Back on November 15th, the Governor announced ten appointments — but I got busy and never penned a post on them… 6 Republicans and 4 Democrats…

So here they are — one Republican to the Recreational Trails Committee, Laura Zabkar of Foresthill — and nine appointments to Regional Water Quality Control Boards: Jack Clarke (R), 64, of Apple Valley, to the Lahontan District; Francine Diamond (D), 63, of Pacific Palisades, to the Los Angeles District; Maurice Gallarda (R), 53, of Yorba Linda, to the Santa Ana District; Amy Horne (D), 52, of Truckee, to the Lahontan District; M.E. "Red" Martinez (D), 75, of Banning, to the Colorado River Basin District; William E. Peacock (D), 65, of Portola Valley, to the San Francisco Bay District; William Ruh (R), 47, of Montclair, to the Santa Ana District; Gary Shallcross (R), 59, of Monterey, to the Central Coast District; Seymour Van Gundy (R), 75, of Riverside, to the Santa Ana District.

Oh yes, I always like to emphasize that there are qualified individuals of all political parties to serve in positions of public trust. That having been said, how someone chooses to register gives you… Read More

From the Groan Department, this press release pretty much speaks for itself….

New workshop series provides farm workers with variety of life skills The Migrant Education Program (MEP), which is administered by the San Diego County Office of Education, will be presenting a series of free workshops, in Spanish, introducing skills on everyday living and educational opportunities in the community for farm workers. The first workshop in the two-part pilot series will be held Tuesday, Nov. 21 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Farm Bureau office, 1670 E. Valley Parkway, Escondido. The second workshop will be presented from 6 to 8 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 27, also at the Farm Bureau office. Depending on the response to this initial workshop series, additional workshops will be offered in 2007 and at different North San Diego County locations.

The complete workshop series teaches practical and relevant skills to fit the needs and interests of migrant farm workers in San Diego County. They include, among other things, advice on banking and money management, buying a car, renting an… Read More

Today the Governor made fifteen more appointments into State Government — 9 Republicans and 6 Democrats. To the Shasta County Fair Board: Eileen Bauer (R), Emmett Burroughs (R), Bill Gibson (R), Bradd McDannold (R), Pete Peters (R), Larry Russell (D), Patrick Wallner (D), Victor Woolery (R).

To the Advisory Committee on Juvinile Justice and Delinquency: Carol Biondi (R, Los Angeles), Sandra McBrayer (D, San Diego), Winston Peters (D, Los Angeles), Maria Rochart (R, Glendale).

Also: * John Dunker (R), of Rio Dell to the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board. * Matthew Magner (R), of Bakersfield, as special assistant inspector general of the Bureau of Independent Review in the Office of the Inspector General. * Samuel Wakim (R), of Yreka to the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board. (A special FR congrats to Sam Wakim, who is Chairman of his… Read More

Since the election, several of the Governor’s top staff have announced they are leaving for greener ($$$) pastures.

The blog LA Observed has a post of an email from a Democratic consultant looking for people to work in the Villaraigosa’s administration in Los Angeles. See post here.

That is good economic news for Democratic operatives as they now have two places they can apply.… Read More

This week the Republican members of the California State Senate and State Assembly will hold a ‘retreat’ at Donald Bren’s posh Island Hotel (formerly the Four Seasons) in Newport Beach, California. This multi-day affair is an annual tradition, and affords a chance for nearly fifty GOP legislators to come together and spend some ‘quality time’ — getting to know one another (over a quarter of these legislators are taking office for the first time next week), and look at their political and policy strategies for the upcoming legislative session and election cycle. If FR readers will recall, on the Thursday after the election, Assembly Republicans caucused for several long hours and emerged with a new leader – Mike Villines of Fresno. We featured a column from Villines on this site the very next day, where the new Assembly Republican Leader talked about his priorities, paramount of which is trying to bring fiscal discipline and sanity to state government.

Because of the way California’s Constitution is worded, it takes a two-thirds vote of both houses of the legislature to enact a tax increase, or to pass a… Read More

This week the Republican members of the California State Senate and State Assembly will hold a ‘retreat’ at Donald Bren’s posh Island Hotel (formerly the Four Seasons) in Newport Beach, California. This multi-day affair is an annual tradition, and affords a chance for nearly fifty GOP legislators to come together and spend some ‘quality time’ — getting to know one another (over a quarter of these legislators are taking office for the first time next week), and look at their political and policy strategies for the upcoming legislative session and election cycle. If FR readers will recall, on the Thursday after the election, Assembly Republicans caucused for several long hours and emerged with a new leader – Mike Villines of Fresno. We featured a column from Villines on this site the very next day, where the new Assembly Republican Leader talked about his priorities, paramount of which is trying to bring fiscal discipline and sanity to state government.

Because of the way California’s Constitution is worded, it takes a two-thirds vote of both houses of the legislature to enact a tax increase, or to pass a… Read More

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich took on Federal election campaign finance reform yesterday and stated that the McCain-Feingold law, intended to restrict "soft money" in Congressional elections, has resulted in restricted First Amendment rights and more negative campaigning. McCain-Feingold and its amendments have indeed resulted in some bizarre situations. Here in California, Congressman Darrell Issa was the unfortunate target of a months long FEC administrative action becauseof his support for the recall of former Governor Gray Davis. The FEC objected to the Congressman’s fundraising effort to support collection of recall signatures. The FEC would have limited the Congressman’s ability to raise funds for a state effort by artificially imposing the "Federal" McCain-Feingold limits onhis state electioninvolvment. That case was ultimately dropped, but McCain-Feingold was the pretext, and the FEC hasn’t really completely clarified the rules going forward. The case illustrates that when a California Congressman gets involved in a state race, ballot proposition, or recall, he/she really doesn’t have the same First… Read More

When we lament about the ‘Blue Wave’ that swept Republicans out of control of Congress, and arguably washed out the close elections of Tom McClintock, Tony Strickland, and Bruce McPherson, it is frustrating to feel like the GOPers in Congress truly don’t understand that a big piece of the blame goes to the Republican embrace of federal spending (up 44% since 2001!).

Check this out from FR friend Stephen Moore in today’s Wall Street Journal Political Diary:

Wake-Up Call…or Snooze Button?

The political finger-pointing and recriminations are beginning in earnest among Capitol Hill Republicans, and it’s not a pretty picture. In the few days… Read More