OC Blog

Can Arnold Step In It Again?

After mucking up a large pension reform issue by needlessly threatening widows and orphans, and then backing off on teacher tenure issues, here goes Re-Districting:  Governor hedges on redistricting agenda and Arnold's retreats threaten his agenda. 

The "Year of Reform" is quickly degenerating to a whimpering conclusion as the Year of Remorse -- we're going to be sorry we voted for this guy.  For all the chest pounding and bad rhetoric, we're being left with a Gray Davis agenda as the unions haven't lost a thing.  Re-Districting was the last, best idea and if Arnold remains as ineffective and spineless as he's proven with his other grand issues, nothing's going to change and his special interests foes will be staying in charge.

Ted Costa, father of the Davis Recall, and the guy who REALLY put the Re-Districting initiative together ought to be spitting nickels about Arnold's weakness in supporting this vital initiative for next year's election.  Without it, we're hosed.

UPDATE --  And the Register agrees this morning:  No more delays. 

ANOTHER UPDATE, from Monday's WSJ.com Opinion Journal (John Fund, "Sacramento Showdown" at http://www.opinionjournal.com/diary/?id=110006635): 

Ted Costa, the taxpayer advocate who made the 2003 recall that brought Mr. Schwarzenegger to office possible, says he will refuse to pull the plug on real redistricting reform. His supporters fret that if the governor strikes a deal with Democratic lawmakers, his campaign committee won't turn in the 300,000 signatures it has collected to put immediate redistricting reform on the ballot. If that happens, Mr. Costa plans to send vans over to their offices and invite the media to observe how the people's will is being thwarted.

Another UPDATE -- Costa says he's 100k signatures over the threshold in: Schwarzenegger allies set for redistricting vote.

Commie Girl

As OC Weekly columnist, friend of OC Blog and snarly OC Blog commenter Commie Girl pointed out, her latest column was not included in the News Roundup -- which is a shame, since it's a good one. To make up for the oversight, she gets her very own post dedicated to that same column.

Please read it and send her a nice e-mail.

The Crystal Ball: Joe Dunn in the 69th AD Race?

Attorney General Bill Lockyer's surprise decision to run for Treasurer instead of Governor puts Sen. Joe Dunn in a bind. Dunn recently switched races himself, deciding to run for Treasurer instead of AG. It is extremely unlikely Dunn could beat Lockyer in a statewide primary -- Lockyer has too much money and too much name ID.

Realistically, Dunn's options come down to:

A) Desperately flipping into a third statewide race, either Insurance Commissioner against the hapless Cruz Bustamante or for the Controller (since Lockyer's exit makes it even more likely Steve Westly runs for Governor).

B) Postponing his statewide dreams and running for the 69th AD.

C) Returning to private practice.

Personally, I think Dunn chooses Option B.

OC Blog News Roundup -- April 29, 2005

Today's top stories from behind the Orange Curtain:

Judge Lifts Court Control Over OC Jail System -- LAT
Very good.

Jaramillo Lawyers Drop Probe of Leak -- LAT
Deja vu.

Sex And The Sheriff -- OC Weekly
Moxley spins a yarn of OC Babylon. When did he become Sid Hudgens?

Great Park Exec Told To Build Staff -- OCR
Go forth, Wally Kreutzen and hire!

A Few Wrods On Why Tom Umberg Doesn't Want Campaign Finance Reform -- OC Weekly
Sorry, Gustavo -- I salute Umberg on this one.

Orange City Manager Shown The Door -- OCR
Dave Rudat, the $266,608 man, is being "transitioned out." In other words, he being politiely told to clean out his desk over a few months.

Firefighters' Tax Plan Wins Round -- OCR
But the jostling at the public trough will continue.

Ask A Mexican! -- OC Weekly
The Mexican answer the questions, "Why do Mexicans park their cars on the front lawn?"

Greenhut On Public Employee Greed

And just for good measure, here's a Greenhut blog posting from yesterday:

Public Employee Greed

The Register's recent articles about the astoundingly high pay and benefit packages received by city managers and school superintendents just touches on the reality. Thanks to the influence of public-sector unions, we're creating a two-tiered society. There are the private-sector schlubs who will work later into our lives and for relatively low pay so that the elite group of government workers, with their civil service protections and aggressive unions, gain an ever-higher amount of pay and retirement benefits. We will drop over on the job at age 87 so they can retire at age 50 and live like kings. It's not just an affordability issue, or a political corruption issue as is being played out in San Diego, but a fairness issue. If you want to see what local governments and school districts pay their employees, take a look at Steve Frates new Web site, govanalyst.com. Frates, of the Rose Institute, started the Center for Government Analysis. Here's a guy who knows budgets. The site isn't free, but it's a valuable research tool.

Most galling about the high pay for the city managers and superintendents, is that they often are hired for their skills at securing more taxpayer dollars. These folks see themselves as potential CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, but they couldn't get a job at a company that measures the bottom line of profits and customer service.

Posted by Steven Greenhut -- at 3:17 PM on April 27, 2005

PFIinIRV, we await your comments.

More On "Taxin' Tom" Harman

Steve Greenhut posted this a little while ago on the OC Register's blog:

 A RINO In Action

Tom Harman, the New Majority-backed, union-funded Republican In Name Only Assembly member who hopes to become a county supervisor, has proposed an outrageous bill that would allow the state to impose new flood control assessments without a written notice to taxpayers, a public hearing or a chance to vote. I learned about this from the OC Blog. Put him together with Lou Correa on the board, and imagine what will happen -- a point the blog aptly makes.

Posted by Steven Greenhut -- at 12:37 PM, April 28, 2005

In case you're wondering, Harman's co-sponsors are Democratic Assemblymen Gene Mullin (representing South San Francisco) and Dave Jones (representing Sacramento -- and therefore Government in a literal sense).

Tom Harman Wants To Exempt Taxation From Taxpayers

Late auto painting tycoon Earl Shieb used to promise he'd "paint any car, any color, for $39.95 -- no ups, no extras."

Now, Assemblyman Tom Harman promise he'll "impose any flood or stormwater fee or assessment, on any property owner, for any amount -- no property-owner votes, no property-owner protests."

Tom Harman's ACA 13 (HT to Aroundthecapitol.com)shows you can take the man out of local government, but you can't take the local government out of the man.

Currently, the state constitution prohibits imposition of flood control assessments without "written notice to property owners, a public hearing, and an opportunity for majority protest." It also prohibits (with the exception of fees or charges for sewer, water, and refuse   collection services) the "imposition or increase of a property-related fee or charge" unless it is approved "by a majority vote of the property owners of the property subject to the fee or charge, or at the option of the entity imposing the fee or charge, by a 2/3 vote of the electorate residing in the area affected by the fee or charge."

ACA 13 would abolish these property owner protections in regard to flood control, stormwater drainage or surface drainage fees. The fees or assessments could simply be imposed -- and they will be, believe me -- and property owners would have no real recourse. If you or I attempted that, we'd be arrested for racketeering.

Harman would doubtless protest this is a narrow exemption. But that is how political rights and freedoms are usually extinguished. It's called death by a thousand cuts. No single wound is mortal, but taken together they prove fatal.

This is the League of Cities/local government mentality at work: Prop. 13 is bad. the 2/3 vote requirement is bad.

Even more frightening is the prospect of Harman taking this mentality with him to the OC Board of Supervisors, where it is barely held at bay by Chris Norby, Bill Campbell and (irregularly) Jim Silva. Harman as a Supervisor could decisively tip the balance against taxpayers and property rights.

OC Blog News Roundup -- April 28, 2005

Today's top stories from behind the Orange Curtain:

Jaramillo Lawyers Halt Probe Into Press Leak -- OCR
So much for that maneuver.

Sands of Time Run Out For Dredger -- OCR
Pesky weather ruins the best laid plans.

94 Days At An Loc -- OCR
Testimony from a former South Vietnamese Army general about the heroic defense of An Loc during the 1972 Easter Offensive, and the fall of the South three years later. Must reading for those who subscribe to the myth that our South Vietnamese allies refused to fight for their country (they were sold down the river by the Democratic Congress).

Editorial: Pension Tsunami Sinks San Diego Mayor Dick Murphy -- OCR
If local elected officials fail to respond to the looming pension crisis, it won't be because they didn't have ample warning. If city councils and county boards had more Winston Churchills and fewer Neville Chamberlains, they wouldn't be facing this mess.

OC Board Expected To Add Baby Havens -- LAT
137 fire stations will be designated "safe surrender" sites.

"Bat Bridge" Saved, Will Become County Property -- LAT
What a relief; I know I'll sleep better at night knowing the bats are OK.

A Day In The Legislature -- DP
Daily Pilot reporter Alice Robinson follows Sen. John Campbell and Assemblymen Chuck DeVore and Van Tran around the Capitol for a day.

Editorial: Assemblyman DeVore Should Abandon Lost Cause Ideas -- DP
DP urges DeVore to stop fighting the eviction of tenants from El Morro.

Assemblyman Earl Scheib?

Is it just me, or does Asssemblyman Tom Harman have an eerie, slightly unsettling resemblance to late auto painting tycoon Earl Schieb?

Tom Harman                    Earl Scheib

We report, you decide.

"The Law Should Make Sense."

That phrase came from a press release I received from the indefatigable Assemblyman Chuck DeVore's indefatigable press guy Brian K. O'Neel. DeVore is referring to his AB 1413, which would:

...ease the criminal liability and eliminate the requirement for police notification for motorists involved in an accident where damage is only to the property. DeVore believes when insurance information is received by the injured party or parties, there is no need to involve police.

Currently, when a motorist hits a parked vehicle resulting in damage to another’s property they must leave their insurance and contact information and contact the police. Typically these motorists do not notify the police – making them under current law guilty of a misdemeanor.

“Logic says when you hit a car and leave your insurance information, you have complied with the law,” said DeVore. “That is not currently the law. The law should make sense. This bill is a clean up measure to ensure that it does.”

The bill now moves to the Assembly Floor where the full house will vote on it.

"The law should make sense." Now that is truly a foreign concept in Sacramento, where the opposite is the prevailing zeitgeist. The notion that the law should make sense, uh...makes sense to the rest of us (San Francisco and Berkeley residents excepted). But to legislative Democrats, that conviction is as bizarre as a nudist colony at the North Pole. All in all, it is amazing DeVore's bill has made it to the Assembly floor.

I admire DeVore's showing in his first months in office. He's enthusiastically pushed a common sense conservative agenda, despite the GOP Caucus being hopelessly outnumbered. Orange County's legislative delegation used to be typified by guys like DeVore. Now it's a mixed bag of squishes like Tom Harman and Lynn Daucher, zeros like former Assemblyman Bob Pacheco, and warriors like Senators Dick Ackerman, John Campbell (speaking anonymously, of course), Bill Morrow and the sorely missed and irreplaceable Ross Johnson, and Assemblymen DeVore and Van Tran.