This morning I awoke from my slumber and made my way down to the car wash early. In Fresno, ever present construction and agricultural harvesting creates a dusty mess and car maintenance is a must! No sooner had I sat down with my paper and coffee than up walks former Secretary of State Bill Jones, the happiest non Governor and Senator in history. As you may have read in my post earlier this year, Secretary Jones is on the ground floor of a major ethanol deal here in California, and is continuing to farm on the Central Valley’s west side also. Our conversation was brief, but quite interesting, ranging from public service to local government to Iraq and the Middle East to the current ag situation. Bill Jones remains positively one of the finest people to ever serve in California politics and it was great to visit with him.

Former Mayor Jim Patterson was also in the "car wash" crowd. One of the most effective Mayors ever to serve in Fresno, he is considering a run in 2008 for Mayor again and would be the odds on favorite to… Read More

Today was the first of the last 25 days before theadjournment of this 2 year legislative session. The big issue today was the amendment of Senate Bill 1437, which, before amends,would require public school curriculum tofeature historical events involving homosexuals. Thisbill alone has inspired as many phone calls, faxes, e-mails and lettersfrom upset parents and grandparents as anything I’ve seen here. With the Governor promising to veto it, we were offered, and passed, amendments on the Assembly floor today to strip out the curriculum aspect of the bill. Still in it is language that stops any reference that may "reflect adversely" on sexual orientation in instruction or school activities. Of course, this still could mean most anything, including sports teams that are gender specific, etc. if taken to the extreme. So, taking the amendment makes an extremelybad bill into still a bad bill…either way, it is likely to get out of this house and reach the Governor’s desk, albeit without Republican support. We’ll see. Hold on to your hat…and your wallet, these next 24 days.… Read More

OK GOP Legislators, it’s time for a huddle… Today the State Legislature will come back into session after their Summer recess, and it is my hope you Republican legislators will come to Sacramento ready to face the coming onslaught of big-government legislation as a team. Of course, the primary source of pressure to pass bills that raise fees and taxes, or expand the size, scope and reach of the state government will come from the Democrats who control a majority of votes in both houses of the legislature. By remaining unified as Republican caucuses on these bills, you GOPers in the State Senate and State Assembly can achieve two important goals: the first would be to ensure that no tax or fee increases requiring a 2/3 vote of the legislature will ever see the light of day. But equally important, your united opposition to liberal legislation will send an important message to Governor Schwarzenegger that we are unified, and opposing poor public policy proposals. Of course,… Read More

Former GOP Long Beach Frank Colonna lostthe Long Beach Mayor’s race to Bob Foster. Now he is lookint running for the Water Replenishment Board of Southern California against fellow GOP’er Norm Ryan. See article here.The Water Replensihmnet District is HUGE and Colonna has good name ID and can raise some cash.

Four years ago Ryan was endorsed by the state party for the Long Beach Mayor’s job. After losing , he was elected to this post. This year he ran for council, failed to make the run-off and then endorsed the Dem.Creating some ill will.

It will be interesting to see where the party would go. Deadline for filing is Friday.… Read More

The Escondido Councilmembers Respond…well, some of ’em… Last Sunday I noted the SDUT editorial chastising Escondido as a poster city on Kelo abuse, and invited the city council to let me know what, exactly, they were thinking. Emails of my post were dispatched to each of them.

Two, thus far, have responded. Coincidentally, Marie Waldron and Ed Gallo were the two votes against the taking…no response from Mayor Lori Holt Pfeiler or Councilmen Ron Newman and Sam Abed. Here’s what the anti-Kelo minority had to say:

Barry: Marie and I were the 2 dissenting votes. My exact comment at the Council meeting was that "this is much like the Kelo decision". The owners of the Lowe’s project property are working to purchase the taco shop and hopefully an agreement will be reached shortly. -Ed Gallo… Read More

The Ventura Republican Party has a long history of divisive internal fighting between its component factions. These divisions have undermined the core missions of the VCRP – registering voters, recruiting, training, and deploying precinct captains, recruiting candidates, and raising money. The opportunity of uniting the two major factions usually only occurs every few years. One of those rare alignments, when the Ventura civil war could at long last end and allow the party organization to play a meaningful role in local politics, is upon us.

In 2000 Jackie Rodgers was elected Chairman of the Ventura County Republican Party. By any standard, and from any perspective, Rodgers proved incapable of understanding or implementing basic programs which are the heart of a county organization. However, she was very effective at alienating both Republican officials and her own committee members. In 2002, facing a nearly united committee, Rodgers resigned in advance of being sacked.

Suddenly the stars were in alignment. The factions were at least loosely aligned in wanting reform and an effective organization. Long-time activist Leslie Cornejo was elected Chairman.… Read More

Virtually every day, my friend Bill Bradley pens a column and then some on California politics. He does this over at his New West Notes Dot Com website. In the coming weeks, we’ll be talking more about Bradley.

That said, in his piece today, Bill inadvertently touched off a pet-peeve of mine. Today he glosses over the Field Poll results, to see how both candidates and ballot measures are fairing as we are about 100 days out from the election.

In his very brief descriptions of Dianne Feinstein and Dick Mountjoy in the US Senate race, he calls Feinstein a “centrist” and Mountjoy a “right winger.”

First and foremost, he is more or less correct about Mountjoy. Dick and I have know each other for nearly twenty years. He is a conservative’s conservative.

But how can ANYONE call Dianne Feinstein a centrist?? Give me a break. She is, in fact, one of the most liberal members of the United States Senate, regulalrly supporting increases in taxes, and expanding government programs — opposing any proposed reduction in federal spending with a passion. Her ratings by the various taxpayer groups that monitor votes in the… Read More

Some thought my post yesterday didn’t do enough to differentiate Governor Schwarzenegger from Senator Perata on the crackers controversy, although it did directly link to a SDUT article with a comment from the Gov’s staff.

Ok, fine, here’s the comment from the UT directly, powerful, unlinked, unadorned, and un-editorialized:

Adam Mendelsohn, a Schwarzenegger spokesman, said, “The governor could not disagree more with Senator Perata’s comments.”

One of the most hitting statements in response to Perata came from Assemblyman Jay La Suer, who represents God’s crackers living in the area visited by Arnold last week and ridiculed by Perata this. A cracker jack of a release:… Read More