If his website and this morning’s email are any indication, the lingering question of "Will he or won’t he?" seems to be answered by Steve Francis. (Of course, the GOP is in a bit of a panty-twist over the prospects of a Republican taking on a sitting GOP incumbent like Jerry Sanders.)

The following email message, including links to an endorsement form and bio, sure looks like a campaign to me….

I am writing to you to seek your early endorsement in the race for Mayor of San Diego. I recently formed the Francis For Mayor Exploratory Committee to meet with my fellow San Diegans to hear their views about what they need and want in local government, regardless of their political affiliation. I’ve met with Democrats who think City Hall has become a haven for partisan policy making. Some Republicans worry that the current administration has lost its way, while Independents feel their voice has been silenced by the lobbyists who seem to control everything. Most have voiced concerns about the influence of special interest groups in our local government. Although I have not formally announced my… Read More

Our publisher Jon asked me to comment on the recent $50 million out-of-court settlement by the City of Dana Point and its insurer, the California Joint Powers Insurance Authority (“CJPIA”), in favor of two joggers who were hit and very seriously injured by an uninsured drunk on Pacific Coast Highway last year. They were jogging in the clearly defined bicycle lane of PCH when the drunk driver swerved over the line and hit them. I was on the City Council when the accident occurred in April of 2006, and Jon thought my insight would be valuable regarding what the implications are of a $50 million liability payout by a city and its insurance company.

Well, the primary implication of this huge payout, characterized by Orange County-based personal injury guru Mark Robinson as “one of the top settlements in the county’s” history, is that basically the City of Dana Point has blown the limits of its insurance coverage, (the Dana Point annual budget itself is around $25 million, half the amount of the settlement!), it very likely has no liability insurance left for the rest of its current policy, the CJPIA now has blown a huge chunk of… Read More

Today we are formally calling on Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to declare a state of Fiscal Emergency for California state government. The long and short of it is that the anticipated revenues for California for THIS FISCAL YEAR are falling billions short of projections. While it is laudable that the Governor has instructed his agency and department heads to start to look towards cuts for the FY 07-08 budget, which will be very helpful in terms of helping to provide a starting point for massive shortfall that is projected for next year’s budget, what we have is a TODAY problem. Hence the need for a call for Fiscal Emergency.

With the passage of Proposition 58, the Governor has the power to make this declaration, lay out a plan to immediately trim government spending, and call the legislature into session to act on the parts of his plan that cannot be done unilaterally. This would show leadership, and would acutely focus the attention of all of our policy makers on dealing with a very real problem — we don’t have enough income to support all of our spending!

Now I know that the Governor would prefer to keep the focus on his health-care… Read More

Two of the things I am convinced of are:

Jackie Speier was denied the opportunity to be the Lt. Governor of California by Liz Figueroa in the Democrat primary. Had it not been for Figueroa appearing on the ballot with an anemic campaign, the votes she "earned" would have gone to Speier. Further, she was the only one that could have prevented Jerry Brown from returning to the corner office of the State Capitol in 2010. Most of the California Congressional Delegation has lost touch with the politics of California. Out of the 53 of them I would guess less than a dozen are truly active politically any more.

Speier is a formidable political force because of her media presence, compelling story, and shameless pursuit of headlines in a way that makes her appear to be the best friend of the voter/consumer/whatever. Love her or hate her the woman is a really good politician.

The reason for this post is that she is thinking about taking on Congressman Tom Lantos in the primary next year. Here is a story from Matier and Ross,… Read More

Battle-hardened from his post as Communications Director for Congressman John Doolittle, Gordon Hinkle has a new position – courtesy of a Gubernatorial appointment announced today (see the details below). Perhaps the Congressman will be recruiting a replacement for Hinkle from a crisis-communications firm? Hinkle will be hard to replace – a consummate professional with the work ethic of the Energizer Bunny…

From the Gov’s release: “Gordon Hinkle, 34, of Roseville, has been appointed deputy press secretary for the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. He has served as communications director and senior field representative for Congressmember John Doolittle since February 2007. From 2006 to 2007, Hinkle was senior consultant to the California Assembly Republican Caucus. Previously, he served as communications director for State Senator Jim Battin from 2001 to 2006. Prior to that, Hinkle worked for Hewlett Packard as a logistics process analyst from 2000 to 2001. He is a member of the Roseville Planning Commission. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $87,132. Hinkle is a… Read More

In 2006, California voters passed transportation bonds to fund our woefully inadequate infrastructure. One of the bonds dealt with goods movement – the corridors upon which railroads and trucks travel through our state from the ports to points east and north. The bonds were voted out of the legislature with the understanding that the bulk of the funds would go to the areas with the bulk of the goods movement impact, in a proportionate manner.

In a rare show of solidarity, the Ports of Los Angeles andLong Beach; and the Counties of Los Angeles, Orange County, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Ventura formed a group to work together. The rationale was, since these 5 counties represented 85% of the goods movement impact, they should receive 85% of the bond monies. The significance of working together, for the Inland Empire particularly,was an opportunity to have funding for projects flow "down line" from the ports and make it out to our region – paramount among them, badly needed railroad grade seperations.

The California Transportation Commissionwas to mete out$2 Billionin funding. What transpired was an increase, to $3… Read More

Candidates always struggle over the holidays to make progress in their campaigns. The California Resource Family Impact has launched a referendum against SB 777, the homosexual and other gender bending preferences in our schools bill.

… Read More

FEBRUARY WATER BOND EVAPORATING… I spoke with Senate Repubican Leader subsequent to yesterday’s "Big 5" meeting — and he reported that there was no resolution on moving forward with a water bond package for the February ballot. Of course we are right on the timing cusp where soon there would be no ability to place something on the February ballot at all…

FABIAN NUNEZ – MR. CONGENIALITY – NOT! When Fabian "Louis Vuitton" Nunez pushed back this week’s planned Assembly Floor Session (to presumably put up Democrat votes for a terrible government-health care plan) — he moved it to next week. Apparently session is now scheduled to overlap with the joint Senate/Assembly GOP Retreat in San Diego. According to Shane Goldmacher at the Sacramento Bee, Nunez isn’t planning to move the session. Then again,… Read More