PoliticsBlog

Posted By: Carla Marinucci | July 28 2010 at 02:18 PM

California Working Families for Jerry Brown, the independent expenditure group working to help the Democratic State Attorney General’s 2010 gubernatorial campaign, just got a powerhouse ally — the 325,000-member California Teachers Association.

CTA President David Sanchez, in announcing the move, called Brown “the education candidate for governor.”

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Michael J. Sorba, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/27/2010 07:35:08 PM PDT

COLTON – At least two City Council members say they’d like to see the city send out requests seeking the exact costs to outsource for police and fire services, following the results of recently completed audits of both departments.

They would also like the city to contact surrounding jurisdictions to examine the viability of forming a joint powers agreement for fire services.

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Deal includes furlough, cuts
July 27, 2010 5:41 PM
Beau Yarbrough

HESPERIA • The Hesperia Unified School District and Hesperia Teachers Association have apparently resolved their differences and have reached a three-year agreement, officials said Tuesday.

The tentative agreement includes nine furlough days (an effective salary cut of almost 5 percent), 1 percent pay cut and 2 percent savings on other monetary benefits for teachers.

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10:00 PM PDT on Tuesday, July 27, 2010

By DUANE W. GANG
The Press-Enterprise

Riverside County’s November ballot is getting crowded.

Supervisors on Tuesday voted to place two competing pension measures before voters Nov. 2, as well as a proposal to increase the amount of money the county’s regional transportation commission can borrow.

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Unions are giving the candidate plenty of financial support, even though he has made no commitment to their causes.

By Michael J. Mishak, Los Angeles Times

July 27, 2010

Reporting from Sacramento —

The television ads seize on the millions of dollars organized labor is spending to help elect Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown, warning that if he’s victorious, he would be “their governor.”

Labor leaders watching the spots, which are funded by billionaire GOP nominee Meg Whitman, should be so lucky.

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Council OKs reorganization of departments
Jesse B. Gill, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/25/2010 08:06:08 PM PDT

REDLANDS – The City Council has released a list detailing the total number of jobs it eliminated through recent budget cuts and the reorganizations of city departments necessary after the cuts were made.

The council unanimously approved a resolution making the reorganizations official by adding the cost for the remaining positions into the city budget for the 2010-2011 fiscal year.

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City seeking unspecified cuts from contracts
Jesse B. Gill, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/25/2010 08:06:43 PM PDT

REDLANDS – Although the City Council has said it wants contract concessions from the unions representing city employees, union leaders say it hasn’t specified what is needed.

A council subcommittee manned by Jon Harrison and Mick Gallagher is conducting informal discussions with both unions about items in their employment contracts they could give up to save the city money. The discussions come after a budget season in which the council eliminated 47 full-time city jobs and was still left with a deficit of $877,500.

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Brinker

Tobin Brinker
Posted: 07/24/2010 07:18:12 PM PDT

We have all seen tightrope walkers high above the crowd on a narrow rope balancing precariously as winds buffet them. It makes for riveting entertainment, as the viewer waits to see if the tightrope walker makes it successfully across or if he falls.

San Bernardino’s elected officials are attempting to walk a budget tightrope. We are buffeted on all sides by individuals with ideological biases. Some say “NO TAXES” and others say “NO CUTS.” Citizens groups and employee unions are lobbying the elected officials and mobilizing with letters to the editor.

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Brown

By Jon Ortiz and David Siders
jortiz@sacbee.com
Published: Saturday, Jul. 24, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown, long a supporter of public employee retirement rights, is staking out territory in what is traditionally Republican ground: government pension reform.

On his campaign website and in recent comments to the media, California’s attorney general and former governor has advocated rolling back state retirement benefits. Many of his points mirror changes pushed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and tentatively accepted by some unions, but don’t cut into pensions as deeply as policies proposed by Brown’s Republican opponent, Meg Whitman.

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Thursday, July 22, 2010 – 11:27 am

It’s time for republican Gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman to clearly articulate her positions on each element of the illegal immigration issue.

Her post-primary campaign strategy has created some bumps in the road with some of the republican base. A potential problem if it continues.

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Cost-saving measure

47 to shift to county’s jails
Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/21/2010 08:03:25 PM PDT

Come July 31, 47 sheriff’s deputies from stations across San Bernardino County will be transferring from their respective stations to the county’s four detention centers to eliminate about $8 million in overtime at the jails.

To make up for the loss, another 44 deputies will be transferring from their respective stations to backfill the vacancies left at the other stations from the deputies transferring to the jails.

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Wednesday, July 21, 2010 – 07:42 am

The other San Bernardino County budget shoe dropped yesterday in an op-ed by County Administrative Officer Greg Devereaux published in The Sun / Inland Valley Daily Bulletin newspapers.

The last paragraph sends the key message:

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Devereaux

Gregory C. Devereaux
Created: 07/19/2010 07:29:13 PM PDT

On June 28, the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors approved a balanced budget for the fiscal year that began on July1. With the help of employee-approved salary deferrals, the use of reserves to create ongoing funding, and departmental budget reductions, the board was able to close an $89.4 million shortfall. The new budget eliminates 529 county positions, 85 of them currently filled.

As difficult as it might have been to balance this year’s budget, even greater fiscal challenges lie ahead. Due to a continuing decline in property tax revenues as well as increased costs, $133 million in deficits are projected for the next four years, including a $48 million deficit for the fiscal year that begins less than 12 short months from now.

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06:47 PM PDT on Monday, July 19, 2010

By PAUL LaROCCO
The Press-Enterprise

Four Rialto police officers have been placed on paid administrative leave after allegations surfaced that they had sex while on duty with Spearmint Rhino waitresses at a police union building.

The officers, whose names were withheld because the personnel investigation is not complete, are among six being investigated, Rialto Police Chief Mark Kling said.

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Schwarzenegger

By Kevin Yamamura and Jon Ortiz
kyamamura@sacbee.com
Published: Sunday, Jul. 18, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 1A

Five years ago, the state correctional officers’ union paraded a mobile billboard around the Capitol bearing an unflattering picture of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in his bathing suit.

That demonstration seems mild compared to the frustration state employees feel this year toward the Republican governor. Schwarzenegger has incurred the wrath of rank-and-file employees through efforts to reduce pay and benefits, particularly his latest push to impose minimum wage.

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A county union has moved to recover legal costs from San Bernardino County after the judge hearing a lawsuit filed by the county encouraged them to do so.

A lawsuit filed against the San Bernardino County Public Attorney’s Association by the County, at the recommendation of County Counsel Ruth Stringer and Public Defender Doreen Boxer, was dismissed a few months ago.

At that time the judge in the case, Christopher Warner, expressed his displeasure at the county for bringing such a ridiculous action.

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Brown

PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
July 14, 2010 | 11:30 am

Jerry Brown may not be up with any paid TV commercials, but he’s been active on the free talk circuit, making his case for California governor with local and national stations alike.

On Wednesday he was in San Diego on the local Fox affiliate’s morning program talking about the gubernatorial campaign, the man he hopes to succeed and the woman standing between him and his old Capitol office, Republican nominee Meg Whitman.

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Jerry Brown

By MAGGIE HABERMAN | 7/14/10 4:46 AM EDT

POLITICO 44

Democrats are fearful that various labor-backed, independent-expenditure efforts in the California governor’s race are needlessly divided, risking Democrats’ chances with their scattershot messages.

It’s no small matter in a race where the independent expenditures were touted as critical to Democratic nominee Jerry Brown’s campaign, a stopgap for the infrastructure and funding that are sorely lacking from the former two-term governor’s frugal, bare-bones campaign. But as former eBay CEO Meg Whitman free-spends her way toward the $150 million mark in a race that’s currently neck and neck, there is little margin for error against her spending juggernaut.

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James Temple, Chronicle Staff Writer
San Francisco Chronicle

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Two longtime eBay shareholders are demanding the e-commerce giant open up its records regarding a 2007 altercation between an employee and Meg Whitman, the company’s then-chief executive and current candidate for governor, in an action organized by a major labor union opposed to her candidacy.

The New York Times first reported on the incident in June, saying that as eBay communications employee Young Mi Kim tried to prepare Whitman for a media interview, the executive became angry and “forcefully pushed her.” Kim threatened a lawsuit, but ultimately received a legal settlement totaling about $200,000, the newspaper reported. After a hiatus of about four months, Kim returned to work for eBay.

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JULIET WILLIAMS Associated Press Writer

July 13, 2010 | 3:39 p.m.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The California Nurses Association, one of the most aggressive labor groups in the state, has never encountered a foe like Meg Whitman, the billionaire former chief executive of eBay who spent more than $90 million winning the Republican nomination for governor.

The 85,000-member union is accustomed to winning, often in attention-grabbing ways. But it now finds itself in Whitman’s crosshairs as part of her campaign against California’s Democratically aligned public employee unions.

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Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
July 13, 2010

Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman continued wooing the state’s nurses Tuesday by sending more than 100,000 of them a four-page letter highlighting her support for nurse staffing ratios and inviting them to join a campaign advisory board of nurses that will consult the candidate on nursing issues.

As her campaign has been doing for weeks, the letter also slams the California Nurses Association as a partisan group that’s misusing member dues on political activity.

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Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
July 12, 2010

Republican Meg Whitman’s camp is continuing its attacks against the labor groups backing Democrat Jerry Brown, launching a new television spot hitting Brown’s union supporters.

The 30-second ad, titled “Their Governor,” targets labor group-backed independent expenditure committees that have been funding ads attacking Whitman.

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Mediha Fejzagic DiMartino, Staff Writer
Created: 07/09/2010 03:20:00 PM PDT

As he listened to pension reform talks, David Sanchez’ thoughts wandered off to 2005, when a fellow correctional officer Manuel Gonzalez was stabbed to death by an inmate at the California Institution for Men in Chino.

“Manny will never get his pension,” Sanchez said. “Benefits should commensurate the danger we face. It’s not a desk job.”

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Staff Report
Posted: 07/09/2010 08:14:19 PM PDT

San Bernardino Professional Firefighters reported Friday that City Hall has rejected a salary concessions offer.

Firefighters offered givebacks worth $1.6 million from their salaries and $500,000 in benefits, union president Scott Moss said.

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Share
By Susan Ferriss
sferriss@sacbee.com
Published: Friday, Jul. 9, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 4A

With former Assembly Speaker Willie Brown at his side, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger issued a new demand Thursday that a specific change in state worker pensions be made before he signs off on a budget.

At a minimum, the governor said he wants legislators to roll back current pension terms to those that existed before 1999 legislation created more generous rules.

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James Rufus Koren, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/07/2010 05:23:25 PM PDT

As Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and State Controller John Chiang tussle over whether state workers should take a pay cut until the Legislature approves a budget, lawmakers are considering a bill that would make sure those workers get their full pay whether or not a budget passes.

The new fiscal year started July 1, but the legislature has yet to pass a new budget. Because of that budget impasse, Schwarzenegger last week ordered Chiang to cut the wages of about 200,000 state employees to the minimum wage – $7.25 per hour. Chiang has refused the order, but might have to comply.

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Joe Garofoli
Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Among the many nuggets in Wednesday’s just-emancipated Field Poll on the CA guv race is this one: In California households where a union member lives, Jerry Brown leads Meg Whitman by 47 percent to 41 percent.

OK, so a lead’s a lead — and Jerry’s got waaaaay bigger problems in this poll, as our story notes. But when you think about all the union-backed independent expenditures that have been pounding Meg-a-millions — not the least of which is the California Nurses Association — you’d think that would be more of a yawning gap, no?

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Arnold Schwarzenegger

PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State

July 6, 2010 | 3:45 pm

The court battle over the size of state worker paychecks continues.

The Schwarzenegger administration submitted a court petition Tuesday in Sacramento County Superior Court seeking an injunction to force state Controller John Chiang to slash the wages of roughly 200,000 state workers.

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California Watch
A Project of the Center for Investigative Reporting
Money and Politics

California WatchBlog

July 6, 2010 | Timothy Sandoval

In her campaign to become California’s next attorney general, Democratic candidate Kamala Harris may be facing a big blue wall.

Few endorsements are more coveted by politicians than those from police and law enforcement groups. But they are particularly important in the attorney general race between Harris and her GOP opponent, Steve Cooley, the district attorney of Los Angeles.

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Meg Whitman

By Jack Chang
jchang@sacbee.com
Published: Sunday, Jul. 4, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 1A

The California Nurses Association has taken on powerful people before, including Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislators from both major parties, and has scored resounding wins.

In each showdown, the 86,000-person union made full use of its key advantage – the appeal of its members’ professions – while pressing hard for policies that benefited nurses.

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Controller John Chiang

By Jon Ortiz and Kevin Yamamura
jortiz@sacbee.com
Published: Saturday, Jul. 3, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Saturday, Jul. 3, 2010 – 12:12 am

The decision is in. The fight isn’t over.

Sacramento’s 3rd District Court of Appeal on Friday upheld a 17-month-old ruling allowing Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to order state workers’ pay reduced to minimum wage in the absence of a budget.

Although the state is now three days into the new fiscal year with no budget and the governor has instructed more than 200,000 government employees’ pay lowered to the federal minimum, the ultimate impact of the court decision is far from clear.

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By Jon Ortiz
jortiz@sacbee.com
Published: Friday, Jul. 2, 2010 – 11:58 am
Last Modified: Friday, Jul. 2, 2010 – 1:08 pm

The 3rd District Court of Appeal has upheld a 17-month-old ruling allowing Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to reduce state workers to minimum wage in the absence of a budget.

The court, agreeing with a Sacramento Superior Court ruling, said State Controller John Chiang overstepped his authority by refusing to issue minimum-wage paychecks to state workers during the 2008 budget impasse.

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10:00 PM PDT on Thursday, July 1, 2010

By RICHARD K. DE ATLEY
The Press-Enteprise

A union survey of Riverside County district attorney investigators shows dissatisfaction with the bureau and chief investigator Vern Horst, who said he will work to improve direct communication with his personnel.

Horst said he believed the results were influenced by budget cuts, loss of take-home cars for investigators, reassignments and a change in the bureau of investigation’s focus to a more pro-active law enforcement style.

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Ken McLaughlin

kmclaughlin@mercurynews.com
Posted: 07/01/2010 09:38:28 PM PDT
Updated: 07/01/2010 09:38:29 PM PDT

The telephone rings and Meg Whitman, the Republican candidate for governor, is greeting you by your first name. You flip on the TV, and there she is again on a new kind of interactive ad that lets you order a free Meg 2010 bumper sticker with the push of a few buttons on your remote control.

Surf on over to Whitman’s flashy website and, with the click of your mouse, voilà, it’s “Meg 2010: Una Nueva California” — the whole site is translated into Spanish. Click again and it’s in Chinese.

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District Attorney Mike Ramos / Attorney General Jerry Brown

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Thursday, July 1, 2010 – 10:00 a.m.

Once thing is for certain.

San Bernardino County District Attorney Mike Ramos drawing Attorney General Jerry Brown into his crusade against his political enemies was a smart move.

Even though Defendant Jim Erwin pushed him into it.

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Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
June 30, 2010

An independent expenditure committee backed by SEIU and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers is running a second radio ad supporting Democrat Jerry Brown’s gubernatorial bid.

The 60-second spot, launched by the “Working Californians” committee, seeks to present Brown’s political career, attacked as a record failure by rival Meg Whitman’s campaign, as one of frugality, job creation and commitment to cracking down on fraud.

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Meg Whitman

Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
June 30, 2010

Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman is sending a second batch of mailers to thousands of the state’s licensed nurses slamming the California Nurses Association, a union representing 86,000 nurses, for wastefully spending its members’ dues. Click here to see the flier.

The mailer asks, “Is this how nurses’ hard-earned money should be spent by their union bosses?” under a picture of a bus the union paid $50,000 to decorate and send to Whitman campaign events. It also criticizes the salary paid to the union’s Executive Director Rose Anne DeMoro and her husband and the trips and other expenses paid for by the union.

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ELECTION 2010/NEWS ANALYSIS

By Seema Mehta, Los Angeles Times
June 30, 2010

Meg Whitman has spent much of her gubernatorial campaign demonizing unions — arguing that their strength in Sacramento is central to the capital’s dysfunction, pledging to reduce their ranks in the state workforce and accusing their leadership of putting labor’s interests above taxpayers’.

But in recent days, in a fight with the California Nurses’ Assn., the Republican nominee has unveiled an unusual strategy: trying to divide rank-and-file members from their union bosses. It’s either a shrewd calculation that could move traditionally Democratic voters into her column, essential to her effort in the fall — or a risky move that could galvanize a union whose support is vital for Democratic nominee Jerry Brown’s prospects, and whose efforts have been pivotal in past elections.

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10:00 PM PDT on Monday, June 28, 2010

By IMRAN GHORI
The Press-Enterprise

The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors approved a $3.8 billion budget Monday that calls for deep cuts in almost all departments, including layoffs in the probation, public defender and planning offices.

The spending plan for the 2010-11 fiscal year eliminates 529 positions, 85 of which are filled. The general fund, which makes up $2.2 billion of the budget, is down $89 million from the previous year while funds allocated to specific programs are up $191 million, County Administrative Officer Greg Devereaux said.

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Sunday, June 27, 2010 – 11:27 a.m.

San Bernardino County is set to adopt its 2010-11 budget next year and the revenue assumption appears to be significantly better than originally thought.

Currently the county projects combined annual operating deficits totaling $222.1 million dollars through the 2014-15 fiscal years. A bright estimate considering current conditions.

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Sunday, June 27, 2010 – 10:16 a.m.

Now that the dust has settled over the hoop-la with the San Bernardino County union concession votes, we can see what is slated to occur at Monday’s special Board of Supervisors meeting, where the 2010-11 budget is scheduled to be approved.

The pain to be felt by sworn sheriff and district attorney employees who rejected proposed contract concessions? The deletion of vacant budgeted positions and a reduction in overtime.

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By Jack Chang
jchang@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, Jun. 28, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 1A

One gubernatorial campaign employs nearly 70 people and contracts with dozens of others as it spares no expense finding new ways to craft and broadcast its messages.

Another relies largely on the spontaneity of its candidate with minimal infrastructure and almost nothing in the way of marketing dazzle.

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Brown

Monday, June 28, 2010

Four months before the November election, the Jerry Brown-Meg Whitman race looks like a small band of desperadoes toting six shooters facing off against a fully staffed division equipped with tanks, stinger missiles and .50 caliber machine guns.

Even so, we have to wonder if Brown doesn’t seem ruinously hellbent on employing the not-so-vaunted Poizner Strategy: keep your powder dry while constantly whining about how nasty and profligate the other side is, then fire everything you’ve got all at once, in a short burst at the end of the campaign.

Worked like a charm for The Commish, eh?

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City is looking to trim benefit for future hires
Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 06/26/2010 10:03:17 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – City Hall’s long-range plan to halt growing deficits includes negotiations aimed at whittling away at the retirement benefits that could be owed to future employees.

City employees’ contracts expire at or before the end of this year, and the city’s weakened financial position could be a premise for difficult bargaining sessions.

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Whitman

Published: Saturday, Jun. 26, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

As GOP gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman mails fliers to nurses criticizing the California Nurses Association, the union held a rally Friday in Oakland hitting back at Whitman and inviting her to a July 15 forum with nurses to be held in her hometown of Atherton.

Friday’s event drew several dozen nurses from around California and also featured an appearance by Queen Meg, a parody of Whitman played by teacher and actress Elaine Burn.

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City found cash to cover Sheriff’s union raises but will see a 10-percent drop in coverage due to vacant deputy positions.
June 24, 2010 8:05 PM
BROOKE EDWARDS, STAFF WRITER

VICTORVILLE • The city is no longer considering dropping nine deputies for the coming year, however seven deputy positions currently vacant will not be restored in the upcoming budget.

The city council was expected to vote during the budget workshop coming up Tuesday on whether to move one sergeant, one detective and seven deputies out of Victorville.

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InlandPolitics.com is still piecing together information still being received related to the contract vote by the San Bernardino Public Employees Association (SBPEA).

It’s seems to be boiling down to the money. The unions money!

Read the rest of this entry »

Michael J. Sorba, Staff Writer
Created: 06/22/2010 04:49:13 PM PDT

County employees represented by the San Bernardino Public Employees Association have agreed to benefits concessions that will reduce a projected $89.4 million deficit in fiscal year 2010-11 by $13 million.

The union also agreed to $42 million in salary concessions that will provide savings to state and federally funded portions of the county’s budget, said county spokesman David Wert.

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June 22, 2010 4:11 PM
Natasha Lindstrom

SAN BERNARDINO • In a move bringing some relief to officials scrambling to balance the San Bernardino County budget, the county’s largest employees union has agreed to concessions that will save at least $13 million.

The San Bernardino Public Employees Association, representing more than 16,000 employees, narrowly approved the proposed deal, with just under 51 percent of members voting in favor of eliminating scheduled 6-percent salary hikes.

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By Jack Chang
jchang@sacbee.com The Sacramento Bee
Published: Wednesday, Jun. 23, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 4A
Last Modified: Wednesday, Jun. 23, 2010 – 8:08 am

Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman escalated her battle with the California Nurses Association on Tuesday by debuting a website criticizing the union and unveiling an internal poll that found Democrat Jerry Brown leading Whitman by only three percentage points among nurses statewide.

The website, titled “Truth for Nurses,” features articles and a video accusing the union of paying exorbitant salaries to its president and other executives and wasting members’ dues on political activity.

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Tuesday, June 22, 2010

As last nights vote count and election process by the San Bernardino Pubic Employees Association (SBPEA) is called further into question, a few details need to be clarified.

First, it is appropriate for a labor union to conduct membership-wide votes for matters related to the general business of the organization. The types of matters I’m referring to include, but is not limited to, election of officers, by-law amendments, and dues increases.

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Monday, June 21, 2010

The latest murmurings coming out the San Bernardino County Government Center say newly appointed county administrative officer Greg Devereaux has his hands full on multiple levels.

On the finance front, fires are burning everywhere, with new blazes erupting on a routine basis. Most due to the incompetence of his predecessor Mark Uffer.

If anyone can right this ship Devereaux can.

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You have got to be kidding?

Just when you thought you had seen it all, something else happens. Within hours of the vote count this evening by the San Bernardino Public Employees Association (SBPEA) ratifying a modification to the collective bargaining agreement with the County of San Bernardino, word is quickly spreading that the vote may now be in question.

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Schwarzenegger

Mediha Fejzagic DiMartino, Staff Writer
Posted: 06/21/2010 08:14:45 PM PDT

Pension reform hinges on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s promise that he’ll veto any budget proposal that does not include “two-tier” retirement benefits, according to Republican lawmakers.

“There is a really good chance he will keep his promise,” said state Sen. Bob Dutton, R-Rancho Cucamonga. “He’s got nothing to lose.”

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The county bargaining units of the San Bernardino Public Employees Association (SBPEA) have voted to accept a package of concessions negotiated by the unions leadership and forgo a 6% salary increase that would have been effective later this month.

The vote count was as follows:

To accept the modified contract:     2,385 Votes  50.66%
To reject the modified contract:     2,323 Votes  49.34%

The result all but guarantees a rough time for the struggling union and an upcoming period of discontent due to such a “razor thin” margin.

It’ll be interesting to know if there was any disallowed ballots.

The results of a contract concession vote by San Bernardino County’s largest union is due to be announced today.

The San Bernardino Public Employees Association representing more than ten thousand county workers is set to announce the results of a vote by its membership on a series of contract concessions. The givebacks proposed are meant to aid the county in managing a stated budget deficit of $90 million.

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Staff reductions proposed despite budget increase
Mike Cruz, Staff Writer
Posted: 06/20/2010 08:18:15 PM PDT

Editor’s note: Part one of a two-part look at San Bernardino County’s justice system.

A reduced work force could have a significant impact on operations in the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office, despite a $1.5 million budget increase.

The proposed budget for fiscal 2010-11 includes a staffing reduction of 34 positions – more than half of which were already vacant. But three prosecutors also were elected to the judicial bench this month, and five to six other personnel have retired or left for various reasons.

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James Rufus Koren, Staff Writer
Posted: 06/20/2010 07:02:42 AM PDT

The San Bernardino County Probation Department may close West Valley juvenile hall in Rancho Cucamonga to help cut the department’s budget for the coming year.

Chief Probation Officer Michelle Scray said shuttering the facility is one of several options being considered, though Scray would not disclose what other measures are being studied.

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Speak of being bent over. Go ask San Bernardino County Public Attorneys Association members.

This attorneys group primarily represents county prosecutors and defense attorneys.

Like a bunch of lap dogs, the group ran out and voted through a labor contract modifcation with San Bernardino County, which effectively cancelled ongoing cost of living adjustments.

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One thing is certain. San Bernardino County is in need of a competent economist.

They certainly don’t have one now.

The county’s long-term reluctance to take preemptive steps at dealing with budget impacts is alarming. The turmoil with its employee unions severely complicates matters.

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Proposals include 12-hour shifts, ending take-home cars
Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Created: 06/16/2010 09:19:32 PM PDT

The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department is considering eliminating take-home vehicles for some investigators and having deputies work 12-hour shifts three days a week in order to shore up its budget and cut overtime costs.

Undersheriff Bill Abernathy, along with two deputy chiefs and county human resources officials, met with members of the San Bernardino County Safety Employee Benefit Association (SEBA) on Wednesday to discuss the proposals, which will continue indefinitely, said Bill Abernathie, SEBA president and no relation to Undersheriff Abernathy.

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By John Howard | 06/16/10 12:00 AM PST

Four state-employee bargaining units representing 23,000 workers have reached tentative agreements with the Schwarzenegger administration on new labor contracts. The pacts, which must be approved by the unions’ rank-and-file members and the Legislature, reflect the state’s harsh economic environment.

The unions made it clear that they were not pleased with the agreements, but said the state’s fiscal condition required workers to tighten their belts. Gov. Schwarzenegger said the agreements reflected an element of pension reform.

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The largest bargaining unit for the San Bernardino County Safety Employees’ Benefit Association (SEBA) overwhelmingly rejected a proposal negotiated by union leadership to cancel a series of wage increases over the next two years in an effort to assist in balancing a $90 million deficit.

By a roughly three to one margin, the Safety Unit representing Sheriff’s Deputies and District Attorney Investigators, rejected the modification proposal. The smaller Specialized Peace Officer Unit also rejected by approximately a two votes.

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James Rufus Koren, Staff Writer
Posted: 06/03/2010 05:12:31 PM PDT

Republican candidates have spent more than $1 million in the 59th and 63rd district State Assembly races, with more money to be spent in the final days of the campaign.

Both races feature a crowded field in next week’s primary, as the incumbents in both districts are not seeking re-election.

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Jerry Brown

By STU WOO And JOHN R. EMSHWILLER
Bloomberg News

Democrat Jerry Brown, pictured Tuesday, has raised less cash than Republicans but also has spent less so far.

California’s presumptive Democratic nominee for governor, Jerry Brown, badly trails the leading Republican candidates on the fund-raising front. Oddly enough, though, he appears well-situated for the general election.

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CALIFORNIA ELECTIONS

Democrat’s first online ad targets GOP frontrunner in governor’s race as part of an effort to throw her off balance.
By Seema Mehta and Cathleen Decker, Los Angeles Times

June 2, 2010

Republicans have yet to formally decide their gubernatorial nominee, but California Democrats are already launching their campaign against the candidate they expect to win: frontrunner Meg Whitman.

The California Nurses Assn. will begin advertising Wednesday on Spanish-language radio stations about the billionaire’s position on immigration, a coalition of unions plans to launch anti-Whitman TV ads next week and presumptive Democratic nominee Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown unveiled his first online spot on Tuesday.

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Anger and confusion seems to be dominating labor relations in San Bernardino County these days.

Ballots with proposals dealing with a myriad of concessions and givebacks have been hitting employee mailboxes. When you talk to the employees and look at information provided, it’s easy to see what’s happening.

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Union money rules

Neil Nisperos, Staff Writer
Posted: 05/31/2010 09:58:24 PM PDT

Candidates know partnering with big labor can mean free and nearly unlimited manpower for grass-roots political campaigning during election time.

While Republican primary front- runner and billionaire Meg Whitman is spending millions on her gubernatorial campaign, Democratic candidate Jerry Brown is counting on union muscle in his campaign for the governor’s seat.

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Teachers biggest election spenders
Neil Nisperos, Staff Writer
Posted: 05/31/2010 10:01:19 PM PDT

Unions can flex serious muscle when it comes to fighting for political agendas as evidenced by the vast amounts of money they spend on influencing state policy.

A report released in March titled “Big Money Talks” revealed 15 public-interest groups spent $1.3 billion toward policy shaping in the past decade, according to the California Fair Political Practices Commission report, “Big Money Talks.”

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11:04 PM PDT on Sunday, May 30, 2010

By DUANE W. GANG
The Press-Enterprise

Riverside County faces a $131.5 million budget shortfall, and supervisors are seeking deep cuts — and as many as 1,600 layoffs — to bridge the gap over the next two years.

But as they seek those reductions, the county’s three largest employee unions have made more than $450,000 in campaign donations to supervisors, candidates for the board and other elected officials who wield influence in county politics, campaign finance figures released late last week show.

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10:00 PM PDT on Sunday, May 30, 2010

By JIM MILLER
Sacramento Bureau

SACRAMENTO – State legislators representing central Riverside and San Bernardino counties have received tens of thousands of dollars in campaign help from unions representing government workers.

The donations have gone to members of both parties, with labor-friendly Democrats receiving the heaviest support.

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Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Created: 05/28/2010 07:46:46 PM PDT

The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday will consider a plan to lay off 85 employees and eliminate a total of 462 county positions in an effort to close an $89.4 million deficit in the county’s 2010-2011 budget.

Up to 410 additional employees, including sheriff’s deputies, could also be laid off if the county cannot negotiate new contracts with its general and safety employee unions.

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Stacia Glenn and Andrew Edwards, Staff Writers
Posted: 05/27/2010 06:19:52 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – In a jumpstart to negotiations that turned hostile the last go-round, police union leaders have volunteered to continue their concessions for two more years to help close the city’s $24 million budget deficit.

The San Bernardino Police Officers Association’s made the offer Monday during a meeting with a professional negotiator recently hired by the city.

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By Anthony York | 05/27/10 12:00 AM PST

A News Analysis- The battle lines have been drawn for this summer’s budget fight, with Senate Democrats touting plans for new tax increases and cuts and Assembly Democrats unveiling an elaborate budget maneuver that leads to new taxes on oil production and virtually no cuts to the state’s safety net. The trick, now, is figuring out which pieces of these proposals – and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s May budget revision – are real.

Assembly Speaker John Perez, D-Los Angeles, and his staff came up with the most creative of the budget proposals, revealed in a press conference this week in the Capitol.

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Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 05/24/2010 08:07:22 PM PDT

San Bernardino County’s attempt to negotiate pension concessions from sheriff’s deputies could signal a new trend: a rollback of the generous retirement packages public employees secured during the past decade.

The development is not universal – Rialto’s pension benefits are scheduled to increase in December.

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Canan Tasci, Staff Writer
Created: 05/20/2010 09:49:15 PM PDT

MONTCLAIR – City Council members unanimously approved a two-tier pension program that will reduce the retirement benefit for non-safety employees hired after June 20.

The city’s retirement rate and annual costs will decrease as a result of the contract amendment with the California Public Employees’ Retirement System that was approved at Monday’s council meeting. The change does not affect police officers and firefighters.

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10:00 PM PDT on Wednesday, May 19, 2010

By DUANE W. GANG
The Press-Enterprise

Riverside County supervisors Tuesday criticized a proposed ballot measure that would lock in the pension benefits for sheriff’s deputies and other public-safety workers.

The Riverside Sheriff’s Association-backed initiative would prohibit the Board of Supervisors from changing pension benefits without a vote of the electorate and require the county to keep the current retirement formula under CalPers.

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Best and Worst States for Business 2010

More than 600 CEOs rated states on a wide range of criteria from taxation and regulation to workforce quality and living environment, in our sixth annual special report.

In Chief Executive’s annual survey of best and worst states for business, conducted in late January of this year, 651 CEOs across the U.S. again gave Texas top honors, closely followed by North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. They gave the booby prize for worst state to California, with New York, Michigan, New Jersey and Massachusetts filling out the bottom five-a line-up virtually unchanged from last year. Florida and Georgia each dropped three places in the ranking, but remain in the top 10. Utah jumped six positions this year to sneak into the top 10 at No. 9.

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Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 05/18/2010 07:11:21 PM PDT

San Bernardino County Sheriff’s deputies will soon vote on a concessions package that includes pared down retirement benefits for new hires.

The cost-savings package also includes a one-time cash payment in place of a raise.

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California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger dropped the hammer on San Bernardino County’s budget last Friday, with what is referred to as the “May Revision” to the upcoming budget for the fiscal year commencing on July 1.

The Governor is slamming local governments by transferring responsibility for many social services onto the backs of counties.

This was the first shoe to drop.

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The influential California Correctional Peace Officers Association (CCPOA) today announced their endorsement of Mayor Don Kurth (R-Rancho Cucamonga) to succeed Assemblyman Bill Emmerson in the 63rd Assembly District. CCPOA represents more than 30,000 correctional peace officers working inside California’s prisons and youth facilities.

“The California Correctional Peace Officers Association is pleased to endorse Don Kurth’s candidacy for Assembly District 63,” said CCPOA President Mike Jimenez. “We look forward to assisting him in his victory and to working with him in the State Legislature on all the issues that affect our members and every other Californian.”

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By PE Politics
on May 12, 2010 5:49 PM

An organization of law enforcement unions has spent $25,000 supporting Assemblyman Joel Anderson in the Republican primary race for the 36th Senate District.

The Peace Officers Research Association of California (PORAC) includes 890 member organizations, representing 62,000 law-enforcement employees.

Read the rest of this entry »

10:00 PM PDT on Wednesday, May 12, 2010

By JIM MILLER
Sacramento Bureau

SACRAMENTO – Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone wants to give up better pay, time at home and being one of five members on a Republican-leaning board to be part of a Democrat-controlled state Senate.

But Stone is just one of the candidates in a four-way battle for the Republican nomination in the 36th Senate District.

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PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State

May 10, 2010 | 3:57 pm

A Senate committee heard testimony Monday on a measure that would dramatically change the state’s public pension system.

The bill, SB 919 by Senate Republican leader Dennis Hollingsworth of Murrieta, seeks a wide range of changes including increasing the retirement age from 55 to 65 for many state employees and demanding higher contributions from employees to their retirement accounts.

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** The following Letter to the Editor of the Press Enterprise newspaper was forwarded to InlandPolitics.com yesterday due to its non-publication.

I write in response to the story “Corruption campaign part of San Bernardino County DA’s race” by Richard K. De Atley. If you wonder why your circulation is declining it is because you have abdicated your responsibility to “investigate.” You simply report – or rather repeat whatever you are told. The public corruption in San Bernardino County is partly the responsibility of the press who act like press agents for politicians rather than skeptical seekers of the truth. You acknowledge the bloggers; making it evident that you are aware of other sources of information or “news.”

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Teachers still on the hook for $8.4 million in cuts
May 07, 2010 1:42 PM
Beau Yarbrough

HESPERIA • It’s a day of mixed blessings for Hesperia teachers.

In a special meeting Friday morning, the Hesperia Unified School District school board voted to rescind pink slips the district had issued to 77 teachers earlier in the spring.

Read the rest of this entry »

May 8, 2010

Meg Whitman’s campaign pushed back on a new $800K Democratic TV attack buy Friday, charging that the state party’s new ad is a cynical, underhanded, union-financed effort to help Steve Poizner win the Republican nomination for governor.

And anyway, they insisted, it’s not an effective spot. All righty then: the food’s awful and the portions are too small.

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Brown

Richard Grenell
Spokesman for the last 4 U.S. Ambassadors to the UN
Posted: May 1, 2010 02:43 PM

It must be campaign season. How else do you explain Jerry Brown’s recent fascination with investigations and allegations announced with lots of media in tow and advantageously timed to benefit traditional Democratic constituencies and issues? There is no doubt that the Brown campaign committee and political advisors are strategically planning the roll-out of official attorney general “investigations” to maximize public attention and perception.

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www.iepolitics.com

Written by Administrator
May 3rd, 2010 at 6:34 am

Good lawyers know the law; great lawyers know the judge.  — Author Unknown

Justice is defined as “the upholding of what is just, especially fair treatment and due reward in accordance with honor, standards or law.”   In other words, in a county run by scoundrels, justice is hard to find.

In part one of this series we are going to examine the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office, District Attorney Michael Ramos, and the relationships the office and its elected leader enjoys with the county’s criminal justice system.

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Stacia Glenn, Staff Writer
Posted: 05/02/2010 05:05:37 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – A new website rolled out today by the San Bernardino Police Officers Association is meant to showcase the union’s community involvement and historical roots.

The site – www.thesbpoa.org – offers profiles on the department’s original nine officers and background on how the POA formed in 1953 but will soon feature a newsletter with safety bulletins and notices about community events.

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10:00 PM PDT on Saturday, May 1, 2010

The Press-Enterprise

Riverside County needs to bring its lavish public pension system back in line with financial reality. The county faces growing costs for retirement benefits at a time when budget shortfalls threaten public services. Supervisors should make changes that create a more affordable system and ease the burden on taxpayers.

A new report from the county’s Pension Advisory Review Committee puts the county’s retirement plan in stark context. The county has to find an additional $800 million over the next 30 years to pay for its pension promises, including the $375 million the county still owes on a pension bond from 2005.

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Issue back on table with school reform
Debbie Pfeiffer Trunnell, Staff Writer
Created: 05/01/2010 10:03:17 PM PDT

In early March, California missed out on Race to the Top funding because many teachers unions declined to sign an agreement requiring them to accept drastic reforms linked to the funding.

Among the list of changes low-achieving schools were asked to make was linking teachers’ pay to student performance, an issue unions representing teachers have long opposed.

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The dispute over California public employee payouts is growing. Republicans blame Democrats, who see the problem but fear alienating labor.

By George Skelton Capitol Journal

April 29, 2010

No question: California public employee pensions are a big problem — especially for Democratic politicians.

Republicans pound them on the issue, claiming it’s emblematic of the majority party’s extravagant spending and subservience to patron labor unions.

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The State Worker
Chronicling civil-service life for California state workers
April 28, 2010

The California Labor Federation is about to launch a worksite flier blitz aimed at cementing Meg Whitman’s ties to the finance industry and exploiting the recent fraud charges leveled at bank holding company Goldman Sachs.

As we point out in today’s story about the Whitman/Goldman connection, she left the firm’s board five years before the 2007 events at the center of SEC fraud charges highlighted by yesterday’s Senate hearing.

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By JUDY LIN, Associated Press Writer

Monday, April 26, 2010

(04-26) 22:31 PDT Sacramento, Calif. (AP) –

California labor unions on Monday launched what they said would be an aggressive campaign against former eBay chief executive Meg Whitman, who is running for the Republican nomination for governor.

California Labor Federation leader Art Pulaski said the unions will focus on exposing what he described as Whitman’s Wall Street agenda. The labor federation will be joined by unions representing teachers and nurses, among others.

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10:00 PM PDT on Sunday, April 25, 2010

The Press-Enterprise

If anyone can get a bill through a legislative committee, Capitol conventional wisdom holds, it’s the committee’s leader.

Tell that to Inland state Sen. Gloria Negrete McLeod.

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By Ed Mendel

As if their rising cost to state and local governments weren’t trouble enough, public pensions also face legislation cracking down on pension boosting, improperly influenced investments and real estate schemes that displace the poor.

A whiff of anti-corruption cleanser, or the verbal equivalent, wafted through the Capitol this month. Bills moved to curb the “spiking” of final pay to boost pensions and regulate “placement agents” paid big fees for helping money managers get pension funds.

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Meg Whitman

The Republican advocates raising the retirement age from 50 to 55 for public safety employees and from 55 to 65 for non-safety state workers. She takes a jab at Jerry Brown for the pension crisis.

Cathleen Decker

April 23, 2010

Republican candidate for governor Meg Whitman on Thursday proposed a major restructuring of state worker pensions that she said would dramatically lessen the billions of dollars that cash-strapped California would be required to pay out in future years.

Casting blame for the costs in part on the man she will face if she wins her party’s nomination in June — former governor and current presumptive Democratic nominee Jerry Brown — Whitman said that pension liabilities are “like a train coming through the tunnel at every single Californian.” She said liabilities amounted to almost $15,000 for every household in California.

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This morning I had a chance to read in detail an eight-page document titled “2010 Deficit Mitigation Survey” published by the San Bernardino Public Employees Association (SBPEA) and disseminated to its affected county membership.

My impression? You’ve go to be kidding.

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By Jack Chang
jchang@sacbee.com
Published: Wednesday, Apr. 21, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

Public employee unions have dodged a bullet this election year.

Proponents have stopped pushing a measure to prohibit unions from deducting political money from public employee wages.

Supporters of the measure had trouble raising enough money to gather the 694,354 valid signatures they needed to qualify the constitutional amendment for the ballot, said Lew Uhler, president of the advocacy group the National Tax Limitation Committee, which worked with the initiative’s proponents.

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Information being disseminated by San Bernardino County administrators related to ongoing budget woes is somewhat reminiscent of tactics which have amplified the state’s financial mess.

In an effort to close a purported $90 million deficit for the 2010/11 fiscal year the county is asking employee organizations to come up with approximately $39 million in hard dollar concessions.

The $90 million figure excludes all recently discovered liabilities including millions of dollars in unreserved leave cash-out obligations.

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April 19th, 2010, 9:54 pm · posted by Jennifer Muir

A new, hybrid pension plan for county employees — touted as groundbreaking pension reform — won’t save the county cash as quickly as officials had hoped thanks to a hiccup at the good ole’ Internal Revenue Service.

Under the two-tiered plan current employees were supposed to be able to choose whether to keep their old benefits, or select a hybrid plan that features a reduced pension but also a defined contribution component, similar to a 401K. New employees also would get to pick which plan works best for them.

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10:00 PM PDT on Saturday, April 17, 2010

By IMRAN GHORI
The Press-Enterprise

San Bernardino County has yet to hold any public discussion over its budget for the next fiscal year but officials are warning about possible layoffs as they deal with a $90 million shortfall.

County Administrative Officer Greg Devereaux has been meeting with department heads to review how cuts as large as 20 percent could affect their ability to operate. Negotiations have also been going on with the unions representing most county employees over their willingness to forego contracted salary increases.

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I had the opportunity to spend some time yesterday discussing the current San Bernardino County’s budget situation and was able to obtain some feedback on the thinking behind what is happening, and to further explain my point that not reducing the county workforce now, will cause greater pain later.

Let’s face it. Signs of the current economic downturn were visible as early as 2006. I brought up the potential collapse in real estate prices and the effect on the county while working at the Assessor’s office then. I was laughed at by many at the government center.

No one is laughing now.

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The “800-pound budget gorilla” is in the room for both Riverside and San Bernardino Counties, which is putting their respective employee unions in a critical dilemma.

Push wage and benefit concessions on their members or trigger layoffs. Layoffs cause reductions in union member rolls thus affecting revenue that supports operations.

Read the rest of this entry »

Stacia Glenn, Staff Writer
Posted: 04/13/2010 07:40:09 PM PDT

Layoffs are inevitable if county labor unions refuse to forgo raises a second year in a row to help close a looming $90 million deficit, county officials say.

County Administrative Officer Greg Devereaux has been meeting with union leaders since February, giving them the low down on budget problems and stressing the need for everyone to contribute.

Read the rest of this entry »

Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

A state appeals court prolonged furloughs Tuesday for tens of thousands of state employees, requiring them to take three days off without pay each month and keeping the agencies that issue driver’s licenses and jobless benefits closed most Fridays this spring.

The First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco extended a temporary stay it issued March 30 that maintained the furloughs. Tuesday’s order keeps the employees off work for the first three Fridays each month until the court decides whether Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s furlough orders were legal.

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By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com The Sacramento Bee
Published: Wednesday, Apr. 14, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s threat to shut down city government two days a week because of a looming shortage of cash fizzled when city officials suddenly discovered an additional $30 million in property taxes.

Nevertheless, Los Angeles’ financial woes are emblematic of a widening crisis in California’s 5,000 units of local government as they deal with flattening or even declining property and sales tax revenues, reduced and/or delayed payments from a deficit-wracked state budget, and burgeoning costs. And if their pinch continues, which seems highly likely, some probably will wind up in bankruptcy court.

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10:00 PM PDT on Monday, April 12, 2010

By RICHARD K. DE ATLEY
The Press-Enterprise

Riverside County district attorney candidate Paul Zellerbach can keep his ballot statement that the “convicted-as-charged” rate in the county has been less than 45 percent on criminal cases brought to trial during the past three years, a judge ruled.

Zellerbach is challenging incumbent Rod Pacheco, who claims convictions in more than 93 percent of the criminal cases prosecuted by his office.

The election is June 8.

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New CAO said layoffs likely to help close $90 million budget gap

April 12, 2010 4:39 PM
Natasha Lindstrom

SAN BERNARDINO • Two months since taking San Bernardino County’s helm, County Administrative Officer Greg Devereaux said he will push to reorganize the county’s structure, establish a county-wide vision for the future and seek extensive union concessions to minimize layoffs that loom ahead.

County officials have yet to publicly discuss any details of a budget proposal for the fiscal year that begins July 1, though Devereaux said discussion on the budget should be agendized by early June.

Read the rest of this entry »

PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State

April 12, 2010 | 4:19 pm

An independent expenditure committee aimed at boosting Jerry Brown’s campaign for governor is taking shape, with three major donors in the labor movement signing on as co-chairmen.

The heads of the State Building Trades Assn., California Professional Firefighters and Service Employees International Union all have joined California Working Families 2010 as co-chairmen. They have each made a “significant” pledge to the committee, according to committee spokesman Roger Salazar. Businessman Ron Burkle has also “pledged resources” to the campaign, Salazar said.

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Brown

The election for California’s next Governor hasn’t even begun in earnest yet and already Attorney General Edmund “Jerry” Brown can’t take the heat.

Last week the California Chamber of Commerce pulled a hard-hitting television attack ad against Brown. The ad was pulled after pressure from Brown and his wife was brought to bear on chamber board members.

What exactly that pressure entailed has yet to be revealed.

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Bono-Mack

By PE Politics
on April 7, 2010 2:32 PM

Inland Rep. Mary Bono Mack and one of those trying to replace her, Palm Springs Mayor Steve Pougnet, each picked up endorsements in recent days.

Bono Mack, R-Palm Springs, got formal backing from the Log Cabin Republicans, a conservative group that promotes fairness for gay and lesbian Americans. The group has consistently supported Bono Mack, calling her an ally for Riverside County’s gay population.

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Josh Dulaney, Staff Writer
Posted: 04/07/2010 06:42:50 PM PDT

RIALTO – Labor negotiations between the firefighters union and the city have broken off amid efforts by officials to close a budget shortfall.

Nash Briones, president of Rialto Professional Firefighters Local 3688, said Wednesday the City Council has rejected $2 million in concessions offered by the union.

Read the rest of this entry »

Troy Anderson, Staff Writer
Created: 04/07/2010 08:11:02 PM PDT

The union representing Los Angeles County prosecutors has filed a class-action lawsuit against District Attorney Steve Cooley, alleging his office committed “what amounts to identity theft” by obtaining a list of 650 prosecutors who supported the union, officials said.

The lawsuit alleges Cooley’s office obtained a highly confidential list of the prosecutors who supported the Association of Deputy District Attorneys and subsequently used the list to intimidate and harass them, damaging prosecutors’ careers and prospects for advancement.

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By Jon Ortiz
jortiz@sacbee.com The Sacramento Bee
Published: Wednesday, Mar. 31, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Wednesday, Mar. 31, 2010 – 7:44 am

A San Francisco appellate court applied the brakes Tuesday to a judge’s order to end “Furlough Fridays” for tens of thousands of state workers, keeping furloughs in place.

The 1st District Court of Appeal’s decision temporarily maintains Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s furlough policy for employees in about 70 state departments who were supposed to resume a regular work schedule this week.

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By PE Politics
on March 30, 2010 11:56 AM

Bill Emmerson’s campaign is not happy with the latest independent expenditure TV ads that alternately tout GOP opponent Russ Bogh and trash Emmerson.

Here’s our previous post about the commercials and how they were paid for.

And here’s a statement from the Emmerson campaign this morning:

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10:00 PM PDT on Monday, March 22, 2010

By DAYNA STRAEHLEY
The Press-Enterprise

Some Inland teachers unions are pressing their districts to cut more waste and offer more early retirement incentives to avoid laying off hundreds of their colleagues.

Other districts have already cut enough that teachers are ready to consider pay cuts or furlough days to save some jobs.

Their union, California Teachers Association, has sent analysts to go over budgets, looking for dollars to save jobs, local union presidents said.

Read the rest of this entry »

Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
March 22, 2010

The anti-Meg Whitman independent expenditure committee Level the Playing Field raised $228,681 between January 1 and March 17, well short of the $1 million that it said it had commitments for at its debut last month, according to a campaign finance report filed with the Secretary of State’s office this afternoon.

The committee, run by veteran Democratic strategists such as Chris Lehane and Sean Clegg, had spent $202,386 in that period. The group has run radio ads and launched a Web site targeting Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman. The committee is not currently running any ads, although Clegg said it would start running a TV ad soon.

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Fixes are proving to be contentious
Sandra Emerson and Liset Marquez, Staff Writers
Posted: 03/21/2010 07:02:54 AM PDT

For years, the state has been embroiled in a debate over whether its pension practices are sustainable.

Despite opposing opinions in that debate, both sides point to the economy as a major culprit in asset losses.

The California Public Employees’ Retirement System lost about 20 percent of its value in the recent economic downturn.

Read the rest of this entry »

City at financial crossroads
Josh Dulaney, Staff Writer
Created: 03/21/2010 07:02:58 AM PDT

RIALTO – The city’s financial future remains uncertain as rising pension costs are crashing head-on into plunging revenues.

When enhanced retirements for safety personnel and nonsafety workers kick in next year, the city will be funding an estimated $12 million in pension costs, including $5 million in sweetened benefits approved by the City Council in 2008.

Already tasked with closing an $8.2 million General Fund budget deficit, City Administrator Henry Garcia reported to the council recently that the city does not have the revenue needed to meet its contractual obligations for the pensions.

Read the rest of this entry »

Brown

Capitol and California – Governor 2010

By Jack Chang
jchang@sacbee.com
Published: Sunday, Mar. 21, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

OAKLAND – Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown unveiled a new, populist line of attack Saturday by portraying himself as the defender of working Californians against Wall Street business titans profiting off the woes of ordinary people.

In his speech to Service Employees International Union members, Brown repeatedly linked his Republican rivals, and in particular front-runner Meg Whitman, to corporate interests, who he said had sent the nation’s economy into recession.

Read the rest of this entry »

City’s deficit grows to $2 million; union rep urges council to dip into rainy day fund
March 19, 2010 9:26 AM
Beau Yarbrough

HESPERIA • The city’s budget situation has gotten a little bleaker in the past month, and that might mean belt tightening for employees.

At Tuesday’s meeting of the Hesperia City Council, about a dozen employees stood in silent protest before the council, as Bridgette Washington, a labor relations representative for the San Bernardino Public Employees Association, read a prepared statement asking the city to “take another look at the instructions you have given to the city’s chief negotiator.”

Read the rest of this entry »

By PE Politics
on March 19, 2010 6:15 PM

The group trying to make the Legislature part-time has paid for more than $47,000 worth of TV ads supporting Russ Bogh for state Senate.

Bogh, R-Beaumont, is one of seven candidates —three Republican, three Democrats, one American Independent — running in the April 13 special election for Riverside County’s 37th Senate District.

Read the rest of this entry »

PolitiCal

March 19, 2010 | 10:35 am

Democrats in the Legislature have spent the last few years fighting to save the pay of members of public employee unions. Now, two of those unions are returning the favor.

The Professional Engineers in California Government and the California Assn. of Professional Scientists are speaking out against a proposed 10% salary reduction for lawmakers, calling the proposal unreasonable just months after lawmakers’ compensation was slashed 18%.

Read the rest of this entry »

Well April is almost here and the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors has yet to hold formal budget hearings on any plan on solving a projected shortfall of more than $90 million for the fiscal year commencing July 1.

The county is reportedly wanting all employee unions to cancel all negotiated salary increases including last years deferrals in order to fill more than $30 million of the projected deficit. The move, if agreed to, would wipe out all previously negotiated wage increases and would most likely mean county employees would see no raises for at least a five to six year period.

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10:00 PM PDT on Tuesday, March 16, 2010

The Press-Enterprise

City officials on Tuesday announced an agreement with the General Employees Association of Redlands that includes no cost-of-living pay increases and furloughs equal to 80 hours per employee through June 2012.

The association represents 220 of the city’s approximately 500 employees.

Read the rest of this entry »

Troy Anderson, Staff Writer
Created: 03/16/2010 06:38:27 PM PDT

Beset by an unprecedented $79 million shortfall, Los Angeles County Superior Court officials on Tuesday announced 329 layoffs and the closure of 17 courtrooms.

Presiding Judge Charles W. “Tim” McCoy Jr. said another 1,800 layoffs are possible – 34 percent of the court workforce – and 180 courtrooms and nine courthouses could be shuttered by 2013 if the system doesn’t get more state funding.

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Debbie Pfeiffer Trunnell, Staff Writer
Posted: 03/15/2010 06:35:01 PM PDT

Nearly 800 teachers at some of the San Bernardino area’s largest school districts could lost their jobs by the start of the next school year after receiving pink slips in recent weeks.

Hundreds more teachers at smaller districts also were warned.

Read the rest of this entry »

School district cuts

Canan Tasci, Staff Writer
Created: 03/15/2010 07:34:36 PM PDT

Inland Valley school districts, many teetering on the edge of a financial abyss, have issued more than 1,000 layoff notices to teachers and staff.

The state deadline to notify employees of pending layoffs was Monday, with more than 21,000 throughout California receiving notices they may not be rehired after June 30.

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Joe Garofoli, Chronicle Staff Writer

Monday, March 15, 2010

Republican Meg Whitman is sharpening her focus on one of the main foils of the billionaire executive’s gubernatorial campaign: unions, particularly those representing public employees.

Her TV commercials attack GOP primary rival Steve Poizner for “joining liberal unions” to support a 2000 ballot measure that lowered the vote threshold to pass school bonds. She rejects a timeline to release her taxes, dismissing the demand as coming from a “union front for Jerry Brown.” She insists that state employees make financial concessions to help balance the budget.

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March 12, 2010 | Lance Williams

Gaming Indian tribes have emerged as bigger players in Sacramento than the power companies that dominated California politics for much of the 20th century.

The pharmaceutical lobby’s political spending is nearly triple that of the state chamber of commerce.

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By John Howard | 03/11/10 1:00 AM PST

Of the more than $1.33 billion spent by special interests during the past decade to influence public policy in Sacramento, about three out of every four dollars were spent by an array of groups that included pharmaceutical companies, Indian tribes, petroleum and energy companies, the health care industry, and others.

As a group, spending by public-employee unions –including the California Teachers Association — represented just over a fourth of the total.

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By PE Politics
March 10, 2010 2:09 PM

Some Inland tribes with casinos are among the state’s top political spenders since 2000, according to a new report from the state’s campaign-finance watchdog.

The Fair Political Practices Commission study found that 15 entities altogether spent more than $1 billion on campaigns and Capitol lobbying.

Topping the list was the California Teachers Association ($211,849,298), California State Council of Service Employees ($107,487,272) and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America ($104,912,997).

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Paying for pensions

Josh Dulaney, Staff Writer
Posted: 03/09/2010 08:51:12 PM PST

RIALTO – The city will spend between $60,000 and $70,000 to find out if residents want to reinstate a property tax to pay for enhanced public employee pensions.

The council in a 4-0 vote on Tuesday night approved a resolution calling for an advisory measure to be added to the statewide June 8 primary election, to gauge public interest in a proposed tax of roughly 15 cents per $100 of assessed valuation on properties in order to pay into the Public Employee Retirement System.

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