As many as many as six former state chief executives around the U.S., including California’s Jerry Brown, may be on the ballot next year. Says Iowa’s Terry Branstad: ‘I know I could do this better.’

By Mark Z. Barabak

December 5, 2009

Jerry Brown has fashioned a career alone on the cutting edge of politics, but as he looks ahead to 2010, the California attorney general finds himself in the midst of an unusual pack: former governors eyeing a return to their old jobs.

At least four, and perhaps as many as six, ex-governors may be on the ballot around the country next year, a pattern apparently without precedent or any clear-cut explanation, beyond the fact that few jobs in American politics beat the chance to run your own state, even in these difficult times.

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By Jon Ortiz
jortiz@sacbee.com
Published: Saturday, Dec. 5, 2009 – 12:00 am | Page 1A

A key state agency is asking for a furlough exemption for its employees – for the year after furloughs are supposed to end.

The Franchise Tax Board’s request – prepared at the direction of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Department of Finance – indicates that the administration is prepared to extend furloughs for state workers beyond the policy’s announced June 30, 2010, expiration date.

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By Dale Kasler

dkasler@sacbee.com
Published: Saturday, Dec. 5, 2009 – 12:00 am | Page 1A

Federal officials are investigating possible ties between CalPERS’ former chief executive, a controversial former board member and a financier who just pleaded guilty in a New York pension fund corruption case.

Court records show the Securities and Exchange Commission issued a subpoena in June to financier Elliott Broidy, who pleaded guilty Thursday to felony charges that he showered nearly $1 million in illegal gifts on state officials in New York.

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December 04, 2009 9:01 AM
STEVE WILLIAMS Opinion Page Editor

Thursday’s Daily Press said Ryan McEachron, Victorville city councilman, is calling for a “forensic audit” of the city’s finances.

We might point out that forensic science (often shortened to forensics) is the application of a broad spectrum of sciences to answer questions of interest to a legal system. The concept is related to the notion of authentication, whereby an interest outside of a legal form exists in determining whether an object is what it purports to be, or is alleged as being.

That’s not gobbledegook, exactly, but it is a working definition of what is looked upon increasingly by the public as an unsatisfactory, and untrustworthy, method of investigation.

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08:09 PM PST on Friday, December 4, 2009

By RICHARD K. DE ATLEY
The Press-Enterprise

Two defendants in a San Jacinto corruption case pleaded not guilty Friday to charges they had a role in the money laundering and political bribery case.

Byron Jerry Ellison Sr. and Robert E. Osborne entered their pleas before Riverside County Superior Court Judge Michael Donner, who set their next court date for Jan. 15.

A 155-count indictment handed down last month names nine defendants, including developers and four of five members of the San Jacinto City Council.

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10:49 PM PST on Friday, December 4, 2009

The Press-Enterprise

San Bernardino County government needs ethical behavior, not just ethics rules. A new ordinance approved by the Board of Supervisors this week offers a symbolic improvement in county conduct. But the new provision will accomplish little unless official behavior and attitudes also change.

The new ordinance amends the county’s standards of conduct to prohibit the use of any county office, resource or property for personal gain. The county’s grand jury recommended such a change in July, after finding the county’s code of ethics did not clearly address the issue — though state law already prohibits the misuse of public position or property. Read the rest of this entry »