, announced his members for the joint Assembly-Senate 14- member panel in the morning. He promised to make water his top priority in the remaining days of session, which ends on Sept. 11.
"Water is the best opportunity we have right now to show that we can do something big," said Steinberg, who named himself as the panel's leader. "Maybe we won't get it done in the next 10 days," he added, "but I'm sure going to do my darnedest."
"But the Assembly delayed its announcement of who would serve on the committee, forcing the postponement of the first meeting until today."
CW's John Howard reports groups are looking for leverage as the end of session approaches, and the UFW has sent a message to the govenror over, er, water, we think.'
"A national union coalition has poured $1 million into a newly formed arm of the United Farm Workers to oppose a potential, multibillion-dollar water bond package on California's statewide ballot.
"The donation came from a group called Change to Win,
a national labor coalition that includes the Service
Employees International Union, the Teamsters, the farm
workers union and others. The transaction was reported
Tuesday in financial disclosure reports at the secretary
of state's office.
"It also may be connected to a bill on the governor's desk that has nothing to do with water policy, but is a top priority for the UFW nationwide. Last month, Sen. Darrell Steinberg's SB 789 landed on Schwarzenegger's desk. The bill makes it easier for farm workers to unionize by adopting the so-called "card-check" method of union voting. The bill is sponsored by the UFW."
We're not sure what's more daunting -- the ongoing Capitol ego battles, or the tricky tangle of water policy...
The U-T's Mike Gardner looks at the fight over renewable energy -- one of the major end-of-session fights to come.
"Still haunted by rolling blackouts and budget-busting energy contracts, California plans to broaden its already aggressive directive requiring utilities to deliver more power from renewable sources.
But Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and lawmakers, under intense pressure from generators and renewable power advocates with conflicting positions, have yet to deliver a final compromise package that has been declared a top priority going into the last two weeks of the legislative year.
"There is general agreement that the overarching goal is laudable: tap various renewable sources for a third of the state's energy needs by 2020. Still, 33 percent is a leap from the existing 20 percent mandate imposed to encourage so-called green power and partly to minimize the chances of a repeat of the 2000-01 energy crisis that consumed the state.
"Diversifying the power portfolio, supporters say, will help stabilize the energy market — both in supply and cost — and build a cleaner industry producing solar, geothermal, wind and other renewable sources."
Hey, the governor's going to need some kind of legacy, right?
"State lawyers said Tuesday they will try to take the issue of prison overcrowding to the U.S. Supreme Court rather than obey a court order to come up with a plan to reduce inmate population," reports the Bee's Denny Walsh.
"The lawyers, on behalf of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and corrections officials, are asking the three judges who issued the order to put it on hold while the state seeks a high-court review.
"They say the state should not have to spend some of its precious few funds to create a plan that should never have been ordered in the first place.
"Facing a $1.2 billion shortfall in the corrections budget, officials need to focus their limited resources "on safely implementing that budget reduction," the lawyers insist."
Meanwhile, that sound you hear is the current budget unravelling . Bob Egelko reports state workers won a big victory in court that may halt furlough Fridays.
"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger illegally furloughed 7,400 employees of the State Compensation Insurance Fund this year, a San Francisco judge ruled Tuesday in a case that may help workers in other state agencies challenge their unpaid leaves.
"Superior Court Judge Charlotte Woolard affirmed a tentative ruling she had issued Monday that the governor had no authority to cut the staff of the insurance fund. The fund, based in San Francisco, sells workers' compensation insurance to employers and uses the proceeds to run its operations, with no support from the state treasury."
But we're seling them, anyways, right? Right?
"Woolard's tentative decision came in a suit by the Service Employees International Union, which represents the fund's nearly 6,300 clerical workers, claims adjusters and support staff. She granted the fund's request Tuesday to extend the ruling to another 1,100 employees not represented by the union.
Schwarzenegger will appeal the ruling, said spokesman Mike Naple.
And Honolulu is saying aloha to stinky bus riders . That's the goodbye aloha, not hello.
AP reports, "Stinky city bus riders soon could get soaked. The Honolulu City Council is considering a bill that would impose up to a $500 fine and/or up to six months in jail for public transit passengers convicted of being too smelly.
The bill will be heard Thursday in committee. It would make it illegal to have "odors that unreasonably disturb others or interfere with their use of the transit system."
It doesn't matter if it's body odor or offensive fumes that emanates from clothes, personal belongings or animals."
Amen.
