Recently in State politics Category

From Judy Chu's office:

Judy Chu Sworn in As First Chinese American Congresswoman

Speaker Pelosi Presides Over Event During Regular Session of Congress

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Judy Chu was sworn in today as our nation's first Chinese American Congresswoman during a regular session of Congress in the U.S. Capitol.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi presided over the ceremony, as Congresswoman Chu's family, close friends and staff looked on from the Gallery. Following the swearing in, Congresswoman Chu mingled with her new colleagues on the House Floor and then proceeded to a private ceremony with Speaker Pelosi attended by Dr. Chu's closest family and friends.

"On behalf of all Members of Congress, I am so pleased to welcome Judy Chu to the House of Representatives. As the first Chinese-American woman elected to Congress, her victory is a source of pride to many," said Speaker Pelosi in a statement following the swearing-in ceremony.

"Over her 24 years in public service, Congresswoman Chu has been committed to the essential issues facing our nation: the strength of our economy, the education of our children, and the health of all Americans," Speaker Pelosi added. "I look forward to working with Congresswoman Chu to address these challenges and make progress for the entire nation."

Congresswoman Chu got right to work immediately after the swearing in, voting on several environmental bills and receiving her first committee assignment, the Education and Labor Committee, which is in the process of debating important health care legislation.

Congresswoman Chu was elected to succeed Labor Secretary Hilda Solis on Tuesday by a 61% to 33% margin following a hard-fought primary during which she beat out a crowded field of 12 candidates. She campaigned on a platform of creating jobs and protecting homeowners in her working class 32nd District east of Los Angeles, and put together a multi-ethnic coalition to win the seat in the primarily Latino district.

"I am humbled and honored that the people of the 32nd District and San Gabriel Valley once again

demonstrated their trust in me as their elected representative," said Congresswoman Chu, who has been elected nine times over the past 23 years as a school board member, mayor, state Assembly member and Board of Equalization member. "I look forward to working hard for my constituents in Washington, using my fiscal expertise to help our nation emerge from our current financial crisis, improving our healthcare system and bringing much needed transportation and education dollars to the San Gabriel Valley."

Judy Chu most recently served as vice chair of the state Board of Equalization, which collects more than $53 billion in revenue for the state of California. Prior to that she served three terms in the state Assembly, where she headed the powerful Appropriations Committee, with life and death power over every bill with fiscal impact in the state. As an Assemblywoman she authored an innovative tax amnesty bill, the most successful of its kind in the nation, which had been estimated to bring in $300 million but actually generated $4.3 billion for the state without raising taxes.

She was born and raised in Los Angeles and lives in Monterey Park, where she served on the City Council for 13 years, as mayor for three terms and helped the city earn a Diversity Award from the League of California Cities. She is married to Assemblyman Mike Eng, D-El Monte

From Mike Eng's office:

BILL TO INCREASE GOVERNMENT TRANSPARENCY, END SERIAL MEETINGS PASSES SENATE COMMITTEE

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Assembly Bill 1494, authored by Assemblymember Mike Eng (D-Monterey Park), was approved today with by the Senate Committee on Governmental Organization by a vote of 9-0.

Specifically, AB 1494 will provide state government boards and commissions with clarity regarding the prohibition of 'serial meetings,' which are discussions or decisions on agenda items that are made behind closed doors away from the public's view. The Bagley-Keene Act was established to assure that all state-related business be conducted in an open forum for the public to participate.

"AB 1494 strengthens the prohibition on serial meetings to make sure that agenda item discussions and votes are discussed or voted on in a public setting," Assemblymember Eng stated before members of the Senate policy committee. "Over time, the decorum of some board and commission members, as well as changes in technology, have poked holes in the state open meetings laws and this bill closes those holes."

AB 1494 will next go before the entire Assembly for a vote

Any one suprised at the election results?

Let's recap:

1. It will by Judy Chu and Betty (Tom) Chu in a run-off for the 32nd Congressional seat.

2. All of the Governor's tax measures failed. Now, the deficit is projected to be $21 billion.

3. Proposition 1F prohibiting state officials from receiving pay raises when California has a budget deficit.

Did you vote yet? If so, what did you see or hear at the polls?

The election is just four days away, and here's the latest round of mailers sent by Sen. Gil Cedillo targeting 32nd Congressional District Candidate Emanuel Pleitez:

First, 32nd Congressional candidate Teresa Hernandez gets audited, then, her restaurant gets burglarized -- in less than a week!

With 12 days until the election, the fists, well, fliers, are coming out. And in some cases, these fliers are just downright entertaining. Here is the latest one sent by Betty Tom Chu - who dropped the Tom for this election - attacking Judy Chu.

(If you have recently received a flier from any candidate, send it in and we'll get it on the blog.)

Sen. Gil Cedillo is getting quite a (negative) reaction from the recent round of mailers he sent out attacking 32nd Congressional Candidate Emanuel Pleitez, the 26-year-old from East Los Angeles.

Dante Atkins, the Political Director of the Los Angeles County Young Democrats, which endorsed Cedillo, writes (if you go to the Web site, scroll down to the May 6 post) that he doesn't think it's a good sign for Cedillo's campaign that he is going after a "minor candidate."

Atkins, who is also 26, also is offended that Cedillo's mailer seems to be knocking Pleitez for being young and using the Internet like many young people do.

He concludes by saying, "This is really a low blow, and smacks of desperation to have to resort to this."

Cedillo grabbed some photos from Pleitez's Facebook page, like this one:

The voter registration deadline for the consolidated and special May 19 election is on May 4, according to the Los Angeles County Registrar.

President of the Center for Governmental Studies Robert Stern called for more restrictions in a story written by Rebecca Kimitch that shows Sen. Gil Cedillo's staffers have used a loophole in campaign finance laws that allows Cedillo to buy gifts with campaign donations.

Cedillo is running for the 32nd Congressional seat.

From the story:

Cedillo and key members of his legislative staff annually exchange gifts during the holidays, staff members have said. But while the staff members pay for their gifts to the state senator themselves, Cedillo uses contributions from donors to buy his staff members' gifts.

According to public records, Cedillo has spent nearly $15,000 of campaign contributions over the past six years at Banana Republic, Nordstrom, Bloomingdales, Ann Taylor and a handful of other high-end retail stores.

Cedillo said all of the purchases were gifts for his legislative and political staff, as well as other lawmakers.

Daniel Savage, Cedillo's chief of staff, said he has regularly received gifts from Cedillo - a shirt and tie every year for Christmas. Savage, who has known Cedillo for decades, said he reciprocates with the same.

"(Cedillo) is using his campaign funds as a supplement to his income," said Robert Stern, president of the nonprofit Center for Governmental Studies and former general counsel for the Fair Political Practices Commission. "When I give gifts, exchange gifts, it's out of my own pocket... The staffer has to use personal funds for his gift to (Cedillo)."

Read more.

Residents in Bradbury, Duarte, El Monte, Irwindale, Monrovia, Rosemead, San Gabriel, San Marino, Temple City and some Los Angeles unincorporated areas are being hit with a 56 percent water rate hike. Read more.

As some cities struggle to get their tagging under control, West Covina has been combating it with volunteer Glenn Kennedy, the police department and the hired clean-up company. Read more.

San Gabriel Valley's only pot dispensary closes up shop after a judge granted a temporary restraining order. Read more.

Montebello OKs metal recycling plant in an industrial area. Read more.

Newly appointed Labor Secretary Hilda Solis will come back home at 2 p.m. on Saturday and give a talk at La Puente High School titled, "Pathways to Success: Achieving Goals through Education." Solis was the first in her family to go to college and attend Cal Poly Pomona. Read more.

 Baldwin Park Mayor Manny Lozano cleared by District Attorney's office, which investigated a 2007 trip taken by Lozano to China.  Read more.

A staffer working on the campaign for a "26-year-old idealist from East LA" got a bit of a tongue lashing by West Covina council members on Tuesday after he used an emotional discussion about potential employee layoffs as a campaign pitch for Emanuel Pleitez, who is running for the 32nd Congressional seat.

JC Stiassni spoke on behalf of Pleitez during the public comment portion of a meeting. His comments were sandwiched in with comments by employees who were upset with a resolution that was proposed by Mayor Roger Hernandez to protect public safety employees from layoffs. His resolution did not offer the protection to non-public safety employees, and it was the non-sworn officers who spoke in fear of losing their jobs.

Then comes Stiassni, wanting to tell a story about Emanuel. Wasting the public comment time to campaign didn't sit well with Councilman Mike Touhey, who was especailly vocal about how insensitive it was for Stiassni to use this time to campaign.

Press Secretary Emily Dulcan said that speaking at public meetings is one of the several political strategies that they have taken on in getting the word out about Pleitez. But in hindisght, she said, it probably wasn't the best time to bring it up.

"On behalf of the campaign I want to express my apologies for the insensitivity that may have been portrayed," Duncan said. "In no way did we mean to offend the participants."

I was wondering just how Sen. Gil Cedillo would be combating Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's endorsement of Board of Equalization Chairwoman Judy Chu.

And then I got a press release from Cedillo's media reps reminding us that it is the voters, not endorsements, that will decide the winner of the 32nd Congressional eat, left open after Hilda Solis took the job as Obama's labor secretary.

This release follows a press conference today where Villaraigosa formally announced his endorsement of Chu. The photo to the left was taken at the 108th annual Golden Dragon Parade.

The Cedillo press release goes on:

It was Gil Cedillo, Supervisor Gloria Molina and Senator Gloria Romero who stood up to Villaraigosa and the other L.A. politicians and said there would be no Proposition R unless the San Gabriel Valley got its fair share of the proceeds. The efforts of Senator Cedillo and his allies were successful and thanks to them, there are 1.8 billion dollars allocated to local transportation projects that benefit San Gabriel Valley families.

Gil Cedillo is a proven leader who has taken on those big money special interests for years to help workers get better wages and benefits. He took care of the people of the San Gabriel Valley when Antonio Villaraigosa and the L.A. powerbrokers wanted to take their tax dollars and literally send it down a hole under Wilshire Boulevard.

By standing beside Antonio Villaraigosa today, Judy Chu has shown that she will cozy up to the entrenched political interests, the C-E-Os and wealthy campaign contributors and take care of their interests in Congress instead of putting the hard working families of the San Gabriel Valley first."

Judy Chu grabbed an endorsement from Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, according to a press release. There will be an event tomorrow formally announcing the endorsement.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to Officially Endorse Judy Chu for Congress

Mayor to be Joined by San Gabriel Valley Elected Officials at Special Press Event

EL SERENO - The Mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa, will be joined by his counterparts from Azusa, West Covina, South El Monte, Duarte and scores of other San Gabriel Valley elected officials on Wednesday as he officially announces his endorsement of Judy Chu in the race for the 32nd Congressional District seat recently vacated by Labor Secretary Hilda Solis.

The event, which will include just a fraction of the more than 75 elected officials from the San Gabriel Valley who have already endorsed Judy Chu, will feature statements from Mayor Villaraigosa and other mayors and mayors pro tem from the San Gabriel Valley

There was a great story in the paper yesterday looking at the 32nd Congressional race, written by Rebecca Kimitch.

What I found particularly interesting is that Monterey Park Councilwoman Betty Tom Chu is throwing her name in the hat. I wonder how badly that will pull the vote away from Judy Chu, who is the Board of Equalization Chairwoman. Judy Chu's consultant called the move by Betty Tom Chu, who will drop the "Tom" on the ballot, as a dirty trick.

Tom Chu said she is running to represent Monterey Park at the federal level. As a side note, Judy Chu is a Monterey Park resident and started her political career by serving on the Garvey School District and then on the Monterey Park City Council.

Kimitch also mentions Sen. Gil Cedillo's spending, which the L.A. Times details.

This quote from the Governator this morning at a press conference on gang violence and the "Gifts for Guns" program. The video can be seen here.

"Every time a weapon is surrendered, every time a gun is taken off the street, neighborhoods are safer," said Schwarzenegger. "The guns will be melted and used for something more positive. I think that was also the theme for Terminator Two. The Terminator let himself down into the molt and he gets melted and he kind of wants to terminate himself in order to stop the violence."

Still thinking about whether you want to run for the 32nd Congressional District seat?

Well, you still have time. The deadline is April 6. All you need to do to qualify is be at least 25 years old, have about $1,700, need between 40 to 60 nomination signatures and have lived in the state for the past 7 years - you don't have to live in the district.

Here's the county's press release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 18, 2009
CONTACT: Marcia Ventura (562) 462-2726 or Eileen Shea (562) 462-2648

NOMINATION PERIOD OPEN FOR 32ND CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT SPECIAL PRIMARY ELECTION ON MAY 19, 2009

Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk (RR/CC) Dean Logan announced today that persons intending to run for office in the 32nd Congressional District Special Primary Election on May 19, 2009, may file nomination documents now through Monday, April 6, 2009 with the RR/CC at 12400 E. Imperial Highway, Norwalk, CA 90650, 2nd Floor, Room 2013, between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

The Special Primary Election on May 19 is being held for the purpose of electing party candidates for the Special General Election on July 14, 2009, which will be held to fill a vacancy for the unexpired term ending January 3, 2010, in the 32nd Congressional District resulting from the resignation of office by Hilda L. Solis. (If any candidate receives a majority of all votes cast at the Special Primary Election, he or she shall be declared elected and the Special General Election shall not be held.) The Special Primary will be held in consolidation with the Statewide Special and Consolidated Elections, including (if required) the 26th State Senate District Special General Election.

Persons wishing to run for office must be 25 years of age or older and a United States citizen for at least 7 years and an inhabitant of the state at the time of the general election. Candidates do not have to live in the district. Candidates must have been affiliated with a party, as shown by his or her affidavit of registration, at least 3 months prior to filing nomination documents, or for as long as he or she has been eligible to register to vote in the State. The candidates must not have been affiliated with any other qualified party for 3 months immediately prior to filing.

The deadline for filing nomination papers is Monday, April 6, 2009 at 5:00 p.m.

The filing fee is $1,740.00 and 40-60 nominating signatures are required. Petition forms are now available for persons wishing to secure signatures in lieu of all or a portion of the filing fee. Signatures submitted on the in lieu petitions may also be applied to the signature requirements for offices on the nominating petition provided they are registrants of the same party as the candidate. All candidates must pay the nonrefundable filing fee or present in lieu signatures at the time they receive their nomination papers. The total number of in lieu signatures needed is 3,000 for Democratic and Republican party candidates, 90 for Green, 87 for Libertarian and 150 for American Independent and Peace and Freedom party candidates. Persons filing in lieu signatures will be notified within ten calendar days of filing the petition of any deficiency. The deadline to file signatures in lieu petitions is Monday, March 23. In the event of a deficiency, candidates may submit, prior to the close of the nomination period, a supplemental petition or pay the pro rata portion of the filing fee to make up the deficiency. The deadline to file a supplemental petition is 5:00 p.m. on Friday, April 6, 2009.

Further information can be obtained by calling the RR/CC, Election Planning Section at (562) 462-2317 or by going online to the RR/CC website www.lavote.net and clicking on Voter & Election Information.

Persons requiring multilingual assistance in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Tagalog/Filipino or Vietnamese regarding information in this press release, can call (800) 481-8683

It's official. San Gabriel Valley's very own Rep. Hilda Solis was confirmed today by the Senate as the nation's next labor secretary.

It seems everyone's got an opinion on the state budget these days -- our local pols included.

Here are some quotes from conversations I had last week with mayors in three local cities:

"I'm pleased that it has passed, which will help free up some of the cash flow that has been held back by the state controller. However, I'm not happy about the tax increases and the fact that taxes are being raised in the middle of one of the worst recessions we have had in decades."
-- Joe Vinatieri, Whittier mayor

"I think there are going to be serious repercussions. Without a doubt, solving the budget by increasing taxes is not the way to go and I'm very disappointed."
-- Frank Venti, Monterey Park mayor

"I'm cautiously optimistic about the future. I know California still has a tremendous deficit. We have a lot of problems pending. We have the clouds of recession hanging over us. Passing the budget is the necessary first step on the path to a brighter future, economically speaking. But we still have a lot of work ahead of us."
-- Louie Lujan, La Puente mayor

Lujan went on to question the two-thirds majority needed to pass California's budget. Ever since the drawn-out process to get the state's budget approved began, lawmakers have been mulling the requirement, and whether its time for voters to dump it.

In fact the Associated Press had this story today about the issue:

"We have to do something," said Assemblyman Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael. "I think anybody who's watched this slow-motion train wreck over the last three months ought to agree that this system no longer works, if it ever did."

California is one of only a handful of states that require more than a simple majority to pass budget bills. Rhode Island, like California, requires a two-thirds vote. Arkansas requires three-fourths votes to pass most appropriation bills and simple majorities to approve a separate bill that sets the state's spending priorities.

Lujan said he didn't know what the solution was, but "something less than two-thirds has to seriously be considered."

He also said he found it out odd that among Republican Sen. Abel Maldonado's demands in exchange for his "yes" vote, Maldonado asked for ballot measures that would create an open primary system.

"Maldonado's proposal in changing the California elections code has nothing to do with budgetary process," Lujan said. "It surprises me ... it's an odd forum to discuss (that)."

On the Los Angeles County supervisor front, Michael Antonovich released this statement last week about his thoughts on the state budget:

"What was missing was a comprehensive package of structural reforms including eliminating or consolidating overlapping departments and high-paying political commissions ... Imposing one of the highest tax rates in the nation is a tax-and-spend orgy that further drives businesses, individuals and jobs out of state."

Hilda Solis couldn't have run into more snags as she makes her way to the labor secretary seat. USA Today ran a story earlier this week about Solis' husband, who just recently paid some outstanding tax liens on his auto repair shop.

Problem is, some of the liens were as old as 16 years.

We had a story about it buried in today's paper. Here's a link to the USA Today piece. 

Also, FYI, Solis' confirmation vote has been postponed, again.