Molly Munger, a wealthy civil rights attorney, talks with reporters in Sacramento about the tax measure she’s backing.(Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

Wyatt Buchanan
Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Sacramento –Supporters of two ballot initiatives that would raise taxes to fund public education and other services said on Monday they will not back down from those efforts, upending Gov. Jerry Brown’s crusade to clear the November ballot of any competing tax measures.

Backers of the so-called “Millionaires Tax” officially began a signature-gathering effort Monday, while the wealthy proponent of another measure, speaking to the California State PTA in Sacramento, pledged that she would spend millions to get her initiative on the ballot.

Those actions could significantly undermine Brown’s efforts, as voters are known to reject all tax measures when faced with multiple initiatives. Molly Munger, a wealthy civil rights attorney from Southern California whose family is worth billions, rejected the notion that she or others should show deference to Brown by letting his tax measure be the only one on November’s ballot.

“I don’t think we’d have a very good functioning democracy if we always just did what one person at the top wanted,” Munger told reporters after presenting her plan to members of the state PTA, which has endorsed the measure. She received an extended standing ovation after her remarks.

She added that, “In fact, one of the reasons we have democracy is because that old method, which is to just do what the king says, led to some very bad decisions over time.”

Under Munger’s plan, called “Our Children, Our Future,” the income tax for everyone in California would increase, though with the largest increases on the highest wage earners. She estimates the proposal would generate $10 billion a year that would be dedicated solely to education, with criminal penalties if lawmakers try to adjust that. It would expire after 12 years.

Another version would dedicate some of the money to pay back the state’s debt for the first few years, and Munger said backers have yet to decide which to pursue. Munger has been the sole large contributor to the effort so far, giving $800,000, according to the secretary of state.
‘Millionaires tax’

The other measure, for which proponents started a signature-gathering effort Monday, would increase income taxes on people who earn more than $1 million a year in California. Backers estimate that would generate about $9.5 billion annually, with the bulk dedicated to education. Health services and public safety would get some of the new revenue as well. It has no expiration date.

That measure, “The Millionaires Tax of 2012,” is supported by the California Federation of Teachers, the Courage Campaign, the California Nurses Association and others. Leaders of the effort, along with Munger on her initiative, said they had not personally heard from the governor with a pitch to end their efforts.

Both also expressed confidence that conventional wisdom is wrong and that one or more tax measures could pass even with multiple initiatives on the ballot.

“We’re not concerned that there will be multiple measures on the ballot,” said Joshua Pechthalt, president of the California Federation of Teachers, adding that he had confidence voters would “be able to decide which makes sense for them.”

To read entire story, click here.

Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

Gov. Jerry Brown’s campaign to balance the state budget with new income and sales taxes took a double hit Monday.

Brown has been describing his temporary sales and income tax increases as necessary to protect schools and public safety. But a new report on school finance from the Legislature’s budget analyst, Mac Taylor, makes it clear that even were Brown’s taxes to be increased, his budget would continue to reduce California’s per-pupil spending. Virtually all of the school money in the package would just pay schools what the state already owes them.

Meanwhile, Molly Munger, a wealthy civil rights attorney, declared that she intends to spend whatever is necessary to place her own $10 billion-a-year income tax increase just for schools on the same November ballot, saying it would boost per-pupil spending by an average of more than $1,500 per year.

Brown has made no secret of his desire to have the only tax boost on the ballot, fearing that multiple measures would confuse voters and perhaps lead them to reject all. He persuaded the Think Long Committee for California to suspend its complex tax reform campaign, but Munger spurned entreaties from the Brown camp to do likewise.

Munger took a couple of indirect shots at Brown’s $7 billion-per-year measure during a speech in Sacramento to state PTA leaders, who pledged to become her field army. She told reporters later that she hadn’t talked directly to Brown about the conflicting proposals, but refused to say whether she had talked to Brown’s wife, Anne.

To read entire story, click here.

A proposal by Assemblywoman Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield) probably won’t make her many friends among her colleagues. She wants to reduce the Legislature to part-time status and cut its pay from $95,000 annually to $1,500 a month.

Grove is one of the organizers of an initiative that was approved Monday to begin circulating petitions toward qualifying for the ballot. The constitutional amendment would limit regular legislative sessions to 30 days each January and 60 days starting each May. In odd-numbered years, the legislative sessions would be devoted to budget issues.

In addition to slashing lawmakers’ pay, the measure would limit employment while they are in office. State financial officials say it could cut lawmakers’ salaries, travel and living expenses and staff costs by tens of millions of dollars annually.

To read entire story, click here.

Sunday, February 5, 2012 – 06:00 p.m.
Last Modified: Monday, February 6, 2012 – 10:55 a.m.

San Manuel Band of Mission Indians Chairman James Ramos must be wanting a seat on the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors in the worst way.

Since 2010, a whopping $592,000 has been funneled to two Ramos-controlled campaign committees.

By whom you ask?

Indian gambling interests.

An amount making up 82.41% of his total campaign war-chest raised.

For a candidate with many vulnerabilities, this falls into the category of major stupid

Ramos, a democrat, has been trying to distance himself from his title as Tribal chairman, and instead adopt the bait and switch title of businessman, hasn’t figured out that the already received money is now a landmine.

Throwing the Tribe’s money around the community in an effort to raise his profile likely isn’t enough to counteract the negatives.

Supervisor Neil Derry, the republican that Ramos is trying to unseat, has a twelve-point party registration advantage in the conservative Third District.

Ramos likely has a solid thirty-percent of the vote at best.

Sources say Ramos’ own internal polling shows as much.

The attempt at buying the seat combined with not paying various state income and property taxes is problematic.

The more of this type of ammo that Ramos provides Derry makes Ramos’ defeat less and less costly.

Some of the issues at hand already has Ramos’ supporters second guessing themselves.

Here is a more detailed look at Ramos’ casino-related campaign windfall.

.

CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE RAMOS, RAMOS FAMILY, AND OTHER TRIBAL MEMBERS
DATE       CONTRIBUTOR                                      AMOUNT
02/10/10   JAMES RAMOS SR.                                  $   5,000
03/01/10   CARLA RODRIGUEZ                                  $   1,500
04/14/10   LYNN VALBUENA                                    $     500
09/22/10   CARLA RODRIGUEZ                                  $   2,500
05/10/11   RAMOS COMMUNITY COLLEGE BOARD COMMITTEE          $  50,000
06/13/11   VANESSA RAMOS                                    $   5,000
06/15/11   ROWENA RAMOS                                     $  10,000
06/16/11   JAMES RAMOS                                      $  50,000 (LOAN)
06/19/11   ALAINA MATTHEWS                                  $   5,000
06/19/11   THERESA RAMOS                                    $   5,000
06/22/11   SANDRA MARQUEZ                                   $   6,000
06/28/11   RAMOS COMMUNITY COLLEGE BOARD COMMITTEE          $ 150,000
09/06/11   DELORES FIELDS                                   $   1,000
11/14/11   KEN RAMIREZ                                      $  10,000
12/26/11   CARLA RODRIGUEZ                                  $  10,000
12/27/11   JAMES RAMOS                                      $  50,000 (LOAN)
SUB-TOTAL $ 376,500
.
INDIAN TRIBES
DATE       CONTRIBUTOR                                      AMOUNT
02/03/10   SAN MANUEL BAND OF MISSION INDIANS               $  15,000
02/16/10   SOBOBA INDIAN TRIBE                              $   1,000
02/22/10   SANTA YNEZ INDIAN TRIBE                          $   5,000
03/04/10   ONEIDA INDIAN NATION                             $   5,000
03/19/10   MORONGO BAND OF MISSION INDIANS                  $   5,000
03/20/10   BARONA INDIAN TRIBE                              $   1,000
03/25/10   SYCUAN BAND OF MISSION INDIANS                   $   1,500
04/14/10   AGUA CALIENTE INDIAN TRIBE                       $     500
05/26/10   SHINGLE SPRINGS BAND OF MIWOK INDIANS            $     500
09/01/10   SAN MANUEL BAND OF MISSION INDIANS               $   5,000
09/22/10   ONEIDA INDIAN NATION                             $   5,000
09/27/10   MORONGO BAND OF MISSION INDIANS                  $   5,000
09/28/10   PALA BAND OF MISSION INDIANS                     $   2,500
09/28/10   SANTA YNEZ INDIAN TRIBE                          $   1,000
03/30/11   SAN MANUEL BAND OF MISSION INDIANS               $  15,000
05/10/11   SANTA YNEZ INDIAN TRIBE                          $  10,000
05/31/11   RINCON BAND OF LUISENO INDIANS                   $  10,000
06/16/11   SYCUAN BAND OF MISSION INDIANS                   $   2,500
06/19/11   MORONGO BAND OF MISSION INDIANS                  $  10,000
10/03/11   SAN MANUEL BAND OF MISSION INDIANS               $  10,000
10/25/11   PALA BAND OF MISSION INDIANS                     $   5,000
11/15/11   MORONGO BAND OF MISSION INDIANS                  $  10,000
11/18/11   SAN MANUEL BAND OF MISSION INDIANS               $  10,000
11/18/11   SOBOBA INDIAN TRIBE                              $   5,000
11/18/11   YOCHA DEHE WINTON NATION                         $   5,000
12/12/11   SYCUAN BAND KUMEYAAY NATION                      $   5,000
12/14/11   AGUA CALIENTE BAND OF CAHUILLA INDIANS           $   2,500
12/14/11   SANTA YNEZ BAND OF MISSION INDIANS               $  10,000
12/15/11   SAN PASQUAL BAND OF MISSION INDIANS              $     500
12/27/11   29 PALMS BAND OF MISSION INDIANS                 $   1,000
SUB-TOTAL $ 164,500 . OTHER CALIFORNIA CASINOS AND GAMBLING ASSOCIATIONS
DATE       CONTRIBUTOR                                      AMOUNT
10/26/10   CALIFORNIA NATIONS INDIAN GAMING ASSN.           $    1,000
06/16/11   CALIFORNIA COMMERCE CLUB                         $   10,000
06/22/11   CALIFORNIA NATIONS INDIAN GAMING ASSN.           $    5,000
11/14/11   CALIFORNIA COMMERCE CLUB                         $   10,000
11/15/11   HAWAIIAN GARDENS CASINO                          $    5,000
11/18/11   HOLLYWOOD PARK RACETRACK AND CASINO              $    2,500
11/15/11   THE BICYCLE CASINO                               $    5,000
12/15/11   LAKE ELSINORE HOTEL AND CASINO                   $    2,500
12/22/11   CALIFORNIA NATIONS INDIAN GAMING ASSN.           $   10,000
SUB-TOTAL $ 51,000
.
TOTAL $ 592,000
.
Source: San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters

Supervisor Neil Derry left. San Manuel Tribal Chairman James Ramos right.

FROM STAFF REPORTS

Published: 05 February 2012 07:09 PM

Fun time is over in the increasingly rough race between San Bernardino County Supervisor Neil Derry and San Manuel tribal Chairman James Ramos for the 3rd District seat.

In a Derry campaign flier that was emailed to 11,000 residents this week, Derry accuses Ramos of links to “gang members … drug dealers … killers for hire.” It goes on to describe him as a “casino boss” and includes pictures of what is suggested to be a gang member, drugs and drug paraphernalia.

Dave Gilliard, a political consultant for Ramos, described the piece as “gutter” politics. “To call it desperate would be charitable,” he said.

Derry defended the flier as accurate and said the public deserves to know the truth about Ramos’ stewardship as chairman. As for the tone of the piece, he said, “I totally expect (Ramos) to go negative.”

The flier refers to a 2008 law enforcement investigation into criminal gang activity, including members of the Mexican Mafia, on the San Manuel reservation. Derry said crime continues to be a problem on the reservation, but Ramos says the reservation is a safe community.

Ramos, however, said he tackled the criminal element when he took over as chairman a few months after the criminal problems came to light. The tribe agreed to allow county sheriff’s deputies and prosecutors access to the reservation, he said, and held the tribe’s members to account in tribal court.

His campaign has cited endorsements from leaders in the law enforcement community, including District Attorney Mike Ramos, who is not related, Assistant Sheriff Bob Fonzi, and the police chiefs of Redlands, Yucaipa and Highland as a sign of his public safety credentials.

Pulaski Phil

When the date of a contentious congressional hearing coincides with the name of a popular movie, the film references come fast and furious.

Last week, several members of the House Oversight Committee couldn’t resist peppering their remarks with witty at least intended as such references to the fact that it was Groundhog Day.

In almost four hours of interrogation by the committee, Attorney General Eric Holder and Democratic lawmakers that jumped to his aid noted that he already had answered questions about the botched Operation Fast and Furious and that Thursday marked the sixth time he’d done so before Congress. Cue the references to the 1993 movie starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich, however, seemed a little fuzzy on the film. Addressing Holder, the Ohio Democrat suggested the embattled attorney general must feel like the lead character who kept reliving the same day — “Tom Hanks.”

Moments later, Kucinich, who had left the room, returned to correct the record, prompting this exchange with Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, the panel’s chairman.

KUCINICH: “So I just want to make sure that you know. I thought that you may have felt like Bill Murray in “Groundhog Day,” not Tom Hanks.

ISSA: I thank the gentleman. And for the record, it was 38 days in a row in which that it repeated itself for “Groundhog Day.”

KUCINICH: So we have 32 more of these to go?

ISSA: I hope not.

Endorsement envy

Democrats will gather in San Diego this weekend to consider party endorsements for the June 5 primary.

To read entire story, click here.

Carter

By Jim Sanders and Phillip Reese
jsanders@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, Feb. 6, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Monday, Feb. 6, 2012 – 7:10 am

With California billions behind on its budget and public services shrinking, the Assembly collectively tightened its belt last year – but not all of its members did.

Records released under court order show that Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez boosted the budgets of six members by tens of thousands of dollars apiece despite the fiscal emergency.

Member-by-member records lift the curtain, for the first time, on how often Pérez used his authority to add to lawmakers’ budgets, who benefited, and by what amounts.

Most Assembly members stayed within dollar limits set by Pérez; in fact, five legislators returned more than $150,000 apiece that they were authorized to spend, records show. But Assembly Republican Nathan Fletcher and Democrats Wilmer Amina Carter, Julia Brownley, Jim Beall, Sandré Swanson and Anthony Portantino saw their discretionary funding boosted by Pérez in a year when most state agencies were slashing costs.

Nearly every recipient of an augmentation from Pérez was a Democrat. The party’s members control the 80-person house and receive the most coveted posts and largest budgets. Republicans typically receive some aid from their caucus to fund staff.

Any extra money from Pérez went to the members’ committee or leadership coffers, not to their personal office budget of $263,000, making it difficult for the public to track how much was spent on personal aides.

Overall, the newly released records shed light on the extent to which legislators use committee funds for their own purposes: Of more than $17.5 million in committee funding last year, roughly $8.8 million was spent for committee staff and $8.7 million for office or district aides of their chairmen.

Totals are from Assembly data through mid-October and the house’s own projections of its spending through the Nov. 30 end of the legislative year.

Robin Swanson, Pérez’s spokeswoman, said that the Los Angeles Democrat “offsets any necessary augmentations by reducing Assembly spending overall.”

“He expects members of the Assembly to stay within their office budgets and act as conscientious stewards of public funds – and the overwhelming majority of them do,” Swanson said.

Collectively, the Assembly donated about $23 million, more than 15 percent of its $146.7 million budget, to assist other cash-strapped agencies last year.

Pérez sets member-by-member budgets and later weighs changes to them behind closed doors. They are not voted upon. The Assembly fought, unsuccessfully, to keep from releasing those records to the public in a lawsuit filed by The Bee and Los Angeles Times.

Portantino, the lone Democrat to vote last year against the state budget, was the only legislator accused by the speaker’s office of overspending. The La Cañada-Flintridge Democrat denies the claim, saying he was retaliated against for not toeing the party line on the budget.

Boosts to other lawmakers’ budgets were due to workload increases or other extenuating circumstances, Swanson said.

Moderate Republican wins

Fletcher, a moderate San Diego Republican, received a budget boost from Perez of $37,000 last summer, which he used to hire press aide Amy Thoma at $7,084 per month. Thoma previously had helped the lawmaker unveil his candidacy for San Diego mayor. She left the Capitol to join a GOP consulting firm this year and now serves as Fletcher’s deputy campaign manager.

Months after Thoma’s hiring, Fletcher, who often is courted by Democrats on tight budget-related votes, bucked most of his GOP caucus to help pass a controversial plan to raise about $1 billion in corporate taxes, mostly from out-of-state companies, and redirect that money toward tax breaks for California businesses and individuals. The plan later died in the Senate.

Assemblywoman Carter, D-Rialto, received a $50,000 boost from Perez that erased months of projected red ink without having to cut staff.

Beginning early in 2011, projections warned that Carter would be short money to bankroll her 13-person staff, which included a chief of staff making $116,856.

To read entire story, click here.

While the GOP primary battle moves full steam ahead, local political observers and Republican lawmakers agreed this week that Gov. Mitt Romney is likely to face President Barack Obama in November.

Experts and Republican lawmakers from the Inland Empire said Romney has what top contender Newt Gingrich doesn’t have electability.

“Newt Gingrich is among the most deeply unpopular politicians in the United States outside of the Republican base,” Romney said. “Very few people like him, and even within the Republican Party (those) that know him, like him the least.”

Claremont McKenna College professor Jack Pitney said the former Massachusetts governor has an advantage over his opponents because he has “a lot of money, and positions that are broadly acceptable to the Republican Party, and yet they could also be acceptable to a general electorate as well.”

“Romney is a flawed candidate, and we saw that this week with his comment on poverty,” Pitney said of a gaffe in which Romney told CNN, “I’m not concerned about the very poor.”

“He has problems, but compared with the utterly unelectable Gingrich, he looks pretty good,” Pitney said.

Assemblyman Curt Hagman, R-Chino Hills, who stumped for Texas Gov. Rick Perry in Iowa, is now supporting Romney since Perry dropped out of the race. Hagman said he’s in talks with Romney’s camp to stump for the candidate.

“I think Mitt Romney has more favorability against Obama head to head,” Hagman said.

“I think Republicans will rally around him. He has a very strong network and the bottom line is he’s been focused on the issues residents care about. He’s a job creator and a creator of economic growth.”

Hagman said he thinks “Newt has great ideas,” but added Gingrich has never won a statewide contest, and he’s always been in Congress.

“He’s never been in the executive branch, and that may give Mitt some advantages as well,” Hagman said.

Assemblyman Paul Cook, R-Yucaipa, said he was impressed with Romney because he’s reached out to California.

To read entire story, click here.

Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Sunday, Feb. 5, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

Gov. Jerry Brown and his fellow Democrats in the Legislature settled on a hastily revised state budget last June – after Brown had vetoed legislators’ first version – and pronounced it to be balanced and timely.

“My colleagues and I have voted on a responsible budget,” Assemblyman Roger Dickinson, D-Sacramento, told constituents in a newsletter, adding, “While we have projected additional revenues, we have also identified further tough cuts if these revenues are not realized. We are charged with the responsibility to pass a balanced budget on time. Democratic lawmakers have done so.”

Dickinson wasn’t alone in crowing to constituents about the budget. But it wasn’t on time, nor was it balanced, as Capitol insiders suspected then and we know for certain seven months later.

The quickly revised budget hinged on a sudden, even miraculous, projection by Brown’s bean counters that the state would receive another $4 billion in revenue. But in December, they acknowledged that more than half of the windfall won’t show up, thus triggering some spending cuts, although not enough to offset the missing income.

If anything, the situation has deteriorated.

Last week, Controller John Chiang revealed that revenue is falling $2.6 billion short while spending is running $2.6 billion over budget. It means that this supposedly balanced budget will be somewhere between $4 billion and $5 billion in the red by the end of the fiscal year on June 30.

It’s about half of the $9.2 billion deficit that Brown says his new budget will cover – but only if voters agree to temporary increases in sales and income taxes next fall.

To read entire column, click here.

Mitt Romney greets supporters in Las Vegas after winning Nevada’s Republican caucuses. (Gerald Herbert, Associated Press / February 4, 2012)

By Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times

February 4, 2012, 9:33 p.m.

Reporting from Las Vegas— Mitt Romney spent years cultivating voters in Nevada, and it paid off with a commanding victory that not only pushed him closer to the GOP nomination but laid a strong marker in a state both parties will fight to carry in November.

Romney also won the Nevada caucuses in 2008, one of the few impressive performances of his failed bid for the Republican presidential nomination, and he never really stopped campaigning here. The only question was whether Romney on Saturday would top the 51% he received four years ago; he was winning just less than that in early returns.

Trailing far behind were former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, who were locked in a fight for second. Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, who eked out a win in Iowa but has faded since, was a distant fourth.

“Thank you, guys. What a great showing,” an exuberant Romney told supporters Saturday night in Las Vegas, as they waved white-and-blue placards reading, “Nevada believes.”

“This is not the first time you gave me your vote of confidence,” he said, “and this time I’m going to take it all the way to the White House.”

Gingrich, at a late-night news conference, said he would stay in the race until the late-summer national party convention.

“I am a candidate for president of the United States. I will be a candidate for president of the United States,” he said. “We will continue to campaign all the way to Tampa.”

It will take 1,144 delegates to win the nomination, and Romney has staked an early lead in that count after winning three of the first five contests, including a Florida blowout on Tuesday.

But more meaningful was the momentum Romney gains from his back-to-back wins, which will propel him to the next round of balloting on Tuesday in Minnesota, Colorado and Missouri.

Beyond that, the former Massachusetts governor demonstrated strengths, like an impressive get-out-the-vote operation, that will serve him well in Nevada in the fall, should he emerge as the GOP nominee.

More than a quarter of the electorate Saturday was Mormon, and entrance polls indicated that more than 9 in 10 of that group voted for Romney, who shares their faith. Their percentage of the Nevada vote will shrink in the general election. Even so, Democrats acknowledge that Romney starts with a strong, highly motivated base upon which to build for November.

But Romney’s strong performance Saturday grew out of more than religious affinity; he garnered support across much of the GOP, as he did in Florida and New Hampshire, the other states he has won. Entrance polls showed him carrying just about every category of caucusgoer — but for the youngest voters, the secular and those making the least money, who preferred Paul.

Nevada saw a truncated campaign that disappointed many here who anticipated the state’s turn on the national stage and a chance to introduce Nevada’s woes and Western issues, like water and land use, into the presidential discussion.

Although Nevada has the nation’s highest unemployment rate, 12.6%, and leads the country in foreclosures, the candidates never discussed the housing collapse in any detail.

A feisty Romney alluded to both in his victory speech, laying into President Obama and denying him any credit for January’s big job-creation report and a dip in the nation’s unemployment rate to 8.3%

“Mr. President, we welcome any good news on the jobs front,” Romney said. “But it is thanks to the innovation of the America people and the private sector and not to you, Mr. President.”

To read entire story, click here.

PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
February 3, 2012 | 11:28 am

Gov. Jerry Brown has courted a coalition of business and labor groups to back his November initiative that would raise taxes on sales and upper incomes. Now, some on the left are lashing out at the governor’s plan, and his early donors, reaffirming their intent to place a competing tax measure on the ballot this fall.

The governor has said repeatedly he wants his initiative to be the only tax-increase proposal before voters in November. But thus far, he has been unable to get some of his fellow Democrats to step aside.

Civil rights attorney Molly Munger continues to fund her proposal to hike income taxes across the board to raise more money for schools. Another initiative backed by the California Federation of Teachers, which would raise taxes on upper incomes exclusively, received new public backing from the California Nurses Assn. this week, and backers of that plan blasted Brown’s proposal in an email to supporters.

To read entire story, click here.

PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
February 3, 2012 | 2:46 pm

A veteran attorney for the state’s political watchdog agency has been named acting executive director, addressing concern by some good-government activists that the position had long been vacant.

John W. Wallace, who has been the state Fair Political Practices Commission’s assistant general counsel, was approved by the panel to serve as its top staffer on an interim basis without any increase in pay.

“He is someone who is very well respected and knows a lot about the Political Reform Act,” commission Chairwoman Ann Ravel said on Friday.

Ravel had been under pressure from groups including California Common Cause to fill the post, which is required by state statute, ever since former Executive Director Roman Porter left in October. Initially, Ravel divided up the duties of the post between herself and other senior staffers.

To read entire story, click here.

Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 02/02/2012 04:25:33 PM PST

Document: Ballot Title and Summary

San Bernardino City Professional Firefighters Local 891, the union representing 126 city firefighters, has introduced a ballot initiative proposing an elected fire chief.

In the last two years, 25 positions have been cut at the department and engine companies have dwindled from four-man crews to three-man crews, said Steve Brown, the union’s vice president.

While budget cuts factor into that scenario, union representatives say they are fed up with “politics as usual in San Bernardino.”

“Too often, the current administration at City Hall has injected politics into the management and operations of our Fire Department,” said union President Scott Moss in a statement Thursday.

An elected fire chief, Moss said, would remove the taint of politics from decisions affecting hiring, promotions and fire protection policies at the department.

A notice of intent to circulate a petition was filed with the city on Jan. 9, but the union has yet to begin gathering the roughly 12,000 signatures needed to get the initiative on the ballot, Brown said.

“We’re not even sure we’ll have our ducks in a row by November. It’s a work in progress right now,” Brown said.

The proposed charter amendment would establish an elected fire chief, to be elected at the 2014 general election, who would have complete autonomy in running the department, without interference by the mayor and city manager. In addition, the proposal requires the Fire Department to have an assistant fire chief and a chief of staff, appointed by the fire chief with the consent of the mayor and City Council.

To read entire story, click here.

By Neil Nisperos, Staff Writer
Created: 02/02/2012 05:36:15 PM PST

Fundraising data for Rep. David Dreier, D-San Dimas, from the last quarter of last year suggests he’s likely to retire this year, according to local political experts.

The Federal Election Commission database reports Dreier collected only $10,160 in campaign contributions in the period from October to December. The figure is paltry compared with the $207,450 received in the same period in 2003, and the $137,600 in 2009.

By comparison, fourth-quarter contribution figures for other Inland Empire politicians show much larger campaign funds. Rep. Joe Baca, D-San Bernardino, received $138,039; Rep. Gary Miller, R-Brea, $122,933; and $53,159 for Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Redlands, who is not running for re-election. State Sen.

Gloria Negrete McLeod, D-Montclair, who is running against Baca for the 35th District seat, has already raised $77,984.

If Dreier were to run again, he should have started raising funds much earlier, said Claremont McKenna College professor Jack Pitney. Dreier, who was first elected to the House in 1980, had traditionally been among the top election fund-raisers in Congress.

The data, Pitney said, suggests Dreier will not seek another term.

Due to redistricting, his San Dimas residence is now in a district with only 28 percent of the registered voters as Republicans.

“He has great fund-raising ability and if he were to run again he could probably raise a lot in a very short period of time, but that would be an unusual way to go about it,” said Pitney.

“Most members of Congress don’t go about it that way.”

To read entire story, click here.

Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
Published: Friday, Feb. 3, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

Many years of partisan wrangling over the state budget reached a climax in 2010 when public employee unions and Democratic politicians persuaded voters to pass Proposition 25, eliminating the two-thirds vote for budgets.

It gave the Legislature’s majority Democrats the power to pass budgets without having to garner Republican votes. But that’s not all it did.

Worried that voters might see it as a political power play, the measure’s sponsors added a political sugarplum, one declaring that if legislators didn’t pass a budget by June 15, the constitutional deadline, their salaries would be cut off.

They also included another proviso that extended the simple-majority vote to so-called “trailer bills,” measures supposedly needed to implement the budget.

This column and other critics suggested that the trailer bills could become political Christmas trees – ways for the majority party to bypass procedural rules and jam into law things that had nothing to do with the budget.

Although the Legislature has been in session for just a month, we’ve already seen two cases of how the Democrats are treating Proposition 25.

Last year, they used their newly won authority to pass a budget without Republican votes. When Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed it, saying it was unbalanced, Democratic Controller John Chiang cut off legislators’ paychecks, citing Proposition 25.

Brown and legislators quickly cobbled together a new budget on the miraculous assumption that the state would get an extra $4 billion in revenue. Most of the miracle money didn’t show up, and the budget is about $5 billion in the red. The Legislature is now suing Chiang, claiming that he had no authority to enforce Proposition 25.

To read entire column, click here.

Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
February 2, 2012

A “millionaires tax” initiative spearheaded by the California Federation of Teachers and the Courage Campaign received petition language today, as well as backing from the powerful California Nurses Association.

CFT spokesman Fred Glass said his group expects to begin collecting signatures Monday now that state Attorney General Kamala Harris has issued official petition language today. Harris titled the measure “Tax To Benefit Public Schools, Social Services, Public Safety, And Road Maintenance.”

The CFT/Courage plan would raise taxes by three percentage points on income above $1 million and five percentage points on income above $2 million. State fiscal analysts say the proposal would generate $4 billion to $6 billion annually, with a $6 billion to $9.5 billion windfall in the 2012-13 fiscal year because the plan would capture 18 months of taxes.

The plan is competing with Gov. Jerry Brown’s tax initiative, which would raise income taxes on earners starting at $250,000 for single filers, as well as increase the statewide sales tax by a half-cent.

To read entire story, click here.

Neil Derry left. James Ramos right.

By Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 02/01/2012 07:16:08 PM PST

Document: James Ramos Flier

San Bernardino County Supervisor Neil Derry has launched an assault on the character of his major opponent, San Manuel tribal chairman James Ramos, in a campaign mailer tying Ramos to “gang members,” “drug dealers” and “killers for hire.”

The flier labeled Ramos a “Casino Boss” with ties to the Mexican Mafia. It was found plastered on hundreds of windshields outside Ramos’ campaign headquarters in Redlands on Tuesday night, where Ramos was hosting a campaign kickoff event at his headquarters, said Dave Gilliard, Ramos’ campaign manager.

In a statement Wednesday, Ramos
called Derry’s hit mailer a “false and pathetic attempt to smear me by my opponent and his campaign consultant.”

“I believe that voters want and deserve something better than these types of gutter politics,” Ramos said. He said he would run a positive campaign on real issues and the future of the county, and announced he had secured the endorsement of San Bernardino District Attorney Michael A. Ramos.

Derry stands by the flier. He said it was well sourced and the information is accurate.

“That’s what happened,” Derry said, referring to a case brought to the public’s attention in 2006, when police and DEA agents arrested dozens of people in a methamphetamine distribution ring orchestrated by the Mexican Mafia. Two San Manuel tribal members, siblings Stacy Barajas-Nunes and Erik Barajas, were implicated in a murder conspiracy plot involving members of the Mexican Mafia.

Information revealed in court documents and by former tribal employees showed that the San Manuel reservation had been infiltrated by the Mexican Mafia, whose members were believed to be extorting money from tribal members, who receive monthly stipends of roughly $100,000, generated from casino profits.

In an e-mail Tuesday, Derry’s campaign manager, Christopher Jones, said the Third Supervisorial District is a “conservative, law and order stronghold.”

To read entire story, click here.

Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 02/01/2012 02:01:30 PM PST

The labor union representing roughly 11,000 San Bernardino County employees announced Wednesday it will support another union’s effort to reduce county supervisors’ jobs to part-time.

Paula Ready, president of the San Bernardino Public Employees Association (SBPEA), said in a statement that the union’s board of directors had voted unanimously to support the San Bernardino County Safety Employees Benefit Association (SEBA) in its push to slash county supervisor salaries to $60,000 a year and their district budgets from $1.5 million to $250,000.

The unions are accusing the board of foisting its duties onto county Chief Executive Officer Greg Devereaux and voters.

Though the board has cut its meeting schedule in half, it still reviews the same number of agenda items, only now more items are going on the agenda, county spokesman David Wert said.

He said the unions are aware of this and their arguments are ill-informed.

“The unions are close enough to the county’s operations to know those meetings are only a small portion of what board members do,” Wert said.

To read entire story, click here

Money & Politics | Daily Report

February 2, 2012 | Will Evans

If super political action committee dollars were votes in the Republican presidential primary, California would already have voted resoundingly for Mitt Romney.

Restore Our Future, the super PAC supporting the former Massachusetts governor, collected $2.3 million from Californians last year, more than any other super PAC, according to new filings this week. The group boosting Newt Gingrich, on the other hand, pulled in a paltry $1,750 from California, less than any other super PAC involved in the Republican primary.

Super PACs have been omnipresent in the primary race, spending lavishly on hard-hitting TV ads and rivaling in influence the candidates’ own campaigns. The political committees are controversial because, under loosened campaign finance regulations, they allow wealthy individuals and companies to give unlimited amounts of money to directly support their preferred candidates.

Much of California’s pro-Romney money came from the world of private investment – not surprising, as Romney formerly headed investment firm Bain Capital and the industry’s business practices have become a hot issue in the campaign.

The biggest Golden State donor to Restore Our Future was W/F Investment Corp., which, together with CEO Bill Fleischman, gave $350,000. The Los Angeles private equity firm’s portfolio includes a Bavarian beer importer and The Roadium open-air market in Torrance. W/F Investment referred calls to the super PAC.

Restore Our Future spokeswoman Brittany Gross said the organization is running advertisements in Nevada, which holds caucuses Saturday, and Arizona and Michigan, which have primaries later this month. As for the donations, Gross said, “we’re going to let the numbers speak for themselves.”

The second-biggest donation, at $250,000, came from Glenbrook LLC. The Redwood City address listed on the donation is that of Glenbrook’s accounting firm, which declined to provide any information about the company.

Dick Boyce, a San Francisco partner at private equity giant TPG Capital, gave $200,000. Boyce previously worked at Bain and currently serves on the board of Burger King. TPG has investments in Petco Animal Supplies, Spanish-language network Univision, retailer Neiman Marcus and casino company Caesars Entertainment.

David Wilson, owner of several Southern California car dealerships, gave the super PAC $100,000.

To read entire story, click here.

BY JIM MILLER
SACRAMENTO BUREAU
jmiller@pe.com

Published: 31 January 2012 07:12 PM

SACRAMENTO — The major parties’ share of the Inland Southern California electorate dipped in 2011, new state figures show, with a significant increase in the percentage of voters who lack a party affiliation.

In February 2011, Riverside County was 41.6 percent Republican, 36.4 percent Democrat, and 17.3 percent decline-to-state. San Bernardino County was 38.4 percent Republican, 39 percent Democrat, and 18 percent decline-to-state.

As of Jan. 3, Riverside County was 40.9 percent Republican, 36.2 percent Democrat, and 18 percent decline-to-state. San Bernardino County was 37.2 percent Republican, 38.8 percent Democrat, and 19 percent decline-to-state, according to Tuesday’s registration report from the secretary of state’s office.

To read entire story, click here.

BY IMRAN GHORI
STAFF WRITER
ighori@pe.com

Published: 31 January 2012 11:22 PM

An influential union that is backing a proposed ballot measure to reduce San Bernardino County supervisors’ positions to part-time has more than a half-million dollars in its political action committee fund, according to campaign finance reports released this week.

The San Bernardino County Safety Employees’ Benefit Association Local PAC, the campaign committee for the union representing about 3,100 county public safety employees, has $660,103 on hand, according to its report covering the period for the last six months of 2011.

Last week, SEBA announced that it would help fund a proposed ballot measure that would make supervisors’ positions part-time, cut their pay and benefits and reduce their annual staff budget from $6 million to $250,000.

The announcement came the same day the union criticized a proposed ballot measure introduced by Supervisor Janice Rutherford that would require that all future employee pension increases go before voters. SEBA also has been at odds with the county in contract negotiations in recent months where the county has asked union members to provide retirement and health benefit concessions.

To read entire story, click here.

BY BEN GOAD
WASHINGTON BUREAU
bgoad@pe.com

Published: 31 January 2012 05:44 PM

Candidates for contested Inland House seats raked in hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign cash at the end of 2011 as they jockeyed for position heading into the current election year.

Democrat Mark Takano jumped ahead of Republican John Tavaglione in the race for the Riverside-area’s open congressional district, according to newly filed campaign finance reports covering October, November and December.

Incumbent Reps. Mary Bono Mack, running for re-election in eastern Riverside County, and Joe Baca, in San Bernardino County’s west end, extended fundraising leads over their opponents.

Seven-term veteran Rep. Gary Miller has a $1 million head start as he prepares to take on a host of candidates hoping to succeed retiring Rep. Jerry Lewis.

Fourth-quarter fundraising

Though Election Day is still nine months off, the reports filed Tuesday with the Federal Election Commission are seen as important indicators of candidates’ viability. Later in the cycle, campaign dollars are essential to buy advertising and hold events. But early fundraising is used to build momentum, said political analyst Stuart Rothenberg, publisher of the nonpartisan Rothenberg Political Report.

“Right now, it’s about establishing credibility, which will then help earn fundraising, help … get media coverage, get the national party’s attention,” Rothenberg said.

41st DISTRICT

With no incumbent in the mix, the race for the Riverside area’s new 41st Congressional District is expected to be among the most contentious in the region. Takano is a member of the Riverside Community College District Board of Trustees, and Tavaglione is a Riverside County supervisor.

Before the current round of campaign finance reports, they had taken in about $160,000 apiece.

Between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31, Takano collected $125,472, and Tavaglione raised $87,345, the reports show.

“We feel confident that our strong fundraising support will continue and that we will have the resources necessary to win this election in November,” Takano said in a statement.

Tavaglione campaign consultant Jim Nygren, however, downplayed the significance.

“Supervisor Tavaglione’s far superior record of service in the district, vastly superior endorsements and far superior name ID will more than overcome Takano’s temporary fundraising lead,” Nygren said.

To read entire story, click here.

Supervisors’ second-largest union argues it was asked to give up too much before terms were imposed; terms reached with biggest union

BY DUANE W. GANG AND DUG BEGLEY
STAFF WRITERS
dgang@pe.com | dbegley@pe.com

Published: 31 January 2012 09:15 AM

More than 1,000 Riverside County workers took to the streets Tuesday protesting benefit reductions and warning that additional strikes could be on the way if county officials don’t reopen contract negotiations.

The 24-hour work stoppage was expected to last until 6:59 a.m. today and marks the latest escalation between county management and the Service Employees International Union Local 721, the county’s second-largest employee group.

On Monday, the county and a state labor relations board went to court and successfully blocked 248 county nurses and other health care workers from taking part in the strike.

“We will take any job action necessary to get them to come back to the table,” said Wendy Thomas, the union’s chief negotiator and a Riverside County employee.

But while SEIU members picketed, the county reached a tentative new contract with its largest employee group, Laborers’ International Union of North America Local 777.

The laborers’ union represents about 7,000 employees. The four-year deal would start July 1 and provide $60 million in annual savings once fully implemented, according to a county statement.

Because the employees have yet to vote on the contract, the county did not release specifics, but it did say employees would pay 8 percent of their salaries toward their retirements.

“This is what happens when both sides sit down with realistic goals that honestly consider the county’s budget picture and the needs of our employees,” Board of Supervisors Chairman John Tavaglione said in a statement.

In the same statement, laborers’ union Business Manager Stephen Switzer said the agreement addresses the county’s budget woes in a meaningful way while valuing the employees and their work.

SEIU represents about 5,800 county workers ranging from clerks to social workers and nurses.

County officials said Tuesday they had no major problems conducting business, despite the strike. Managers filled in where needed, health clinics reduced appointments, and the county hospital canceled elective surgeries, officials said.

According to the county, 1,394 workers did not show up for work Tuesday. The most, 556, came from the Department of Public Social Services.

BIG TURNOUT

Wearing SEIU’s signature purple T-shirts and holding strike signs, the picketers started making their feelings known about 8 a.m. outside the County Administrative Center in downtown Riverside, where a regular meeting of county supervisors was scheduled. The crowd steadily grew.

By the time the supervisors opened their meeting at 9 a.m., SEIU members filled every available seat in the board’s chambers and swarmed into the lobby and atrium of the county building.

They chanted “fair contract now” and “Hey-hey, ho-ho, Bob Buster’s got to go,” referring to the supervisor who has been the board’s most vocal advocate for requiring employees to pay more toward their retirements.

Inside the board’s chambers, employees waved their hands in the air to show their displeasure with the county over the contract talks. Tavaglione warned the crowd that clapping and cheering was not allowed, but at one point, when Buster spoke, the room erupted in coughing.

Inside and out, the crowd peaked at more than 2,000. About 1,500 SEIU members and supporters later marched through downtown Riverside.

Some union members said they felt they had no choice but to join the picket line.

“I’ve seen some bad deliberations, but this is the worst,” said Linda East, 53, a policy writer for the county-operated CalWORKS program.

East said holding a picket sign is unfamiliar turf for her.

To read entire story, click here.

By David Siders
dsiders@sacbee.com
Published: Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 1A

Gov. Jerry Brown is raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for his tax campaign from California Indian tribes at the same time many tribes are seeking to renegotiate lucrative gambling compacts with him.

The Democratic governor, who proposes increasing the state sales tax and income taxes on California’s highest earners, is considered more accommodating of tribal interests than his predecessor, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, and his administration is in compact talks “on various levels” with 15 to 20 tribes, Brown’s tribal negotiator, Jacob Appelsmith, said Tuesday.

Any compacts Brown signs could significantly affect a gambling industry that generates more than $7 billion annually and millions of dollars in payments to the state.

More than nine months ahead of the November tax election, a handful of tribes have contributed more than $300,000 to Brown’s tax campaign, a quarter of the $1.2 million Brown on Tuesday reported raising in 2011.

Tribes donated $925,000 to Brown’s gubernatorial effort in 2010, and they contributed more than $200,000 last year to two charter schools he started in Oakland.

Brown spokeswoman Elizabeth Ashford said there is “no connection between any sort of donations and decision-making on this issue or others.”

David Quintana, a lobbyist for the California Tribal Business Alliance, is among several tribal representatives who said tribes are donating to Brown’s tax campaign because they think additional tax revenue will improve the state’s financial condition.

It could also improve tribes’ standing in future compact negotiations, relieving the state of historically “enormous pressure to try to extract more money” from wealthy tribes, said Jeff Cummins, a political science professor at California State University, Fresno.

Brown was a regular supporter of tribal interests when he was governor before, from 1975 to 1983, and Quintana said some tribes were “absolutely” waiting for Schwarzenegger to leave office before considering compact renegotiations.

“You had one of the worst governors for tribes of all time,” Quintana said. “Then you have a person who is the best governor for tribal governments since himself in the late 1970s.”

In one closely watched negotiation, Brown is in talks with a San Diego-area tribe that brawled with Schwarzenegger over payments to the state, resulting in a court ruling last year that Schwarzenegger overstepped when he demanded general fund payments from the Rincon Band of Luiseno Indians in exchange for casino approvals.

State finance officials said at the time that the ruling would not affect $360.5 million in general fund payments this year from Indian tribes with existing gambling compacts, and the administration has said it is not obligated to renegotiate the general fund provisions of those agreements.

To read entire

A bill requiring more prominent disclosure of political donors stalled in the California Assembly on Tuesday.

Under the proposal, television advertisements would include three seconds of a black screen listing the top donors supporting the message. Similar disclosure would be required on print advertisements or campaign mailers.

“The public is frustrated and fed up with wealthy donors who manipulate elections through anonymous campaign messages,” said the bill’s sponsor, Assemblywoman Julia Brownley (D-Santa Monica), in a statement. “Voters deserve to know clearly who are behind the ads.”

Because modifying the state’s Political Reform Act requires a two-thirds vote, 52 yes votes weren’t enough to pass Brownley’s bill. Twenty-six lawmakers voted against the bill. One Republican voted for the bill; the rest voted against it.

To read entire story, click here.

Tuesday, January 31, 2012 – 12:30 p.m.

It’s only February and the first serious blow has been leveled in the race to represent San Bernardino County’s Third Supervisorial District.

Here is a just-released literature from the Supervisor Neil Derry re-election campaign: Ramos Casino-Boss

The first question coming to mind?

What was James Ramos thinking?

Ramos, the current millionaire chairman of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, is seeking to oust incumbent Derry.

Today’s first salvo is a prime example as to why Ramos can outspend Derry five times over and it won’t do him any good.

Now recent reports of Ramos’ own supporters questioning his viability make even more sense.

The instant campaign hit piece only deals with Mexican Mafia infiltration of the San Manuel Reservation.

Just some of the other looming issues for Ramos include;

• Not paying taxes
• Body-guard escorts
• Conflicts of interest between the county and Tribal government
• His failed businesses
• His real opposition to proposed Barstow casino competition
• His immunity from county laws and regulations
• Being a life-long democrat in a highly conservative district.

Not to mention, that in his few recent public appearances, Ramos hasn’t displayed any cognitive grasp of county government issues.

Unless talking strictly about education and singing bird songs is the main prerequisite for sitting on the board.

Maybe at some point Ramos will figure out that trying to buy the race with his Tribe’s money is a non-starter.

Don’t get us wrong. All the recipients will gladly accept the dough and say thank you.

But that’s it.

Why? Because all the people involved can see it for what it is.

Pandering.

The politicians, who jumped to endorse Ramos, have to be wondering right about now.

At least this contest will be entertaining.

By PE Politics
January 30, 2012 3:08 PM

The San Manuel Band of Mission Indians near San Bernardino has hired back its longtime Sacramento lobbyist, Frank Molina, with whom it parted ways last March amid an investigation by the state’s political ethics agency.

The wealthy gaming tribe last week reported hiring Molina’s firm, Strategic Solutions Advisors, according to Capitol Morning Report. The tribe also hired K Street Consulting.

To read entire brief, click here.

Executive Editor Frank Pine
Created: 01/28/2012 06:06:04 AM PST

San Bernardino County’s Board of Supervisors asked county lawyers last week to draft language for a ballot measure that would give voters the final say on increases to pension benefits for public employees.

Supervisors Janice Rutherford, Gary Ovitt and Josie Gonzales voted yea with supervisors Brad Mitzelfelt and Neil Derry voting nay.

Gonzales and Mitzelfelt both expressed at least a little ambivalence, saying they wanted to wait and see the final language of the ballot measure before committing.

We didn’t quote Derry in our story, but he was the first person to comment on it once it was posted on our website, and the nuance of his nay is significant.

Derry: “This wasn’t pension reform. It was a feel-good measure that would have had zero impact on current employee pensions and would create a significant roadblock to negotiating pension reductions in the future. How is it `reform’ if the pensions aren’t being changed?”

Mere hours after the board made its decision Tuesday, the head of the county’s most powerful union – the Safety Employees Benefit Association – announced it would fund an initiative to cut supervisors’ pay by reducing their employment status to part time.

Union president Laren Leichliter said the SEBA announcement was not intended to intimidate supervisors and noted that signature gatherers were collecting names the Thursday before the pension item was placed on the supervisors’ agenda.

His quote: “All our elected officials, according to them they’re all overpaid, so we’re just trying to assist them in their progression of trying to save county residents money,” Leichliter said.

Maybe that’s the case, but the timing is pretty suspect and it’s hard to see this as anything other than the latest example of the rough-and-tumble politics of San Bernardino County in particular and California in general.

The real issue here, however, appears to be the county’s ongoing contract negotiations with SEBA. As the county struggles to close daunting budget shortfalls, those negotiations have been anything but smooth.

In December, the county threatened to impose a 14 percent reduction in pay and benefits on SEBA’s Specialized Peace Officers bargaining unit, which includes probation officers, coroner investigators and welfare-fraud investigators.

To avoid that, the unit approved a contract with a 7 percent cut in benefits and a reduction in annual merit raises from 5 percent to 2.5 percent.

The county is now negotiating with the unit that represents sheriff’s deputies, SEBA’s largest constituency.

In the context of the negotiations, both initiative proposals look a lot like bargaining chips.

The irony here is that, in these difficult economic times, both measures will probably pass if they make it to the ballot.

To read entire story, click here.

Would it be churlish to say that the much-ballyhooed Think Long Committee for California fell short on fortitude?

Or merely accurate?

Billionaire Nicolas Berggruen created the committee and invited a Who’s Who of California’s political, civic and economic upper crust – including two former governors, one former chief justice and two former secretaries of state – to become members.

It issued a “Blueprint to Renew California” that advocated major changes in how government is organized and financed, to be put before voters this year.

Berggruen, the committee and the plan received loads of mostly positive media attention – including much outside California – because it appeared to be the first potentially viable effort at structural reform to cure the state’s political dysfunction. But one segment would have been an extensive overhaul of California’s cockeyed taxation system, and it interfered politically with Gov. Jerry Brown’s relatively modest proposal for a temporary hike in income and sales taxes.

Brown doesn’t want competing tax measures on the November ballot, fearing that voters could be confused and reject them all. He and his allies pressured the Think Long Committee to back off and it did.

Instead, Think Long is endorsing some relatively minor, incremental changes in governance, such as a two-year budget cycle, proposed by California Forward, another blue-ribbon civic group.

Briefly put, an organization whose declared goal was to rise above politics-as-usual and improve governance succumbed to politics-as-usual.

To read entire story, click here.

A state senator who is running for secretary of state is urging Gov. Jerry Brown to take over California’s beleaguered online campaign finance database, which was down for most of last month.

In a letter last week, Alex Padilla, a Sylmar Democrat who has formed a campaign committee for a 2014 secretary of state campaign, asked Brown to take “immediate action to ensure the integrity of the 2012 election.”

Padilla pointed out that the Cal-Access database — based on creaky, decade-old code that predated Facebook — crashed in late November, also taking down the state’s voter registration database, CalVoter.

That prevented local election officials from registering new voters or verifying signatures on petitions to place questions on the 2012 ballot.

To read entire story, click here.

Monday, January 30, 2012 – 10:00 a.m.

Within all of San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors candidate James Ramos’ negative baggage appears to be a glimmer of a motivating interest as to why the current millionaire chairman of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians is seeking the county post.

The Tribal chair, who is seeking to oust Third District Supervisor Neil Derry in June, may have a personal finance cause.

Ramos, with annual income of more than $1.5 million, is dipping his toe into the future of an Barstow-area Indian gaming casino proposed by the Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla and Cupeno Indians.

Ramos, when asked about the proposal at a recent event, says he would support the casino if it cleared all federal hurdles.

Forget about the fact the San Manuel’s have opposed the project from the start.

For Barstow, the proposed casino would be a welcome revenue generator and job creator.

For Ramos it would be competition.