The Sacramento Bee’s report on lobby spending shows the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association spent more in lobbying than the California Teachers Association. Next thing you know, they’ll tell us the sun is coming up in the west. Perhaps CTA doesn’t feel the need to spend since they helped put many of the legislators into office.
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The recent PPIC poll on the environment indicated that a majority of Californians was against the expansion of nuclear energy, oil drilling off the coast and fracking to pull oil from shale in the state. However, they supported the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, which will bring oil extracted in Canada to Texas. Would the results be the same if that pipeline ran through California? Or is the poll showing NIMBYism (not in my back yard) at work?
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The Los Angeles City Council says if you park at a broken parking meter you’ll no longer get a ticket. That decision seems to upend a long time policy that goes if something the government operates is broken the citizens get stuck with the bill. Common sense in government policy is a good thing.
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Business groups in San Diego have come out urging the mayor to resign and indicated they would help fund a recall effort. Little has been conjectured who might run for mayor in the recall. Expect a long slate of candidates, much like the situation when Governor Gray Davis was recalled. Former mayoral candidate Carl DeMaio probably sticks to his congressional campaign. What about one time candidate Nathan Fletcher who jumped from the Republican to Democratic Party? I’m thinking that city attorney and Filner antagonist Jan Goldsmith, a Republican, might smell an opportunity.
Question: If a Republican replaces Filner as mayor of San Diego just months after Andy Vidak claimed Senate District 16 for the Republicans does that count as a GOP winning streak? Frankly, in California the Vidak victory alone probably qualified as a GOP winning streak.
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Imagine pitching something like the Filner story to Hollywood.
So here’s the deal, a veteran congressman becomes mayor of a major city after years of allegedly harassing females; is exposed for his misdeeds by friends AFTER the mayoral election; faces a lawsuit lawyered by Gloria Allred from one of eight accusers; demands that the city pays his legal fees; when the city refuses, his lawyer says the problem is the city’s fault because they didn’t give the mayor sexual harassment training (at this point, the producer guffaws!); the city council votes to file against the mayor to protect against liabilities caused by the mayor’s non-official actions; as the mayor prepares to go into therapy two recall petitions are filed against him with suspicion that one of the recall efforts is going to put a monkey wrench in the legal works to cancel the legitimate recall effort.
“What do you think, Mr. Producer?”
“Too unbelievable,” says the producer, “except, of course, that Gloria Allred filed a high-profile lawsuit.”