The June primary is 18 days away, and the 5th Supervisor District race is getting real with campaign mail hitting voter households. I’m told the campaigns of Mission Viejo Councilman Frank Ury and Laguna Niguel Councilman Robert Ming have each dropped two positive mailers, with one mail piece from Dana Point Councilwoman Lisa Bartlett.

The overall momentum of the race continues moving in Ury’s direction since my previous post on the race on May 5. He’s mounted a robust grassroots walking and phone-banking program, and has raised $19,000 since March 17, and has fundraisers scheduled practically until primary day.

Ming’s fundraising remains stalled, as it has since early this year when he began paying back his $50,000 personal loan to his campaign. He’s raised just $7,000 since March 17.

Bartlett raised $2,900 and loaned herself another $20,000 – bringing her total personal loans to her campaign to $95,000. This raises the question of why would Bartlett loan herself even more money… Read More

Today I released security camera footage showing a pedestrian nearly struck by falling glass in a January 2012 incident at the Board of Equalization’s downtown Sacramento high-rise.

View video

As the video shows, this building is a safety risk for both state workers and the public. In addition to falling glass, we’ve experienced toxic mold, leaking sewage pipes, methane gas, water leaks and more. It will cost millions more to address these problems, and it’s impossible to do so expeditiously while the building is occupied.

That’s why I’m calling on Governor Jerry Brown to back an effort to move the Board of Equalization out of its problem-plagued headquarters in downtown Sacramento.

The state has been wasting millions of taxpayer dollars throwing good money at a bad building. It’s time for the Governor to finally solve this problem by moving everyone out of that building to a new location.

Located in my district, the 24-story headquarters building at 450 N Street is designed to house… Read More

Last week, the media was all abuzz about a bill moving through the Legislature that would fix a “loophole” in Proposition 13. If this were a courtroom, I would rise to my feet and object saying, “Your Honor, assumes a fact not in evidence!”

This objection would be sustained immediately because there is no “loophole” in Proposition 13 that needs fixing. The bill at issue, Assembly Bill 2372, doesn’t change Proposition 13 because it can’t. The only way Proposition 13 – a part… Read More

This week the San Diego media is focused on ONE story — the dozen or more brush fires that have popped up around the county, thanks to EXTREMELY dry conditions, high winds (Santa Anna) and likely arson.

If this fire story were not happening, perhaps we’d all know more about ANOTHER tragedy that hit San Diego this week: Defense contractor Pratt & Whitney is abandoning its San Diego operation — fleeing for other states. This closure will cost our city 530 high paying jobs.

While the company had the option to go to the state of California for economic subsidies, it didn’t bother. FAR better “subsidies” are available in other states — the “subsidy” of a better business climate, including lower taxes.

At least it’s not the Great (hated) State of Texas that the company is fleeing for. Well, not for sure.

They are also considering relocating the San Diego operations to Florida and/or Georgia — the company has existing facilities in all three of these more business-friendly states. Indeed, they are also planning to move part of the San Diego operation toCanada!

Governor… Read More

Today, the Assembly and the Senate will consider a Rainy Day Fund proposal (Assembly Constitutional Amendment 1xx) for inclusion on the November 2014 ballot.

We believe Californians will support it because they want to end our chronic budget crises and pay down debt. But just as important, fiscal conservatives should be especially pleased that it includes key reforms Republicans have talked about for years that, frankly, no one expected us to achieve.

ACA 1xx guarantees that 1.5 percent of total general fund revenue every year will be transferred into the rainy day account before funding any other programs. In economically robust… Read More

As a confirmed dog lover, I admit I have dined with my dogs at outdoor restaurants. I’ve eaten many outdoor meals in beautiful Carmel, CA, which is very dog friendly, as are many California cities and restaurants. Apparently, I’ve been doing this illegally.

For many years, many California restaurants have provided outdoor space for dog lovers, complete with bowls of fresh water and complimentary dog biscuits. However, because in California, restaurants are actually breaking the law by allowing canines to join their humans at the dining table, comes a bill to address this problem.

There arf to be a law

Under current California law, the only live animals… Read More

In exclusive “first release” to the FlashReport, former California Governor Pete Wilson has issued a pretty strongly worded warning to Republican voters about nominating Assemblyman Tim Donnelly for Governor.

Here is the Governor’s statement, in his own words (you can see an official version here):

“I respect and share the concern of Tea Party and other California voters who are determined to reverse the growth in the size and cost of our state government. I strongly urge them to vote… Read More

Last week, we discussed the “Second War Between the States”. Without question, this is a war of laws and policies. However, it is much more than that. It is a war over culture.

I am a big culture guy. I think it is the most important factor in predicting the success or failure or any association of human beings. Understanding the culture of a family will tell you much more about that family than will their address, income or the cars they drive. The culture in a company or a non-profit is tremendously influential on how they operate and whether you would want to associate with them or not. We have all probably worked somewhere or at least interviewed somewhere where the company culture was not a fit and we knew it was not a good place for us.

Countries and states have cultures, too. We certainly have long had a very strong and recognizable American culture. The American culture is not English culture or French culture or Mexican culture or Japanese culture. It is uniquely American. And, within our culture, many different “dialects” can be found across the country. But, just like English spoken in Alabama is still closer to English spoken in the… Read More