We are pleased to offer this commentary from Jessica Austin, who serves as an Alternate Member of the San Bernardino County Central Committee. Austin is a political activist, who is also the editor of Red County San Bernardino.

A New Direction for San Bernardino County Republican Party By Jessica Austin To say that San Bernardino County is a hotbed of controversy for Republicans is perhaps the biggest understatement of the year. However, as of Thursday night, it will no longer be applicable to the San Bernardino County Republican Party. … Read More

Well, it is official now. The Sacramento County Superior Court ruled on Gilb v. Chiang, giving the Governor the authority to order the state controller to reduce state employees’ wages to the minimum wage level during a budget impasse. I’ve blogged on this topic, almost ad naseum, because it’s one of the few bright spots that’s come out of the state’s fiscal mess.

The Judge upheld his tentative ruling today and has now clarified the law, it a legal obligation for the Controller to reduce or not pay the salaries of state employees during a budget impasse. The Court also weighed in on the computer issue that Chiang used as a flimsy excuse for why he’s unable to implement that type of order- taking a subtle shot at the Controller’s motives for not estimating when the project will be completed, saying “Although the project has stalled and the Controller’s Office currently is unable (or unwilling) to estimate when it will be completed, the Court is not persuaded the 21st Century Project (or a similar project) cannot be funded and completed before the next budget impasse.”

I don’t want to overstate things, but I believe this… Read More

*BREAKING NEWS*

I am currently in the midst of a meeting of the California Republican Party Board of Directors, where I serve as Vice Chairman for the Southern Region.

Making a very important political statement about Proposition 1A being pushed in a May Special Election by Arnold Schwarzenegger and others, the Board of Directors of the CRP just passed the following resolution: The Board of Directors of the California Republican Party supports a spending cap, but we oppose the taxes that will continue for two years upon voter approval, therefore the Board of Directors of the California Republican Party urges the Party’s Executive Committee to oppose Proposition 1A. The motion to pass this was made by Republican National Committeeman Shawn Steel, and seconded by… Read More

Just minutes ago, embattled Republican Assemblyman Anthony Adams resigned his position as Chairman of the San Bernardino County Republican Party. According to a FR source at the meeting, it was pretty clear that if Adams had not stepped down, the votes were there to remove him from his post.

This action by Adams' local committee is a sign that there is still a lot of angst over Adams' deciding vote for the largest tax increase in the history of this or any state. Adams had voluntarily signed the Americans for Tax Reform “No New Taxes” pledge in his campaign for office.

Conservative Ken Willis is the new Chairman, and Larry McCallon, who serves as the CRP Inland Empire Vice Chairman, is the new SBGOP Vice Chairman.

The San Bernardino County Party has joined with the Santa Barbara County GOP as being the latest party organizations to formally oppose Proposition 1A.… Read More

The city of Irvine has had a moratorium on new wireless sites for almost a year. At a time when so many people are abandoning their home phones in favor wireless, its just not logical to prevent carriers from expanding their networks to serve their customers.

My column on this issue appeared in the Orange County Register’s Irvine World News today. Check it out here.… Read More

[Cross-posted from OC Blog]

Although I rarely contribute to candidates, that doesn’t stop a steady stream of fundraising invites landing in my mail.

Yesterday, I received an invitation to "an Elegant Evening with Assemblyman Anthony Adams and Guest of Honor Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger."

Readers will recall Adams is the San Bernardino County assemblyman who was on of the three Assembly Republicans who provided the votes necessary to inflict a massive tax increase on the people of California.

It’s no surprise to see Arnold as the headliner. It’s like the British throwing a fundraiser for Benedict Arnold.

What is extremely disappointing is to see the name of OC’s Senator Bob Huff at the top of the host committee.

Adams not only provided one of the votes to pass the tax increase, but… Read More

I was a little taken aback this morning when I read in the Stockton Record that the City of Stockton, or shall we say the City Manager (since it seems from the article that none of the elected officials on council were aware of what was going on), is attempting to cobble together a way to purchase the Stockton Thunder hockey team from owner Michael Reinsdorf. The excuse is that because they feel they have an unfavorable lease that the city can then either keep the team or re-sell it to ownership with a lease agreement that is favorable to the city. The only person on council who opposed it immediately was uber-left councilwoman Susan Eggman.

As many of you know, I am a rabid hockey fan. I have also been an active participant in the debates over public financing of sports teams and facilities. It is a much easier case to make in spending public dollars for facilities than it is to actually BUY a franchise.

The interesting side to this story is the dramatic success of the Stockton Thunder hockey franchise that has become the crown jewel of the ECHL with attendance that other franchises could only hope for. This success has led the ownership to upgrade… Read More

Over the years, I have had my share of hands-on campaign experience. Besides my term as Executive Director of the California Republican Party, I was intimately involved in key positions in campaigns for a statewide candidate and a ballot measure (one won, one lost), as well as numerous campaigns for Congress and the State Legislature. This is relevant because I want make it clear that when I write about political strategy and tactics, it is not from the perspective of a conservative columnist, but rather from the perspective of having over two decades of hands-on involvement in the “contact game” of politics.

Yesterday State Senator Jeff Denham (pictured to the right) announced that in the pursuit of the Republican nomination for Lieutenant Governor that he has successfully reserved (or “locked up” as we say in the biz) 14 of the major GOP slate… Read More