Politics, Government & Business in California's Inland Empire
10:00 PM PDT on Friday, October 1, 2010
By IMRAN GHORI
The Press-Enterprise
San Bernardino County Counsel Ruth Stringer announced Friday that she plans to retire after almost four years as the county’s top legal adviser.
Stringer, who has been with the county for more than 30 years and county counsel since March 2007, said the decision to retire was her own and that she was not pressured to leave by the Board of Supervisors, to whom she reports.
10:00 PM PDT on Friday, October 1, 2010
Cassie MacDuff
They say sunshine is the best disinfectant. Turn over a rock, expose the underside to the light of day — the slime disappears.
That’s the idea behind San Bernardino County’s new sunshine ordinance, a manifesto of the obvious: The public’s business is public, unless prohibited by law.
Hudson
11:38 PM PDT on Friday, October 1, 2010
By ALICIA ROBINSON and JIM MILLER
The Press-Enterprise
PDF: League of California Cities: City/Town Manager Compensation Survey
PDF: California State Assembly: Committee on Accountability and Administrative Review
Riverside City Manager Brad Hudson’s total annual compensation of nearly $424,000 makes him one of the highest paid city executives in California, and his base salary likely ranks in the top 10 for his field, according to data from two recent studies.
11:56 PM PDT on Friday, October 1, 2010
By ALICIA ROBINSON
The Press-Enterprise
The election is still two years away, but candidates already are lining up to run for Riverside mayor.
Councilman Andy Melendrez formally opened his 2012 mayoral campaign Thursday, and former Councilman Ed Adkison plans to launch his bid for the office next week.
Cook
11:59 PM PDT on Friday, October 1, 2010
By JIM MILLER
Sacramento Bureau
SACRAMENTO – Compared to some of his Inland peers, Assemblyman Paul Cook had a pretty good year legislatively, with 10 of his 12 bills that passed the Legislature signed into law.
But getting more notice Friday was Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s sarcastic putdown of a Cook measure that was a victim of this week’s veto pen.
Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 10/01/2010 09:01:37 PM PDT
SAN BERNARDINO – The citizens panel in charge of keeping track of how Measure Z tax dollars are spent has not met for more than one year.
The Measure Z Oversight Committee’s next meeting is set for Oct. 12. The group last convened in June 2009.
Governor signs ‘infraction’ bill
Josh Dulaney, Staff Writer
Created: 10/01/2010 05:13:08 PM PDT
A speeding ticket. Possessing an ounce or less of marijuana.
It’s all the same, according to a bill signed late Thursday by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that reduces possession of an ounce or less of marijuana from a misdemeanor to an infraction, with a maximum punishment of a $100 fine.
By Kevin Yamamura
kyamamura@sacbee.com
Published: Saturday, Oct. 2, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Saturday, Oct. 2, 2010 – 9:24 am
Three months into the state’s longest budget impasse, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders reached a handshake deal Friday to close the state’s $19 billion deficit, leaders announced after a five-hour meeting.
To bridge the gap, they are relying on about $7.5 billion in spending cuts, as well as delaying a corporate tax deduction and using rosy projections for how much the state will receive in tax revenues and federal dollars, according to sources close to budget talks.
Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
October 1, 2010
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown is airing a new TV ad attacking Republican Meg Whitman for her dealings with Goldman Sachs and the salary she received at eBay.
GOP candidate for governor has purchased more ads in Spanish-language media and given interviews to Univision and Telemundo.
By Michael J. Mishak and Seema Mehta, Los Angeles Times
October 2, 2010
Meg Whitman’s campaign for governor has doubled its advertising on Spanish-language radio and increased the number of its Latino television spots by roughly 50% as the former EBay chief executive seeks to blunt the impact of news that she employed, then fired, an illegal immigrant as a housekeeper.
NEWS ANALYSIS
A jumbled view of illegal immigrants
By Cathleen Decker, Los Angeles Times
October 2, 2010
With the tears of a housekeeper who claimed she was wronged by a candidate for governor, the issue of illegal immigration came roaring back into California’s political landscape this week, like a blast of uncomfortable deja vu.
October 2, 2010
With Team Whitman furiously trying to spin away the story about Meg Whitman’s undocumented housekeeper and both sides preparing for today’s Univision debate in Fresno, Jerry Brown unloaded two new ads designed to keep Whitman on defense.
One is a positive saying Brown balanced budgets without raising taxes and took on Wall Street banks, mortgage scammers and public officials. “Knowledge and know-how that works for you” is the slogan — a subtle suggestion that he has it and she doesn’t.