Politics, Government and Business in Southern California's Inland Empire
June 17, 2013; 02:26 PM
When Democrats look at California’s 31st Congressional District, they see what Nathan Gonzales sees.
To read story by Jeff Horseman in The Press Enterprise, click here.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, Jun. 17, 2013 – 5:38 pm
Last Modified: Tuesday, Jun. 18, 2013 – 9:44 am
With the state budget behind them and three months remaining in the 2013 legislative session, do lawmakers have much left to do?
Well, yes – and no.
Monday, June 17, 2013 – 03:00 p.m.
Last Modified: Monday, June 17, 2013 – 10:00 p.m.
The saying “absolute power corrupts absolutely” definitely rings true in San Bernardino County.
An ongoing political finance case, and a new revelation, add to the argument that the 2011 prosecution of Former San Bernardino County Third District Supervisor Neil Derry, on a campaign finance violation, was a politically-motivated attack orchestrated by San Bernardino County District Attorney Michael A. Ramos, a self-proclaimed political enemy.
June 16, 2013
by Jeff Horseman
I just blogged about Rep. Raul Ruiz playing in the annual congressional charity baseball game. But his chances of suiting up for future games are shaky, according to a political forecast.
To read post by Jeff Horseman in The Press Enterprise, click here.
June 16, 2013; 02:15 PM
Fear not, sports fans. Inland Southern California’s congressional delegation has a hot new rookie to replace the departed Joe Baca.
To read column by Jim Miller and Jeff Horseman in The Press Enterprise, click here.
Ryan Hagen, Staff Writer
Posted: 06/16/2013 05:27:47 PM PDT
SAN BERNARDINO – City Clerk Gigi Hanna has sent a cease-and-desist letter to the political action committee responsible for a petition opposing the recall of Hanna and other elected officials.
Sunday, June 16, 2013 – 10:00 a.m.
The twists and turns in San Bernardino city politics is always very entertaining, to say the least.
All of the the machinations are fascinating.
Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
June 15, 2013
As the state Senate finished voting today on a bill to extend a tax on managed care plans, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg told reporters at the back of the room, “That is what’s called a supermajority.”
June 14, 2013; 04:59 PM
Riverside City Hall critics who opposed the water fund transfer that voters approved this month are now taking aim at another source of city revenue: the utility users tax.
To read story by Alicia Robinson in The Press Enterprise, click here.
Ryan Hagen, Staff Writer
Posted: 06/14/2013 07:58:10 PM PDT
The San Bernardino County Board of Education has received permission from the state Attorney General’s Office to sue Gil Navarro in an effort to remove him from the board.
Neil Nisperos, Staff Writer
Posted: 06/14/2013 03:28:14 PM PDT
Updated: 06/14/2013 08:06:48 PM PDT
ONTARIO — Manuel Saucedo, candidate of the 52nd Assembly District special election, has announced he will be kicking off his election campaign on Saturday.
Posted: Friday, June 14, 2013 4:48 pm | Updated: 7:03 pm, Fri Jun 14, 2013.
By NORBERTO SANTANA JR.
County Supervisor Todd Spitzer said that when he and Supervisors’ Chairman Shawn Nelson joined state Sen. Lou Correa for a meeting on Thursday with the governor’s staff to discuss a dispute involving $73 million in property taxes, they were confronted over their straw votes this week to exempt themselves from budget cuts imposed on other departments.
By David Lightman | McClatchy Washington Bureau
Friday, June 14, 2013
WASHINGTON — The American people are growing increasingly concerned about reports of domestic spying. And Congress isn’t sure how to respond.
Gridlock and ineffectiveness give Congress worst rankings in decades.
By Ron Fournier
Updated: June 14, 2013 | 12:07 p.m.
June 14, 2013 | 10:20 a.m.
A bit of news for members of Congress on their way home for the weekend: America hates you.
Nearly eight in 10 Americans told Gallup pollsters this month they disapprove of the way Congress is handling its job, the 45th consecutive month that more than two-thirds of Americans graded Congress poorly.
By Ryan Hagen, Staff Writer
Posted: 06/13/2013 07:07:25 PM PDT
SAN BERNARDINO – Officials targeted by a recall effort and their allies are increasingly making one specific charge: that it is all about taking control of the city’s water resources for the personal gain of the developers behind the recall.
June 13, 2013; 06:22 PM
San Bernardino City Clerk Gigi Hanna has told organizers of a recall effort that thousands of signatures collected against some of the targeted elected officials will be thrown out and the organizers will have to start over again.
To read story by Imran Ghori in The Press Enterprise, click here.
June 13, 2013; 02:01 PM
The chairman of the Riverside County Democratic Central Committee is apologizing for making a reference to Vaudeville-era character “Stepin Fetchit,” who some consider racially insensitive.
To read story by Aaron Claverie in The Press Enterprise, click here.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Friday, Jun. 14, 2013 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
As a legislative conference committee was doing its item-by-item sojourn through the state budget this month, many were marked “tbl.”
Ryan Hagen, Staff Writer
Posted: 06/12/2013 02:07:47 PM PDT
SAN BERNARDINO >> City Clerk Gigi Hanna on Wednesday invalidated any signatures asking for a recall election that were gathered before the joint publication of the notice of intention to circulate a recall petition, statement of reasons for the recall and the targeted official’s response.
San Bernardino County Sun
Posted: 06/12/2013 07:13:06 PM PDT
Save San Bernardino is holding a roundtable discussion from 6 to 8 Thursday night at the New Hope Family Life Center, 1505 W. Highland Ave., San Bernardino.
By Chris Megerian and Anthony York, Los Angeles Times
June 11, 2013, 9:50 p.m.
SACRAMENTO — The budget deal that lawmakers will vote on this week is an effort to mesh financial restraint with a desire to provide more social services and healthcare for the needy — giving the state’s economy extra time to recover before some of the spending kicks in.
By Jon Ortiz
jortiz@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, Jun. 11, 2013 – 6:34 pm
Last Modified: Wednesday, Jun. 12, 2013 – 8:51 am
California’s largest public employee union and Gov. Jerry Brown reached a new labor agreement early Tuesday, sending a strong signal that pay raises are possible to other unions bargaining contracts with the administration.
By Alan K. Ota
Roll Call Staff
June 12, 2013, 5 a.m.
Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio, pushing back against White House demands for no-frills legislation on the federal borrowing cap, is calling for another round of spending cuts beyond the sequester as part of any agreement to raise the debt limit.
By Chris Megerian and Anthony York, Los Angeles Times
June 10, 2013, 10:23 p.m.
SACRAMENTO — Gov. Jerry Brown and top lawmakers have reached agreement on some of the most contentious issues in the state budget, granting the governor significant victories on the redistribution of school money and expectations of revenue.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, Jun. 11, 2013 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Last Modified: Tuesday, Jun. 11, 2013 – 8:27 am
Jerry Brown spent most of his first governorship running for office – twice for president, once for re-election and once for the U.S. Senate – rather than running the state.
Four former House members are already running for congressional seats.
By ALEX ISENSTADT | 6/9/13 10:40 PM EDT
Congress is about as popular these days as Lindsay Lohan or the IRS.
So it comes as something of a surprise that among the first to lunge at the chance to run for the House in 2014 are people who’ve already experienced sweltering Washington summers, mind-numbing committee hearings and endless hours begging people for money.
June 07, 2013; 07:55 PM
San Bernardino County Board Chairwoman Janice Rutherford has hired a former aide to disgraced ex-Assessor Bill Postmus as a policy advisor.
To read column by Imran Ghori, Jeff Horseman and Jim Miller in The Press Enterprise, click here.
June 07, 2013; 07:18 PM
In 2008, Victoria Baca, then a school board member, expressed dismay that Moreno Valley was considering zoning changes to allow warehouse development in the city’s mostly rural eastside.
To read story by David Danelski in The Press Enterprise, click here.
June 08, 2013 2:41 PM
Jim E. Winburn
SPRING VALLEY LAKE • Health care, national security and taxes were topics high on the list Friday as the Spring Valley Lake Country Club hosted a Q&A with Rep. Paul Cook on issues of interest to his High Desert constituents.
June 06, 2013; 06:12 PM
An effort to oust the Moreno Valley mayor and a city councilwoman will move on to the second phase after the Riverside County Registrar of Voters verified that a sufficient number of signatures were collected, City Clerk Jane Halstead said.
To read story by Debra Gruszecki in The Press Enterprise, click here.
By Ryan Hagen Staff Writer
Posted: 06/06/2013 07:53:19 AM PDT
SAN BERNARDINO – Defying an order from the City Council, City Clerk Gigi Hanna said she will officiate the recall efforts against nine other elected officials despite also being the target of a recall.
By Jon Ortiz
jortiz@sacbee.com
Published: Thursday, Jun. 6, 2013 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Several thousand purple- shirted state workers took over the Capitol’s west side Wednesday for a SEIU Local 1000 union rally that was equal parts picnic, party and protest.
By Justin Sink and Julian Pecquet
06/05/13 08:18 PM ET
President Obama on Wednesday named Susan Rice — the public face of the Benghazi controversy — as his national security adviser.
The decision elevates the U.N. ambassador to the most powerful foreign relations role in the White House, ensuring Rice will have the president’s ear on top issues.
June 04, 2013; 08:56 PM
Organizers of a recall campaign presented Moreno Valley Mayor Tom Owings, Mayor Pro Tem Marcelo Co and City Councilwoman Victoria Baca with notices Tuesday, June 4, of plans to circulate petitions to boot them out of office.
To read story by Debra Gruszecki in The Press Enterprise, click here.
June 04, 2013; 08:31 PM
Riverside voters elected Jim Perry to represent Ward 6 and put two retired law enforcement officers in a runoff for the chance to represent Ward 3 on the City Council.
To read story by Jeff Horseman and Alicia Robinson in The Press Enterprise, click here.
Ryan Hagen, Staff Writer
Posted: 06/04/2013 04:53:07 PM PDT
SAN BERNARDINO — In an attempt to increase public involvement, City Council meetings will start an hour later, at 4 p.m.
Monday’s decision was the so-called final reading — coming after two successive meetings where council members first agreed to put the item on their agenda, then approved it at a first reading — which is often just a formality. But this time, three council members changed their votes, nearly stopping the change.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, Jun. 4, 2013 – 5:20 pm
Last Modified: Wednesday, Jun. 5, 2013 – 7:50 am
Anyone who would tune into the Legislature’s budget conference committee sessions this week expecting to learn how the 2013-14 budget is shaping up would be disappointed.
Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
June 4, 2013
Independent campaign expenditures are corrupting politics and young voters are reshaping California’s electorate by eschewing parties.
June 03, 2013; 06:11 PM
A low-key election cycle in Riverside draws to a close Tuesday, June 4, the final day to cast votes in a citywide mail-in election.
Council seats in Wards 2, 3, 4 and 6 are on the ballot, as is Measure A, a charter amendment regarding water utility revenues. Voters who haven’t mailed their ballots have until 8 p.m. to put them in one of 10 drop boxes around the city.
To read story by Alicia Robinson in The Press Enterprise, click here.
By Ryan Hagen
Posted: 06/03/2013 01:19:40 PM PDT
SAN BERNARDINO – City Council meetings here differ from most others in a few ways: they decide policies related to the city’s ongoing bankruptcy case, they have relatively few residents present, and they start hours before most people get off work.
By Patrick McGreevy, Los Angeles Times
June 3, 2013, 9:11 p.m.
SACRAMENTO — Lawmakers on Monday voted to allow the public to be excluded from certain gatherings that include the governor and county officials.
By David Siders
dsiders@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, Jun. 3, 2013 – 9:10 am
Last Modified: Tuesday, Jun. 4, 2013 – 8:10 am
Bill Lockyer had spent a quarter century in the Legislature and was state attorney general when he all but declared his candidacy for governor in early 2005.
By Lori Montgomery
Published: June 3, 2013 at 6:15 pm
The Obama administration on Monday threatened to veto any spending bills for the coming fiscal year unless Republicans and Democrats reach agreement on a broader budget plan that “supports our recovery and enables sufficient investments” in White House priorities.
OFF TO THE RACES
Keeping an eye on five key metrics can help deduce the direction of the 2014 midterm election.
By Charlie Cook
Updated: June 3, 2013 | 10:10 p.m.
June 3, 2013 | 9:30 p.m.
In looking at any midterm election, observers should take into account several important considerations. First, will it be a “normal” election? That is, will the type described by the late Tip O’Neill as one in which “all politics is local”—the kind of election in which the natural voting patterns of that state or district, as well as the relative strengths of the candidates, campaigns, resources—determine the outcome? This way of approaching elections is what I call “micro-political.”
Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 06/02/2013 06:28:51 PM PDT
Updated: 06/02/2013 09:48:06 PM PDT
The opportunity to take state Sen. Norma Torres’ former seat in the Assembly has attracted nine candidates, almost all of whom are Democrats, who have qualified for the special election that will determine who will next represent the 52nd Assembly District.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Sunday, Jun. 2, 2013 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Every legislative session has its own ambiance, but the current version that began six months ago is colored by unique, even historic, conditions.
It’s the first since an independent commission redrew legislative districts. The 2012 elections were the first with a “top-two” primary system. Nearly half of the Assembly’s 80 members are new to the Capitol. A revised term-limit rule would allow them to serve for as long as 12 years, and Democrats won two-thirds “supermajorities” in both houses.
By DON THOMPSON — Associated Press
Posted: 06/01/2013 03:01:46 PM PDT
SACRAMENTO — State lawmakers have wrapped up the first half of this year’s legislative session by advancing hundreds of bills addressing a wide range of issues, including gun violence, environmental protection, oil drilling and even whether prison inmates should have access to condoms.
By David G. Savage, Washington Bureau
May 31, 2013, 10:34 p.m.
WASHINGTON — Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. and his top Justice Department deputies met with journalists and their lawyers Friday and pledged they would not seek to prosecute reporters under the Espionage Act for reporting and writing stories that may disclose classified information.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Friday, May. 31, 2013 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Last Modified: Friday, May. 31, 2013 – 6:34 am
When Democrats – perhaps surprising even themselves – won two-thirds supermajorities in both legislative houses last year, party subfactions began buzzing over how their new hegemony would be employed.
By and by, the chatter coalesced into two competing views, to wit:
May 29, 2013 7:19 PM
Jim E. Winburn, Staff Writer
VICTORVILLE • City Council members denied allegations that they hid information about property interests with the Victorville 2 Power Plant project at Southern California Logistics Airport.
Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
May 29, 2013
John Stites came out swinging today, claiming that questions raised about his residency are a smokescreen to remove him from California’s compensation commission – either as a political vendetta or to bolster hopes of hiking elected officials’ salaries next month.
By Emily Cahn
Posted at 6:27 p.m. on May 29
Updated 8:05 a.m. | Under fire for touting questionable member endorsements, former Rep. Joe Baca, D-Calif., released on Wednesday the signatures of several House Democrats indicating their support for his campaign.
May 28, 2013; 08:31 PM
Take away their $143,000 salaries and other taxpayer-funded benefits and the Riverside County Board of Supervisors would still be a wealthy lot.
To read story by Jeff Horseman in The Press Enterprise, click here.
May 28, 2013; 06:09 PM
After two and a half terms on the Riverside City Council, Steve Adams is hoping to move into a congressional seat.
To read story by Alicia Robinson in The Press Enterprise, click here.
By Chris Megerian, Los Angeles Times
May 28, 2013, 7:48 p.m.
SACRAMENTO — Now that Gov. Jerry Brown has rolled out his revised budget proposal, both houses of the Legislature are outlining their own ideas for how the state’s money should be spent in the next year.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, May. 28, 2013 – 5:30 pm
Last Modified: Wednesday, May. 29, 2013 – 7:33 am
Two analyses of the pending California state budget frame a looming conflict with just days remaining before the June 15 deadline for passage.
The first came from Moody’s, a major credit rating organization, after the Legislature’s budget analyst, Mac Taylor, suggested that the state may have $3.2 billion more to spend in the 2013-14 fiscal year than Gov. Jerry Brown had forecast.
By Mark Hosenball
WASHINGTON | Tue May 28, 2013 11:32pm EDT
(Reuters) – Attorney General Eric Holder personally approved a decision to subpoena Fox News telephone records as the Justice Department investigated an unauthorized leak regarding North Korea, officials said on Tuesday.
Posted on | May 27, 2013
The campaigns for Riverside council seats in wards 3 and 6 are drawing to a close, and they’ve mostly been pretty low-key. But that doesn’t mean no money has been spent. So who’s funding the candidates?
To read post by Alicia Robinson in The Press Enterprise, click here.
Miller introduces two bills to House
Greg Cappis, Staff Writer
Posted: 05/24/2013 08:06:23 PM PDT
Updated: 05/24/2013 09:58:11 PM PDT
As the campaigns to represent California’s 31st District gain traction, Redlands Mayor Pete Aguilar announced endorsements from 10 California congressmen.
By Marc Lifsher
May 26, 2013, 7:36 p.m.
SACRAMENTO — At the state Capitol, no bill is ever dead.
Even the most moribund measure can be resurrected and sent to the governor, especially if leaders want to pass something without holding a bunch of hearings.
By Mark Walker
11:34 a.m.May 26, 2013
After toiling in the margins of Congress for more than a decade, Rep. Darrell Issa of Vista is becoming a major force in American politics.
By Jim Sanders
jsanders@sacbee.com
Published: Saturday, May. 25, 2013 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Both houses of the Democratic-controlled Legislature worked to craft budgets Friday that are about $3.2 billion higher than the one proposed by Gov. Jerry Brown.
The development sets up a clash with the governor from their own party.
May 24, 2013
It appears the announcement that Republican farmer Andy Vidak won outright former senator Michael Rubio’s seat may have been premature: an updated vote count puts Vidak below the 50-percent-plus-one threshold he needed to surpass to avoid a runoff against his Democratic opponent, Kern County Supervisor Leticia Perez.
By Phil Willon, Los Angeles Times
May 25, 2013, 7:41 p.m.
Abel Maldonado was a young Latino rancher and fresh-faced state lawmaker when he addressed the Republican National Convention in 2000 and was hailed as the GOP’s future. Nine years later, he parlayed his deciding vote on tax increases into an appointment as lieutenant governor, albeit for a brief stay.
Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
May 23, 2013
Assembly Democrat Tom Ammiano of San Francisco leads the pack of lawmakers with a slew of bills to be heard Friday on the suspense file in the Assembly Appropriation Committee. The Assembly has 328 bills on the suspense file, which will be taken up after the lower house meets in the morning.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Friday, May. 24, 2013 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
When Gov. Jerry Brown talks about reducing the state’s “wall of debt,” he carefully limits it to about $30 billion in budget deficits, mostly money owed to schools and community colleges.
Friday, May 24, 2013 – 06:00 a.m.
Here’s some news moving across the transom Friday morning.
IRS manager placed on leave
Lois Lerner, the manager at the center of a massive scandal at the Internal Revenue Service, was placed on paid leave Thursday afternoon. The move comes after Lerner invoked her fifth amendment right against self-incrimination before a congressional oversight committee earlier this week.
May 23, 2013; 04:35 PM
Organizers of a recall campaign to oust most San Bernardino city elected leaders began collecting signatures this week even as officials remained uncertain over who would oversee the process.
To read story by Imran Ghori in The Press Enterprise, click here.
By Patrick McGreevy, Los Angeles Times
May 22, 2013, 8:49 p.m.
SACRAMENTO — Democrats took another seat in the state Assembly this week, but a conservative Republican won a Central Valley state Senate district in an upset victory.
By Richard Simon and Melanie Mason
May 22, 2013, 8:47 a.m.
WASHINGTON — A top Internal Revenue Service official invoked the 5th Amendment and declined to testify Wednesday before a House committee investigating the agency’s mishandling of applications by some conservative groups for tax-exempt status.
Posted on | May 22, 2013
Mayor Tom Owings, following a rambunctious study session on Tuesday, May 21, confirmed that he received a target letter in the federal grand jury probe of corruption in the Moreno Valley.
To read story by Debra Gruszecki in The Press Enterprise, click here.
By JUDY LIN Associated Press
Posted: 05/21/2013 12:39:42 PM PDT
Updated: 05/21/2013 01:33:49 PM PDT
SACRAMENTO, Calif.—California Secretary of State Debra Bowen has agreed to expand the way her office presents campaign finance data online after initially rejecting the request from a coalition of good-government groups, research organizations and newspapers, her spokeswoman said Tuesday.
By Dan Balz,
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
It is never good for an administration when a front-page newspaper article about an ongoing controversy begins as follows: “The White House offered a new account Monday of how and when it learned . . . ” That’s what readers of The Post awoke to on Tuesday. In trying to contain the controversy and protect President Obama, White House officials have only added to questions about what happened.
Ryan Hagen, Staff Writer
Posted: 05/20/2013 08:33:53 PM PDT
SAN BERNARDINO – It seems that no one wants to administer the attempts to recall nearly all of the city’s elected officials.
The dais was nearly empty Monday night as the city council asked the county registrar of voters to handle any further questions related to the recall efforts.
By Zachary Goldfarb
Published: May 20, 2013 at 11:00 pm
The Treasury Department was informed on three separate occasions that the Internal Revenue Service planned to disclose that it targeted conservative groups for scrutiny, and on one occasion, Treasury expressed concern about the form of the disclosure, a Treasury official said on Monday night.
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