Yes, that’sright the Governor has appointed another Republican to the Los Angeles Superior Court. He also appointed a deputy DA who is decline to state. See the press relese here.Some newer readers may wonder why this is such a news item. These appointments makethe unofficialscore for judges 17 Dems, 9 Republicans and two decline to state types. See my previous post here.I suppose this is considered progress, but why do Republicans have to beg a Republican Governor to appoint Republicans?… Read More

Congressman McKeonfrom Santa Clarita in Los Angeles County has been selected Chair of the Education and Workforce Committee. He replaces Boehner who was elected Majority Leader.

Press release below.

United States House of Representatives

Washington, DC 20515

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CONTACT: 202-225-2800

February 8, 2006 Ron Bonjean or Lisa C. Miller

Speaker Hastert Applauds Selection for Education and the Workforce Committee Chair

-Rep. McKeon (R-CA) named Chairman of the Education and the Workforce Committee-

(Washington, D.C.) Speaker of the House J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL) today issued the following statement regarding the Steering Committee’s choice of Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-CA) as the Chairman for the Education and the Workforce Committee:

“The Steering Committee has made a terrific choice in Buck McKeon to take up the gavel for the Education and Workforce Committee. I look forward to having the full House GOP Conference… Read More

The numbers in San Diego’s 5th Supervisorial District are in and thusfar it is brutal. Supervisor Bill Horn is showing around 195k cash on hand, and as reported last week former Assemblyman Bruce Thompson has around 14k cash on hand. Furthermore, it does not appear that Thompson has hired a professional firm to run his campaign but is rather paying a relative for campaign services. There are no payments from Thompson to a fundraiser – and from my calls I’m guessing there is not one on board. These are not the signs of a campaign which is serious about upsetting an entrenched Supervisor. Given the short time period between now and the June primary I don’t see Thompson having the capability of raising the money to be competitive. Instead, at this point, if he really wants to play he is going to have to rely on his own pocketbook, if he has the means, or independent expenditures, which is always a risky strategy.… Read More

My day-job is in media relations for the Sheriff’s Department in Orange County. I was working very late last night at our county’s Emergency Operations Center as we are battling some large wildfires in the eastern canyons of our county. Hence the late update of the homepage this morning.

You can read more about the fires here.

That said, I don’t have time to pen a commentary today, though I will give a quick ‘shout out’ to Republican State Senator Bob Dutton. He and I were speaking recently, and he was expressing his extreme frustration with the proposal to hike by $1 and hour the minimum wage mandate on California businesses. After our discussion, he sent me a column he has written on the subject, which is featured on the… Read More

Susan Hartley and John Witt are amazing. I don’t even know them, and since 95% of FR readers don’t hail from San Diego County, you probably don’t either. As a matter of fact, if you are from San Diego, you might not know that these are two GOP members of the County Board of Education. That said, they have, at best, betrayed their own political party by voting with a Democrat colleague to install a Democrat onto the County Board of Education. At worst, they may have violated state law in doing so… Let me explain…

I received a phone call last night from San Diego FR correspondent Barry Jantz just before 6 p.m. saying that current La Mesa-Spring Valley School Trustee Sharon Jones would be appointed to the vacancy on the San Diego County Board of Education. (As you know, Jantz has been covering the vacancy created by Ernie Dronenburg’s resignation extensively on the FR.) He indicated that the vote would be 3-1, that Bob Watkins would be in the minority, and that if he were wrong, he would eat his hat, take a photo of him doing so, and post it here.

About an hour and a half later, at… Read More

When I moved to the Bay Area in 2000, I was amused to have Governor Moonbeam as my mayor. At election time, I was suprised to find myself voting for the guy because Jerry Brown actually was the more mainstream of the two candidates (that’s mainstream for the Bay Area–both candidates loudly proclaimed their vegetarianism during the 2002 race).

With Brown termed out of office, it looked like City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente was going to be elected Oakland’s new mayor in 2006. De La Fuente has been madly holding neighborhood coffee klatches around the city and many people I know, even the few Republicans around here, have given him good marks after meeting him. The multiple rape charges against his grown son do pose a problem, but it is likely that voters may not hold the father accountable for the son’s sins.

But De La Fuente’s easy mayoral race got tougher when former… Read More

My day-job is in media relations for the Sheriff’s Department in Orange County. I was working very late last night at our county’s Emergency Operations Center as we are battling some large wildfires in the eastern canyons of our county. Hence the late update of the homepage this morning.

You can read more about the fires here.

That said, I don’t have time to pen a commentary today, though I will give a quick ‘shout out’ to Republican State Senator Bob Dutton. He and I were speaking recently, and he was expressing his extreme frustration with the proposal to hike by $1 and hour the minimum wage mandate on California businesses. After our discussion, he sent me a column he has written on the subject, which is featured on the… Read More

Well known is LA Mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa’s attempt to take control of the Los Angeles Unified School District. His ambition is shown by his response to the State of the Union.That is not enough.

The La Mayor has four appointments on the all-powerful, semi-public Metropolitan Water District. If you want to control water politics control the MWD. The Mayor campaign to choose Democratic Assemblyman and lobbyist Richard Katz to head the agency is making waves. Read about it here.or is this really linked to Katz, Anonio trying to help a aplan to takewater from the Mojave Desert. See it here. Will the rest of the MWD board resist?… Read More