Wolk to serve on committees hearing legislation on key state and local issues
Posted by: Maven on January 27, 2011 at 7:53 am
From the website of Senator Lois Wolk:
“Senate Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) announced today that Senator Lois Wolk (D-Davis) will serve on committees that hear legislation on such key issues as the state budget, water, resources, health, and agriculture, in addition to chairing the Senate's newly-formed Committee on Governance and Finance.
Wolk will serve on the Senate committees on:
\Ӣ Agriculture;
\Ӣ Budget & Fiscal Review;
\Ӣ Elections and Constitutional Amendments;
\Ӣ Health; and
\”¢ Natural Resources and Water.“These committees hear legislation that affects the water we drink, the food we eat, the health of our families, and the funding for critical services for many Californians,\” Wolk said. “I look forward to continue working with Senator Steinberg and my colleagues on these policy issues, which touch the lives of my constituents and all Californians.
Wolk will continue to chair the Senate Select Committee on Delta Stewardship and Sustainability,and to serve on the Joint Legislative Audit and Joint Legislative Budget Committees.”
Fuller announces committee assignments
Posted by: Maven on January 27, 2011 at 7:50 am
From the Bakersfield Californian:
“State Sen. Jean Fuller, R-Bakersfield, has been appointed to several key Senate policy committees, giving her a crucial role in matters of budget, rules, energy, natural resources and water.
Fuller was named to these committees: Energy, Utilities and Communications (vice chair); Rules; Budget and Fiscal Review; Budget Subcommittee on Resources, … “
Continue reading from the Bakersfield Californian by clicking here.
Congressman Denham named to the Subcommittee on Water and Power
Posted by: Maven on January 25, 2011 at 8:45 am
From the website of Congressman Jeff Denham:
“Rep. Jeff Denham today expands his influence over the House debate on water issues and his ability to address California's water crisis by joining the Subcommittee on Water and Power in the House Committee on Natural Resources. With a seat on the Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee in the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure as well, Rep. Denham now has jurisdiction over many programs including the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Bureau of Reclamation.
The unemployment rates are consistently above the national average in the Central Valley. As a long time farmer in the area, Rep. Denham understands the immediacy of the water crisis and will remain committed to bringing water back to the Central Valley in order for farmers to grow crops and put people back to work.
“I understand the importance of bringing water to the Central Valley,\” said Rep. Denham. “The current administration has been too passive on this issue and the previously Democratic controlled Congress had misplaced priorities. The lack of water has caused significant unemployment numbers and nearly 500,000 acres of farm land to lay fallow.
Rep. Denham will continue to advocate for the livelihood of the people from the Central Valley as part of the Subcommittee on Water and Power which exercises jurisdiction over all measures and matters pertaining to irrigation, reclamation projects and other water resources development and recycling programs, including policies and procedure.”
Delta National Park blog: The Lockeford microcosm
Posted by: Maven on January 25, 2011 at 8:33 am
From the Delta National Park blog:
“No, it's not the name of a Frederick Forsyth novel – it's the name of a dispute over water and taxes that illustrates how California's “dysfunction,\” as Alex Breitler put it, plays out in a tiny farming community like Lockeford.
Lockeford is home to the Inn at Locke House, and many other water-using places.
The dispute is between farmers ( “None of us likes to pay taxes. But this is our water\”) and the anti-tax people ( “’No new taxes,' said Hugh Scanlon, a newly elected Republican member. That ‘is the pledge I made to the people'\”). … “
Continue reading from the Delta National Park blog by clicking here.
Sunday’s top of the scroll: Politicians quoting Coleridge on water get the meaning wrong
Posted by: Maven on January 23, 2011 at 9:21 amFrom McClatchy News:
“The 19th-century English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge could never have guessed how he’d be conscripted into California’s partisan water wars.
This week, Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., became the latest lawmaker to summon Coleridge while lamenting irrigation water shortages. The chairman of the House Water and Power Subcommittee, McClintock was denouncing the Obama administration as not delivering enough water to farms in California’s Central Valley.
“This is insane,” McClintock said on the House floor Wednesday. “Coleridge’s lament, ‘Water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink,’ appears to have become the policy of this administration.”
It turns out, though, that the lines adapted from the poem “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” invite a different interpretation from the one McClintock intended. … “
Continue reading from McClatchy News by clicking here.
Saturday’s top of the scroll: Auburn dam back in play as McClintock takes over house panel
Posted by: Maven on January 15, 2011 at 7:14 amFrom the Sacramento Bee:
“Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Elk Grove, could start making waves in California water.
As new chairman of the House water and power subcommittee, McClintock can promote his pet projects while he squeezes environmentalists. Politically, this means renewed talk of an Auburn dam, stricter scrutiny of San Joaquin River restoration and more support for hydropower.
“We need to change the central objective of our federal water and power policy to one of abundance,” McClintock said in an interview. “That means building more water projects.” … “
Continue reading from the Sacramento Bee by clicking here.
Jerry Brown: a new direction on eco-issues?
Posted by: Maven on January 14, 2011 at 8:21 amFrom the Los Angeles Times:
“With all the budget cutting and tax talk coming out of Sacramento, newly elected California Gov. Jerry Brown’s eco-agenda might seem to be on the back burner. But UCLA Law School’s environmental policy activists are aiming to nudge it to the fore.
“California’s economic future depends on its economic health,” warned a report released Thursday by the school’s Emmett Center on Climate Change and the Environment and the Evan Frankel Environmental Law & Policy program. It warned that the public health costs of failing to protect natural resources “will prove to be a drain on the state’s economy.” … “
Continue reading from the Los Angeles Times by clicking here.
Spouting Off blog: Regime change
Posted by: Maven on January 11, 2011 at 7:33 amFrom the Spouting Off blog:
“This past December may go down as the most productive month for regional water quality and coastal ecosystem protection since September 2003. Last month featured five critical positive decisions:
Los Angeles approved the Low Impact Development Ordinance for the city. The measure will reduce runoff pollution, increase rainwater capture and use, and improve flood control. Also, Long Beach approved a similar LID measure in its updated building code in November. … “
Continue reading from the Spouting Off blog by clicking here.
Huffman to again chair Assembly Water Committee
Posted by: Maven on December 21, 2010 at 7:24 amFrom ACWA’s Water News:
“Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez has reappointed Assembly Member Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) to serve as chair of the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee for the 2011-’12 legislative session. … “
Find out who else will be serving on the committee from ACWA’s Water News by clicking here.
Barry Nelson: A water agenda for Governor Brown – Incorporating credible economics and financing
Posted by: Maven on December 4, 2010 at 10:57 amFrom Barry Nelson at the NRDC Switchboard blog:
“The California economy is still struggling to recover from the Great Recession and, in the coming years, both public and private funds will be scarce. As a result, the need to incorporate credible economic analysis and financing into our water policies has never been greater. In the past, important water policy efforts, such as the CALFED Bay-Delta Program, have floundered because they failed to incorporate economics and credible financing. We must learn from those mistakes.
For example, the state should work to reduce reliance on public subsidies and move toward market-based pricing for water. For the past ten years, there has been strong support for a “beneficiary pays\” approach to financing water solutions. Little progress, however, has been made to implement this policy : with the notable exception of the requirement in SB 7×1 last year that water users, rather than taxpayers, must pay for any new water delivery facilities in the Delta. … “
Continue reading Barry Nelson’s post by clicking here.
On the Public Record blog: Looks like the new House of Representatives will give me plenty to write about.
Posted by: Maven on December 3, 2010 at 7:29 amFrom the On the Public Record blog:
“I absolutely love this article. I cannot begin to tell you how it delights me that Tom McClintock is going to spend his time as a member of the majority of the House of Representatives reviving Auburn Dam. I think he should do that. I think he should spend most of his time on it. A six to ten billion dollar dam on an earthquake fault over a major city based on lapsed water rights You get right on that, Representative McClintock. But that's not what surprised me. … “
Find out what did surprise the OTPR blog by clicking here.
Dan Walters: Water still on the agenda for Jerry Brown
Posted by: Maven on November 28, 2010 at 7:30 amFrom Dan Walters at the Sacramento Bee:
“During the campaign, Jerry Brown was fairly vague on what he would do as governor, especially on how he would resolve the state’s chronic budget problems.
“It will evolve,” one of Brown’s pet phrases from his first governorship, was the unspoken credo of the campaign for his second.
There was, however, a notable exception to Brown’s vagueness : water. He published a fairly specific policy paper on water, reflecting his own extensive experience with its complicated politics. … “
Continue reading from the Sacramento Bee by clicking here.
McNerney leaves San Joaquin County high & dry on water issues, says commentary
Posted by: Maven on November 25, 2010 at 6:07 amFrom the Manteca Bulletin, this commentary:
“Jerry McNerney had just been recently elected to Congress in 2006.
The candidate with the green persona based on his private sector dabbling in alternative clean energy sources arrived for a meeting at Big League Dreams with Manteca officials riding in an older model government issue Chevrolet Impala that did anything but scream gas miser.
No one was impolite enough to question how come he was using what was for all practical purposes a gas guzzler given his campaign ads. But they did ask a question about an issue that is key to the economic, agricultural and environmental future of San Joaquin County – water. … “
Continue reading this commentary from the Manteca Bulletin by clicking here.
AWWA Commentary: The election and what it means for water
Posted by: Maven on November 10, 2010 at 8:33 amFrom Water Online, this commentary by American Water Works Association:
“[Last week] the American people redrew the country’s political landscape. As you know by now, a huge wave of voter anger swept the nation : and swept the Democratic Party from control in the House of Representatives. Democrats held on to a reduced majority in the Senate but fell short of the sixty votes needed to pass most bills.
We will not add to the outpouring of views you will see in coming days about what caused this wave or what it means for Democrats, Republicans, or the 2012 presidential election. But we would like to give you an early glimpse at what the election may mean for AWWA members and the water community over the next two years. … “
Continue reading from Water Online by clicking here.
On the Public Record blog: It could happen.
Posted by: Maven on November 4, 2010 at 8:52 amFrom the On the Public Record blog:
“Most people probably don't realize how long the Californian executive branch has been Republican. Look here, for example. With a five-year break for Gray Davis around 2000, the Californian agencies have been under the control of Secretaries and Directors since Jerry Brown himself was last governor in 1983.
People have spent nearly their whole careers in the agencies without seeing a radical change under a new administration, because the administrations have gone from Republican to Republican. So they probably don't think of what a genuinely Democratic water administration could look like.
If we'd had alternating administrations, people would be more used to shifts in departmental emphasis. The names of the department branches don't have to change, and no one has to get fired. But, for example, a new Resources Secretary could tell DWR's Infrastructure Investigations branch that they should stop designing and planning for Sites Reservoir, and instead start cataloging the infrastructure that will have to be moved for a two-foot sea level rise. That would be a legitimate use of a bunch of Californian water engineers, but no one can fathom it because we haven't seen a Democratic executive branch in more than a generation. … “
Continue reading from the On the Public Record blog by clicking here.
Sunday’s top of the scroll: Candidates avoid thorny water issues, says SacBee editorial
Posted by: Maven on October 24, 2010 at 10:35 amFrom the Sacramento Bee, this editorial:
“As this election season dribbles down to its final days, it might seem like water torture for many voters : drip, drip, drip.
Yet the real torture is waiting for leading candidates to offer honest and detailed positions on a crucial resource of California : the water we drink and dedicate to farming, industry and fisheries.
Gubernatorial candidates Jerry Brown and Meg Whitman have offered policy platforms on water, but they both dodge some key issues. … “
Continue reading this editorial from the Sacramento Bee by clicking here.
Water wars featured on Fox Business’ “Follow The Money”
Posted by: Maven on October 22, 2010 at 8:56 amDevin Nunes appears on “Follow the Money” in this clip posted on YouTube:
“Congressman Devin Nunes joins Eric Bolling on “Follow The Money” to discuss the government-imposed drought in California.”
GOP taps water as wedge issue in Fresno County
Posted by: Maven on October 16, 2010 at 7:56 amFrom the Silicon Valley Mercury News:
” “Mas trabajos,” says the billboard. More jobs.
For the 10,000 residents of this overwhelmingly Latino city, the message on gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman’s advertisement is designed to hit home: Mendota’s unemployment rate is 39.9 percent.
Like many places in the southern San Joaquin Valley, this sleepy town in western Fresno County has been sucked dry in recent years by drought, the reduction of water pumping from the Delta to save endangered fish, and a relentless poverty that grinds at the town’s soul. You can see the effect in the downcast eyes of the men wearing cowboy hats who saunter by the billboard on their way to play a round of pool or buy a 24-ounce Bud at the nearby 7-Eleven to ease their troubles, at least for one hot afternoon. … “
Continue reading from the Silicon Valley Mercury News by clicking here.
Peter Gleick: $#*! your congressman says: Devin Nunes’ wild rant on California water
Posted by: Maven on October 3, 2010 at 8:26 amPeter Gleick responds to Congressman Nunes’ rant in this post at the Huffington Post:
“I know that civility is increasingly scarce in our public discourse. Some people are trying to encourage a return to actual discussion. Others: not so much. Maybe it’s always been this bad and I never noticed. But I don’t think so. I think the Tea Party mentality and the current tilt toward right wing bloviation on cable TV have made it so that even Congressmen (and Congresswomen: I’m sure readers can find good examples of “$#*! Your Congresswoman Says”) think they need to say stupid, outrageous, rude, and ignorant things to get noticed.
It certainly worked here: Congressman Devin Nunes (R-CA 21st) has apparently lost his mind, or at least any sense of civility. Perhaps he comes from a district so absolutely safe that feels he can say anything at all and still get re-elected. That’s probably the case. But it is no excuse for a public official to run so far off the rails. … “
Continue reading Peter Gleick’s post by clicking here.
No on Water Bond Coalition reacts to Brown/Whitman debate
Posted by: Maven on October 3, 2010 at 8:22 amFrom Dan Bacher at IndyBay.org:
“The No on the Water Bond Coalition on Friday reacted to the Brown versu Whitman Debate in Davis on Tuesday, September 28 by saying that “Meg Whitman's love of Texas includes an embrace of the Texas sized pork in the water bond.”
“In this week's first debate between the candidates for governor, California's water woes were featured prominently, as was the $11.14 billion water bond slated for the November 2012 ballot,” according to Jim Metropulos, spokesman for Sierra Club California and the coalition. “He echoed the No on the Bond coalition's call that all parties, including Delta voices, be brought to the table.”
Jerry Brown stated that the central focus of any plan to build new water infrastructure should be based on the “beneficiary pays principles.” The proposed November 2012 water bond, instead, dumps the cost of building new water infrastructure on all California taxpayers. “The two candidates were in stark contrast as they laid out their vision for solving California's daunting water challenges,” the coalition stated. … “
Continue reading from Dan Bacher at IndyBay.org by clicking here.
Jerry Brown supports construction of peripheral canal
Posted by: Maven on September 30, 2010 at 9:05 amFrom Dan Bacher at the Calitics blog:
“Jerry Brown, the Democratic candidate for Governor, said he supports building a peripheral canal/tunnel to ship water to southern California and corporate agribusiness during the debate with Meg Whitman in Davis Tuesday night.
Up until the debate, Brown had refused to take a position on the controversial canal and water bond. However, political pressure by agribusiness, southern California water agencies and corporate environmental NGOs including the Nature Conservancy has apparently forced him to adopt a pro-canal stand. … “
Continue reading at the Calitics blog by clicking here.
Boxer-Fiorina debate: Fish, flies & frogs: also, farms, Fiorina, and (California’s) future
Posted by: Maven on September 30, 2010 at 9:01 amFrom Molly Peterson’s blog at KPCC, Southern California Public Radio:
“I was interested and surprised when Carly Fiorina started her discussion of issues with a reference to the Delta smelt. Water politics are astoundingly complicated in California; a shorthand reference to them can be difficult – people just don’t know what you’re talking about, even though the complex circulatory system that keeps water moving through this state is almost literally the heart of the state’s environment AND economy. (Not to prove my own point by example.)
Her answers suggest to me that she’s going to rely very heavily on Central Valley farmers – her putative base – to come out for her. But can she trust that her potential supporters in big cities – particularly in southern California – get her drift (and that nobody else will) … “
Continue reading from Molly Peterson at KPCC by clicking here.
Rodriguez on Whitman Endorsement: “I hope my mom forgives me.”
Posted by: Maven on September 28, 2010 at 8:23 amPaul Rodriguez, comedian and chairman of the Latino Water Coalition, has come out with an endorsement for Meg Whitman:
” … “We are voting for who’s going to put mom and pop to work, who’s going to secure your kids going to college : who’s going to secure that you have a better shot at the American dream Right now it’s Meg, tomorrow it might be a democrat and I’ll vote that way if that’s the way it is.”
Rodriguez says as soon as he can get water to his mom’s farm in Orange Cove he’ll go back to telling jokes. …
“The only candidate that put it down on paper that’s she’s for the peripheral canal is Meg,” Rodriguez said, “and water equals jobs.” … “
Read the full text of this story from KMPH by clicking here.
Saturday’s top of the scroll: Water and politics are an ongoing battle
Posted by: Maven on September 11, 2010 at 6:55 amFrom ABC News 10:
“Water has always been a political hot button in California. It’s been a battle which seems to flow right from the State Capitol itself.
“Water has been an issue that generations of Californians have been talking about,” said Gov. Schwarzenegger’s spokesman, Aaron McLear.
Politicians know all too well the stakes for water are high.
California is facing the most significant water crisis and drought in its history. In the event of an emergency like a levee breach or earthquake, there would not be enough water to meet demand. … “
Continue reading from ABC News 10 by clicking here.
Fiorina says Boxer favors fish over farmers
Posted by: Maven on September 11, 2010 at 6:51 amFrom the Fresno Bee:
“Republican U.S. Senate candidate Carly Fiorina on Friday told San Francisco Bay area tea party supporters that Sen. Barbara Boxer is putting endangered species ahead of California’s farmers while Boxer’s campaign accused the former executive of distorting the facts.
Fiorina criticized her Democratic opponent for supporting the Endangered Species Act over water for Central Valley farmers, according to the Marin Independent Journal. Rose Kapolczynski, Boxer’s campaign manager, said Fiorina “has her facts wrong again.”
Continue reading from the Fresno Bee by clicking here.
Valley Economy blog on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce attack ad on Barbara Boxer
Posted by: Maven on September 11, 2010 at 6:48 amFrom the Valley Economy blog:
“Wow, I just saw this ad from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. I interact and sometimes give speeches to Central Valley Chamber of Commerce groups, and I can assure you that Chamber members here in the Valley are a lot more thoughtful than this ad. Plenty of them care about the environment, like fish, and they know what is really driving unemployment in the Valley (see the previous post about the $6.4 billion annual decline in private construction).
The key line is “She voted to cut water to the Central Valley \”¦ killing jobs \”¦and driving unemployment as high as 40%.” … “
Sacramento Bee’s Head to Head: Should California split up into two (or more) states?
Posted by: Maven on September 1, 2010 at 8:28 amFrom the Sacramento Bee:
“THE ISSUE: Californians have toyed with dividing the state : north-south or east-west. Last year, former Assemblyman Bill Maze, R-Visalia, revived the idea of an east-west split and is leading a drive to put the matter on the ballot.”
Pia Lopez says no, Ben Boychuk says, why not Read their arguments in the rest of this article from the Sacramento Bee by clicking here.
On the Public Record blog: Jerry Brown is still not talking about water
Posted by: Maven on July 30, 2010 at 7:07 amFrom the On the Public Record blog:
“Candidate for governor Jerry Brown released two more campaign plans, on education and the environment. He is still not talking about water. Can't blame him. The field is turbulent and polarized right now; declaring himself on anything related to the Delta (and everything is related to the Delta) can only make people mad. Personally, I would love for him to come out with some strong statement. Folks in the agencies are reading tea leaves and entrails, wondering whether our on-going projects will be up-ended in January.
Bureaucrat that I am, I loved one thing in particular about his plan for the environment. Under Protect California's Coastline and Ocean Resources (Item 3, page 5), he wrote:
\”¦Complete and implement California's Climate Adaptation Plan aimed at protecting against sea level rise, salt water intrusion, and increased erosion.
I am nearly overcome. He is aware of an existing planning document! He wants to implement it! He will draw on already existing work, rather than have his administration start from scratch! … ”
Continue reading from the On the Public Record blog by clicking here.
Meg Whitman takes tour of the Delta, lays out her plan for solving California’s water woes
Posted by: Maven on July 16, 2010 at 5:57 amFrom Meg Whitman’s website, with a hat tip to LPAWater’s twitter feed:
“Meg Whitman toured the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta today as part of her vow to make revitalizing the hub of California’s water supply one of her top priorities, if elected Governor.
Whitman took an aerial tour that included a major swath of the 700-square mile Delta, which supplies water to more than 23 million Californians and millions of acres of the nation’s most productive farmland. Whitman was briefed by stakeholders, including state and local water resource managers and officials representing urban and agricultural water customers. She visited the Harvey O. Banks Pumping Station near Tracy, which marks the beginning of the 444-mile California Aqueduct, the central artery of the State Water Project that delivers water to the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California.
Whitman said today’s tour only reinforced her firm resolve to fix the state’s water delivery system, because without a safe, reliable supply of water California cannot ever hope to achieve sustained economic renewal. Whitman said the fix must include the water bond and, until the voters decide, California must move expeditiously to solve the water crisis, including using new technology, recycling and conservation. … “
Fiorina picks up ag endorsement in Clovis
Posted by: Maven on July 16, 2010 at 5:53 amFrom Trading Markets:
“U.S. Senate candidate Carly Fiorina made a brief stop Wednesday morning at the Bella Frutta farm store in Clovis, where she picked up the endorsement of the Nisei Farmers League.
Manuel Cunha, Nisei Farmers League president, said the group is endorsing the Republican in her bid to unseat Democrat Barbara Boxer in November because Fiorina, former head of Hewlett-Packard, “understands business, and she has taken great effort to understand our business.”
As the highest-producing agricultural area in the nation, the central San Joaquin Valley’s economic health is pivotal to California’s economic recovery, Fiorina said. … “
Continue reading from Trading Markets by clicking here.
Fresno Bee News Blog: Fiorina v. Boxer in Mendota: Who wins?
Posted by: Maven on June 10, 2010 at 4:38 pmFrom the Fresno Bee’s News Blog:
“The debates between Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer and Republican challenger Carly Fiorina could take a distinctly San Joaquin Valley turn, if Fiorina has her way.
Fiorina is challenging Boxer to schedule one of the debates in Mendota, the struggling Fresno County town where drought and water shortages have driven the unemployment rate at times to some 40 percent. For Fiorina, the location would provide a pretty obvious backdrop to discuss the human consequences of environmental protection priorities often associated with Boxer. … “
Continue reading from the Fresno Bee News Blog by clicking here.
On the Public Record blog: Why Carly Fiorina is wrong about CA water : the facts
Posted by: Maven on June 10, 2010 at 8:21 amFrom the On the Public Record blog:
“The new Republican candidate for Senate, Carly Fiorina, answered Senator Boxer's call for debates as follows:
“Barbara, I'll debate you anytime anywhere. As far as I'm concerned, we can debate once a week.
The Republican, however, made one debate demand, that they schedule one meeting in Mendota in the Central Valley,\”where unemployment is skyrocketing because the federal government has decided that families don't need water.\”
Aw man. The very first thing out of her mouth on the very first day Brace yourself, water people. This is going to be a theme, and we're going to be hearing this crap all the way through November. If I were a conscientious blogger, I'd do a nice round-up post specifically addressing that meme. Prof. Michael, you are going to be busy for the next few months. You might want to compose a stock answer for journalists that you can send out rapidly. … “
Read more from the On the Public Record blog by clicking here. Part 2 is here, and part 3 is here. (Or you can navigate to the next post from the link at the top on OTPR’s page.)
Dan Bacher commentary: Will Brown take position on water bond, peripheral canal?
Posted by: Maven on June 10, 2010 at 8:09 am
From Dan Bacher at IndyBay.org:
“Democrat Jerry Brown, the California Attorney General and former two-term Governor, and Republican Meg Whitman will face off this November in what is expected to be one of the most contentious and expensive elections for Governor in California history.
Art Pulaski, executive secretary-treasurer of the California Labor Federation, set the tone for the gubernatorial race when he said that the results of last night’s primaries “set in motion a battle for the soul of California.
“It’s Main Street vs. Wall Street, with the winner having an opportunity to shape California’s future for decades to come,” said Pulaski. “After months of obscene campaign spending, billionaire CEO Meg Whitman will use her seemingly unlimited fortune to try to stage a hostile takeover of our state. She’s made it clear that, if elected, she plans to bring a Wall Street agenda to California.”
Pulaski then contrasted Whitman’s “Wall Street” orientation with the “Main Street” values of Brown.
“The contrast between the candidates couldn’t be starker,” said Pulaski. “Jerry Brown shares the Main Street values that built this state’s economy into a global powerhouse and expanded our middle class. Brown has a spent a lifetime fighting for working families. He presided over the creation of nearly 2 million jobs as Governor (http://www.calaborfed.org).
Whitman has spent $71 million for her primary campaign, while Jerry Brown has spent a little over $27.5 million, according to campaign expense reports released on May 28.
Although Brown and Whitman have taken contrasting positions on an array of issues, it is unclear where Brown stands on the $11.14 million water bond on the November 2 ballot and the campaign by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, corporate agribusiness and southern California water agencies to build a peripheral canal and new dams. … “
Continue reading Dan Bacher’s commentary by clicking here.
Water Commission could be a conundrum for Guv
Posted by: Maven on May 6, 2010 at 7:49 amFrom Capitol Weekly:
“When Paul Rodriguez announced last week, prematurely, that he had been appointed to the California Water Commission, he may have inadvertently tipped off environmentalist and Senate Democrats to get ready for battle.
The Commission has been inactive for years, but it is poised to become a major player again if voters approve an $11.1 billion water bond in November. The governor gets to appoint all nine slots to the Commission, which would suddenly be in control of $3 billion of that money.
But those appointments would need to be approved by the Senate. While Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's press office confirmed that he was talking to potential nominees, they would likely face a tough road. If Democrat Jerry Brown maintains or expands his slight lead in the polls over likely Republican nominee Meg Whitman in the race for governor, Senate Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, would appear to have little incentive to confirm anyone Schwarzenegger appoints.
“That presumes that we have some strong incentive at the moment,\” said Nathan Barankin, Steinberg's communications director, when asked about this scenario. “Traditionally in the last year of a governor's time in office, we're very cautious about approving appointees who will serve well into the next governor's term, and thus limit the ability of the next governor to organize his or her own government. … “
Continue reading this article from Capitol Weekly by clicking here.
This just in … more on Rodriguez and the appointment to the California Water Commission
Posted by: Maven on May 4, 2010 at 1:51 pmFrom the Fresno Bee News Blog:
“Comedian Paul Rodriguez said today that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger plans to appoint him to the California Water Commission, a currently inactive panel that would take on a powerful role handing out money for dams if voters approve the $11 billion water bond in November.
The appointment “should be done by one of these days, that is what I was led to believe,” said Rodriguez, a strong supporter of dams.
He said he told Schwarzenegger administration officials that “I don’t believe I’m the most qualified. I wasn’t really searching for this job.” But “I don’t see this as something that’s rocket science. If you want to do a good job and apply yourself, I believe an average person — which I consider myself to be — can do the job.”
Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear did not confirm the appointment, but said “I’d expect the governor to announce the appointees to the commission very soon.” … “
Continue reading this post at the Fresno Bee News Blog by clicking here.
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