Wednesday, November 3, 2010

DNC Chairman Tim Kaine’s Statement on the Midterm Election Results

Washington, DC– In response to today’s midterm election results, Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine released the following statement:
 
“In November 2008, the American people voted for change – for a President that would stand up for the needs of middle-class families and a government that would work together to address America’s biggest challenges.  In the two years since then, Democrats have worked hard to rebuild America’s economy and renew the American Dream.  But tonight, voters sent a message that change has not happened fast enough.   The American people are rightly frustrated by the economy, and Democrats are ready to redouble our efforts to create jobs and accelerate growth.   With the two houses of Congress now divided between Democrats and Republicans, it is incumbent upon both parties to take responsibility for governing so we can move the nation forward. 
 
“In the face of stiff historical and economic headwinds, many of our candidates – with the help of committed volunteers and supporters across the country – outperformed expectations tonight.  Democrats will maintain control of the Senate and we are fighting hard in key governors’ races across the country.  I am extremely proud of our Party and the Democrats across the country who ran strong races based on records of fighting for the middle class, holding Wall Street accountable, ending the worst insurance industry abuses, and repairing the economic damage created by nearly a decade of failed economic policies. 
 
“While there are many races still undecided, we must turn our attention back to the business of the American people and in that, we hope that Republicans will join us in looking for common ground from which we can make the progress the American people expect and deserve.”
 
###

Monday, November 1, 2010

Predictions

Unless there is a Republican surge or heavy rain tomorrow, here is where I think the chips will fall:


Overall - Turnout makes the difference

GET OUT AND VOTE! We win when we vote. If you don't vote, rest assured the Right will. No matter how much the other side bellyaches about government, they're not stupid. If nothing, they will vote. And so should you.


D6 - Wayne by a hair

This race should not be this close. Labor divided its resources between Prop D, Wayne and Hueso in D8. The local Dems have been a funnel for the Whitburn effort. With such "allies", the Wayne Camp has fought heroically against the unified resources of the local GOP and Lincoln Club as they thrust one of the worst candidates forward that this city has seen onto the public.

Had the party been less focused on Whitburn and if Labor had not let their guns go silent with their "Don't get Zapf'd" campaign, Wayne would take this in a walk. As it is, expect a long night where there shouldn't have been one.


D8 - Alvarez
The Alvarez campaign has been plugging away while the Hueso campaign seemed stuck in neutral. With the UT articles over the weekend about the improper transfer of funds between Ben and Felipe using Labor as the go between and Labor's hard headed approach with the SDCDP regarding Alvarez, Labor and Ben have tipped this election into Alvarez's favor. He has gained support from a wide swath of South Bay activists as a reaction to the Ben/Labor effort.

Felipe never seemed awake to the fact that he was running for office. And calling Alvarez a "youngster" on KPBS didn't help his cause. His entire candidacy seemed to be a vanity project. Much like Sudberry & DeMaio's attempt to elect an obviously unqualified candidate to office (Zapf), this Gonzales & Hueso (Ben) attempt to elevate Felipe just smells bad.

And it didn't have to be. It's a Dem v Dem race ferchristssake! Do we not have enough issues as progressives in this city without our "friends" making enemies when there was no rational need to make them? Until the powers that be stop thinking with their guts and start thinking with their heads the progressive agenda in this city will have to wait for yet another cycle.


S4 - Roberts
While we are discussing vanity projects. Whitburn had a window in which to make his case and Roberts did seem rattled. Yet, Whitburn never made the case (though there is a good on to be made) and, even with a full court press from SEIU and the local Dem leadership (at the expense of Gronke and Wayne), Team Whitburn never seemed to catch fire.

Within the progressive circles, there is still some resentment about the Gloria win over Whitburn in D3. But Gloria has proven himself while Whitburn doesn't appear to have learned much from his race against Todd. In D3, Gloria worked for it while Whitburn seemed to expect other to do it for him. We don't have a Lincoln Club to make such things happen on the Left. As such, Roberts easily wins re-election.

Let's hope that S.S. Titanic Whitburn doesn't take down Wayne in the process.


Prop D - Fails
Let me just say that this was the wrong time to propose such a Proposition and the Yes side needed more help than Shepard could provide. The entire "Yes" effort seemed custom made to foster the growth of politician DeMaio's ego. "Nuff said.


See y'all at the bar!

Sunday, October 31, 2010

CDP voting guide

In Tuesday's election it is not enough just to vote for Jerry Brown, Barbara Boxer and Gavin Newsom.

It's important to reject the TV smears paid for by the tobacco companies, the oil companies, big mortgage banks and right wing billionaires by electing:

-- Kamala Harris as Attorney General. She will fight crime, polluters and mortgage fraud.

-- Dave Jones for Insurance Commissioner, he'll protect consumers from increases in insurance rates.

-- And Tom Torlakson as Superintendant of Public Instruction. He is supported by parents, educators and school superintendents.

Additionally you must vote on the important ballot propositions:

-- Prop 20: NO - Just another power grab by a Republican billionaire.

-- Prop 21: YES - Protects state parks.

-- Prop 22: NO - Would cut schools and public safety by billions of dollars.

-- Prop 23: NO - Protect green jobs and say no to Texas oil companies.

-- Prop 24: YES - Increase funding for schools by ending corporate tax handouts.

-- Prop 25: YES - Protects 2/3 vote on taxes and punishes legislators for late budgets.

-- Prop 26: NO - Vote no, don't let polluters off the hook.

-- Prop 27: YES - Eliminates state bureaucracy and repeals Schwarzenegger's Republican reapportionment scheme.

Friday, October 29, 2010

Four Days Away

Top of the Ticket
With Brown and Boxer pulling away from Meg and Carly, volunteers should look at helping on local races because they are hot!

D6
The Voice explains what a Zapf win would mean for the future of San Diego. This the the most important local race, the one that had been a bare knuckle bruiser and the only race that any progressive within City limits with half a mind should be volunteering for. Call (619) 761-6951or go to the Wayne Campaign website to keep Zapf away from the City Council.

D8
The only exception to this is if you reside in Ben Hueso's City Council District. The UT has a great story about Ben giving Felipe $25,000 through an IE run by the Central Labor Council. D8 has been chronically used by their council members as a stepping stone for higher office. Help Alvarez and put a stop to the dynastic attempts at succession.

S4
We advocate for an all out effort for Wayne because without an Obama-like wave we don't see Whitburn making it. Even with a full court press by some local Dem leaders, SEIU, and the Dem Unity campaign, Whitburn has run a lackluster campaign. As we enter the final days, resources must be used where they can have the largest impact and that looks like Wayne.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

California Democratic Party Features President Obama in Mailer Opposing Prop. 23, an Initiative That Would Eliminate Thousands of Clean Energy Jobs

SACRAMENTO – The California Democratic Party today announced a new mail piece, arriving in voters’ mailboxes as early as today, featuring President Barack Obama’s opposition to Proposition 23.  This dangerous initiative on California’s November ballot, sponsored by polluting out-of-state oil companies, would eliminate clean energy standards and thousands of green jobs created by California’s landmark greenhouse gas law.

In fact, because of our new greenhouse gas law, California’s clean-tech industry is thriving: More money is being invested in California alternative energy start-ups than anywhere else in the world, and green technology is creating 10 times more new jobs than any other sector.

But Prop. 23 would reverse that economic progress and turn back the clock on clean air protections. It would jeopardize the 12,000 clean energy businesses, 500,000 clean energy jobs and more than $10 billion in private investments that have been created.

President Obama understands that California and our nation can be the worldwide leader in green-tech industries, and opposes Prop. 23 because it would ship clean energy jobs overseas.  The same Texas oil companies behind Prop. 23 are trying to stop federal climate change legislation, as well.

Prop. 23 is also opposed by respected California organizations including the American Lung Association in California, California Professional Firefighters, AARP, California Nurses Association, the California Democratic Party, National Venture Capital Association, the California Solar Energy Industries Association, California Wind Energy Association, Small Business California, Attorney General Jerry Brown, Senator Barbara Boxer and many others.

A pdf of the Prop. 23 mailer can be found here:
http://www.cadem.org/admin/miscdocs/files/Prop23ObamaMailer.pdf

# # #

KPBS

Listen to Howard Wayne answer questions while Lorie Zapf ducks from the issues.

Wayne-Zapf

And listen to Felipe Hueso charge David Alvarez with being a "youngster."

Hueso-Alavarez

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Brown coming to San Diego





Call the SDCDP at (858)277-DEMS(3367) for more information.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

D6 and D8

D6: Then
In June, the Lincoln Club stuffed boxes in District 6 with over-sized mail attacks against Wayne and puff pieces promoting Zapf. The local GOP gave Zapf 20K and were able to insert voting guides into Republican ballot statements. Wayne and Hadley were fighting within the Democratic party for support and Tran had won the sign war.

When it was over, Zapf was heading into the runoff with 2nd place Wayne.

D6: Now
The local Dems gave Wayne 17K, both Hadley and Tran have endorsed Wayne and the mailers against Zapf all have a sting. The Lincoln Club is repeating their mail strategy but the Wayne campaign has the edge. The "Don't Get Zapf'd" tag line (Thanks, CityBeat) has a life of its own thanks to the IE mailings about Zapf's record of defaults, hateful remarks, and poor fiscal management.

Honestly, the UT's lukewarm endorsement of Zapf tells you that their decision had more to do with their simplisitc "labor v. business" theme that the UT loves rather than critically looking at the candidates. That would require thought.

Zapf's history of ducking out of debates and her performance at Clairemont using cue cards have confirmed suspicions that she's a lightweight who needs talking points from another politician (Carl DeMaio) in order to speak about anything substantive.

Right now, Wayne is winning the sign war and has been using the new media (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) very well to get their messages out. In fact, on the Wayne website is a release about LAPA endorsing Wayne after endorsing Zapf in the primary. The SDRA also backed away from their Zapf endorsment. We hope these signs point to a Wayne victory in November because the last thing San Diego needs is to get Zapf'd.


D8: Then
In a district that relies on getting voters to the polls, Alvarez and Hueso barely survived to fight another day.

D8: Now

And now they are ready to rumble. Alvarez and Huseo both dropped mean attack mailers on each other this weekend. With the local Dems supporting Alvarez and Labor supporting Hueso, this looks like a wicked match-up. But labor is not unified behind Hueso, such as the Firefighters who are supporting Alvarez, and the Dems are dividing their time between Whitburn and Wayne.

Expect Ben to help out his brother by sharing staff and resources like he did in the primary. As the KUSI post below shows, Felipe seems like a nice enough guy but is miscast as a candidate.

Alvarez can vote on issues facing his district because of he is not conflict-of-interested out and has the community credibility. He is currently winning the sign war but remains to be seen if this campaign can survive a full on labor onslaught.

Really, this shouldn't be happening. Whomever wins is going to be a better vote for labor than the GOP alternative. And heaven knows that Wayne could use the help. But for reasons that seem more emotional than rational, we have a Dem vs. Dem death match.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

District 8 Debate on KUSI

Last week, the two Democrats vying for San Diego's District 8 City Council seat discussed their candidacies on KUSI.

David Alvarez immediately got Filipe Hueso on the defensive. Watch for yourself.


Friday, October 8, 2010

D6: Clairemont Debate Review - Easy Wayne Win

After passing through a mass of Wayne signs, volunteers and sitting through a Ron Robert's hosted info session about Cal Fire, the debate for District 6 was held before a filled (about 150 people) cafeteria at Clairemont High.

In a tightly run debate voters had a clear sense of their choices. Zapf continued her pattern of not answering the questions and using the opportunity to attack labor. Wayne began hitting back landing solid rhetorical blows on Zapf for her lack of a record and the hypocrisy between her statements and her actions.

What was very telling was the use of cue cards by the Zapf campaign. A member of the Zapf camp was in a corner with a few pieces of cardboard that had notes in large type on them. When questions about city finances would come up, he would switch these notes out and Zapf would look to his corner before responding.

This is pathetic. It's not like we need more evidence of Zapf's vacuous campaign. But this is just sad. At this stage in the calendar, any candidate worthy of being elected should be able to speak on the issues without a net. Zapf has ducked debates and appears to be in hiding unless she can be scripted.

Really, without DeMaio's talking points and Sudberry's money, would there even be a Lorie Zapf candidacy? With her constituency of two and her weak showing last night, the last thing District 6 needs is a puppet at City Hall.

Wayne won last night in a big way. He was smarter, convincing, and called Zapf out on her BS when she tried to let it fly

And kudos to Janet Miller of the Clairemont Community News for moderating this debate and keeping things on schedule. This was one of the only debates that ever let out on time.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Official Democratic Voter Guide

Early voting has begun! If you're holding on to a ballot, please help all our candidates by filling it out completely and mailing it in right away. You can view and print our official Democratic Voter Guide online here: 

www.sddemocrats.org/endorsements 

Please forward this link to your friends and family through email, Facebook, and any means you have to promote the Party's recommendations. As an informed Democrat, you are a vital source of information for other voters in your personal network.

For more information, please call Democratic Headquarters at (858) 277-3367 or email info@sddemocrats.org.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Former District 6 Candidate Kim Tran Endorses Howard Wayne

Statement from Kim Tran

Character. Honesty. Ethics. In order to protect our community and our children, we need to elect officials whose words we can trust.  

With this criteria in mind, today, I announce that I am endorsing Howard Wayne as my choice to be the next Council member for District 6. I am encouraging all the people who supported me in the June primary to please vote for Howard.

We need the person representing our district to be honest, capable and truly committed to helping our communities.

Howard Wayne has proven his honesty. He is a deputy attorney general who has protected our communities from violent crime and consumer fraud as a prosecutor for 30 years. San Diego needs a leader we can trust.

Howard Wayne has proven his capability. He understands the legislative process and knows how to make things happen. And he’s maintained his own financial and personal integrity. San Diego needs a leader with experience.

Howard Wayne has proven his commitment to the community, as evidenced by his extensive history of community involvement in the 40 years that he’s lived here. San Diego needs a leader who cares about the community he lives in. 



While I don't agree with Howard on some issues, Howard has given me his word that he is committed to revitalizing our communities by creating middle class jobs, restoring fire and police protection and repairing our streets. He is also committed to reforming the pension and reducing the budget deficit. 



We have a choice between two candidates here in the 6th district. One candidate in this race is honest. One candidate in this race is capable. One candidate has shown true commitment to the community. And that one candidate is Howard Wayne. Please join me and Steven Hadley this November, and support Howard Wayne for City Council.

Bad News Keeps Piling Up for CA GOP

From the CDP:

In case you missed it: Bad News Keeps Piling Up for CA GOP

Two articles today that offer windows into the state of the race for the GOP candidates at the top of the ticket: Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina.

Yesterday, Meg Whitman hit the unprecedented $140 million mark in campaign spending, and she’s still not done. Why is that bad news? Her campaign remains stuck in neutral and has even started sliding in several polls. This is not where Meg Whitman and her high-priced consultants hoped to be at this point in the race — not after outspending their opponent 14 to 1.

Also, a new Field poll out today shows what California Democrats have known for months about that darn Sarah Palin endorsement that now hangs around Carly Fiorina’s neck like an albatross. In short, California’s Democratic-leaning, moderate electorate does not hold the half-term Alaska governor in high regard and is inclined to vote AGAINST a candidate who has received her endorsement.

The bad news is far from over for Fiorina as Governor Palin is scheduled to fly into California for an RNC-sponsored fundraiser in Orange County next week. If there’s one thing that follows Sarah Palin, it’s media attention — and that’s now part of the problem for Carly Fiorina and her team heading into the homestretch.


http://www.sacbee.com/2010/10/06/3082867/whitman-spends-record-140-million.html
Whitman spends record $140 million on campaign
By Jack Chang
jchang@sacbee.com
Published: Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2010 - 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2010 - 10:28 am

Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman spent a record $140 million on her campaign through the end of September, including about $55 million since winning her party's nomination in June, according to campaign finance records filed Tuesday.

Her Democratic rival, Jerry Brown, spent less than a tenth of Whitman's total – about $11 million – but didn't face any serious primary challenger and could count on unions to run anti-Whitman advertising through the summer.

Five of the biggest union-funded independent expenditure groups, including California Working Families, Working Californians to Support Jerry Brown and Level the Playing Field, spent about $13 million through the end of September running ads and campaigning against Whitman, the records show.

The groups were funded by an array of unions, including the California Nurses Association, the California Teachers Association and the California State Council of Service Employees.

On top of that, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees spent $2 million on TV ads opposing Whitman.

The filings don't show the cost of issue ads run by the California Teachers Association against Whitman or U.S. Chamber of Commerce ads targeting Brown.

Whitman had $9.2 million in reserves at the end of September, while Brown had $22.6 million in cash on hand.

Whitman, the billionaire former CEO of online auction firm eBay, has invested more than $119 million of her own money in the campaign and has said she's prepared to spend up to $150 million of her wealth. Last month, she surpassed New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg as the biggest self-funding candidate in U.S. history.

Whitman spokeswoman Sarah Pompei noted that outside contributors were also pitching in, to the tune of at least $29 million by the end of September. Whitman collected $10.8 million in outside contributions from July to September, compared to Brown's $9.5 million.

"Our campaign has a budget designed for victory, and we've invested the necessary resources for success on Election Day," Pompei said.

Brown spokesman Sterling Clifford said state voters just aren't buying Whitman's message, despite the record spending. Public opinion polls show Brown and Whitman are locked in a tight race.

"It's an indication that you can spend a lot of money but if it's in the service of a message that voters don't buy from a candidate and that voters don't believe, you're still going to lose," Clifford said.

Whitman's campaign finance statement contained several eye-popping numbers in a race that has already smashed political records.

She has spent about $95 million so far on radio and TV advertising, with the radio spots debuting more than a year ago. By comparison, Brown has spent about $9 million on such advertising, which he launched on Labor Day.
Whitman has poured $8.2 million into campaign literature and mailings, including two editions of a glossy policy magazine mailed to hundreds of thousands of households.

She's also spent $11.7 million on consultants, including top adviser Mike Murphy, who earns $90,000 a month, close aide Henry Gomez at $36,000 a month and campaign manager Jillian Hasner at $30,000 a month.

Pompei said the Republican has had to invest heavily to battle Brown and the unions.

"There's no question these unions have bought and paid for Jerry Brown's campaign," Pompei said. "And if he's elected to his third term in office, they'll be looking to collect their IOUs."

Clifford responded that Brown, who was governor from 1975 to 1983, has proved he'll make decisions independent of the unions. In fact, Brown has said he'll seek pension changes and some cuts to bridge the state's budget deficits.

"There's one candidate in this race who's actually vetoed pay raises for employees, and that's Jerry Brown," Clifford said.

*****



http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=824D3D9A-E818-FBF0-04F235DB495B0BCB
POLITICO
Poll: Palin woes could hurt Fiorina
By: Andy Barr
October 6, 2010 12:08 PM EDT

Nearly six of 10 California voters have a negative view of Sarah Palin, whose endorsement could be dragging down the state’s GOP Senate nominee, according to a new Field Poll.

The former Alaska governor and Republican vice presidential nominee has a 58 percent unfavorable rating in the Golden State, compared to a 33 percent favorable rating. Only 9 percent of the registered voters polled had no opinion.

Palin’s polling woes could have coattails as well.

Carly Fiorina, who is challenging Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer, has frequently touted her endorsement from Palin, but the survey shows Palin may be a drag on Fiorina’s numbers.

Fifty-three percent of those surveyed said they would be less inclined to vote for a candidate endorsed by Palin, while only 21 percent said they would be more inclined.

Among those who said they plan to vote in the Senate race, 47 percent of Fiorina supporters said they were more likely to back a candidate because of Palin’s support. But 84 percent of Boxer supporters said they would be less likely to vote for a candidate with Palin’s blessing.

The Fiorina campaign is not concerned about Palin’s poll numbers. “Voters are evaluating the candidates in this race as individuals,” said Fiorina spokeswoman Andrea Saul.

Palin is scheduled to appear in California next week for a Republican National Committee fundraiser in Orange County. She will be at another RNC fundraiser later in the month in Orlando.

Palin’s numbers in the state have declined since she was first introduced as John McCain’s running mate in September 2008, when both her favorable and unfavorable rating stood at 43 percent in the Field Poll.

The Field Poll survey included responses from 414 registered voters from Sept. 14 to Sept. 21 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Sierra Club gives high marks to San Diego Democrats

From Today's UT:

Local Republicans fare poorly in report card

Read it here

Sunday, October 3, 2010

LA Times says Jerry for Governor!

"Californians must choose. One candidate is a stranger to the political and governmental landscape; the other knows every superhighway, back road and dead-end. We opt for real-world experience, know-how and creativity. The Times urges a vote for Brown."

Read it here.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

In case you missed it: LA Times Poll Shows CA Voters Choosing Democrats over GOP

From the CDP:

With one week to go before more than 6 million California voters begin to receive their mail-in ballots, top-of-the-ticket Republican candidates remain stuck in neutral, and in some cases, are sliding backward.

Despite spending more than $130 million bombarding the airwaves with ads for over a year, candidate Meg Whitman just can’t seem to buy her way into the hearts of California voters, according to the latest LA Times poll, which shows her five points behind Jerry Brown in the race for governor (Brown 49 – Whitman 44).  

Whitman’s poll numbers have been sliding downward in the past few months as the election draws closer -- a stinging rejection for a candidate who has outspent her opponent by 20:1.  In fact, Whitman’s paltry ratings (47% unfavorable vs. just 37% favorable) must have her media consultants running for the hills and scratching their heads, wondering why their slick, shiny ads haven’t persuaded Californians to even like their candidate, much less vote for her.

Meg’s fellow CEO counterpart and GOP “running mate” of sorts, Carly Fiorina, also hasn’t earned the trust of California voters, many of whom no doubt find Fiorina’s extremist, right-wing views on abortion, off-shore drilling and the environment, alarming. Fiorina trails Senator Barbara Boxer by eight points, (Boxer 51 – Fiorina 43), despite her barrage of negative attack ads on the Senator. 

Still more bad news for Republicans: California remains a state where President Obama remains popular among voters in general and overwhelmingly popular among  Democratic voters in particular. Voters here just aren’t buying into the latest rehashed and repackaged right-wing Republican ideas – or candidates – in fact they are rejecting them outright.  

* * * * * 
 
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-poll-20100926,0,1560189,print.story

Friday, September 24, 2010

Labor Council rips into Lorie Zapf with new mailer

CityBeat posts the first salvo of the D6 race and it's strong.

To quote Evan McLaughlin, political director for the San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council, “Judging by the amount of mail cued up in District 6,  San Diego CityBeat will be a household name by November 2…I’m saying there will be plenty of mail plugging your good reporting in voters’ mailboxes.”

Its a bold move from the Labor Council and I hope it's not the last. Wayne needs to win this and it will not be easy going against the nearly unlimited funding of the Lincoln Club. Any attempt to sink Zapf will be appreciated.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

What $111 million will get you

According to most recent Field Poll, all of that money will get you 75% of the Republicans and only 38% of the Decline-to-States.

Running at 41% of likely voters for both Brown and Meg, you must conclude that the ROI on such an investment is far too high for comfort.

Advantage Jerry. He has yet to spend and understands that timing is everything.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Meg and her nose

From the Brown campaign:

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

How is Zapf paying for it all?

She's out of default but what is she doing for a living?

From Dave Maass at CityBeat:

City Council candidate Lorie Zapf is no longer in default on a home loan according to records filed with the San Diego County Recorder’s Office.

As CityBeat originally reported (here and here), Wells Fargo filed a notice of default (often called a foreclosure notice) against Zapf’s home in Clairemont. According to the March document,  Zapf and her husband Eric had not made their mortgage payments in about six months.

At the time, the campaign said the Zapfs were renegotiating the home loan and that these notices of default were just part of the process. Experts disagreed, however, as the Zapfs predicted would happen, the notice of default was removed.

The document is called a Notice of Rescission and it was filed with the Recorder on August 27.

The question now is how are the Zapfs paying their mortgage.  Although Lorie Zapf describes herself as a
small business woman, her company, Zapf & Associates, was dissolved in April.

Click here for the article.

Brown Campaign ad is up

Finally!

Friday, September 3, 2010

How is Zapf making her mortgage payments?

Inquiring minds what to know what it is that Lorie Zapf does for a living.

See CityBeat

The longer she remains silent, the larger a campaign issue this becomes.

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Boxer vs. Fiorina Senate Debate Watch Party

Bamboo Lounge - 1475 University Ave. San Diego, CA 92103

Don't miss the first and ONLY televised debate between Democratic U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer and her Republican challenger and former CEO of Hewlett Packard, Carly Fiorina.

Saturday, August 28, 2010

What does Lorie Zapf do for a living?

For someone who claims to care about business, it looks like she should find one.

From CityBeat:

City Council candidate’s small business was dissolved months ago
District 6 candidate Lorie Zapf listed only one business interest: “Zapf & Associates, Inc.,” a corporation engaged in “consulting, creative, sales” activities. She listed herself as the president and CEO.

CityBeat has learned that Zapf & Associates Inc. has gone out of business.
According to records on file at the California Secretary of State’s office, the corporation was dissolved on April 6, 2010, which means it no longer exists. The corporation had been registered to Zapf’s home address in Clairemont—the same address against which a bank filed a “notice of default” in March that said she and her husband, Eric, were behind on their mortgage payments by several months.

And
On the campaign trail—and on the ballot—Zapf describes herself as a legal advocate and a small-business owner. However, it is unclear what happened to her small business and what, exactly, she now does for a living.

Zapf has also publically described herself as the regional director for Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, a non-profit organization that advocates for tort reform. This position was not disclosed on her Form 700 (as is usually required) and instead Zapf listed CALA as one of her company’s sources of income.


Sudberry and Kvaric know how to pick their candidates. "So long a they look good on camera, there's no need to vet them." Gotta love these conservative values.

Friday, August 27, 2010

California Democratic Party To File Complaint Against Shady Whitman Front Group “Small Business Action Committee”

From the CDP:

SBAC Using Its 501(c)(4) Status to Hide Donors While Engaging in 527 Advocacy

Sacramento – The California Democratic Party today announced it will file an official complaint with the Internal Revenue Service against a group supporting Republican Meg Whitman’s run for governor by waging dishonest attack ads against Jerry Brown. The complaint will allege that the “Small Business Action Committee” is spending hundreds of thousands more on political activities than is permitted under its 501(c)(4) status, and that as a possible consequence, SBAC may have to disclose the identity of its donors who are currently anonymous.

“If Meg Whitman and her Wall Street cronies want to fund a dishonest and deceitful ad that’s certainly their business,” said John Burton, Chairman of the California Democratic Party. “But they do not get to abuse the tax system to do so. People have a right to know who’s behind these sleazy ads.”

The “Small Business Action Committee” endorsed Meg Whitman just two days after receiving a $10,000 check from her campaign.

SBAC’s treasurer, James Lacy, is the co-founder of the National Campaign Fund, which runs the website ExposeObama.com , a site that devotes significant space to “news” and commentary questioning the validity of President Obama’s birth certificate and citizenship by relying on the thoroughly discredited claim that the President was not born in the United States.

San Diego Realtors reconsider their endorsement of Zapf

From Jim Abbot at the Gay and Lesbian Times:

Like Lucille Ball after any number of harebrained schemes gone awry, The San Diego Association of Realtors (SDAR) “has some ‘splainin’ to do” over its recent endorsement in the Sixth District San Diego City Council race of on-the-record mega-hater Lorie Zapf.

As reported by SD Citybeat reporter Justin MacLachlan on March 9, 2010, Republican Zapf’s opinions range from goofy to illegal given the protected status of GLBT Californians. Here are excerpts from emails she wrote to notorious “ex-gay” James Hartline.

“I absolutely want to keep homosexuals out of public office and not be allowed to influence our schools, textbooks, altering marriage, children and on and on.”

“...I do believe homosexuality is a sin. I have three homosexual first cousins. I love them all and would ‘be seen’ in a photo with them. I believe they all live in sin and frankly all are very unhappy people and had horrible childhoods as well. “

“...for whatever reason God allowed people to choose homosexuality. So there must be a reason for it, although I don’t get it, like so may (sic) other things that don’t make sense.”


And

I thought nothing more of it until Friday afternoon, when I suddenly recalled the recent disagreeable money solicitation Zapf inflicted upon me. Having not yet seen her hater-stripes, I politely confessed that I had already endorsed a competitor to which she snapped, “I guess you really don’t care about your business, do you?” Before I could advise this total stranger of my 25 years as an agent/broker and of my years of volunteer service to the profession, she showed me… by hanging up. I guess Zapf’s skin is as thin as her qualifications.

SDAR’s leadership must rescind Zapf’s endorsement. The Realtor imprimatur cannot be applied to a candidate who hasn’t the faintest notion of equality, especially when a strict Code of Ethics and a commitment to Equal Housing Opportunity guide everything we do as Realtors.


So only Zapf cares about business? That's not very business-like.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Irony and Zapf

From Tom Blair at the UT:

Lorie Zapf, in a tough campaign for San Diego City Council, cites her experience as local director of Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, which aims to stop frivolous lawsuits. Now, her opponent’s backers are citing her experience with lawsuits, too. According to Howard Wayne’s camp, Zapf and her husband filed nine lawsuits between 1992 and 2002 — including two against her in-laws. Says Zapf, conceding the nine suits, “We’ve never filed a frivolous or abusive lawsuit. These were business disputes, and that’s what courts are for.” The suits against her in-laws? “They were disputes over the value of shares in our company. And they were very painful to the family.”

Of course. Everyone who files a lawsuit will say their lawsuits have merit. I'm willing to bet the average San Diegan doesn't have nine lawsuits under their belt especially if they direct a group dedicated to reducing the number of lawsuits filed.

A definition of irony is "the full significance of a character's words or actions are clear to the audience or reader although unknown to the character."

I think that sums up Lorie on this issue.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Burton Nominates GOP Senate Candidate Carly Fiorina for Hypocrite of the Year Award

From the CDP:

CDP Chairman John Burton released the following statement:

If there is an award for Hypocrite of the Year, Carly Fiorina has laid claim to it after her shameless performance at the GOP convention this weekend in San Diego.

It’s simply amazing to hear talk of “job creation” coming from someone who is directly responsible for laying off 33,000 workers at Hewlett Packard during her disastrous tenure as CEO. The only jobs she created were in India and China where she outsourced thousands of American jobs.

Fiorina has no credibility on the issue of jobs, and even less on the issue of job creation. California voters know that we can’t afford Fiorina’s brand of failed-CEO leadership and backroom dealing.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Statement of California Democratic Party Chairman John Burton on the Passing of Latino Civil Rights Pioneer Mario Obledo

From the CDP:

Mario Obledo will be remembered as a tireless advocate for justice and equality whose contributions had a direct impact on the lives of millions of Latinos in the United States. As founder of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF), the Hispanic National Bar Association, and the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project, he leaves behind a lasting legacy of advancement and accomplishment that continues to benefit all Americans.

Mario never stopped fighting, and his place among the great American civil rights champions was assured long before President Clinton awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1998.

Our condolences go out to his wife and his nine brothers and sisters.

Bounties

It says a lot when the only way Republicans can register voters is by paying them.

From KPBS:

The California Republican Party is paying out $5 bounties for each validated new registration.

San Diego's Democratic Party chair, Jess Durfee, doesn't think the county is likely to go red this year though. And even if it did, he said registration bounties can't ensure new voters are dedicated to one party.

"I always question the loyalty of a voter who is registered by somebody who is getting a heavy bounty like that because there's an awful lot of coercion coming from the person doing the registration," he said.

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Meg Whitman says she would defend Proposition 8

From Capitol Alert:

Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman said this afternoon that if elected governor, she would defend Proposition 8, which prohibits same-sex marriage, by appealing a recent federal court ruling declaring the proposition unconstitutional.

And
“The issue right now is, as I understand is 'Will Proposition 8 have the appropriate support to actually make an appeal to the circuit court of appeals?' " Whitman said. "And I think the governor, the attorney general today has to defend the constitution and has to enable the judicial process to go along and has to enable an appeal to go through. So if I was governor, I would give that ruling standing to be able to appeal to the circuit court."

Friday, August 6, 2010

Statement of California Democratic Party Chairman John Burton on Court Ruling Overturning Prop 8 Marriage Ban

“Ninth Circuit Judge Vaughn Walker upheld the constitution and thus made the right decision in overturning Proposition 8, the ban on same-sex marriage. For Californians fighting for equality and the thousands of same-sex couples who have been striving for the basic right to marry their partner, this was also the morally correct decision. Prop 8 was nothing more than a divisive and mean-spirited way to elevate one class of people above another.

When it comes to fighting for constitutional rights, equality and fairness, Democrats have been at the forefront of the battle. We relish in this hard fought victory and celebrate that as Californians we have reached another milestone in securing equal rights for all.”

# # #

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Senator Feinstein Statement on Proposition 8 Case

This was released yesterday.

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today issued the following statement in response to Judge Vaughn Walker's ruling that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional:

"This is an enormous victory for the equal rights of gays and lesbians. Judge Vaughn Walker's ruling today confirmed what many of us had felt was clear all along: that it is unconstitutional to take away the rights of gays and lesbians to enter into the institution of marriage.

Most likely this verdict will be appealed and will go to the Supreme Court. The journey is not over, but today is a day to celebrate this historic victory for equal marriage rights. This is very good news."


# # #

Statement of California Democratic Party on Court Ruling Overturning Same-Sex Marriage Ban

Today’s ruling is a victory for equality and an affirmation for all Californians who believe that our state must never be party to keeping committed, loving couples apart. This is but the latest victory in a long march toward full equality that has yet to be realized for the majority of LGBT couples and families in the United States. California Democrats will continue to fight on the side of basic fairness and equality under law until the right to marry is extended to all couples.

Jess Durfee
Southern California Chair, LGBT Caucus
California Democratic Party

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Does Meg’s Money Matter?

Meg Whitman has spent nearly $100 million so far to become the next Governor.

Jerry Brown has spent $663,000 with $23 million in the bank.

Any other candidate would be down by at least 10pts if they had to endure the attacks that Meg has launched against Jerry. Yet the polling numbers aren’t moving much.

I don’t believe that Brown can win by standing still, but he’s doing great so far.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Wayne gets $17K from the SDCDP

From Today’s UT:

After complaining about a loophole that allowed the local Republican Party to give $20,000 to a City Council candidate, the San Diego County Democratic Party did the same thing just before the window of opportunity closed.

The party gave $17,000 to District 6 council candidate Howard Wayne on June 16 ahead of the city formally adopting a $1,000 limit on political party contributions.


Good job, Dems! About time the SDCDP does something real to help their candidates besides supplying volunteers. The SDGOP didn’t do the same for Zapf after the election. If the local Dems continue acting like this, they may become a real force in this city. Stay tuned.

Monday, August 2, 2010

Frye wins

The battle isn’t over but the Voice of San Diego has summed up what happened last week:

Their 2005 campaign, for all its hoopla and circumstance, eventually became a rather unromantic affair. It was a battle of financial plans, after all.

Frye chose a more radical approach of the two. She wanted to stop paying what the city attorney had said were illegal pension boosts and ask voters to give her authority to go around the City Council and unilaterally negotiate with unions and put the city in bankruptcy. Her goal: Have the clout and authority to put a comprehensive reform package of labor cuts and a temporary sales tax on the 2006 ballot.

Sanders on the other hand disavowed taxes as a solution and seized on Frye's tax plan accordingly. He wanted to streamline, outsource, renegotiate with unions and wait for a judge to decide the legality of employee pension boosts.

The strategies underscored a subtle but key difference between the two politicians: Frye saw a systemic problem that needed a shock to the system. Sanders saw a single problem that could be addressed through incremental change.

But, in the end, it was the mayor that got the ball rolling on a comprehensive reform package a month ago, though he didn't publicly admit it until after he had given up hope.


Sanders would rather be popular than effective. It’s nice to see Frye finally wield her power in a grand way.

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Vargas Victory Speech

From Capitol Alert:

"The time has come to take a stand -- to blaze a bold new trail and once again make California the state of possibilities.


"I know we can do this if we work together.


"As one of 10 children, born and raised on a small farm, I leaned from my parents at a young age that anything is possible and that no dream is too big if you work hard to achieve it...


"As your senator, I will passionately promote policies that reflect a vision for the future in which we measure our progress not merely in the quantity of our goods but in the quality of our lives - the purity of the air we breathe and the water we drink; the safety of our streets and the excellence of our schools and healthcare system.


"Thank you once again for joining me in this cause. Let's win in November and turn California around."

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Councilmember Donna Frye and Former Candidate Steve Hadley Announce Endorsement of Howard Wayne

July 1, 2010


(San Diego, CA). District 6 Councilmember Donna Frye and her Chief of Staff, Steve Hadley, a former District 6 candidate, announced today that they are endorsing Howard Wayne to replace Frye on the council.

“We have a very clear choice in this race,” said Frye. “Howard is a long-time member of this community, a Deputy Attorney General and a legislator who has already proven his commitment to us. Lorie Zapf, in contrast, has shown herself to be intolerant and to lack the kind of financial management skills it takes to run a large City.”

Steve Hadley also expressed confidence in Howard Wayne and concern about the direction Zapf might take the City. “This is a critical time for San Diego,” he said. “We can’t afford any big mistakes in who we elect.”

Howard Wayne is running on a platform of improving City services through economic improvement, better fiscal management and pension reform.

Howard Wayne has served the public throughout his professional career as a San Diego area California State Assembly Member and as a California Deputy Attorney General. A San Diegan since early childhood, Howard attended Marvin Elementary School, Lewis Junior High School, Hoover High School, San Diego State University, and University of San Diego. He has lived in San Diego Council District 6 neighborhoods for 38 years.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

The Problem with Better Courts Now

This year, a group called “Better Courts Now" put up four candidates to challenge sitting judges on the California Superior Court in San Diego. The challengers claim to be running to impose what they consider “Christian values” on the courts. An AP story reported one of the challengers claimed that “God has called upon us to do this only with the judiciary.”

The incumbent judges all won handily against these challenges.

I recently debated a supporter of Better Courts Now on a local morning news show.The approach of Better Courts Now, to impose a specific religious perspective on judicial elections, seems inappropriate to many observers. It’s unsettling to people of faith, myself included.

But why? In most elections for public office, we usually tolerate interest groups jockeying for influence. It’s a part of our pluralistic democracy. It’s just politics.

I accept that anything with an election is inherently political. But I do not believe that just because something’s inherently political, then every political act within it is fair game.

There are some campaign tactics that are inappropriate, even if they’re entirely legal under the system. For example, we object strongly to race-baiting, or spreading salacious and false rumors about candidates. Campaigns may be allowed to do so, but they still shouldn’t do so.

Similarly, it’s inappropriate for judicial candidates to assert that they’ll impose specific views on the administration of justice (religious or otherwise). The office is intended to be impartial and fair-minded.

The problem with Better Courts Now is that they are trying to bring in a specific narrow set of values to an office that is supposed to be neutral. Sure, judges are human beings, and they carry the same biases and weaknesses as all of us. But a judge has an obligation to strive for impartiality. Neutrality may ultimately be a fiction, but it’s a useful fiction.

Better Courts Now chucks the idea of impartiality out the window. The whole basis of their campaign, to impose a set of values on a body of neutral arbiters, is antithetical to the function of a judge. Voters are appropriately left to wonder who are these candidates running for judge, who so fundamentally misunderstand the very nature of the offices they seek.

The supporters of Better Courts Now also make the incongruous claim that judges who apply their particular set of religious and social values, are better able to render impartial legal decisions. This idea is inconsistent, if not incoherent.

A judicial activist is a judge that allows their own set of values to supersede other more legitimate legal policies. In the same breath, Better Courts Now claims they will prevent the imposition of personal values in the administration of justice, by imposing personal values in the administration of justice.

Voters don’t like this kind of double dealing, and they appropriately rejected it.

Monday, May 31, 2010

One week left: Predictions

Things always change the last week before the election. Today, this is where I see things:

San Diego City Council District 2 & 4 - Yawn
Faulconer and Young win. Finucane becomes the front-runner four years from now in D2.


San Diego City Council District 6 - Popcorn!
The egos of Kvaric and Sudberry have chained them to the flawed candidacy of Zapf. Thanks to the "gift" of $20K from the SD Republican Party, the Lincoln Club's oversized hit pieces and this being a Republican leaning primary, in spite of the candidate, Zapf gets dragged across the finish line into the runoff.

Wayne makes the runoff to take out face Zapf. With Labor focused in Chula Vista and the local Dem party tilting at the windmill that is the 4th Supervisorial seat, Wayne gets in the old-fashioned way; he worked at it. His relentless campaign should grab enough of the electorate to make it.

Hadley has the Donna-heads on his side but that's it. They will deny Wayne the outright win but will make it easier for him to unify the party in the fall. Hadley's natural volunteer base has fled for Whitburn and, as of this writing, his campaign has not shown much of a pulse since their SDSU interns graduated.

Tran has loaned herself $20K but it remains to be seen how she will apply this to campaign (more signs?). This is her best chance to make the runoff: five candidates and a wounded Republican frontrunner reduce the number of votes needed. It could happen.

Huckabone may receive more than single digits. He has been quiet during the Zapf brouhaha which implies that he is being the good soldier for a future shot at office. Keep your eye on this guy. With some direction and money, he could be dangerous.


San Diego City Council District 8 - Kettlecorn!

D8 is the the kind of place where the total votes garnered by the 3rd or 4th place finisher in D6 could win outright due to the low turnout numbers. Polls have been done showing Inzunza with a solid lead but his runoff opponent remains unknown. One poll has BD Howard as number two and in another it's Alvarez. UFCW launched a hit on BD but it may result in elevating Nick to an outright victory. With Felipe and Ben Hueso sharing resources and people, it appears unlikely that any prediction for the second spot can be credible.

What I will say is that he who has the better ground game will win.


State Assembly District 79 - Tequila poppers!

Conventional wisdom (the same wisdom that gave Peters the nod over Aguirre, Morrow a chance a against Sanders, etc) gives this to Hueso but he's never had to run against a class warrior like Quinones and an experienced veteran like Doyle. The Hueso camp has cobbled together an operation in the last month to compete with the other two which have been in operation for months.

It appears that he didn't realize he had to run a real campaign until May rolled around. Word on the street is that Hueso is planning a hit involving comments from some of Quinones's fellow boardmembers. Hueso also doesn't acknowledge Doyle probably because Doyle is set to take a chunk out of the votes that would be going to Hueso.

Either way, this race is turning into a streetfight between Ben and Pearl. I would have given this to Hueso but his inability to take the race seriously until the last minute may cost him. It will be close.


Prop G Chula Vista - Jaggersahots!
Talk about streetfights and close results. This will be decided by last minute voters and whichever side can yank people out who care about this in June. Chula Vistans have been flooded in the mail and on TV (watched MSNBC or the History Channel recently?). Labor needs to win this. Too close to call.


State Senate 40 - Vodka!

After sending and receiving Molotov cocktails, fire-bombs, and other incendiaries at eachother for months, the Salas and Vargas campaigns will reap the fruits of their labors. Will the insurance industry buy their seat for Vargas? Will Salas be able to raise her head to fight another day? Elements of this race had Spy-vs-Spy qualities.
Winner wins by 2-3 percentages.


Congressional District 50 - Peanuts
Emblem and Busby have been locking horns for over a year now. Emblem is running with Labor in an area where Labor is not popular. Busby gets it on name ID.


Extra! Republican Primary Congressional District 53 - Pretzls
This has been a fun one to watch! Fink gets it because she has good signs and is nowhere near as batty as her opponents.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Monday, May 24, 2010

D6: Tran hits Zapf over Home Default

As the SDUT ignores the story about Lorie Zapf's inability to maintain financial discipline at home, Channel 10 News has picked up on it with quote from Kim Tran, one of her opponents and fellow Republican:

Regardless, Tran is questioning her opponent's judgment, especially since Zapf is campaigning on promises to bring fiscal responsibility, balance the budget and bring common sense back to City Hall.

"You spend the money you don't have," said Tran.


Check out the story here.

Zapf news blackout at the UT?

From the Voice of San Diego this weekend:

Unpaid Debt of the Week: If you're running for City Council on a platform of fiscal responsibility, it can't help your case to default on your mortgage. But will CityBeat's revelation about the tangled mortgage situation of Lorie Zapf, a leading candidate for City Council, actually damage her campaign? CityBeat's readership is small, so it may depend on whether bigger local media like the U-T jump on the story and keep it alive. Or her rivals could spread the news themselves.

I think the UT will ignore the story or run it when it can be buried with the rest of the campaign reporting. They did endorse her and it would be a poor reflection on the UT if they didn't research her background. After all, it is a matter of public record.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Zapf can't make ends meet

I don't like going personal in campaigns unless an element of the person's identification is used as a pillar of their campaign. Then it is fair game.

Lorie Zapf is running as a successful business-woman who is all about fiscal discipline.

From yesterday's CityBeat:

Publicly, Lorie Zapf is campaigning for San Diego City Council on a platform of fiscal responsibility. Privately, however, the Zapf family has defaulted on a loan that could result in the foreclosure of their home.

As of March 30, 2010, Lorie and Eric Zapf were six months behind in payments on a $230,000 line of credit, according to a Notice of Default (NOD) that Wells Fargo filed with the San Diego County Recorder’s Office. It’s the second loan the Zapfs have taken out using the house as collateral.


And there's more. Read the article.

Running for office is never easy but you should make sure you have a home to go back to before setting out on such a life-altering journey. Especially with a family.

DeMaio, Sudberry, and Krvaric really know how to pick their candidates.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

District 6 for Sale!

District 6 for Sale!


Republicans trying to buy, hijack, or steal elections is nothing new.
This from today’s UT:


A federal appeals court has lifted a ban placed on political party donations in the city of San Diego ahead of the June 8 election, which could open the door to unlimited party contributions to City Council candidates in the next few weeks.


The ruling is the latest in a lawsuit filed by the county Republican Party and others to change the city’s campaign finance laws, which they say are restrictive and infringe on free-speech rights.




Now the Republicans can do what their own candidates can’t seem to do for themselves: raise money. The more insidious side is now coordination between the parties and campaigns can go forth without regard to spending limits. Who benefits?


Made explicit in the Voice of San Diego:




It is clear who benefits the most from the decision.


Businesswoman Lorie Zapf, the endorsed Republican candidate vying to replace termed-out District 6 City Councilwoman Donna Frye, will receive a $20,000 contribution from the Republican Party prior to the election, Republican Party Chairman Tony Krvaric said.


"That's the first thing on the docket," Krvaric said.


Zapf is locked in a five-way primary fight and has $27,000 less in cash on hand than the Democratic Party's endorsed candidate, former state Assemblyman Howard Wayne. Also in the race are Frye's chief of staff Steve Hadley, businessman Ryan Huckabone and paralegal Kim Tran. If no candidate wins more than 50 percent of the June vote, then the top two finishers will compete again in November.


Political observers widely see the District 6 race as the only one this election cycle that could change the 6-2 advantage Democrats currently hold on the City Council. District 6 includes the city's Mission Valley, Clairemont, Kearny Mesa, Serra Mesa and Linda Vista neighborhoods.


So now a woman who thinks homosexuality is a sin and that supporters of hers, like Demaio, shouldn’t be in public office will be able to have her ground and mail campaign paid for by the Republican Party because she can’t do it herself.


All I can say is that you get what you pay for. It’s obvious that Zapf crumples before Huckabone in person and has been depending on others to do her campaigning for her. Tran signs are everywhere and Zapf is fading. Enter the egos of Krvaric and Sudsburry who don’t like the idea of having their handpicked choice cut to ribbons because she is so inept at running for office. They need something to show people that they back up their boasts. If that means filing lawsuits to benefit the regional director for Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse in order to buy the seat for her, so be it.


I hope Wayne kicks their collective asses. They so deserve it.

Saturday, May 15, 2010

STEINBERG RESPONSE TO GOVERNOR'S MAY REVISION

STEINBERG RESPONSE TO GOVERNOR'S MAY REVISION

(SACRAMENTO) – Senate President pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) made the following comments today in response to the Governor’s May Revise:

I could speak for a long time about the past and where to point the finger.

I could talk about sledgehammers, and automobiles and torn up credit cards.

I could talk about blowing up boxes.

I could talk about one of many silly metaphors.

But I will leave it at this: I am disappointed that the Governor has chosen to surrender.

That he sees California as unfixable and that he proposes a budget that kills the economy and harms so many.

It is a non-starter.

If God forbid this budget became a reality, California would be the only state in the union to not have a safety net for children.

Leadership is not about blaming others. It’s about finding solutions to tough problems to preserve the state and its people.

In their comments throughout the day the Governor’s representatives have described the cuts he proposes as quote “terrible.”

I believe him …but his actions say it would be more terrible to delay $2.1 billion in corporate tax breaks than to save children, the elderly, and the most vulnerable.

His actions say it is more terrible to impose a tax on oil profits than complete elimination of county mental health services and child care.

He appears to have decided that the solutions are too difficult to achieve so he will accept these “terrible” cuts.

We refuse to wave the white flag.

California’s elected leaders- including myself- and the governor and the others need to stand up.

Given the choice between enacting $6 billion in cuts to services for the elderly, children and the disabled, or delaying corporate tax breaks, I’m for delaying corporate tax breaks.

Given the choice between cutting education by nearly $3 billion or seeking revenues from oil companies extracting oil in California, I’m for getting revenues from oil companies profiting handsomely in this state.

But I want to go beyond I think what you expect here which is sort of the give and take.…

And [provide a] the recitation of our genuinely held beliefs and philosophy.

I want to state my perspective on the overall situation very clearly.

In my view—having now my tenth year in the legislature, second year as leader, having served on numerous budget conference committees—we have come to the end of trying to prop up this failed structure.

There is no more triage.

The status quo is unsustainable.

Our government is not structured to quickly and effectively respond to an economic crisis of this magnitude.

We are so balkanized that the people don’t know who collects the taxes and who provides the services.

Yes we need revenue, and we will fight for revenue, but not to prop up this outdated structure.

We must use this crisis now, not next year, not another report, not another study.

We need to bring government closer to the people.

The inside term is “realignment.”

What it means to the people of California is that we must take many of these state programs that otherwise may be decimated, and give them to the locals and the school districts. Give them restored revenue and the ability to raise revenue themselves.

This is not theory. This is not academic. This is not a luxury.

Those who say – “too difficult, too complicated”, I challenge you to do this:

Bring forward an alternative that balances the budget, preserves essential public investments, and does not rely on gimmicks.

Finally, I do want to respond to one thing that the Governor highlighted in his comments about the tax structure.

I think we all agree that California’s tax structure needs updating. But to say that we are living through this budget crisis solely or primarily because of the tax structure is just plain wrong.

The Legislative Analyst said clearly that if we had adopted the Parsky Commission’s recommendations . . . revenue would actually drop $10 billion.

[The] Governor has this theory about GDP that he keeps talking about, but this is what we know about California:

Personal consumption in California has fallen by the largest percentage since 1980.

Home prices have plunged dramatically since 2007 from an average of $484,000 a home to $250,000.

The share of corporate income tax paid in California has fallen by nearly half since 1981.

So this idea that if our tax structure had only kept up with some phantom robust growth in our economy over the last couple of years . . .

This country, the world, and this state are living through the most precipitous drop in revenue, and it would be precipitous no matter what tax system we had.

The real answer here is we must restructure and realign this outdated structure that we have here in California and we need to provide the revenue to the entity that is.

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Stop Wall Street Favors

From the CDP:

Tell Congress to stop doing favors for Wall Street, and pass the Stop Tax-Haven Abuse Act now! The Stop Tax-Haven Abuse Act would crack down on the use of offshore tax-havens, the abuse of tax shelters by the super wealthy, and make it more difficult to avoid taxes by funneling money through foreign corporations.

Here's the video.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

SD 40: Thuggary doesn’t play

The race between Salas and Vargas has been soiled for the last month ever since Salas began launching hit pieces against Vargas for being a tool of the insurance industry.

The Vargas camp responded with physical intimidation. From CityBeat:


Vargas dispatched several campaign staffers to crash Salas’ press conference—emphasis on “crash.” A skirmish between the two staffs resulted in one Salas worker falling, banging his head and taking a trip to urgent care, which the Salas campaign characterized as hospitalization in a press release sent immediately after the event.


Where I come from, boys get physical as a schoolyard response to an out of control situation. Press conferences aren’t out of control but making them such becomes the story. In other write-ups of this incident, the scuffle has been the lead to the make point that Salas was trying to make.


And more:

The Vargas campaign retaliated by e-mailing CityBeat several documents, including flyers accusing Salas of being “hypocritical and deceitful” because, over the course of her political career, she has accepted $75,000 from CJAC members.



We’d like to point out that a) that’s still roughly a 10th of what CJAC has spent on Vargas just this cycle, b) accusing your opponent of being just as corporate as you are is not a winning argument and c) replacing the first S in Salas’ name with a dollar sign is just weak.


Salas wins this one. The Vargas campaign’s attempt to thwart a story only made it larger.

Thursday, April 29, 2010

GOP loses court bid to fund S.D. candidates

By Craig Gustafson,
Thursday, April 29, 2010 at 12:08 a.m.

A federal judge has rejected a push by the county Republican Party that would have allowed political parties to give money to San Diego City Council candidates ahead of the June 8 election.

Instead, parties will have to wait until late June when a council-approved measure takes effect that sets a cap on such contributions at $1,000 per election.

The judge’s decision Wednesday is the latest ruling in a case that could have wide-ranging implications for how local elections are run in San Diego County and across the country. The case began in December when a group of Republicans, including the local party, sued the city claiming its restrictive campaign finance laws were infringing on their free speech rights. Specifically, they targeted the city’s $500 limit on individual contributions to candidates and restrictions on when candidates can begin collecting and spending money on a campaign.

U.S. District Judge Irma Gonzalez shelved three of the city’s laws in a Feb. 16 ruling, most notably its ban on political party contributions. But she also said parties couldn’t donate money until the city set an appropriate limit.

The council voted Tuesday for the $1,000 cap, based on a recommendation from the Ethics Commission, which monitors city campaigns and helps shape election laws.

The Republican Party accused the city of dragging its feet and asked Gonzalez to lift her stay so it could help candidates immediately.

In her ruling Wednesday, the judge said she didn’t feel compelled to rush the city’s process of adopting new laws, which requires a second reading and a 30-day waiting period before going into effect. That process likely won’t be finished until late June, well after the coming election.

Joe La Rue, the attorney leading the case against the city, said he was disappointed with the judge’s decision because it “eliminated the ability of the party to do what the judge said they ought to be able to do.” He said the judge made it clear in court Tuesday that she felt uncomfortable lifting the stay immediately, a decision that would have allowed parties to donate unlimited amounts of money to candidates because no cap exists.

La Rue said his clients haven’t decided whether to appeal the decision. The rest of the lawsuit’s campaign finance challenges are expected to go to trial later this year.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

D6: Republican Desperation

From this week’s CityBeat:

Strategy session

The Republican Party of San Diego County revealed its campaign strategy for the San Diego City Council District 6 race in a document filed last week in federal court.

The filing—a declaration from the party’s treasurer, April Boling—says the party wants to double candidate Lorie Zapf’s war chest with a $20,000 contribution, which would put her on equal footing as “frontrunner” (Boling’s words, not ours) Howard Wayne, a Democratic former Assembly member. The GOP plans to pay workers to go door-to-door on Zapf’s behalf and use its offices to phone-bank for the candidate.



What does it mean when the endorsed candidate of the GOP Central Committee, the Lincoln Club, and the Associated Builders and Contractors of San Diego cannot compete financially with the leading Democrat in the race? Two things come to mind:

1) The Republicans in San Diego can’t raise the money for Zapf which betrays a weakness at the heart of “machine” they wish to be.

2) The Republicans in San Diego don’t want to raise the money for Zapf which makes sense if she says hateful things and then denies ever saying them even when presented with evidence. Or files lawsuits when she’s representative of a lawsuit abuse group.

Kudos to Team Wayne for putting the Republicans in a position that they have to go to court to do what they cannot do politically; raise money for their candidate. So much for being opposed to an activist judiciary.


All of that is contingent on whether the court lifts the city’s restriction on donations from parties to candidates. The court already knocked down the rule but left it temporarily effective until the City Council approves new rules allowing donations with caps. That hasn’t happened, but the council was set to discuss it after our deadline on April 27.


As of yesterday, the City Council placed a limit of $1,000 per party per candidate.


“We are 110 percent committed to Lorie Zapf and will vigorously support her in every way that we can,” County GOP chair Tony Krvaric tells CityBeat—a silly remark, really, since it implies that the Republicans will violate any limit set by the city by 10 percent.


Given the desperation of the local GOP, violations of limits by 10% may be too kind.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

D6: Zapf’s and DeMaio’s Troubles with Numbers

This CityBeat article sums it up fairly well. Carl’s agenda only involves advancing Carl and he seems to have found an easy ally in Zapf who also is very eager to please.


Number soup

San Diego City Councilmember Carl DeMaio earns a fistful of turds this week for introducing Lorie Zapf, a candidate for the open District 6 seat, on stage at the Fiorina event.

These turds aren’t because DeMaio’s a gay Republican and Zapf has made statements in the past that homosexuals should be kept from public office. No, this time it’s another form of hypocrisy: DeMaio, who’s backing a ballot measure to revamp the city’s contract-bidding system, prides himself on his number-crunching integrity, and Zapf has proven she’s willing to bend tax data for political points.

Here’s a statistic Zapf blurted out when it was her turn at the podium:

“Did you know the average American will be paying more in taxes this year than we spend on food, clothing and shelter combined?”

No, we did not know that—because it’s bullshit.

Zapf’s claim is a bastardization of a claim made by The Tax Foundation, a think tank based in Washington, D.C. By its calculations, the government will collect more in tax revenue this year than Americans, collectively, will spend on those basic necessities. The fact is, this has been the case since 1976.

But, because America’s tax system is progressive—the more you make, the higher your tax rate—an average cannot be accurately extrapolated, and any attempt at correlation is bogus. One cannot simply take the total for the nation and apply it to the individual citizen. If you could, you’d also be able to make claims like:

“Did you know that the average Californian will spend 40 hours in a state prison this year?”

“Did you know that the average Californian is 12.5 percent Asian?”

“Did you know the average Californian produces six barrels of crude oil per year?”

The Tax Foundation itself suggests that the average individual’s tax burden is about 26 percent. That’s still lower than the 28.5 percent of earnings the U.S. Department of Labor estimates the average American family spends on clothing, food and shelter.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

SDCDP to Charge ROV and SDGOP with Violations over Postage Subsidy

Official Election Mail to Include Campaign Material at Taxpayer Expense

The San Diego County Democratic Party will be reporting a violation to the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) over the plans of the County Registrar of Voters to insert partisan campaign literature into the official sample ballots it will be mailing to Republican voters next month.

An obscure section of the state Elections Code allows a county party organization to pay to include a fundraising letter in the voter guide sent to that party’s voters. However, the San Diego Republican Party is exceeding the scope of the law -– in a way unprecedented in California –- by placing a full-color page with its slate of endorsements directly into the booklet that will be mailed at taxpayer expense.

Through their County Counsel, the all-Republican County Board of Supervisors authorized the Republican insert –- which praises the “leadership” of Supervisors Ron Roberts and Bill Horn, who are up for election on the same ballot.

After a recent lawsuit supported by the Democratic Party, a San Diego judge forced the Republicans to alter the format of their campaign insert, but allowed them to include it because they are paying for the additional cost of printing. An appeal, while likely, will come too late to affect the printing schedule.

However, the court did not address a different law under FPPC Regulations (Sections 18420 and 18420.1) that requires government agencies paying for campaign-related communications to report the value of their expenditure as a contribution.

The Republican Party would have to pay about $50,000 in postage alone to send its slate mailer to the voters who will receive the insert. Instead, the Party and its campaigns won’t pay a dime in postage –- thus the benefit they will be receiving is a clearly reportable contribution from the Registrar of Voters.

“If the County government is now in the business of sending partisan propaganda under its official seal, it must register as a campaign committee and report those contributions under California law like any other committee,” said Jess Durfee, Chair of the San Diego County Democratic Party.

“The intrusion of partisan politics into government-funded activity is not only an affront to the other candidates and propositions that will be on the ballot in these nonpartisan races,” added Durfee. “It is an outrage to the voters and taxpayers of San Diego County and a sickening blow to the integrity of our election system. We will pursue every recourse until it is stopped.”

# # #

Monday, April 19, 2010

D6: Before the Storm

Anyone with a political crystal ball should look at this race. This race could be ground zero for a hyper-partisan war in the fall. The elements are all here for political Superbowl showdown; no incumbent, a possible pick up for the Republicans, and a district that has more independent voters than the rest. Polling was done two weekends ago anticipating a Wayne-Zapf smackdown. We’ll see.

Zapf
The anointed Republican candidate looks good but has been doing herself no favors by dueling with CityBeat and hanging out at Teabagger rallies For those late to the game, Zapf said one thing about homosexuals and then claimed something else only to be proven wrong. As such, she’s been lying low and only shows up when she has to like the candidate forum at Clairemont H.S. She gained some sympathy after a joke by Hadley went wrong (he was booed) and lost it after a few seconds of silence in response to a question from Wayne about her public service. She’ll have ABC, the Lincoln Club, and the SD GOP all trying to buy the seat but it will be hard sell with this candidate.

Hadley

Donna’s COS has his work cut out for him. At the moment, Frye seems focused on defeating Strong Mayor and, with Whitburn making a run for Supervisor, Hadley’s natural allies and supporters don’t seem to be there. His sparring with Zapf was unexpected but necessary if he is going to establish himself as his own man and not Donna Frye II.

Wayne
For being the perceived front-runner, Wayne has been spared (so far) the back-and-forth that Zapf and Hadley appear to be doing. With the endorsements of the San Diego police, firefighters and League of Conservation Voters, all Wayne needs to do is keep on keeping on. He has the most money, the best endorsements and has been seen walking precincts. The only thing to fear is that Democrats will succumb to the “Marti Emerald Syndrome” where, like Marti, they assume this is a done deal and wake up the day after the election to discover the Democrat came in second.

Huckabone
This Republican has also been walking precincts and he seems to be gaining a following. He is not Zapf and he is willing to meet voters to make his case. His platform is simple and his signs are a bit much but he knows what he doesn’t know and, unlike Zapf, can speak beyond talking points. This race would be radically different had the GOP establishment gotten behind this guy.

Tran
Word on the street is that Tran, the woman who files yet doesn’t do anything to run for office, is walking precincts as well. With Zapf’s self-inflicted wounds it looks like both Huckbone and Tran are moving in. Can they topple Zapf? They lack the funds and resources but if they knock on enough doors, anything can happen.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

District 8: The Never-ending Story

D8 has always attracted its share of characters. Maybe it’s the low voter turnout that allows anyone with a passable campaign to get elected. Maybe it’s the opportunity for graft because of the low levels of oversight. Maybe it’s the elusive change to build a machine.

Maybe there is something in the water. Whatever the reasons are here’s the roundup.

Huseo
Ben’s brother Felipe is campaigning on his family name. I say this because it is so prominent on his signs. Felipe is rough where Ben is smooth. He’s more personable than Ben and it’s convenient that they can share consultants and staff. It’s only a matter of whether Felipe can survive the Inzunza attack machine.

Inzunza
The family is out for blood. As they see it, Ben disrupted the establishment of a landed political dynasty. Now, creating an aristocracy in a democracy isn’t easy to pull off. Things happen (strippergate). As both the Inzunzas and Huesos know, real estate only gets you so far. At some point, you’ve got to pull the trigger. Nick’s doorhangers are nice and glossy although you can easily surmise that he never went to Vietnam. What will be fun to watch will be the piles of mail that will come flooding into mailboxes in the 8th. If the Inzunzas learned anything from Remer, it’s that over-saturation of mail won’t hurt your case, only your treasury.

Alvarez

As the family feud explodes onto the streets, only Alvarez has the room to capitalize on the bloodshed. He has made it into the ring and just needs to avoid direct hits by the other two and he could make the runoff. He’s scrappy and that may put him into the final.

Howard
Initially, I was ready to dismiss B.D. but he has been working the ground like nobody’s business. Granted, when you lack the funds you do what you can. He has gone places other candidates have avoided and, although he may not make the final, I think he’ll do well.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Lt. Gov Race Part II

On behalf of the Hahn Campaign:


TO: Interested Parties
FR: Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz & Associates
RE: Democratic Primary Voters Say Hahn is Better Running Mate for Brown than Newsom
DATE: April 6, 2010


A recent survey[1] shows that Democratic Primary voters throughout California understand that Janice Hahn will strengthen Jerry Brown's candidacy by providing a better-balanced ticket to face the Republican nominees in November. After hearing the statement below, 55 percent of Democratic Primary voters consider Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn a better running mate for Brown than her opponent, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom:

This year, Meg Whitman will likely to be the first female Republican nominee for Governor. In addition, Republicans are expected to nominate a Latino to run for Lieutenant Governor for the first time in 130 years, and their first-ever woman for the U.S. Senate. Some people think that with two women and a Latino candidate on the Republican ticket, Janice Hahn, a woman from Southern California, is a better running mate for Jerry Brown. Janice Hahn provides better balance for the Democratic ticket because Gavin Newsom and Jerry Brown are both white men from San Francisco.

This sentiment is shared across age, media, ethnicity, and ideology:

* 63 percent of Sacramento media market
* 55 percent of Los Angeles media market (representing 36 percent of the entire primary electorate)
* 62 percent of Men ages 18-49
* 61 percent of ages 75 and older
* 61 percent of Democrats ages 18-49
* 60 percent Democratic women 18-49
* 60 percent of African Americans
* 57 percent of Latinos
* 57 percent of Conservatives
* 55 percent of Liberals

And even

* 51 percent of San Francisco media market

Democratic Primary voters recognize that nominating Gavin Newsom, another San Francisco-based white male, will not help Jerry Brown win the gubernatorial election. A solid majority understands that Janice Hahn, a woman with a Southern California base and long family political history in Los Angeles County, will be a valuable asset to Jerry Brown's gubernatorial campaign in the November General election.

[1] Between March 31-April 1, 2010, Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz & Associates conducted 500 telephone interviews among likely June 2010 Democratic primary voters (including Decline to State registrants who are likely to vote in the Democratic Primary election). The margin of error for these results is +/-4.4 % at the 95% confidence level.

Lt. Gov Race Part I

From the Newsom campaign:

***PRESS RELEASE***
April 6, 2010


GAVIN NEWSOM ANNOUNCES ENDORSEMENT OF SENATOR DIANNE FEINSTEIN

Two-term Mayor of San Francisco Newsom endorsed for LG today by California's Senior Senator Dianne Feinstein
San Francisco, CA -- The Gavin Newsom for Lieutenant Governor campaign announced today the endorsement of California's senior Senator Dianne Feinstein. Feinstein was elected to the Senate in 1992, and she was Mayor of San Francisco for two terms.

"I'm proud and honored by Senator Feinstein's endorsement of my campaign for Lieutenant Governor," said Newsom. "As the first woman to serve as Mayor of San Francisco and the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate from California, Dianne Feinstein has been a trailblazer and a passionate advocate for Californians. Her tremendous accomplishments in environmental protection, public health, and safety have benefitted us all."

"Mayor Newsom's stellar record in my hometown of San Francisco proves his drive for innovative reform, smart budgeting in tough times, and his commitment to ensuring health and prosperity for every Californian," said Senator Feinstein. "We need his kind of solutions-based leadership in Sacramento more than ever to fulfill the promise of our great state."

Senator Feinstein joins the large and increasing number of key California leaders who endorse Mayor Newsom, including:

· U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

· State Senate President Darrell Steinberg

· Assembly Speaker John Pérez

· U.S. Representatives Mike Thompson, Judy Chu, Anna Eshoo, and Bob Filner

· State Senate Majority Leader Dean Florez

· State Senator Alex Padilla, Campaign Co-Chair

· State Senator Elaine Alquist

· State Senator Ellen Corbett

· State Senator Mark Leno

· State Assemblymember Mary Hayashi

· State Assemblymember Jerry Hill

· State Assemblymember Jared Huffman

· State Assemblymember Ira Ruskin

· State Assemblymember Sandré R. Swanson

· Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson

· Former Assembly Speaker Robert Hertzberg

· Former Lieutenant Governor and Assembly Speaker Cruz Bustamante

· Former State Senator and State Party Chairman Art Torres

Leading labor organization endorsing Newsom include: the United Farm Workers (UFW), the California Teachers Association (CTA), the California Nurses Association (CNA), United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Western State Council, and Northern California Carpenters Regional Council.

###

Thursday, March 25, 2010

CDP Pre-Primary Endorsement Results

No real surprises except in the two hot races (79th Ad and the 40th SD) Here are the results from the balloting that took place last Saturday

Assembly Districts

76 – Atkins
77 – Mark Hanson
78 – Marty Block
79 – Going to the CDP Convention
Huseo fell 2 votes shy of the endorsement. Pearl Quinones and jack Doyle will face off with Ben next month in Los Angeles

Senate Districts
36 – Pal Clay
40 – Mary Salas. She took it 84 to 0 against Vargas with one No Endorsement.

Congressional Districts
51 – Bob Filner
52 – Ray Lutz
53 – Susan Davis

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Zig Zag Zaph

This article from CityBeat is a classic. Featured is Lorie Zaph, the local Republican Central Committee and Lincoln Club choice for City Council in Donna Frye’s District 6.

http://www.sdcitybeat.com/cms/story/detail/zig_zag_zapf/9037/

A class act. Wayne should walk away with this one.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Jerry Brown: California needs a governor with knowledge

From Today's Sac Bee:

Published Tuesday, Mar. 02, 2010
jchang@sacbee.com


Attorney General Jerry Brown made it official this morning that he's running for California governor, putting to rest months of speculation about his political intentions.

Brown, who served two terms as governor from 1975 to 1983, said in an online video posted on his Web site, "At this stage of my life, I'm prepared to focus on nothing else but fixing this state I love."

He pledged in the video that under his leadership, "there will be no new taxes unless you the people vote for them."

He also said the state could not take a risk on "an outsider who knows virtually nothing about state government.'

"We've tried that, and it doesn't work," Brown said. "We've found that not knowing is not good."

Brown does not have any scheduled public events today.

Brown will likely be the sole Democratic nominee and will face one of two wealthy, largely self-financed Republican candidates, Meg Whitman or Steve Poizner. Candidates for governor have until March 12 to file with the Secretary of State's office.

For months, Brown has avoided taking explicit positions on major issues such as the state's budget crisis, prisons or schools, arguing that he was not yet a candidate.

With today's announcement, Brown must start filling in the blanks with voters, said Democratic strategist Andrew Acosta, whose business partner Roger Salazar is helping to run an independent expenditure committee targeting Whitman and other Republicans.

"At some point, voters are going to want to know the vision that Jerry Brown has for the state moving forward," Acosta said. "Jerry Brown still conjures up a lot of images in the past because of his (history) in public office. This is an opportunity for him to articulate that."

Brown has revealed his views on some issues in recent months, such as saying tax increases are not politically feasible and supporting AB 32, which commits the state to cutting its greenhouse gas emissions.

Brown claims a 40-year political career in California, having served as California secretary of state, governor, California Democratic Party chairman, mayor of Oakland and attorney general. He's also run unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate and president.

The 71-year-old enters a race that's already costing tens of millions of dollars, with the Whitman campaign saying she's prepared to spend up to $150 million of her personal wealth on the race.

Poizner, the current state insurance commissioner, has also put in $19 million of his own money into his campaign.

Brown's announcement caps a long-in-the-works political comeback after his career flamed out after his unsuccessful 1992 presidential run.

Brown retrenched in the mid-1990s, hosting a talk show on liberal radio network Pacifica and running a political action and spirituality center out of his warehouse loft near Oakland's Jack London Square.

He re-entered the public sphere in 1998 by winning election as mayor of Oakland and serving two terms there. Brown was elected attorney general in 2006.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Ernest Dronenburg Dazed and Confused in San Diego Assessor Race

The Union-Tribune is reporting that GOP Ernest Dronenburg, who is running for County Assessor is having problems understanding the campaign reporting laws. While many would agree the campaign laws are complex, but he has run five times for a multi-county office, been in elected office since 1978. So, he should have a better handle with some of these laws.

Questions: Two of the infractions were he did know you can't use PO Boxes for donors and collect interest on those donations. If he is making these types of mistake and wants to run an office he has no previous experience, then what issues can we expect from him there?