The Dominoes Fall and the Next Governor Is…..
Gavin Newsom pulled out of the governor’s race and set the punditry world abuzz about the possibilities of another Democrat jumping into the June primary. While some Democrats like the idea of a clear field for Attorney General Jerry Brown, still nominally exploring a run, others asked, as expressed by former Assembly Speaker Willie Brown in his S.F. Chronicle column in reference to the 71 year old Brown with 40 years in the political world, “Can’t we find someone with a newer paint job?”
Names flying off the page include Treasurer Bill Lockyer, former Controller Steve Westly, L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Congress members Loretta Sanchez and Jane Harman, and, of course, the old standby, U. S. Senator Dianne Feinstein.
Old not being an indication of age here, even though she is Brown’s senior by five years. Old in the sense her name has been linked to the governor’s chair for twenty years.
Brown Now Wears a Bulls-Eye
Well, it’s Jerry Brown versus no one in the Democratic primary, but the yellow shirt he’s wearing for the ride to November has a bull’s-eye on it.
When San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom dropped out of the governor’s race Friday, he not only cleared the field for the attorney general, but also gave everyone on the GOP side seven extra months of free shots at Brown.
Sure, Republicans Tom Campbell, Steve Poizner and Meg Whitman will spend much of their time slapping each other around in an effort to convince GOP voters they have what it takes to run the state – and that their opponents don’t.
But while a non-stop intra-party mud fight tends to annoy voters and earnest discussions of public policy may bore them, a nasty attack on the other party’s likely nominee is a sure way to fire up the faithful.
A Campaign Finance Loophole leads to Allegations of Money Laundering
Proposition 34, the so-called campaign finance limit, is one of the worst laws ever written. That’s no surprise, it was written by politicians for their own benefit. The objective was to supplant a 1996 campaign finance initiative that set very strict contribution limits. Proposition 34, put on the ballot by the legislature and passed in 2000, loosened the contribution limits. It limits an individual contribution to a legislative candidate to $3,900. But it also created a big fat loophole for the pols to launder money to themselves. And that is just what has been happening over the past decade. Now one politician may be in trouble for it.
Last month, the San Diego Union reported that in May Assemblyman Joel Anderson (R-La Mesa) contributed $32,400 from his 2008 campaign fund to the Fresno County Republican Central Committee. In June, he sent $32,400 to the Placer GOP committee and an equal amount to the Stanislaus County committee. Also in May, three members of the Hamann family of El Cajon – longtime supporters of Anderson – contributed $30,000 to the Fresno Committee. In June, the Barona Band of Mission Indians in San Diego County gave $10,000 to the Fresno party.
Planning to Move
When L.A. County voters assessed themselves a half-cent sales tax increase for transportation investment in November 2008, the county’s elected officials promised to deliver a final Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) detailing how the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) will direct $298 billion in revenue between now and 2040. After approving the 30-year blueprint last Thursday, that time is now.
The LRTP lists dozens of projects including the Subway to the Sea, extending the Green Line to LAX, expanding the successful Orange Line service in the Valley and expanding HOV lanes on the I-5, I-405 and I-10 freeways.
is now.
Transportation projects are an economic stimulus in the short term and an economic investment in the long term. They create good paying jobs from design phase to construction. And the sooner we place shovels in the ground, the more likely we will be to take advantage of the current dip in construction material costs. The Chamber looks forward to continuing to work with our partners at Metro and our elected officials to do everything possible to speed up the approval process. Just like sitting idle on the freeway, wasted time leads to wasted money.
is now.