Former Assemblyman Tom Umberg will have more than just name identification and the ability to raise funds for the upcoming special election in Orange County for the supervisorial seat vacated on Lou Correa’s recent election to the 34th State Senate District. What Umberg also has is a little money left over from his own losing race against Correa in the Senate primary — about $45,000 cash on hand, according to his most recent campaign disclosures, most of which he will likely be able to use in the supervisorial race should he decide to run in the special election. Though the Orange County campaign ordinance as originally enacted bans transfers to a county candidate committee from other candidate committees, an opinion of the California Attorney General issued in March, 2002 [85 Op. Atty. Gen. Cal.4] determined that the Orange County ban was unconstitutional as applied to "intra-candidate" transfers (for example, a transfer of surplus campaign funds from a State Senate campaign account to a county… Read More

Activists David Hernandez and Ted Hayes filed a lawsuit challenging Measure R. Successfully passed by the voters, Measure R loosened term limits for Los Angeles City Council Members AND tightened control on lobbyists. The City Attorney had warned the council that such a measure combined to many issues to be constitutional. A previous lawsuit was dropped, but Hernandez and Hayes picked up the baton. You can see there website here.… Read More

Capitol Resource Institute received the following letter from a trustee in the Antelope Valley Union High School District. You can click here to see previous posts about the High School production of "Cabaret" that included students in lingerie. BTW: I have been sent some pictures if you are an adult and your wife thinks okay. I’ll email you a link.

Here is the letter

"Thank you for your note of concern. There was an article in today’s newspaper that clarifies the high school district’s involvement and only action we could take.

“Please understand that this is not a high school or district sponsored event. There are high school students, who are enrolled in a drama class at Antelope Valley College (with parental consent) that are participating in this production. The High School District has no control over the student involvement in this production.… Read More

TIME TO CONSIDER MAKING CALI A CAUCUS STATE? There is an adage that says, "Even a broken clock is right twice a day." Los Angeles Times writer George Skelton has been consistently producing his column on Golden State politics for a long, long time. To be honest, most of the time, while I think Skelton brings up pertinent topics, I rarely agree with his ideas or his conclusions. Actually, if I did, it would probably really worry George, since he hardly sees himself as a darling of conservatives. That having been said, today in his column, George Skelton floats an idea that has a lot of merit and is worth a healthy discussion. Skelton throws out the idea that perhaps California should consider becoming a caucus state in terms of Presidential elections. What does this mean? It means that instead of voters going to the polls in the primary, instead voters of each political party would be invited to attend an actual meeting in their area where interested members of each party would show up and vote for delegates to their party’s national convention, pledged to certain… Read More

TIME TO CONSIDER MAKING CALI A CAUCUS STATE? There is an adage that says, "Even a broken clock is right twice a day." Los Angeles Times writer George Skelton has been consistently producing his column on Golden State politics for a long, long time. To be honest, most of the time, while I think Skelton brings up pertinent topics, I rarely agree with his ideas or his conclusions. Actually, if I did, it would probably really worry George, since he hardly sees himself as a darling of conservatives. That having been said, today in his column, George Skelton floats an idea that has a lot of merit and is worth a healthy discussion. Skelton throws out the idea that perhaps California should consider becoming a caucus state in terms of Presidential elections. What does this mean? It means that instead of voters going to the polls in the primary, instead voters of each political party would be invited to attend an actual meeting in their area where interested members of each party would show up and vote for delegates to their party’s national convention, pledged to certain… Read More

Rumors swirled as former Republican Assembly Leader Rod Pacheco termed out of office in 2002:State Senate, Attorney General,Federal Judgeship?The pundits were spinning.

Rod Pacheco (pictured to the right) was the first Latino Republican elected to the California State Assembly in over a century. Later, he served as Republican Leader for the Republican caucus. His election marked the first time in California’s history that a Latino has served as the Republican Leader in the State Legislature.

In the legislature, he was a staunch and effective advocate for education and public safety. In 2000, Assemblyman Pacheco assembled a bipartisan legislative coalition aimed at reforming the Cal Grant system so that all eligible students would be provided the resources necessary to attend college. Working closely with Senate Pro Tem John Burton (D-San Francisco) on Senate Bill 1644, the Ortiz–Pacheco-Poochigian–Vasconcellos Cal Grant… Read More

Two cities in Orange County have vacancies on their city council’s.

SANTA ANA When Jose Solorio was sworn in to the Assembly he left behind a vacancy on the Santa Ana city council. Now the council expects to appoint a successor on January 2nd. Applications are due by December 18th. Details here.

Santa Ana faces issues including budget shortfalls, crime, delayed street improvements and the almost enviable problem of massive amounts of commercial and residential development but a slow and ‘old school’ planning department that can’t keep up. YORBA LINDA Mike Duvall resigned from the Yorba Linda city council on December 4th to be sworn into the 72nd Assembly District seat and now the remaining four council members say they will fill the vacancy he left which will be for two years. Applications are due December 12th. Details here.

Yorba Linda faces… Read More

Now that Jackie Goldberg has been termed-out ofthe California State Assembly, I am at a complete loss as to which lawmaker, if any, will have the courage to carry the banner on a matter of significant state importance. It appears, unless some unknown legislator steps to the plate, that the vital issue of inappropriate, insensitive, politically incorrect team mascot names may not be debated in the California legislature this year.

Former Assemblywoman Goldberg made somewhat of a career in this arena,advocating for lawsto make unlawful the use of American Indian team mascots at public schools. Not surprisingly, a whole slew of fascists, racists, sexists, chauvinists, Huns, Republicans and readers of the FlashReport have long opposed the idea.

Personally, I could not believe at the timethat I had stooped so low as to allow myself to work for someone as obviously insensitive as now retired Assemblyman Jay La Suer, who said of Jackie’s efforts, “It’s political correctness taken 18 steps too far,” while puffing his chest and bragging openly that he had been both an El… Read More