Today, the staff of Capitol Weekly started off their Roundup (always essential, sometimes hilariousreading) with a note about their First Annual Capitol Weekly/Around the Capitol Awards for Legislators, lobbyists and staff. Theyinformed readersa ballot would be emailed out sometime today with such categories as Best Dressed Legislator, Smartest Legislator, Most Underrated Lobbyist, Best Looking Legislative Staffer, etc.and asked recipients to take part.

Well, judging simplyfrom my own experience with legislative offices today, this awards exercise has caught fire, with slates being developed and jokes being played (would you expect anything less under the Dome?). So don’t be too surprised if the phone rings a few times before you get an answer.

I’d love to see a study done about much money was lost in hours of state timeto the Weekly’s Capitol Awards.

P.S. Don’t forget about the Weekly’s very helpful… Read More

SCA 10,a vehicle to move into a conference committeetheresumption ofthe legislative discussion of reforming the corrupt present system of redistricting, passed off the Assembly floor today.Any redistricting proposal would likely be geared for the post-2010 census and the 2012 election. It also contained the term limit extension/restructure discussion thathas beentossed about for some time and more so lately, and which may or may not be joined together with the redistricting proposal. The conference committee would be the last minuteshot at doing something on thisNovember ballot on these issues. Of course, any product of the committee would still have to come back to both houses for a 2/3 approval and the Governor’s signature tobe placed before the voters. Havinga discussion on these issues is fine, more specifically on the corrupt way districts are now drawn. I’m much less excited about the idea of legislators initiating talks on fiddling with their own term limits. It seems that if there was a lot of clamoring for longer or different term limits from the public, who will have to be asked to vote on it, that maybe the… Read More

Local government everywhere generally lacks dynamic leadership. And Orange County is no different.

We have some very nice people in local government, but most are not the kind of people you’d want leading you through a time of crisis or could ever see ascending to higher office.

So when leadership presents itself, it gets a lot of attention and usually some arrows shot at it, lest everyone else look bad.

There is a Troika of leadership in local government in OC that includes Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle, Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido and Irvine Councilman Larry Agran. Say what you will about this Republican, Democrat, Democrat (respectively) team but they are indeed dynamic leaders.

They represent their constituencies well and rule in many cases over a council majority that allows them to accomplish big things.

In Anaheim Pringle has amassed a huge war-chest and most people respect him and all that he has accomplished. No serious challenger (with money or position) has stepped up to challenge him for re-election in November.

However, Pulido of Santa Ana who has been mayor for 12 years (Santa Ana has term limits on city council… Read More

Welcome to the last month of the legislative session. You know what this means, right? You got it – this is where a lot of great legislative proposals that are geared towards empowering individuals die in committee, and legislation that centralizes power in Sacramento (at the expense of individual freedom and liberty) passes out of the Democrat-dominated legislature. Thank goodness we have a Republican Governor who has pledged to oppose any tax or fee increases. That said, the Governor and his team should be prepared for an onslaught of horrible bills. In the newspapers today, several ‘bad idea bills’ are profiled including a Hillary-care style government-run healthcare system takeover, further regulations on firearms manufacturers that will raise the price for law-abiding citizens to purchase a gun, and the legislature wants to tell pet owners how to treat their animals – seriously. I’m penning a column due out shortly on a real choice piece of legislation. As we all focus on eminent domain reform, and the… Read More

Welcome to the last month of the legislative session. You know what this means, right? You got it – this is where a lot of great legislative proposals that are geared towards empowering individuals die in committee, and legislation that centralizes power in Sacramento (at the expense of individual freedom and liberty) passes out of the Democrat-dominated legislature. Thank goodness we have a Republican Governor who has pledged to oppose any tax or fee increases. That said, the Governor and his team should be prepared for an onslaught of horrible bills. In the newspapers today, several ‘bad idea bills’ are profiled including a Hillary-care style government-run healthcare system takeover, further regulations on firearms manufacturers that will raise the price for law-abiding citizens to purchase a gun, and the legislature wants to tell pet owners how to treat their animals – seriously. I’m penning a column due out shortly on a real choice piece of legislation. As we all focus on eminent domain reform, and the… Read More

New West Notes blogger William Bradley reports this afternoon:

"In the contentious, if not wildly competitive, race for California attorney general, the trailing Republican candidate, Fresno area state Senator Chuck Poochigian, again notes that the murder rate in Oakland is up. For his part, current Oakland Mayor and former California Governor Jerry Brown notes that he raised four times as much money in increments of $5,000 and more as Poochigian did in July. (That’s the amount that must be reported for now to the California Secretary of State’s office.)"

Well, I suppose Oakland residents will sleep better knowing that their Mayor is spending time raising money in $5,000+ increments and eating shrimp cocktail at fundraisers rather than making the streets of Oakland safe from violent crime.… Read More

Tiny Maywood in Los Angeles County has become famous or infamous for declaring themselves a sanctuary for illegal aliens. The council unamiously opposed the House immigration bill and supports SB 60.

They also voted to disband the traffic enforcement division including DUI checkpoints because too many illegals without licenses were losing their cars. (If only Mel Gibson knew he could have drunk Tequila there and drove around in Maywood with no problem.)

Here is good rundown on the city.One of the councilman Sergio Calderon has filed for a seat on the Directors of the Water Replenishment Board of Southern California.

If he beats the incumbent, maybe they will be delivering water for illegals in the desert in no time.… Read More

I’m repostingyesterday’s enlightenedcomment from Dr. Ted Mazer, President of the San Diego County Medical Society and a Trustee of the California Medical Association.It’s great because it illustrates the stranglehold health insurance companies have over state government. It’s in response to my commentary over the weekend ("Schwarzenegger Wrong On Balance Billing").

The patients are only ‘in the middle’ because health plans refuse to 1)create fair contracts by negotiation such that a complete network can be obtained for 24 hour coverage for their insureds; 2) report on the inadequacy of their contracted networks and have DMHC properly oversee such shortcomings; 3) pay noncontracted physicians who are backing up the ERs at a fair and reasonable rate, or be forced to challenge… Read More