Fresno Mayor Alan Autry, in reacting to federal judge Oliver Wanger’s settlement ruling against the city and its treatment of the homeless, has been summoned to federal court Tuesday by the judge, who will call upon Autry to justify his comments in law.

The judge has threatened to void the settlement based on Autry’s comments.

Autry, who is often governed by his heart rather than his judgement in such matters, will likely bring the city attorney along with him for the hearing. Ruh Roh!… Read More

I have known Ken Calvert for a very long time. Back when I was a youth activist in politics, he served as Chairman of the Riverside County GOP. I’ve run into him from time to time since his election to Congress. As a matter of fact, he endorsed my candidacy for Vice Chairman South of the State GOP just last year. For my interactions with him, Calvert has been a really nice guy.

That said, there is certainly a tension out there because Calvert is a very big proponent of this Appropriations-driven model of governance that we have in the House of Representatives. It is some sort of mentality that seems to boil down to this: our constituents are taxed so much that our job is to drive home as much federal spending back to our districts as possible. Of course this is a totally flawed outlook — conservatives should not argue to increase spending to "mitigate" high taxes, but should fight to lower the taxes.

Anyways, when the GOP took control of Congress in the big "Contract with America" 1994 sweep that propelled Newt Gingrich into the Speaker’s chair, Republicans started to go down the wrong road with an embrace of the… Read More

The football adage of "If you get into the end zone, act like you have been there before." I would also add — act like you are going to come back.

Since last Tuesday I have noticed that around that state we have some poor sports. A few of the people have been those that lost on Tuesday.

The vast majority of poor sports have been those that have won races.… Read More

It is arguable that no single person has had more influence on the development and popularity of American wines than the late Robert Mondavi. Mondavi, considered the modern-day pioneer of the San Franciso Bay Area’s wine region was an inventor, a businessman, and foremost a visionary. He saw where the wine industry could be, and then lead the charge over decades to take it there.

At the time of Mondavi’s passing, we dedicated much of our main page to this pioneer – who was a master of the politics of wine.

As I pen this blog post, I am with my brother deep in the heart of the Napa Valley. We spent the better part of an hour this morning in the To Kolon Reserve Tasting Room at the Robert Modavi winery, sipping a vertical tasting of some outstanding reserve Cabernet Sauvignon wines, and toasting to the life of one who has made so much impact on an industry so important to California, and one very impactful to the publisher of this website.

To Robert Mondavi — salut!… Read More

Ok, The San Diego Primary Election Contest results are in (see prior post if you missed the opportunity to awe your fellow political hacks with your savvy predictions).

The response was pretty overwhelming for the blogs, with nearly 40 respondents! Before I announce the winners, first a recap of the questions, the correct answers and a brief analysis of the responses on each, as well as some creative comments that were occasionally included:

Question #1: 75th Assembly – Name the winner of the Republican nomination.

Correct Answer – Nathan Fletcher. This one was a throw away, worth zero points if answered correctly, but if wrong I wasn’t going to waste my time with the rest of the guesses. Fortunately, everyone got it right. Actually, one respondent nearly muffed it, initially answering Martin Garrick, only to email again and say "Oops," he had mis-read the district number.

“Cutest” Answer – “Mindy’s husband…I forgot his name.” Question #2: San Diego Mayor… Read More

On Friday Judge Peter Polos of the Orange County Superior Court rejected claims that the "City Hall in the Park" initiative adopted by voters in Newport Beach last February violated the law. Polosrejected residentAlan Beek’s request for a preliminary injunction and found that his case had little likelihood to succeed on the merits.

The City Hall in the Park initiative, also known as "Measure B," amends the City Charter torequire the city to place any new City Hall at Newport Center next to the Central Library. I wrote the measure for proponents Marian Bergeson, William Ficker, and Jack Croul, and am representing them as Intervenors in the case, to help defend the measure in court. Opponent Beek and his allies, who lost the argumentwith the voters of Newport Beachwhen they approved"Measure B," have now resorted to the courts to overturn the vote of the people and the measure, and have filed two lawsuits expressing the usual litany of overblown environmental and traffic arguments, overlooking the taxpayers savings and need for a new facility in a central location.

The cityis… Read More

After lunchtime, the delegation heard a rousing speech from California Republican Party Chairman Ron Nehring, after which John Pesching, the Regional Political Director for the McCain campaign, and who served as the ground-guy for McCain in California for the primary, came forward to recognize those who lead the effort for the Arizona Senator in California: Cassandra Vandenberg, Finance Director for California Andrea Jones Rivera, California Campaign Manager Regional Chairs: Bob Laurie Anito Beck, Don Nelson: Bay Area Brian Forrest: Central Valley Rob Bren: Central Coast Steve Kuykendall: Los Angeles County, Luis Averado Robbie Hightower: Inland Empire Chris Truax – San Diego County Kevin Muldoon – Orange County Volunteer Coordinators Fred Hildbrant Alexia Delgianni Communications Team Jill Buck Chris Rubin Coalitions Chairman Gayle Pacheco (Gayle read off a lot of names of… Read More

The liberals that control the California legislature HATE Proposition 13. Why? Because they have a voracious appetite for taxing working Californians, and "playing" with that money as if it were the fruits of their own labor. Well, this past week was the 30th Anniversary of the passage of Prop. 13, and to celebrate the occasion, Senate and Assembly Democrats killed commemorate resolutions in their respective houses. Below is an account from Senate Tom Harman, who authored a resolution for the Upper Chamber…

… Read More