Brett Henry leaving the race opened up the San Bernardino area of the seat for another candidate. Ken Hunter is already running from that side of the district. Hesperia Unified School Board Member Anthony Riley is getting in the race. Anthony worked for Supervisor Gary Ovitt until recently and hung out a shingle for a PR firm.

Riley has had an interesting journey. While part of his resume is staffer, he was also principal of the now defunct charter school.

But even more importantly Anthony Riley was on Melrose Place. Yes in a small role he was back when Heather Locklear, no relation to the State Treasurer, was hot. Okay she is still hot.

A couple of issues may be in a GOP primary are the fact the local teachers union supported his election and the charter school officials up above him are in criminal trials (not him, but mail pieces may say it.).

More importantly can he raise the money? The machine in San Bernardino County that was there when Adams was elected is not there. Although, Riley has shown he can compete in many difficult environments.

This race will be a barnburner.… Read More

***Apparently as quick as it was up, the post is now down that is references below. I have an email into Aaron Park to figure out what the deal is — since I linked to his post after he notified me of it. I did not download the docs separately. I will let you know what happens…***

Longtime NorCal conservative activist Aaron Klein just hit me with an email to check out the latest story he has filed on his RightOnDaily.com website. So clicked to check it out and when I ready his post, Abel Maldonado Got His Wages Garnished For Back Child Support, I admit that I was a bit skeptical. After all, Maldonado went through a bruising primary in his first run for the Assembly, and I don’t remember him having any "Deadbeat Dad" allegations.

I am sure that the Governor’s office goes through a thorough vetting process for all potential appointees, let alone to be nominated to fill a vacancy in such a significant Constitutional Office. If you had a short list… Read More

Although I might put it a tad more tactfully then "Criticus" did on San Diego Rostra this morning (see Campaign Money in Assembly 77 Race), the overall message is similar forthose vying in the open Joel Anderson State Assembly seat:

Uhhhh, you’d better step it up. That is, if you want to be taken seriously.

Liking and trusting more than one of them,Istated several months ago that my support for any particular candidate may be dependenton how they are doing financially at the end of the 2009.

First sign that none may be doing very well? Easy. No press releases or early touting of financial disclosures. I had to wait all of January.

The jury is still out. Plus, getting hungry and irritable. The reports speak very…ummm…quietly:

Santee Councilman Brian Jones Raised – $22,625.00 Cash on Hand – $20,878.96

Christine Rubin Raised – $26,891.00 Cash on Hand – $7,112.34

El Cajon Councilman Bill Wells Raised –… Read More

Once again we are pleased to present a our weekly offering from the FlashReport’s new in-house political cartoonist, Eric Eisenhammer! Capitol politicos will already be chuckling as they look at Eric’s latest satirical look at Arnold Schwarzenegger.

To give this week’s cartoon some context — last week Governor Schwarzenegger unveiled a new video just outside of his office in the Capitol which plays (over and over again) a clip of President Barack Obama saying that the worst thing we can do in this economy is raise taxes. This hypocritical statement comes from a President who is actively supporting massive tax increases to fund his socialized healthcare scheme.

The point that the Governor is trying to make, as he has proposed a budget that largely avoids tax increases, is that Democrat legislators (who want to tax everything that moves, and then tax everything that doesn’t move) should heed the statement of the President.

While we support a no-new-taxes budget, we… Read More

This is a "must watch" video to see a Congressman who is completely out of touch with the major drought effecting his district. Liberal Democrat Jim Costa campaigned as a so-called "Blue Dog" (moderate) Democrat, but he votes virtually ALL OF THE TIME with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco.

Someone should perhaps remind the Congressman that unemployment in the San Joaquin Valley is nearly 20 percent and as high as 40 percent in some cities and that according to a recent University of California at Davis study, based on the water reductions outlined in the Delta outlined in the Delta smelt Biological Opinion, revenue losses in the San Joaquin Valley of California for 2009 will be $2.2 billion and job losses at… Read More

A good friend of the FlashReport, an attorney who does a lot of reporting compliance work, offered the following observation on this flap over the Chief Justice being the victim of a "drive by reporting…"

I could see how an incorrect occupation/employer would end up listed on a campaign report. Our firm prepares dozens of these reports per filing period, and for a committee as large as Hillary’s, the recordkeeping is astronomical. In an attempt to comply with reporting requirements, we often resort to google when we can’t reach a donor to obtain their address (in CA has to be a street address), occupation and employer. If we find a match that appears accurate, we go with it. Especially at the CA level, there is no “best efforts” rule like there is at the federal level – in CA, if you don’t obtain the street address, occupation and employer, the contribution has to be returned. At the federal level, the committee need only show that it made its “best efforts” to obtain the information, and can keep the contribution in the absence of the information being collected – so… Read More

As far as the “jobs, jobs, jobs” mantra, we can spend with borrowed money, which is not popular with voters, or we can look at what is right in front of our noses. To stop the hemorrhaging of jobs, the obvious thing for government to do is lower the cost of labor by cutting back on payroll taxes paid by employers and workers.

I plugged in data for an imaginary California worker making $45,000 a year who is single with no deductions and here is how it breaks out:

Gross pay (per month): $3,750 Federal income tax: $543 FICA (social security): $232.50 Medicare: $54.38

So already out of a gross pay of $3,750, this hypothetical Californian has over $829 taken out by the federal government before he gets a dime. But we need to add California’s payroll taxes.

California has four State payroll taxes which are administered by the Employment Development Department (EDD). They are Unemployment Insurance and Employment Training Tax, which are employer contributions, and State Disability Insurance (SDI) and Personal Income Tax… Read More

The California Supreme Court made the right choice today when it sided with voters and victims by upholding Jessica’s Law 2,000-feet living restriction for sex offenders who were paroled after the date the law was passed

I am pleased with the ruling. The court has upheld the will of the voters and the rights of victims who, let’s not forget, have suffered from the hands of society’s worst criminals.

The court’s ruling is consistent with the intent behind Jessica’s Law, which is to provide better safety for children by preventing paroled sex offenders from living near schools.

According to the Declaration of Independence, our leaders have the right to rule only with ‘the consent of the governed’ and the California Supreme Court proved that today. It’s a good day for Californians and for Democracy.… Read More