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

NEW LEGISLATIVE BLOGGER Next week, there will be about a dozen new Republicans sworn into terms in the California State Assembly. We are very pleased to announce that one of these incoming GOP freshmen, Anthony Adams (pictured to the right), has agreed to come onboard as a new State Capitol Correspondent for the FlashReport Blog! Anthony was elected as the new legislator representing the 59th Assembly District, which has been represented the past six years by Dennis Mountjoy. The 59th District is a large on that is split roughly in half — with one part being the far east end of Los Angeles County, and the other part going into San Bernardino County, shooting up into the high desert. I’ve known Anthony for some time, and he has just the right mix to be a great addition to our team — he is conservative, he is smart, and he is technologically savvy — thus… Read More

NEW LEGISLATIVE BLOGGER Next week, there will be about a dozen new Republicans sworn into terms in the California State Assembly. We are very pleased to announce that one of these incoming GOP freshmen, Anthony Adams (pictured to the right), has agreed to come onboard as a new State Capitol Correspondent for the FlashReport Blog! Anthony was elected as the new legislator representing the 59th Assembly District, which has been represented the past six years by Dennis Mountjoy. The 59th District is a large on that is split roughly in half — with one part being the far east end of Los Angeles County, and the other part going into San Bernardino County, shooting up into the high desert. I’ve known Anthony for some time, and he has just the right mix to be a great addition to our team — he is conservative, he is smart, and he is technologically savvy — thus… Read More

Check out the Contra Costa Time’s interesting article on the California Teacher Association’s efforts to get the courts to allow the union to use teacher mailboxes at school for campaign literature. The CTA argues that the school administrators are violating their right to free speech in limiting the material the union can distribute through the school mailboxes. CTA’s lawyer tells the CoCo Times, “It’s our soapbox and we maintain that we can say anything on that soapbox."

In the past, districts have argued that the union is not allowed to circulate election material through the mailboxes, only union-related information. However, the union cleverly points out that the schools have used the mailboxes to campaign for local school bond measures. In the past the courts have sided with school district officials, but it appears that the tide may be turning. While I agree with district officials that the mailboxes… Read More

Welcome aboard to these 2 legislators… from the far North Californialegislator. [2ndAssy. district Jon, not 4th] Ray’s comments and insight are always welcome and interesting, especially since we’ll be missing those floor speeches, such as speech #2 on Spending, or the Partridge in A Pear Tree speech about all bills creatingthe:5 new commissions, 4 new task forces, 3 new studies, 2 new agencies, and yes, Ray isstill a legislator til Nov 30 at midnight. [did you know that there is NO Assembly and only half a Senate from then until Dec 4 at noon? Go do something that hasn’t been legislated or regulatedagainst during that 3 1/2 days!!!]

And Anthony, don’t worry about putting foot in mouth on the FR, or on the floor. Since you’re a freshman, I as a senior am just looking for an excuse to do a Toby Keith with my size 12 boots…it’s the American Way. I’m just most disturbed that my picture is moving lower and lower down the blog author list….Jon?

Welcome guys, it’s a lot of fun and will be more so with you on board.… Read More

Good news, it seems, sometimes lasts only…well, one short paragraph.

Last Monday, the SDUT reported the following:

Consumer advocate Michael Shames is close to a legal settlement with the city of San Diego that would give small refunds to about 225,000 single-family sewer customers for subsidizing the bills of business customers for a decade. It was the next paragraph that was the "bad news," in this version ofwhich-do-you-want-to-hear-first:

The credit likely would be consumed by a larger rate increase.

The next day, Tuesday, as if on cue, Mayor Jerry Sanders proposed huge increases in water and sewer rates, 29% and 35% respectively, while vowing certain safeguards.

On Wednesday, the SDUT editorialized on the… Read More