Later this year California’s 34th State Senate District, in the heart of Orange County, will be ground zero in a statewide battle between Republicans and Democrats — hanging on the outcome will likely be whether or not Democrats will go into the next legislative session with our without the super-majority in the upper house. For those trying to envision where this seat is located, the cities within the district include Fountain Valley, Garden Grove, Los Alamitos, Santa Ana, and portions of Anaheim, Huntington Beach, and Orange.

The field is pretty much set — representing the Democrats will be termed-out Assembly, now Community College Trustee Jose Solario. Representing Republicans will be Orange County Supervisor Janet… Read More

Yesterday three GOP State Senators — Joel Anderson, Steve Knight, and Andy Vidak — called for an immediate vote to remove Senator Rod Wright from the Senate. Early last week Wright was convicted on eight felony counts related to the fact that he did not actually live in the district he ran in and represented. Wright faces up to eight years in state prison.

I just received a call from State Senator Mark Wyland — followed up with an email. He wanted to let me (and FlashReport readers) know that he has read the letter that was sent in from his three colleagues (you can read it here) and fully supports every word of it. In fact had he known about the letter (he was in his district) he would have signed it with the others. Wyland said that he will personally communicate his wishes for an immediate vote on the removal of Rod Wright directly to Senate President Darrell Steinberg tomorrow.… Read More

This morning I posted up a commentary on the ongoing, depressing situation where State Senator Rod Wright has been convicted on eight felony charges including voter fraud and perjury, and yet continues to serve in the State Senate. Senate President Darrell Steinberg has not called for a vote of the Senate (it takes a two-thirds vote to remove Wright). In fact he has said he intends to wait well into next month (or longer). Apparently he feels that the legislature doesn’t just make the laws, but is above the law. Rod Wright no longer has a presumption of innocence — he was found guilty.

But it’s not just Senate President Steinberg who bears responsibility for Wright continuing to serve — the rank and file members of the Senate have been overwhelmingly silent on this issue, save for three Republican Senators — Anderson, Knight and Vidak.

In my commentary this morning I posted up a mock up of a fictitious mailer that could be prepared by someone, going after a Senator who is silent on Wright’s… Read More

There are 39 members of the California State Senate who are not convicted felons. Only one — Senator Rod Wright (D-Inglewood?) was convicted over a week ago by a jury of his peers in Los Angeles Superior Court. He was found guilty of 8 felonies and awaits sentencing in March for his crimes. He faces a maximum penalty of eight years in prison (or where ever you actually end up spending your time under this new “realignment” scheme). Senate President Darrell Steinberg has imperiously announced that he has no intention of forcing Wright out the door until at least his mid-March sentencing, and who knows what happens if Wright appeals and is told that this sentencing will be delayed pending it’s outcome?

… Read More

In light of the strong public policy supporting transparency in government, an individual’s expectation of privacy in a salary earned in public employment is significantly less than the privacy expectation regarding income earned in the private sector. – Excerpt from California Supreme Court Ruling, 8-27-2007, IFPTE v. Superior Court

This week theCalifornia Public Policy Centerlaunched what is the largest online payroll and pension database, searchable by name, downloadable via spreadsheet, ever compiled for active and retired employees of California’s state and local governments. Do you want to see just how much California’s public servants are costing taxpayers? Go towww.TransparentCalifornia.comand have a look.

The database, created in partnership with theNevada Policy Research Institute, has been nearly a year in the making and provides information not available anywhere else. For example, the database includes CalPERS pension records, including not only the participant’s name,… Read More

A third State Senator has now joined with the growing movement within the legislature’s upper house to demand a vote on removal of Rod Wright.

A week ago Wright was convicted on eight felony counts in a prosecution surrounding the fact that he does not live in the Senate District where he stood for election, and which he currently represents. The California constitution sets out a residency requirement for members of the legislature.

This morning Senator Knight delivered a letter to Senate President Darrell Steinberg, co-signed by Senators Joel Anderson and Andy Vidak, which you can see here, calling for the Senate to take a vote on removing Senator Wright.

This morning the FlashReport broke the news that Senators Anderson and Vidak have said that if the Democrats will put forward a vote on Wright (with a super-majority the Democrats control the process for floor votes), that they will vote to remove the convicted… Read More

A bill to address California’s drought and future water supply in the House of Representatives has Gov. Jerry Brown angry. Brown said the water bill is “an unwelcome and divisive intrusion” into California’s effort to manage the state’s drought, the Sacramento BeereportedMonday night.

H.R. 3964by CaliforniaCongressmen David G. Valadao, CA-21, Devin Nunes, CA-22, and Kevin McCarthy, CA-23, is a comprehensive bill to resolve the water crisis in California,… Read More

California is in a severe drought as the rainy season never came this year. With seventeen towns in the state in such dire straits that they may run out of water within two months, emergency measures are being taken to avoid drought ghost towns.

The House of Representatives is considering action to help deal with this emergency by considering a measure that would provide for alternative ways of protecting the Delta smelt – a fish that a federal Court has ruled must be protected even at the cost of the state’s vast food production capacity.

Even without the current crisis, California already faced a “government-imposed dust bowl” due to Endangered Species Act requirements… Read More