Gov's Vetoes Highlight Poor Planning, Spending Priorities for State's Fire Safety

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With more than 3000 firefighters from around the state putting their lives on the line to battle the Topanga Fire, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger failed to sign several bills, recommended by his own blue-ribbon commission, to help these brave men and women do their jobs.

Last year, “State and local firefighters and chiefs who gathered [October 19, 2004] to discuss [2003’s] wildfires blasted Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, saying he has not done enough to provide the equipment and staffing needed to battle a fire disaster…. [M]any of the fire officials who spoke at the hearing complained that most of the 48 suggestions of a blue-ribbon commission appointed by Schwarzenegger had been not been implemented.…” the governor vetoed four bills in 2004 “intended to implement some of the panel's key recommendations.” (Los Angeles Times, October 20, 2004)

The bills the Governor should have signed were:

• SB 1611 (Denise Ducheny, D-San Diego) - Requires the California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection (CDF) to maintain a four-person fire engine crew statewide during fire season and year-round in Southern California.

• SB 902 (John Burton, D-San Francisco and Nell Soto, D-Pomona) – Transfers federal funds to assist the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (OES) in phasing-in the purchase of 150 additional fire engines. These additional engines will be added to the current OES fire engine fleet and will be assigned throughout California for use by CDF and local fire agencies to beef up their response not only to wildland fires, but also to potential acts of terrorism and other natural and human-caused emergencies.

• AB 1588 (Gloria Negrete-McLeod, D-Montclair and Christine Kehoe, D-San Diego) - Gives CDF the statutory authority it needs to buy and maintain additional firefighting aircraft or equipment, including firefighting helicopters using federal funds. Through cooperative agreements, acquired aircraft or equipment will be staged for use by local governments in urban areas with high fire risk.

• AB 2406 (Rudy Bermudez, D-Norwalk) – Expands the scope of information already required to be reported to the State Fire Marshal to by California fire agencies to include local response time and staffing statistics. The information, collected by the State Fire Marshal, would enable the state to annually compare how each fire department measures up to other fire departments and to national response time and staffing standards as well.

And this year, the Governor has vetoed:

• AB 3087 (Assembly Government Organization Committee) – This measure would require the Office of Emergency Services, California Highway Patrol, the Governor's Office of Home Security, and the California Department of Forestry to conduct a study to determine the effectiveness of the State Emergency Plan and the mutual aid system.

And, according to the Legislative Analysts Office, in the past 4 years, the state of California has received over $800 million in federal Homeland Security grant funds to spend on things like adding to and upgrading fleets of fire trucks and other vital public safety concerns.

However, because the Governor continues to veto legislation like SB 902 (Burton), less than a third of the money has been spent.

Click here to see the full report.

Rock Bottom - Part II

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After months of bashing the people’s elected representatives and defending their Governor’s weak polling with “well at least our approval rating is better than that of the Legislature,” Team Arnold no longer has that line to fall back on.

In addition to illustrating the lack of support for the special election and the voter’s intense dissatisfaction with the Schwarzenegger agenda, the new PPIC poll shows the Governor’s disapproval rating is five points higher (58 percent – 53 percent) than that of the Legislature for the first time ever.

The irony of all of Schwarzenegger’s legislature-bashing is that the biggest press bumps the Governor is getting these days comes from signing Democratic-sponsored legislation, including Speaker Nunez’s energy bill and Sen. Jack Scott’s vocational education bill.

So, Team Arnold has tried beating up on teachers, nurses, firefighters, cops and the legislature and none of it has worked to improve his standing with the voters. Who will he go after next?

Governor's 'Coalitions of the Willing' are Artificial, Contrived

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By Roger Salazar
(published in the Capitol Weekly - September 29th, 2005)

The Bush Administration used the term "Coalition of the Willing" to describe multinational forces backing U.S. efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq. The Bush description of the "Coalition" as evidence of widespread international consensus for the war in Iraq was criticized during the 2004 election because only 2 of the 49 countries identified in the "Coalition" contributed significant numbers of troops. (And no, I didn’t forget Poland.) Critics described the term "Coalition of the Willing" as nothing more than propaganda designed to mask the lack of worldwide support for U.S. policy. Gov. Schwarzenegger has adopted this same strategy in California – manufacturing artificial coalitions to create an illusion of support where none exists.

The first example followed the governor’s announcement in January that he planned to renege on his promise to fully fund education and shortchange schools by $2 billion. Not surprisingly, by March his support in the education community had evaporated and his poll numbers on education had plummeted.

The loss of support from the education community prompted Team Schwarzenegger to create Schwarzenegger’s Coalition for Education Reform, a phony group run out of one of his campaign consulting firms. While we know the governor has it out for teachers’ unions, his so-called "coalition" did not even include any of the management groups, like the school boards or administrators.

In fact, aside from members of his administration, this "coalition" merely included Republican party activists and beneficiaries of Schwarzenegger’s vocational education largesse.

The latest such "coalition" emerged last week with Schwarzenegger’s launch of the "Statewide Latino Coalition." This so-called coalition was conveniently conceived only after a survey by the Public Policy Institute of California revealed that the governor’s job-approval numbers had dropped to 17 percent–a record low among California Latino voters.

The "coalition" is chaired by Sen. Abel Maldonado (who needs Schwarzenegger’s fundraising support for his own run for state controller), and Rosario Marin, who is currently being paid more than $117,000 as a Schwarzenegger appointee on the California Integrated Waste Management Board.

There is no evidence that either of these so-called "coalitions" has any real grassroots support, a fact lending even further credence to the growing notion that Schwarzenegger’s official and political efforts lack substance and must rely on sleight of hand.

Californians are growing weary of his show. Actor Warren Beatty recently summed it up in a speech, saying, "Government’s not show business. Governing by show, by spin, by cosmetics and photo ops, fake events, fake issues and fake crowds and backdrops is a mistake."

Liberal Hollywood actors are not alone in this opinion. Even in the conservative central valley, the theatrics are wearing thin. Jim Boren, editorial page editor of the Fresno Bee, wrote: "Many, including Republican supporters, have been criticizing the governor’s ‘town hall’ meetings, which are actually tightly scripted meetings with people who will tell Schwarzenegger what he wants to hear. These events have become tiresome and counterproductive at a time when the governor should be confronting his critics with facts, not gimmicks."

When Schwarzenegger became governor, the voters knew that as a Hollywood megastar he wasn’t ever really going to be one of them. But they presumed, at least he would listen to what they had to say. After a year of phony events and phony coalitions, they now realize the unfortunate error in this presumption. Gov. Schwarzenegger may have the ability to manufacture his own "willing" coalitions, but he’s going to have a tough time manufacturing
"willing" voters.

Roger Salazar is a principal with the Sacramento political consulting firm, AcostaSalazar LLC. He was a spokesman for former Vice President Al Gore, and served in former Gov. Gray Davis’ press office.

Rock Bottom? Almost There...

Just when you thought Arnold had hit rock bottom, today's Roundup referenced a new survey showing Schwarzenegger still has a couple more feet to fall:

It is said that elections are more than just popularity contests, and good thing, too. Otherwise, California would be near the bottom of a list of states when it comes to gubernatorial love. A new survey shows only two other governors are less popular than Gov. Schwarzenegger. Only Bob Taft of Ohio and Frank Murkowski of Alaska have lower approval ratings in their home states.

See what happens when you beat up on students, teachers, nurses, firefighters, cops, janitors, construction workers, hotel workers, restaurant employees, farmworkers, truck drivers, electricians, and factory workers? The only people you have left supporting you are wealthy CEO's.

Young Americans for Freedom In Love…Just Not With McCarthy

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Once again, California Republicans are displaying their own unique brand of intra-party unity.

Instead of circling the wagons, young GOP vultures, in the form of the rightist California Young Americans for Freedom (YAF), are circling the Capitol calling for the ouster of Assembly Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy in the wake of the Republicans lopsided loss in the 53^rd Assembly District.

The California political blog, “Hack N Flak,” reported the YAFers had launched a new website, www.calyaf.org, which posted as its top item:

Kern YAF Calls for McCarthy's "Scalp"

Following the debacle in AD53 and an atrocious budget, Kern County YAF called for Kevin McCarthy’s resignation as Assembly Minority Leader at the CRP’s Fall Convention in Anaheim.

I guess they weren’t buying McCarthy’s argument that he really “wasn’t playing” in the 53^rd AD.

The link leads to a pdf entitled “Great Hair, Thinning Leadership” which lists among McCarthy’s “leadership lineage”:

“Blows millions of dollars on Assembly candidates with more bankruptcies, lawsuits and name changes than McCarthy has hairstyling gel.”

Ouch. With friends like these…

How Do You Say 'Façade' In Spanish?

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After getting drubbed like a rented burro in the press, the polls and by members of his own party for his complete and utter disregard for California’s Latino community, Gov. Schwarzenegger and his compadres today unveiled a laughable attempt to salvage what little support they have left.

I’m not sure rolling out the only two Latinos of stature (and I use that term loosely) in the Republican Party, throwing up a few Spanish pages on your website and calling that a “Latino Coalition” is going to do the trick, but I guess ya gotta start somewhere.

Unfortunately, Team Arnold’s problem isn’t that “Candidate” Schwarzenegger has been slighting Latinos, it’s that “Governor” Schwarzenegger has been slighting Latinos.

We already know that his awful record on key Latino appointments has been an issue. La Opinion, the nation’s largest Spanish-language newspaper, said in a recent editorial:

“From the beginning up to today, the Governor’s Administration seems to read like a script from an upcoming film, "A Day Without Latinos." The absence of Hispanics in his cabinet and other important posts reflects an absolute disinterestedness in nourishing his government with the experience and the point of view of a community that represents a third of the state population.” (La Opinion, September 19, 2005, translation mine)

But even as he unveils another fake coalition today, the Governor continues to demonstrate how out of touch he is with Latinos and the rest of Californians.

For example, today it was reported the Governor is sticking to his position in favor of the border vigilantes, the Minutemen:

“‘It's no different than if you have a neighborhood watch person there that's watching your children at the playground. I don't see it any different,’ he said. ‘Or, if I have my personal guards at the house, because I feel like the police (are) not going to be able to take care of the job because they are overwhelmed.” (San Francisco Chronicle, September 22, 2005)

Set aside the fact that the rest of us don’t have the experience of “personal guards” at our house as a reference point, a recent Field Poll (9/8/05) showed that 56 percent of Californians and 84 percent of California Latinos reject the idea of private citizen patrols on the border.

Unless Senator Maldonado and former U.S. Treasurer Rosario Marin (sounds better than failed senatorial candidate and Integrated Waste Management Board member Rosario Marin doesn’t it?) can get him to move on issues that really matter to Latinos, no amount of campaign hype is going to move California’s Latino voters toward the Governor.

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Some People Will Vote No on Anything

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“Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger approved a package of legislation Wednesday intended to crack down on slave rings that force people — often poor and illegal immigrants — to perform menial and sometimes debasing work in sweatshops, construction and prostitution.“‘The practice of trafficking in human beings — modern-day slavery — is a horrific crime that our society cannot abide,’ Schwarzenegger said.” (Los Angeles Times, September 23, 2005)

Ten Assembly and Senate Republicans apparently disagree with that statement and voted against the anti-human trafficking legislation (AB 22, Lieber et al).

I guess they don’t find “modern-day slavery,” as the Governor described it, as horrific as he does.

“With no Democratic opposition, it passed by wide margins in the Legislature, where 10 of the 47 Republicans voted against it. A spokesman for the Senate GOP caucus said Wednesday that he did not know why the lawmakers objected.” (Los Angeles Times, September 23, 2005)

Maybe somebody should ask them.

Assemblymembers:
Ray Haynes (R-Murrietta)
Audra Strickland (R-Moorpark)
Dennis Mountjoy (R-Monrovia)

Senators:
Sam Aanestad (R-Grass Valley)
Dick Ackerman (R-Irvine)
Jim Battin (R-La Quinta)
John Campbell (R-Irvine)
Bob Dutton (R- Rancho Cucamonga)
Dennis Hollingsworth (R-Murrieta)
Tom McClintock (R-Thousand Oaks)

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TIEMPO Is Not on Arnold’s Side

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In an article entitled "Arnold Will Be Back, But Will Hispanics?" today’s TIME magazine encapsulates the troubles Team Arnold is having with California's Latino community. (TIME, September 18, 2005) (See below)

The article describes the Governor’s plummeting poll numbers (17 percent approval rating) among Latino voters and actions that have alienated Hispanics, including the barring of a La Opinion reporter from a Schwarzenegger event last week.

The piece also mentions Arnold’s voicing of support for the Minutemen, a Pander strike orchestrated by senior Schwarzenegger Administration officials and campaign consultants in an effort to shore up the Guv’s right-wing base.

They may have overestimated the appeal of the vigilantes, though. Yesterday’s Los Angeles Times reports that “organizers called off their Minuteman-style patrol of the California-Mexico border this weekend after a minor scuffle with counter-demonstrators and a far lower turnout than expected.” (Los Angeles Times, September 18, 2005)

Latinos haven’t felt this much animosity towards their Governor since the Wilson/Prop 187 days.

Maybe Team Arnold can dust off the old Wilson “revolving door” ads and complete the circle.

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excerpt from TIME Magazine

...in what many perceived as a symbolic snubbing, a reporter from La Opinion, California's largest Spanish-language newspaper, was barred last week from a Schwarzenegger event to which two English-language journalists were admitted.

Perhaps most damaging, however, was the open letter some California Republicans issued last week denouncing the Governor's dismal record on placing Latinos in key posts and calling the state G.O.P. "morally wrong and politically stupid" for its shoddy treatment of Latino candidates.

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Money, Money, Money

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Last night on Univision Channel 19, Senator Abel Maldonado (R-15) defended the Governor and his flailing campaign saying that "the opposition has spent millions of dollars bad mouthing this governor and up to this point he has not responded -- but at the end of the month, on the 1st of October, this governor will respond and he will talk about all the things he has done." (KUVS 19 -Univision, 9/15/05, translation mine)

First of all, the whole "we haven't responded" gambit conveniently forgets the fact that Team Arnold spent millions on television throughout the summer. Nonetheless, given the Special Election is 6 weeks away, why would Team Arnold wait two more weeks, until October 1, to get on the air?
Oh that's right, they don't have any money!

The Los Angeles Times, in a piece entitled "Timing of Gov.'s Bid a Sign of Deep Woes," takes a look at the finances (or lack thereof) of the campaign:

"But like other major problems that Schwarzenegger faces, his poor financial shape is at least partly a self-inflicted injury. His campaign committees reported spending nearly $26 million in the first six months of the year, leaving his political accounts all but depleted by the end of June. The $1.2 million in cash left was entirely offset, and then some, by $3.8 million in debts. (Los Angeles Times, 9/16/05)

And now, according to the Sacramento Bee's Gary Delsohn, it's gotten so bad the governor is being forced to donate his own personal funds under the guise that it reflects "his personal commitment" to the initiatives.

"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who's received a rash of criticism for trying to raise the $50 million he says he needs for his special election campaign, will soon contribute several million dollars of his own money to the cause. Schwarzenegger, who has told his aides that the personal contribution is a gesture to potential big donors that he's fully committed to his ballot initiatives, needs the cash so he can start a television ad blitz in the next week or two." (Sacramento Bee, 9/16/05)

The governor putting up his own money is a testament to just how bad things are for Team Arnold - nobody wants to pay the bills besides the governor and consultants who look at the initiatives as their lifeline.

Talk about "Living Within Our Means"...Looks like Team Arnold can manage money just about as well as they can manage their campaign.

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On the Brownside, Looking In

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Just in time for the kickoff of Latino Heritage month the Governor announced… drum roll please … absolutely nothing of substance for Latinos.

You see, Arnold’s a “follow-through” kind of guy. He’s been staying the course of not appointing any qualified Latinos to judgeships, his cabinet or his senior advisors.

It must have been difficult for Arnold to ignore all those capable Latinos while continuing to ask for their support, but somehow he found a way. And now we get to see the results of his steadfastness.

Today, the Los Angeles Times reports that “as he prepares to launch his reelection bid, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is facing attack from a group of fellow Republicans who condemn his record on Latino appointments and assail the state GOP as ‘morally wrong and politically stupid’ in its treatment of Latino candidates.” (“Latinos Souring on Gov. and His Party,” 9/15/05)

In an unusual open letter drafted for release today, the Latino Republican activists offer a litany of political grievances and assert that “the California Republican Party and its key leaders are systematically excluding Latinos from any kind of meaningful role in the state party or state government.”

The letter noted that Schwarzenegger has no Latinos in his cabinet or in senior positions. It said that the governor and prominent state GOP leaders have endorsed non-Latino candidates over “qualified, credible and competitive” Latinos in statewide races in recent years, contrasting that approach with President Bush’s aggressive courtship of Latino voters. It also said that just one of Schwarzenegger’s first 56 judicial appointments was Latino - a claim that could not be independently verified because there is no precise record. [A Sacramento Bee story dated June 9, 2005, found only one Latino judge appointed by the Governor. A review of the Governor’s press releases since then found no new Latino judges]

“The California Republican Party’s exclusion of Latinos is morally wrong and politically stupid,” the letter states and urges “dramatic action to change course before it’s too late for our party and our state.”

Mark Baldassare, research director at the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute, sums it up best by saying the Governor and Latino voters are “worlds apart” when it comes to fiscal issues and the size and responsibilities of state government.

When you don’t have any Latinos in your “world,” what do you expect?

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Gov’s Political Agenda Rejected in 53rd A.D.

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The first bellwether for the November special election presented a gloomy outlook for Team Arnold and the Republican Party.

In the swing 53rd Assembly District, which the late Mike Gordon won by only 8 percent in 2004, Democrat Ted Lieu won an astounding 40 point victory yesterday. This is an ominous sign for the Schwarzenegger’s partisan agenda.

Lieu faced several Republican opponents, including one wealthy candidate handpicked by Republican leadership, but he ran a campaign on the issues that matter to the voters - putting partisanship aside and working to protect the environment, fighting to expand health care programs and working for cheaper prescription drugs.

During the Recall Election of 2003, 54 percent of the voters in the 53rd Assembly District supported Arnold Schwarzenegger as he promised to govern from the center and end partisan bickering. A majority of Californians agreed and Arnold was swept into office.

When the Governor was riding high in the polls, Democrat Mike Gordon defeated Republican Greg Hill by 8 percentage points in a district with 6 percent difference in Democrat/Republican registration.

That is why Ted Lieu’s astounding 40 point victory in a district with only 40 percent Democratic registration is an important harbinger of things to come. It is a blistering rejection in a swing district of the Governor's partisan style of ‘governing” and the GOP’s anti-worker, anti-education agenda.

The voters sent a clear message they are unhappy with the Governor's inability to get things done and the partisan culture he has adopted.

They are hungry for leadership on bread and butter issues that matter to them, not the empty rhetoric they’ve heard from the Governor, his surrogates and, as seen in AD 53, the GOP candidates.


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Gubernador Shuts Door on Latino Reporter

In their continued quest to show Californians that Gov. Schwarzenegger truly (really, honestly, no seriously) is a man of the people, his culturally sensitive campaign team decided not only to carefully select the props…err, I mean audience…for his latest “Town Hall” charade, they also kept out the reporter from California’s largest Spanish-language daily newspaper:

"In front of the K&N Engineering, an air filter company in Riverside where Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger held a community meeting with approximately 50 people, there was a series of protests by opponents and another 50 individuals dismayed for being refused entry.

"Members of the Governor’s security team also closed the door to La Opinión, despite the reporter having presented the appropriate city and county press credentials as well as personal identification.

"While the incident took place, two English language media reporters were given access to the event..." (La Opinion, 9/13/05, translation mine)

La Opinion reaches 484,695 everyday and is the second most read newspaper in Los Angeles after the LA Times.

You would think the Team Arnold campaign machine would be pulling out all the stops to attract Latino support for his agenda considering the latest PPIC survey shows more than 73 percent of Latinos disapprove of the Governor’s performance.

But this kind of treatment is nothing new coming from the Governor and his allies on the conservative right:

“The California Republican Assembly that meets monthly in Riverside has not allowed this reporter access to previous meetings either.” (La Opinion, 9/13/05)

It looks like Schwarzenegger’s adviser/press secretary/acting communications director is going to have the Gubernador trot out the old standard “I love Mexico” line to make up for this comportamiento vergonzoso.

Moving on Up…Down…Out?

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First, it was reported that Gov. Schwarzenegger’s official communications director Rob Stutzman and chief of staff Pat Clarey are leaving Arnold’s administration to go work on Arnold’s campaign.

Today comes word from the AP that the Guv’s Finance Director Tom Campbell is also jumping onto the campaign bandwagon.

If there were any lingering doubts as to whether the Governor’s office and the Governor’s campaign were one and the same, this should just about dispel it.

Who’s next? Will Legal Secretary Peter Siggins come on board as campaign counsel? Why not? He already has the experience with his inside-the-horseshoe work on Prop. 77. How about education adviser Margaret Fortune? She’s been out with Campbell on the campaign circuit on the taxpayer dime over the past month too.

The most comical aspect of this isn’t the fact that no one seems to be minding the store, it’s the fact that all these Administration officials are needed to shore up a campaign operation already loaded with some of the most expensive consultants money can buy.

Ahh, the life of a Schwarzenegger adviser…Mssrs. Murphy, Harris, Randall, Wilson, Hutton, Sipple, Gorton, and Claussen can take it easy and rake it in while the Horseshoe Home Office rides in to do the heavy lifting.

Here’s the deal… Arnold’s campaign doesn’t need to staff-up, it needs to shut-down and go home.

Californians aren’t interested in his so-called “reform” and no googol of high-priced staff is going to change their minds.

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