Politics, Government & Business in California's Inland Empire
Jerry Brown
Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
February 1, 2010
Attorney General Jerry Brown spent just $370,525 last year on his undeclared Democratic candidacy for governor, raised $8.3 million and had $12.1 million in cash on hand as of Dec. 31, according to campaign finance records he filed today with the secretary of state.
CALIFORNIA ELECTIONS
On paper, she is unwaveringly conservative. Off the cuff, she sometimes sounds more moderate.
By Seema Mehta
January 31, 2010
Reporting from San Diego – As Senate candidate Carly Fiorina spoke to a standing-room-only meeting of local Republicans here, she hit familiar points — her rise to become leader of Hewlett-Packard, her “common sense” approach to fixing the nation’s economy and her pledge to give incumbent Barbara Boxer the fight of her life.
Amid all the fiscal talk, Fiorina dropped in a line about her conservative social beliefs.
By Joel Fox
Editor of Fox & Hounds and President of the Small Business Action Committee
Mon, February 1st, 2010
Looking at the PPIC poll ‘s score of the governor’s race in the Republican primary, some might wonder if Steve Poizner is finished. I’m not one of them.
Even though Poizner is 30 points behind Meg Whitman this is no time to close the books on the campaign. Voters don’t pay close attention until a month or so out from Election Day. The recent heralded victory of Republican Scott Brown in the Massachusetts U.S. Senate race is only the most recent example of a candidate coming from way down in the polls to snatch victory. Brown’s winning surge occurred over the last ten days of the campaign.
Meg Whitman
Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
February 1, 2010
The expected knockdown battle for the GOP gubernatorial nomination appears to have kicked into full gear.
Meg Whitman campaign strategist Mike Murphy has fired back at opponent Steve Poizner’s accusation that he sought to force the insurance commissioner out of the race with threats that the cash-flush campaign would spend $40 million “tearing up Steve if we must.”
“After reading the ridiculous charges made by Steve Poizner during today’s strange press conference, all I can say is that I’m starting to worry about the Commissioner’s mental condition,” Murphy said in a statement
Steve Poizner
Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
February 1, 2010
GOP gubernatorial candidate Steve Poizner today said he has reported “threats” made by the Republican rival Meg Whitman’s campaign adviser to law enforcement officials.
Poizner said at a press conference that Whitman campaign strategist Mike Murphy issued “crystal-clear” threats to his staff in an attempt to effectively “cancel the election” by pushing him to drop out of the race.
InlandPolitics.com has learned that incoming San Bernardino County Administrative Officer Greg Devereaux is looking at outside talent for key positions in his new administration.
Which positions are being looked at by Devereaux is not clear, but county supervisors appear to be allowing the incoming chief full authority to manage and get the house in order.
By all accounts Devereaux is doing just that.
It is expected that changes will occur almost immediately after Devereaux arrives on February 15th.
By Denis C. Theriault
dtheriault@mercurynews.com
Posted: 02/01/2010 12:00:00 AM PST
SACRAMENTO — Nearly a month after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called an emergency legislative session to begin tackling some $8.9 billion in budget fixes, the clock for lawmakers would seem to be ticking louder every day.
But aside from a few lengthy budget hearings and some closed-door huddles, the Capitol’s business has mostly been, well, business as usual. Bills have hatched and died. Cocktails have been downed at campaign soirees. And industry lobbyists have made the rounds — some of them carrying balloons.
CAPITOL JOURNAL
‘Decline to State’ voters here don’t quite fit the national mold, but they do call most of the shots.
By George Skelton Capitol Journal
January 31, 2010
From Sacramento
Democrats and Republicans will make all the noise, but nonpartisan independents will decide the winners of California’s competitive statewide elections in November.
That has increasingly become the case in recent years.
Kelly Chastain
Michael J. Sorba, Staff Writer
Posted: 01/31/2010 07:41:14 PM PST
COLTON – Aiming to continue work that started in her first term, Mayor Kelly Chastain has decided to run for re-election. She’s certain opponents will challenge her voting record, but is confident she’ll be re-elected.
“I know I will be attacked for my stand on the need to raise utility and water rates, but I’m not ashamed and will stand by those votes as it was necessary to ensure the safe and efficient delivery of water and electricity to our residents,” she said.
General plan outlines growth for city
Liset Marquez, Staff Writer
Posted: 01/31/2010 07:41:14 PM PST
ONTARIO – For the next 20 years, city officials, planners, developers and residents will rely on the Web-based Ontario Plan as their guiding document.
It is the first general plan in the state that will be completely Web-based, city Planning Director Jerry Blum said.
11:15 PM PST on Sunday, January 31, 2010
By DUANE W. GANG
The Press-Enterprise
The 173,000 square feet of new jail space at Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility in Banning will be Riverside County’s most secure and advanced when completed next month.
Construction began two years ago on the $80 million, 582-bed expansion.
There’s just one problem.
By Jack Chang
jchang@sacbee.com The Sacramento Bee
Published: Monday, Feb. 1, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Monday, Feb. 1, 2010 – 6:21 am
As tens of thousands of Californians lose their jobs every month, the high-stakes race for governor is becoming a referendum on how to stem the unemployment tide and get people back into the labor market.
Republican candidates Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner are both proposing cutting taxes and streamlining regulations to stop what they say is the flood of California businesses moving out of the state. Whitman also is proposing investing in infrastructure, while Poizner backs allowing more flexibility in setting work hours.
INVESTING
The pension fund aims to help firms vie for its business without them having to pay what can be millions of dollars in fees to intermediaries.
CalPERS
By Marc Lifsher and Stuart Pfeifer
February 1, 2010
Reporting from Los Angeles and Sacramento – So what does it take to get your foot in the door at California’s giant public pension fund with its $203 billion in stocks, bonds, real estate and commodities?
It has become a somewhat embarrassing question lately in Sacramento, where the California Public Employees’ Retirement System is struggling to be more open about how it does business at a time when investment performance is subpar.
By Ed Mendel
The chief executive of the trendsetting California Highway Patrol union told a CalPERS forum last week that he is thinking about negotiating lower pension benefits for new hires, a move to protect them from a greater rollback by a future initiative.
Jon Hamm, the CEO of the California Association of Highway Patrolmen, said he is concerned about “pension envy” among private-sector workers with dwindling retirement security as corporations switch to 401(k) individual investment plans.
Published: Monday, Feb. 1, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
TUESDAY: Both the Assembly and the Senate hold floor sessions today, but committee hearings don’t crank up until Tuesday, when the Senate Budget Committee discusses Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s budget proposals for human services. Look for that meeting from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday in the Capitol’s Room 4203. The committee will consider other Schwarzenegger proposals on Wednesday and Thursday.
February 1, 2010
California’s candidates for governor face the gnarliest combination of public anger and economic distress in decades, making the 2010 race a text book case study in political communications: How does a wannabe governor effectively tell extremely pessimistic voters he or she understands the depths of their misery, without succumbing to despair, and while offering hope for the future that doesn’t over-reach or seem totally naïve?
Call it the Carter Conundrum, in homage to failed one term President Jimmy Carter, who simultaneously faced double digit inflation, huge unemployment and the first assault on America’s national security by violent Muslim fundamentalists. He famously screwed the pooch in that deal by tapping fully into the gloom and anxiety of voters about the seemingly intractable conditions they faced – and got walloped by a sunny and upbeat Ronald Reagan in 1980 for his trouble.