RECALLED GOVERNOR DAVIS GETS PORTRAIT IN CAPITOL Well, the news loves to eat up photo-opportunities like this one. At any other time, disgraced former pay-for-play Governor Gray Davis would have slinked into the state capitol for a subdued ceremony to unveil his ‘official’ portrait to adorn some obscure wall on the ‘old site’ of the capitol. But Gray Davis’ stock is on the rise now, as two of his former Deputy Chief’s of Staff have now taking on two prominent spots as Chief of Staff to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Chief of Staff to First Lady Maria Shriver. Sound like a nightmare to you? Me, too. You couldn’t make this stuff up if you wanted: Here are two choice quotes for you:

A couple weeks ago theradical Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a rulling declaring that the Voting Rights Act requirement that election materials be in various languages applies to recall petitions. The case was the succesful2003 recall of Nativo Lopez from the Santa Ana Unified School District Board. See a quick recap here.

A bitter campaign by unions against Wal-Mart in Rosemead has been derailed by that decision. After the city council apporoved 5-0 a development plan for a Wal-Mart, the unions and other Wal-Mart haters went to work. First they defeated 2 or the three incumbents that supported Wal-Mart.

That still left them one vote shy of a majority. So Wal-Mart opponents started a recall against the two incumbent members that weren’t up for election. They collected enough signatures and the election was on until the Ninth Circuit made their decision.

Now, the majority put off the election citing the lack of multi-language recall petitions. See the story here.

For now the liberals… Read More

In a move that pretty-much guarantees the escalation of this issue over Governor hiring Susan Kennedy as his Chief of Staff, I just received a press release from the California Republican Assembly calling for the State GOP, at its upcoming February convention, to pull the Governor’s pre-primary endorsement. The angst comes from the fact that Kennedy has spent the last two years as a Gray Davis appointee on the Public Utilities Commission, and before that she was the now-recalled Governor’s Deputy Chief of Staff, she served as Communications Director and senior policy advisor to United States Senator Dianne Feinstein, and she served as Executive Director of both the California Democrat Party and the California Abortion Rights Action League.

This resolution of the CRA Board of Directors (passed unanimously by their 27 member Executive Committee) is significant because a large percentage of the State GOP Central Committee (which has roughly 1400 members) is made up of proud CRA conservatives. The CRA is the… Read More

While, I’m a Flashreport writer, I’m also President of the California Republican Assembly. The recent vote of our board has raised many questions. For further information on our unanimousvote to try pull the CRP’s pre-primary endorsement of the Governor click here.… Read More

I have really come to enjoy the writing style of columnist William Bradley. I don’t always ‘agree’ with him, but that is a separate issue. He has penned a story for the LA Weekly that includes some observations of yesterday’s ceremony honoring recalled Governor Gray Davis as his official portrait was unveiled. It is a ‘must read’ for those following state politics…

The furor over Susan Kennedy shows no signs of dying down, but this morning’s San Jose Mercury News reports on what may be another Democratic staffer-incuded headache for Schwarzenegger. Terry Tamminen, the governor’s cabinet secretary and top environmental advisor, opened for Al Gore at a Stanford event yesterday, in which the former VP spoke out against global warming. No problems there, as Schwarzenegger has already signed on to a host of pro-green legislation since taking office.

But the San Jose Mercury News reported that Tamminen delivered the "most politically biting jokes" of the day. And guess who Tamminen bit?

"Tamminen began his remarks by reading from a piece of paper he said was given to him by TV producer and environmental activist Laurie David: “The top five things President Bush says he will do to address global warming.” Among the satirical suggestions made by Tamminen: switching the power on Vice President Dick Cheney’s pacemaker to nuclear power, and invading Silicon Valley to secure more solar panels.

“The No. 1 thing President Bush says he will do to address global… Read More

OUTRAGE OVER SUSAN KENNEDY APPOINTMENT One of the advantages of publishing a website is that you get to make sure that your positions are very clearly articulated. Today in the Los Angeles Times, Robert Salladay has a story, Governor faces revolt in GOP. This article talks about an ever-growing angst within GOP grassroots activists and donors, all stemming from the ill-advised appointment of recalled Governor Gray Davis’ Chief of Staff, Susan Kennedy, a former Executive Director of the State Democrat Party, by Governor Schwarzenegger to run his administration.

Let me be very clear – I still remain supportive of this Governor. I believe that he has a lot that he wants to accomplish, much of which is in-line with the limited government, free-market principles of the Grand Ol’ Party. That said, I don’t have words to describe my dismay and disappointment at this… Read More

In my initial blog here several weeks ago, I asked for you to share those examples of “outside the box” ideas taking place in local government around the state. That invitation stands, by the way.

Case in point. Although it hit this morning’s Union-Tribune and was noted by a couple of local TV stations, the story was far more deserving of even broader attention: One of the state’s largest high school districts is looking at a proposal to go ALL charter, by adding 10 charter campuses to the one already in place.… Read More