Let me start by saying thanks to FR Publisher Jon Fleischman for welcoming me back to the Flash Report Blog. As Jon has mentioned previously, I was FR’s first San Bernardino County correspondent almost three years ago. After 14 months I left in order to focus on becoming a San Bernardino County Supervisor. Now that I’ve achieved that goal, I really appreciate this opportunity to return and pick right back up where I left off — almost two years later.

So what’s changed since we last talked?

One thing for certain has changed, I thought as I perused the latest news accounts of the Iraq situation vis-à-vis the Presidential candidates. And that is, how much things have changed in Iraq. And as Sen. Barack Obama arrived in Iraq today, it also strikes me how little his approach has changed during that same time. I’m pretty sure this is because his position is still the politically popular (albeit wrong) one.

Obama’s 2006 visit to Iraq (his first and only other visit besides today’s) was marked by the… Read More

Last week, the Rothenberg Political Report noted that Freshman California Democrat Jerry McNerney is among the most likely Congressmen in the Country to lose their seat this November. That’s something we’ve known here in California since McNerney lucked his way into the seat in 06, but it’s nice to see that the national pundits are taking note of it too.

California’s 11th District, Jerry McNerney (D). Freshman McNerney rode the Democratic wave and help from the environmental community to beat Republican Rep. Richard Pombo two years ago, but he isn’t an ideal fit for his Republican- leaning district. The GOP nominee, former state Assemblyman Dean Andal, looks to be a serious threat.

State Senate Republican Leader Dave Cogdill has an editorial on our friend Joel Fox’s Fox and Hounds website where he talks about the urgency of placing a water bond measure on the November ballot — because the crisis facing California in terms of the ability to store water and move water around the state is quickly reaching a crisis point (some would say we’re already there).

I agree that something needs to be done.

But first we need to acknowledge two important reasons why we are at this crisis point, and then we need to look at the likely reason why it may be impossible for conservatives of conscience to support a November measure placed on the ballot by the legislature.

**There is more – click the link**

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State Senate Republican Leader Dave Cogdill has an editorial on our friend Joel Fox’s Fox and Hounds website where he talks about the urgency of placing a water bond measure on the November ballot — because the crisis facing California in terms of the ability to store water and move water around the state is quickly reaching a crisis point (some would say we’re already there).

I agree that something needs to be done.

But first we need to acknowledge two important reasons why we are at this crisis point, and then we need to look at the likely reason why it may be impossible for conservatives of conscience to support a November measure placed on the ballot by the legislature.

Why are we in this crisis? First and foremost is the screwed up long term budget priorities of the Democrats who have controlled the legislature, pretty much for decades. They have not been allocating a significant percentage of general fund dollars annually for any infrastructure investment, let alone for water. These… Read More

"Iraqi President embraces Obama Withdrawal Plan," was the misleading front page headline in the Los Angeles Times Sunday national edition yesterday. Once again, the newspaper that declared "Obama Captivates the World!" has allowed their wishful thinking to get the best of them. President Al-Maliki has definately not embraced the Obama surrender terms. Even the Times article mentions that Maliki had qualifications to the Obama withdrawal schedule. But today we learned that the story the Times ran is based on a few statements Maliki made to a German media outlet, not the Los Angeles Times, and that Maliki has stated that the German media report is wrong, and he denies its claims. Will the Times print a front page clarification? Most likely it would read like this: "Obama, who captivates the world, receives praise from Maliki" who is a war monger.… Read More

Santa Clara Valley Water District officials claim they are saving the state money by employing a chief executive for the agency part-time, but the action is actually costing taxpayers more money. At a time when California is experiencing a record $16 billion plus budget shortfall, government officials must be more responsible with taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars. However, the tax-fund tap has been left running for a couple of years at the Santa Clara Water District.

According to the San Jose Mercury News, (July 8, 2008), “Olga Martin Steele was brought in to temporarily lead the Santa Clara Valley Water District in January after its former CEO Stan Williams resigned under a cloud of controversy for excessive spending.” The facts tell the story: “…[U]nder a contract that the board will consider extending today, Steele is making more money than Williams – $252,000 a year – while working less, only 32 hours a week.” Furthermore, “[s]he maintains part-time status so she can continue drawing her $180,000… Read More

Things are not always what they appear to be…..particularly in Washington. Sometimes, the real reason that a bill is changed, or shelved, or amended is not what the spin and press reports say. Two such instances have occurred here recently. The first has to do with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) which was finally passed by the Senate and was signed into law by President Bush last week. This bill has been held up in negotiations and partisan fighting all year. Most people believe that the hold up was because civil libertarians were fighting to insure that no wiretapping of phones is done without appropriate court orders or that the privacy ramifications of this bill were being debated. Not true. A compromise was reached on all of those issues months ago. The hold-up on this bill was for an entirely different reason. After 9/11, the phone companies were contacted by the federal government and asked to provide certain phone records that the government would use in its surveillance activities. The phone companies, remember that this is in the aftermath of 9/11, complied. Recently, a group of trail lawyers determined that these… Read More

I had a chance to get to know soon-to-beAssemblyman (and fellow FR blogger) Curt Hagmanthis past weekend and see him in action.

I’m impressed.

I’m not able to give you the when, where, what and why’s of our encounter – it would complicate the very significant issue we were trying to fix – what I can say is that Curt showed right away he is a driven problem solver and absolutely knows what he’s talking about. He has solutions that are common-sense and a plan of action to get it done.

Something happened that I’ve not seen before at the meeting that speaks volumes about the leadership of Curt. A very high ranking government official asked this not yet an Assemblyman to come to Sacramento to work with them to work on the issue.

I wish I could say who it was – because in the 14 years I’ve been in government, I’ve never seen this dynamic happen. To be honest, most "nominees" aren’t paid attention to much – because they don’t have a vote yet.. Curt transcended that easily.

I’m always glad when I run across people that have given themselves to… Read More