In Yolo County I have the pleasure of losing on 4-1 votes on a regular basis. Today in our meeting I had the pleasure of losing again.

Here is the agenda for today. The item we were discussing is 3.01.

We had a presentation from the California Product Stewardship Council regarding Extended Producer Responsibility. At the end of the presentation Supervisor Mariko Yamada said out loud "What is not to like?". I got to be the skunk at the party and spell out exactly why I was not going to vote for the resolution and felt that it sent the wrong message.

The argument here is that the burden for the cost of disposal of medical and universal waste should fall on the manufacturer. The disposal of these products is viewed as a cost to local government. Nonsense. Yolo County government has decided to enter into the landfill business and is not mandated. The way we handle out garbage is. We could choose to get out of the landfill business and then we would not have to deal with this mandate.

The whole justification… Read More

I read where this morning Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), the power utlility for most of the San Francisco Bay Area, has donated $250,000 to the campaign to defeat Proposition 8, the Protect Marriage Act.

I think it is pad policy for utility companies to get involved with an issue such as this, either for or against homosexual marriage. There are a great many Bay Area power users who have no choice about having PG&E as their provider, and should not have to have their power utlility company, spending money that way. The next time this utility looks for a rate hike, I hope everyone remembers that they actually have money to burn…… Read More

You know things aren’t as good as a few years ago when a four-decade-serving U.S. Senator can only generate $250,000 in "gifts" (not actual bribes, according to reports).

It wasn’t long ago that a lowly San Diego Congressman could collect a cool million and have a boat named after him in exchange for a few contracts and votes.… Read More

Most of our Southern California bloggers are probably still recovering from the jolt of the 5.4 magnitude earthquake that just struck Los Angeles and Orange County, so I’ll post a quick note until they can report in. According to the USGS, the quake’s epicenter was Chino Hills but there are reports from all across the area (even Las Vegas) of feeling the earth movement and several aftershocks. As anyone who’s experienced an earthquake can attest, it’s a startling and unsettling experience. It looks like there is no major damage to report at this time.… Read More

Jon reported yesterday that the Senate had cancelled the budget vote that a week ago had been scheduled for today. I haven’t seen anyone report the Assembly side of it yet. The Assembly, at first resisting a vote since the 2 sides of the budget debate are still far apart, then, a couple days ago had also decided to schedule one for today. Then, the Senate cancelled theirs yesterday and soon after the Assembly did too. As frustrating as it is for all Californians to not have the budget, it is probably better this way to not have show-only votes today as there is no way anything would pass.… Read More

Tuesday had been the day for a scheduled budget vote as requested by Sen. Perata a week before. The Assembly had none scheduled as it wouldn’t be seen as productive withthe sides so far apart. That changed Friday as Speaker Bass decided that the Assembly should also take an action today with a vote up or down on the budget. Then, yesterday, the Senate canceled their vote and soon the Assembly did too. With Sen. Perata stating that the discussions were warming up to a moreco-operative tone, that holding a vote would only detract from that thawing process, it was a good thing to not go throughwith a for-show only vote today.

With the $9 Billion in new taxes likely to still have been in a Tuesday vote document, no budget reform agreed upon yet, as well as several other important points not agreed upon it would’ve been a waste of everyone’s time to bring up [or down to Sacramento for us northerners] 120 leglslators to go through an exercise that not even the Big 4 can agree on. Much staff time and much printing are required to even do an exercise vote. Then there would be the floor speeches that would go on and on about how… Read More

I use a pretty simple tool in my day-to-day work to help clients explain what they intend to do once they are elected or what they have accomplished. I call it a CAR story. Ask yourself what was the CHALLENGE, what ACTION did you take and what were the RESULTS.

In the current budget debate, Republicans have done a better job this year, than in years past of defining the CHALLENGE as a structural problem in the budget process (it doesn’t matter how much money you give to state government, it’s never enough) that needs fixing. Combine the Republican’s message with a decade of the Democrats crying wolf about not enough revenue to balance the budget, higher gas prices and a slowing economy and it is obvious to see why the Democrats usual message of ‘Cuts Hurt’ is falling flat with voters this year.

By talking about budget reform and a need to fix the yearly problems of not having enough money, Republicans have tapped into the mood of the electorate that is exasperated with government’s inability to solve problems. That frustration with government is much stronger today than the need to raise taxes for programs that should… Read More

I use a pretty simple tool in my day-to-day work to help clients explain what they intend to do once they are elected or what they have accomplished. I call it a CAR story. Ask yourself what was the CHALLENGE, what ACTION did you take and what were the RESULTS.

In the current budget debate, Republicans have done a better job this year, than in years past of defining the CHALLENGE as a structural problem in the budget process (it doesn’t matter how much money you give to state government, it’s never enough) that needs fixing. Combine the Republican’s message with a decade of the Democrats crying wolf about not enough revenue to balance the budget, higher gas prices and a slowing economy and it is obvious to see why the Democrats usual message of ‘Cuts Hurt’ is falling flat with voters this year.

By talking about budget reform and a need to fix the yearly problems of not having enough money, Republicans have tapped into the mood of the electorate that is exasperated with government’s inability to solve problems. That frustration with government is much stronger today than the need to raise taxes for programs that should… Read More