We have our own John McCain here in Fresno and his name is Alan Autry. Mayor Alan Autry. I’ve never seen a local politico leave so many heads scratching in my life. One minute he’s the MC at the Right to Life Dinner, the next minutes he’s supporting a Democrat for Sheriff against the recommendations of all the other elected officials. Now he comes out against enforcement of the nation’s immigration laws. Huh?

I used to be in pretty constant communication with the Mayor. He’s spent most of his second term nowhere near City Hall – letting staff handle most of the day to day duties. He’s a torn man – family life keeps him from really being able to seek higher office – but inconsistent messaging does too. Is he a liberal? A conservative? No one seems to know. We know he is a Republican by registration, but he doesn’t really use the affiliation for anything. One wonders why he continues to fly the GOP flag.

His real name is Carlos Brown, and I think his westside ag roots cause him to sympathize with the plight of the illegal… Read More

St. Patrick’s Day may be filled with celebration, but it is not filled with a lot of news on California politics. So the main page is pretty light today. Yesterday afternoon and evening I had the opportunity to spend time with Governor Mitt Romney as his campaign took him through Orange County. I was able to conduct a ten minute interview with Romney, which we’ll be publishing on Monday. I also was able to shoot quite a bit of EXCLUSIVE video coverage of Romney speaking at a private home in Irvine, and at a reception at the impressive St. Regis hotel and resort in Dana Point. Romney was very impressive, and his level of Orange County financial support even more so. As daily FR readers know, last week we featured over a four-day period some columns on behalf of the major GOP candidates for President. Today, since the news was light, I took the opportunity to feature them all again, on one page. Our featured Golden Pen piece today is actually a short video tribute to former President Ronald Wilson Reagan, and I encourage you to take a trip down ‘memory lane’ and check it out. Remember to wear… Read More

St. Patrick’s Day may be filled with celebration, but it is not filled with a lot of news on California politics. So the main page is pretty light today. Yesterday afternoon and evening I had the opportunity to spend time with Governor Mitt Romney as his campaign took him through Orange County. I was able to conduct a ten minute interview with Romney, which we’ll be publishing on Monday. I also was able to shoot quite a bit of EXCLUSIVE video coverage of Romney speaking at a private home in Irvine, and at a reception at the impressive St. Regis hotel and resort in Dana Point. Romney was very impressive, and his level of Orange County financial support even more so. As daily FR readers know, last week we featured over a four-day period some columns on behalf of the major GOP candidates for President. Today, since the news was light, I took the opportunity to feature them all again, on one page. Our featured Golden Pen piece today is actually a short video tribute to former President Ronald Wilson Reagan, and I encourage you to take a trip down ‘memory lane’ and check it out. Remember to wear… Read More

San Bernardino County Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt – who was appointed by his colleagues to complete the four-year term Bill Postmus, who was elected County Assessor in November 2006– announced today that he will in fact stand as a candidate for election to that post in June 2008. Tapped to replace Assessor Postmus in January, Supervisor Mitzelfelt – a former Flashreport correspondent – has been off to a tremendous start in his new position; numerous local leaders and the Flashreport have been encouraging Supervisor Mitzelfelt to declare a run for this seat.

(As astafferto then-Supervisor Bill Postmus, I had the distinct privilege of working with Brad Mitzelfelt and I have endorsed his candidacy as well.)

From the Mitzelfelt for Supervisor press release:

… Read More

The Governor has become famous for flip-flopping and folding in the face of criticism from liberals and the media. I say it ain’t so! The Governor is consistent on at least in one area. He has consistently appointed Democrats to the bench in LA County. See FR post here. In the past the Governor appointed 2 Democrats for every Republican. Closer to the election it changed it a little and it included a Democrat re-registering shortly before the appointment from Dem to DTS in order to confuse the numbers. See FR post here. Today the Governor stayed true. Today he appointed three to the LA Superior Court, 2 Dems and 1 GOP.See press release here. The worse news is he is now replacing a seat with a GOP judge held.Richard Van Dusen, a former Republican Club President passed away … Read More

I had the good fortune of attending the Rod Stewart concert in San Jose last night. He put on a 2 ½ hour show with no opening act (except for some bagpipes wondering around the crowd beforehand), and it was spectacular!!! There aren’t a lot of 60-somethings who could pull off “If You Want My Body,” and “Tonight I’m Yours,” but he did!

When he sang “Young Hearts Beat Free Tonight”, I had to kick myself for being a terminal political junkie, because the song made me think of Senator Harman’s bill, SB 126, which will require that the next set of health education content standards developed by the State Board of Education include instruction on child abuse prevention. The song talks about a young couple who run away together “’cause there ain’t no point in talking when there’s nobody listenin’”, and how their lives turn out very difficult. It made me think of all the children who are victims of various forms of neglect and abuse, and how the lifelong ramifications of that abuse can… Read More

In Homer’s The Odyssey, the Greek’s laid seige to the ancient city of Troy for a decade. Finally, the Greeks ended their seige, and sailed away in the boats, leaving only a very large wooden horse outside of the massive walled city — seemingly a tribute to the Trojans who had held them at bay for ten years. The Trojans brought this horse into their city, where they began revelry and celebration at the broken seige of their city. In the early morning hours, while the celebrants slept, Greek soldiers who had been secreted away in a hidden compartment of the wooden horse snuck out and open the large gates allowing the Greeks in, who then conquered, sacked and burned Troy.

This story becomes important because in the battle for property rights in California, the League of California Cities has… Read More

In Homer’s The Odyssey, the Greek’s laid seige to the ancient city of Troy for a decade. Finally, the Greeks ended their seige, and sailed away in the boats, leaving only a very large wooden horse outside of the massive walled city — seemingly a tribute to the Trojans who had held them at bay for ten years. The Trojans brought this horse into their city, where they began revelry and celebration at the broken seige of their city. In the early morning hours, while the celebrants slept, Greek soldiers who had been secreted away in a hidden compartment of the wooden horse snuck out and open the large gates allowing the Greeks in, who then conquered, sacked and burned Troy.

This story becomes important because in the battle for property rights in California, the League of California Cities has… Read More