I would like to send a big “thank you very much” to all the Delta smelt lovers who are responsible for what looks to be an eminent rise in my water rates. When the state recently received a court order to change its pumping operations in the Delta to protect the endangered fish, state officials estimated that the order would result in reducing Delta water deliveries to the equivalent of 2 million homes. For homes in the East Bay served by the Zone 7 water agency, that meant that 80% of our usual water supply that comes from the Delta would be diminished tremendously, and that we would have to import water.

Residents and businesses responded to the crisis with excellent water conservation behavior…and now we’re going to pay for it.

Zone 7 is now looking at a 6% decline in their water demand for 2008, and instead of shaving off bureaucracy no longer needed to serve the needs of a population that did exactly what we were asked to do by conserving water, they are looking at raising our rates so their general fund can continue to hire the same number of people they needed for a greater water demand. The combination of saving fish and conserving our water… Read More

I wonder if it is a coincidence that the Giuliani for President campaign has released a list of it’s California Finance Team leaders in the mist of a five-day California swing by one of his opponents, former Massachussetts Governor Mitt Romney. Below are the Giuliani money folks — FR readers should also mentally ad Bill Simon, who is the State Chairman of Rudy’s California effort, and a rather wealthy man in his own regard… It is also worth remembering that the Deputy Campaign Manager for the campaign for Fundraising is none other than the Golden State’s own Ann Dunsmore…

I caught up with Dunsmore this morning to ask her about the list of folks below… Here’s what she said: "We’re really excited about this outstanding group of leaders that have stepped up to head our Finance Team in California."

"They are actually heading up a large and extensive fundraising network that is an integral part of our state and national finance efforts.… Read More

I wonder if it is a coincidence that the Giuliani for President campaign has released a list of it’s California Finance Team leaders in the mist of a five-day California swing by one of his opponents, former Massachussetts Governor Mitt Romney. Below are the Giuliani money folks — FR readers should also mentally add Bill Simon, who is the State Chairman of Rudy’s California effort, and a rather wealthy man in his own regard… It is also worth remembering that the Deputy Campaign Manager for the campaign for Fundraising is none other than the Golden State’s own Ann Dunsmore…

I caught up with Dunsmore this morning to ask her about the list of folks below… Here’s what she said: "We’re really excited about this outstanding group of leaders that have stepped up to head our Finance Team in California."

"They are actually heading up a large and extensive fundraising network that is an integral part of our state and national finance efforts.… Read More

At a press conference today in Beverly Hills, Assemblyman Joel Anderson stood alongside legislative and other state leaders in advocating for AB 221, the Iran divestment legislation now awaiting Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s signature.

Hosting the event was Beverly Hills Mayor Jimmy Delshad, the nation’s first Iranian-American mayor. Iranians now account for over 20 percent of the city’s population, a good reason for Beverly Hills to have such a stake in this issue, a large segment of the citizens wanting to see their homeland stripped of the financial aid fueling terrorism around the world. If CalPERS needs a clue as to what constitutes true patriotism, they only need look to Mayor Delshad and the good people of Beverly Hills.

Also in attendance:

-Assemblymembers Mike Feuer and Lloyd Levine -Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean, Simon Wiesenthal Center

-Saeed Jabbari, Senior Analyst Center for Promotion of Democracy and Human Rights -Ron Leibow, Chairman, Jewish Community Relations Council Jewish Federation of Los Angeles

Rabbi Cooper told the media in attendance, including NBC, ABC,… Read More

Jonathan Constantine over at Red County/OC Blog did some blogging from the recently-concluded Western States Republican Conference in San Diego. He had the OC Blog "Cam" in hand, and captured Governor Schwarzenegger’s luncheon remarks. You can check it out, in three parts, here.

For those who don’t want to watch it, it is characterized by Constatine as, "nothing less than a defense of his progressive political shift to Republican voters."

No surprise there.… Read More

Here are some quick comments on a several items: Secretary Paulson and Fed Chairman Bernanketestified again before our Financial Services Committee last Thursday. There were no bombshells. But it is becoming increasingly evident that there will likely be legislation to increase the participation of the Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSE’s – Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, et al) in the home loan market. They will be allowed to guarantee and hold more loans, required to participate some more in some subprime loans, and be allowed in high-cost markets (like the greater LA area) to make loans in excess of the current $417,000 limit. In other words, more loans will be "conforming" and less "jumbos." This increased authority will becoupled… Read More

With over two decades of involvement in grassroots Republican involvement, I have had the opportunity to attend a slew of training classes. Some have been better than others, I admit. For the past few years, I have been consistently impressed with what I have heard about the Marian Berguson Excellence in Public Service Series. Established here in the Golden State in 2004, the program was started with the goal of inspiring, empowering, and advancing Republican women through education, training and experience.

I have to tell you — it works. I have had the chance to know and work with many Bergeson school graduates, both before they started the course, and afterwards. This program takes capable students new to politics, and gives them an excellent running start. It also consistantly takes more seasoned GOP women, and pushes them to new heights, giving them to training and tools to be effective in elective or appointed office, or to serve in government positions, or in political roles.

My good friend, Leisa Brug Kline, currently serves as Chief of Staff to Assemblyman Chuck DeVore. She is a great example of someone who was more seasoned when she… Read More

This weekend the Republican Western State Leadership Conference was held in San Diego. On Friday Governor Schwarzenegger was the featured guest speaker for lunch. He introduced several people in the crowd including RNC Chairman Mike Duncan, Immediate Past CA GOP Chairman Duf Sundheim and then current CA GOP Chairman Ron Nehring. The room was packed with about 250 attendees including major donors and RNC members.

In introducing Nehring, the Governor half joking said: Ron has agreed to bring the Republican Party more toward the center. Schwarzenegger quickly followed with: You better be careful, Fleischman will be all over you for that.

The FlashReport’s own Jon Fleichman is a former appointee of the governor and has built a personal relationship with Schwarzenegger over the years. The Governor clearly knows the impact Jon has on politics and public policy in California, but I was pretty surprised to hear the… Read More