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January 2008 ArchivesIn 2004, Assembly Democrats recruited inland tribal leader Mary Ann Andreas to run against Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia, R-Cathedral City. Democrats wanted to regain a seat they thought was rightfully theirs. Andreas lost. And newly filed finance reports show that, more than three years later, Andreas is still out the $193,000 she loaned her campaign before and after the November 2004 election. In addition, the campaign has $46,000 in unpaid bills. It likely would have been a different story if Andreas had prevailed. Lawmakers routinely hold fundraisers to retire loans and other campaign debt. —Jim Miller Armed with small radios and bottles of complimentary water, a cadre of UC Riverside students hosted a Democratic presidential forum Wednesday night for hundreds of people. The students, many of them dressed in matching red T-shirts, brought representatives of Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton's campaigns together to field questions from students and community members on issues such as education. The partisan forum, sponsored in part by the California Student Public Interest Research Group, nearly packed University Lecture Hall. Dolores Huerta, who co-founded the United Farm Workers with Cesar Chavez more than four decades ago, appeared on behalf of the Clinton campaign and received a standing ovation from many in the crowd. Huerta said she is supporting Clinton because of the senator's experience, leadership and pledge to end the Iraq war. Jose Medina, a longtime educator and Riverside Community College trustee, praised the students for their activism and said it gave him hope for the future. "We ordinary people can change this country," Medina said. Medina, an Obama volunteer, told the crowd that Obama is committed to education and to raising Pell Grants for students. —Michelle DeArmond Its purple-shirted members are a Capitol mainstay, but the influential Service Employees International Union has been a missing labor player in the months-long fight over new tribal gambling compacts. Not anymore. Fresh off the legislative defeat of the health care bill it strongly backed, the 1.5 million-member union this week gave $100,000 to the campaign trying to overturn the four compacts on Tuesday’s ballot. The money, though, is small fry in a campaign where spending is well into nine figures. The Morongo Band of Mission Indians near Banning – one of three Riverside County tribes with compacts on the ballot – gave another $7.5 million this week to the yes campaign, bringing to $42 million what the tribe has contributed. —Jim Miller Inland activist Ruthee Goldkorn already mailed in her ballot -- with a vote for Sen. John Edwards to be the Democrats' presidential nominee. Goldkorn also sent in an application to be a national convention delegate -- for Edwards. Now that the North Carolina Democrat has bowed out of the race, Goldkorn says she doesn't know what to do. She holds out a "glimmer of hope" that Edwards will re-enter the fray. "I'm devastated. I have no leanings toward anyone but John," she said. "I feel solid that my vote went to the person that should be president of the United States." Goldkorn says it will be tough for Sens. Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton to win her vote, even if Edwards endorses one of them. —Michelle DeArmond Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Redlands, is one of many Inland voters who dutifully mailed in his ballot early in anticipation of Tuesday's presidential primary. Unfortunately, he cast his vote for a candidate who dropped out of the race today: former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Lewis' press secretary says the congressman is disappointed Giuliani is no longer in the race, but hasn't yet decided whom to support in the general election. —Michelle DeArmond No one knows how many vote-by-mail ballots are sitting in county election offices with now-wasted votes for Democrat John Edwards and Republican Rudy Giuliani. But Secretary of State Debra Bowen said she thinks vote-by-mail voters have been holding on to their ballots longer than usual this primary season. "I think the question about how early voters vote will work itself out over time," Bowen said to reporters Wednesday. "I also think, just intuitively, voters know that things are in a state of flux right now, and I think it’s why registrars are saying they expect a very large number of vote-by-mail ballots to be turned in on Election Day.” —Jim Miller Just over six months into his tenure on the powerful House Appropriations Committee, Inland Rep. Ken Calvert got an upgraded subcommittee assignment Wednesday. Calvert moves from the Financial Services Subcommittee to the Subcommittee on Energy and Water, considered a step up in congressional circles. The move is part of a chain reaction started by the departure of Roger Wicker, R-Miss, who was appointed to fill the Senate seat left vacant by Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss. Wicker's replacement hasn't been named, but whoever it will be will start at the bottom of the food chain, since these assignments are based largely on seniority. —Ben Goad Former assemblyman Russ Bogh and Assemblyman John J. Benoit, R-Bermuda Dunes, have released more endorsements in their GOP primary contest for the 37th Senate District. Bogh, R-Beaumont, announced the support of the Association of Riverside Chiefs of Police and Sheriff, ARCOPS for short. He also gained the backing of Norco City Councilman Berwin Harris, clinching a Bogh sweep of the Norco council. Benoit, meanwhile, gained the support of Assembly members Mike Duvall, R-Brea, and Guy Houston, R-San Ramon. —Jim Miller Maybe they hadn’t heard about the event, or didn’t know enough about why they were asked to show up. Or maybe they were just busy, between classes and working to come up with the money for college. Whatever the reason, only a handful of students showed up for a rally Tuesday at San Bernardino Valley College to support Prop. 92, a ballot measure to lower community college fees and guarantee a minimum level of funding for community colleges. About two dozen people in all came to the rally, including faculty members and speakers. Students and faculty were asked to publicize the rally, said Jennifer Wonnacott, a spokeswoman for the Yes on Prop. 92 campaign. She said 50 to 200 people turned out for rallies at Pasadena City College, Glendale Community College and Palomar College. Craig Petinak, a spokesman for San Bernardino Valley College, said the college relied on the initiative’s organizers to promote and organize the rally. While the Prop. 92 supporters gathered, Gov. Schwarzenegger put out a statement in opposition to the measure, saying it would worsen the state’s budget problems at a time when California faces a severe deficit. Read more about the arguments on both sides of the ballot measure. —Shirin Parsavand The Press-Enterprise is interested in watching this week's presidential debates with some readers. If you or someone you know is attending or hosting a debate-watching party Wednesday or Thursday, please let us know. We'd love to join you. Contact Michelle DeArmond at 951-368-9441 or mdearmond@PE.com. —Michelle DeArmond Voters still have a few days to make their presidential picks, but Republican Party bigwigs hope to get commitments a little sooner. The Republican Party of Riverside County is hosting a straw poll Thursday night for all Republicans in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Republicans need to show up at 6 p.m. with $40 in hand for the party -- and for the right to vote. The event at Riverside's Mission Inn is scheduled to wrap up at 9 p.m. The Republicans also will get a chance to vote on the statewide ballot initiatives. The party balloting won't count in the real Feb. 5 GOP primary, but it should offer a peek into the views of some Inland Republicans. —Michelle DeArmond State Sen. Gloria Negrete McLeod is one of many Democratic politicians who have kept their distance from Prop. 93. The initiative on next week's ballot would let lawmakers spend a dozen years in either house, up from the current limits of three two-year terms in the Assembly and two four-year terms in the Senate. Two recent polls showed declining support for the measure. But a new Prop. 93 mailer featuring Negrete McLeod and several other members of the Legislature’s influential Latino caucus suggests that the lawmakers are solidly behind the initiative. “Shouldn’t they have a chance to keep doing their jobs to make our community better?” reads the mailer, which bears the apparent signatures of three caucus members’ mothers. “Yes!” Negrete McLeod, D-Chino, said she was surprised by the mailer. “Whoever sent that out didn’t have permission from the caucus. I purposely have not taken a stand,” said Negrete McLeod, who represents much of urban San Bernardino County. The mailer's origins are unclear. A group called “Vote Matters” is listed as its source. The last campaign filing by a group of that name shows contributions from the wood industry and carpenters union. Yet the mailer lacks the group's campaign-finance identification number, which is required on all mailers. The address on the mailer is the same as a Berkeley pub. —Jim Miller In these days of partisan politics, there isn't much that the Democrats and Republicans can agree about, a sad truth reflected in the few times that both parties stood together to applaud during President Bush's last State of the Union speech. A quick recap of a few things on which they did appear to agree: democracy is good, cloning humans is bad, we should support the troops overseas, the economy is a mess. Well, it's a start. -Ben Goad Members of Congress choose their seats for the president's annual address very carefully, so it was no coincidence that Sen. Barack Obama entered the House chamber alongside - and then sat next to - Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass. Kennedy earlier in the day gave Obama his weighty endorsement.  Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Joe Biden enter the House chamber before Pres. Bush's State of the Union speech Monday. (Katie Greenan / Belo Capital Bureau) And surely it was not happenstance that landed Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del, next to Obama's chief rival, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y. Biden appeared extremely chummy with the former first lady, laughing with her and putting his arm around her shoulder before the speech. Angling for a Secretary of State post, perhaps? As for the Inland folks: Rep. Mary Bono Mack, R-Palm Springs, sat next to new Husband, Connie Mack, R-Fla.and Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Redlands, sat toward the middle of the Republican section, standing out in a tie that appeared to be a brighter red even than Laura Bush's flashy dress. Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Corona, was at the very back (possibly so he could bolt afterward to Statuary Hall for an on-camera interview with the Press-Enterprise. See it on PE.com!). Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, found a prominent seat at up front, just behind the cabinet members where, he later said, he stood to clap more than he has during any previous S.O.T.U.S. And the region's sole Democrat, Rep. Joe Baca, D-Rialto, took a seat near the center aisle, where he appeared to get in a word with President Bush, as he made his entrance. We'll try to find out what he said, so check back later. —Ben Goad Super Tuesday is looming large for the presidential contenders, and they're stepping up their operations in California as the day draws near. Republican Mitt Romney, who is in a statistical dead heat with Sen. John McCain in California, has supporters in Corona, Temecula, Rancho Cucamonga and Redlands who are calling fellow Republicans to get them out to the polls. Democrat Barack Obama's campaign has volunteers from his Riverside office knocking on doors and trying to drum up support. Obama, an Illinois senator, is trailing New York Sen. Hillary Clinton by 12 points in the latest poll. Clinton's backers are hosting "bring your own phone" parties from Riverside to Cathedral City and calling potential supporters in anticipation of the Feb. 5 primary. —Michelle DeArmond Making the rounds is a pro-Prop. 93 TV ad featuring Gov. Schwarzenegger. Think “Cloverfield” with a term limits twist. Unlike the above monster movie filling theaters, there's no information on when or if the Schwarzenegger spot will air for real. Spokespeople for the Yes-on-93 campaign and the governor’s campaign team did not know this week of any imminent plans to run commercials featuring the governor. —Jim Miller Another day, another poll -- this one showing Sens. Hillary Clinton and John McCain each with double-digit leads over their closest opponents in California's Feb. 5 primary. But the two seem to be moving in opposite directions, according to the Public Policy Institute of California survey. Clinton, D-N.Y., remains ahead of Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., by a margin of 43 percent to 28 percent, according to the poll. Clinton's 15 percent lead (with a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points) is down from the 24 percent lead she enjoyed in a December poll conducted by the Institute. While her support dropped by one percent, the survey shows Obama with an eight-point spike in the last month. On the Republican side, McCain, R-Ariz., has stormed out of nowhere into the lead and now has support from 29 percent of likely GOP voters, well ahead of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney at 17 percent. Compare that figure to the December poll, when former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani was first with 24 percent. Today's poll shows Rudy tied for third with former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee at 10 percent with a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points. —Ben Goad One in four California voters would consider supporting New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg if he ran for president as an independent candidate, according to a poll released today. Bloomberg, a longtime Democrat who ran as a Republican in the 2001 and 2005 New York mayoral races, has been mentioned in many numerous media accounts as a possible independent candidate in the race. He left the GOP last year. Twenty-five percent of voters would consider voting for Bloomberg if he ran as an independent presidential candidate, while 62 percent said they definitely would not vote for him, according to the Field Poll, conducted for The Press-Enterprise and other California media subscribers. The Field Institute interviewed 496 voters from Jan. 14 to 20 for the poll, which had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points. —Michelle DeArmond The campaign to preserve the casino-expansion agreements of three Riverside County tribes and one San Diego County tribe had burned through nearly $68 million through Saturday, according to a campaign-finance report Thursday. The Coalition to Protect California’s Budget and Economy spent $33.5 million of that in just the first 19 days of the month, good for nearly a $1.8 million-a-day clip. The campaign ended the reporting period with $15 million cash on hand. The coalition is fighting to convince voters to approve propositions 94 through 97 and uphold compacts that would let the four Southern California tribes add up to 17,000 slot machines. The Riverside County tribes are the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians in the Coachella Valley, the Morongo Band of Mission Indians near Banning, and the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians near Temecula. UPDATE: Opponents filed their campaign-finance report late Thursday. The campaign has spent almost $30 million since the summer, $13 million of that from Jan. 1 through Jan. 19. Through last week, both sides had raised more than $100 million. —Jim Miller Inland voters who want to cast an early ballot can do so this Saturday and the following weekend on Feb. 2. Registrars in both Riverside and San Bernardino counties are opening their doors from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Feb. 2. Voters can fill out a ballot in the office or take one with them to return by 8 p.m. Feb. 5 to the registrar's office or a polling place. The Riverside County Registrar of Voters office is at 2724 Gateway Drive, Riverside. MICHELLE DeARMOND The National Republican Congressional Committee has chosen Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, as chairman of its March dinner. Oh yeah, and they want him to bring more than a bottle of wine to the party. The annual dinner, headlined this year by President Bush, is to be held on March 12 at the Washington Hilton. By that time, they hope Issa and his two dozen "team captains" (Republican congressmen) from around the nation - including Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Corona - will have met their fundraising goal of $7.5 million. The money will be doled out as the committee sees fit, and will likely be used to help cash-strapped or vulnerable candidates in the upcoming elections. "Our conference is very excited about our prospects in '08 and we are ready and willing to do everything it takes to make sure we win in November," Issa said in a statement. Issa knows a little something about raising money. The founder of a car alarm company, Issa, according to the most recent available information on the website opensecrets.org is the second wealthiest House member. -Ben Goad Gov. Schwarzenegger has cut a second TV ad encouraging people to vote “yes” Feb. 5 on the tribal casino-expansion agreements between the state and three Riverside County tribes and one San Diego County tribe. In the new commercial, Schwarzenegger evokes his demand from the 2003 recall campaign that tribes with casinos “pay their fair share” to the state. “With the new Indian gaming agreements, they will, “ he says in the new ad. The deals, he said, will triple how much the state receives from the tribes and “bring in billions of dollars” at a time when the state faces serious budget problems. Supporters and opponents of the deals disagree over how much money the agreements will generate. Under the deals, the tribes would have to pay about $123 million to the state general fund on their existing 2,000 slot machines. That is up from about $70 million the tribes now pay into the so-called special distribution fund, which helps nongambling tribes as well as communities near casinos. The tribes also will pay the state from 15 percent to 25 percent of the net win on additional machines. In its analysis of the referendum measures, the Legislative Analyst’s Office estimates that the total increased revenue to the state ranges from less than $200 million for the next few years to the low- to mid-hundreds of millions of dollars after that. -- JIM MILLER Think “Missile Command” in the desert. Opponents of the casino-expansion deals between the state and four Southern California tribes – props. 94 through 97 on the Feb. 5 ballot -- have released an on-line game in which a player tries to shoot down falling slot machines. The game, the first of the referendum fight, is the latest example of some campaigns’ attempts to use Internet animation to push their message. -- JIM MILLER 
(The Press-Enterprise/Shirin Parsavand)
It’s not easy to find a parking spot for a giant wooden horse – especially in downtown Riverside. Brandon Powers, a spokesman for the No on 93 campaign, found that out when he began driving a wooden replica of the Trojan horse around the state. The campaign argues that supporters of the ballot measure are trying to fool people into thinking it strengthens term limits, when in fact it lengthens the amount of time a legislator can serve in either the Assembly or Senate. Powers planned to park the 20-foot trailer carrying the wooden horse near White Park in Riverside on Wednesday afternoon, but couldn’t find three parking spaces in a row. He settled for a spot outside Michael’s hamburgers on University Avenue, across from the Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce. He said the horse, wearing a sign reading “No on Prop. 93. Don’t be fooled!” drew plenty of questions from Michael’s patrons during lunch and during an earlier stop in San Bernardino. The horse was named after the one of Greek mythology that hid soldiers who launched a siege on Troy. No one was inside the anti-Prop. 93 horse, but that didn’t stop people from asking about its innards. “(Assembly speaker) Fabian Nunez is going to jump out and try to raise your taxes,” Powers told one man. Prop. 93 would reduce, from 14 years to 12 years, the maximum amount of time someone could serve in the Legislature. A person could serve for 12 years in one house. Currently legislators are limited to six years in the Assembly and eight years in the Senate. — Shirin Parsavand Assemblyman John J. Benoit’s Senate campaign has landed the support of state Sen. Roy Ashburn and Assemblywoman Jean Fuller, both Bakersfield Republicans. Benoit, R-Bermuda Dunes, is running against former Assemblyman Russ Bogh, R-Beaumont, for the 37th Senate District being vacated by state Sen. Jim Battin, R-La Quinta, at the end of the year. Ashburn, who served with Bogh in the Assembly, moved over to the Senate when Benoit arrived in the Legislature. Fuller arrived in the Assembly in December 2006 and never served with Bogh. Benoit, a pilot, occasionally lands his plane in Bakersfield to pick up Fuller on the way to and from Sacramento. -- JIM MILLER Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill., has signed on as co-sponsor to Inland Rep. Ken Calvert's proposal to pay for transportation projects along the nation's rails and highways with fees assessed on shipments eading in and out of U.S. ports. Calvert, R-Corona, announced his plan a couple of weeks ago and said he was hoping Jackson would co-sponsor the bill. With bipartisan support, the legislation has a much better chance of moving forward. The fees would generate an estimated $3 billion to $5 billion every year during the program's proposed 10-year life, including as much as $500 million a year for projects in Southern California, Calvert said. The revenue would be used to pay for transportation projects along the nation's freight routes, including new truck-only lanes on traffic-choked freeways and overpasses at railroad crossings. Calvert's still looking for a senator to introduce companion legislation. No word yet on who he's been talking to. --BEN GOAD San Bernardino County Supervisor Gary Ovitt, the chairman of the county’s Republican Party, on Wednesday endorsed Mitt Romney for president in California’s Feb. 5 primary. Ovitt becomes the second county supervisor to back the former Massachusetts governor, who trails Arizona Sen. John McCain in California by two percentage points, according to the latest statewide Field Poll. San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors Chairman Paul Biane also is backing Romney and traveled to New Hampshire earlier this month to campaign on his behalf. Ovitt cited Romney’s economic and executive experience in making his endorsement. “We have seen what his conservative fiscal philosophy can do in the business world, the Winter Olympics, and government,” Ovitt said in a statement. “When big problems need fixing, Gov. Romney has proven that he is the kind of leader who can bring people together to make successful changes.” --Duane W. Gang After winning Nevada with help from a big Latino turnout, Hillary Clinton picked up another Hispanic vote Tuesday -- this one from Inland Rep. Joe Baca. The Clinton campaign announced the endorsement from Baca, D-Rialto, via press release, saying he's joining as "Co-Chair of the campaign's National Hispanic Leadership Council." The endorsement comes just weeks after Baca said he was reluctant to endorse a presidential candidate because of his position as chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Baca spokesman John Lowery couldn't explain the change, but emphasized that the endorsement comes solely from the lawmaker. "He's definitely not speaking for the caucus," Lowery said. -BEN GOAD The GOP race for the 71st Assembly District is down to two people, one from Riverside County, the other from neighboring Orange County. Irvine Councilman Steven Choi bowed out of the race today. His departure leaves Corona Councilman Jeff Miller and Neil Blais, a Rancho Santa Margarita councilman, as the remaining candidates in the race to replace Assemblyman Todd Spitzer, R-Orange, in the Republican-leaning seat. “I have enjoyed working with the people of the 71st district very much but the seriousness of what is taking place in the city I already represent made me realize that I need to devote 100 percent of my time there,” Choi said in a statement. He referred to a controversy dealing with Irvine’s Great Park Corporation and its CEO search process. Miller called Choi soon after his withdrawal, Choi said in an interview. But Choi said he is not endorsing anyone at this time. The 71st’s Orange County portion includes about 90,000 registered Republicans. Its Riverside County portion has a little more than one-third that many. -- JIM MILLER
Gov. Schwarzenegger’s plans for making 2008 the year of education got sidetracked by the state’s budget crisis. But that’s no reason the state can’t go forward with one of the ideas from the governor’s task force on reforming the state’s schools — giving districts more freedom in how they spend their money, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell said today. In his annual State of Education speech, O’Connell proposed giving two of the state’s largest school districts, Long Beach and Fresno, more flexibility in how they spend state funds. He said he would ask the State Board of Education to approve what he hopes will become a model that can be expanded to other districts. “I don’t believe we should wait until the ‘right year’ or next year to make it happen,” O’Connell said. “The time for action is now and we need not wait for further study or wait for legislation to take effect.” —Shirin Parsavand Three more Assembly Republicans have endorsed the Assembly candidacy of former Palm Springs Police Chief Gary Jeandron, the Jeandron campaign announced this morning. Sharon Runner, George Plescia and Mimi Walters are backing Jeandron’s candidacy for the 80th Assembly District, joining the district’s current occupant, Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia, R-Cathedral City. Challenging Jeandron for the GOP nomination is Guadalupe R. Watson, an Indio councilwoman. -- JIM MILLER Today is the last day to register for the Feb. 5 presidential primary election, so hurry on down to your registrar's office if you haven't done so already. New voters must get their registration forms into their county registrar's office by 5 p.m. today or they won't be allowed to vote. If you're already registered, you don't need to do a thing, unless you want to change your political party. Democrats and decline-to-state voters can cast ballots in the Democratic presidential primary. In the GOP primary, however, only Republicans can participate. So, if you want to become a Republican for this election, you need to change your voter registration. The Riverside County Registrar of Voters is at 2724 Gateway Drive, Riverside. MICHELLE DeARMOND Riverside County Republicans have a new leader, now that Jeff Miller is stepping down to focus on his bid for Assemblyman Todd Spitzer's seat. The Republican Party this weekend elected Vice Chairman Bob Richmond in a unanimous vote to become the new chairman. Richmond, a Palm Springs resident of three years, is the Riverside County party's first Coachella Valley leader in more than 25 years. Richmond was the vice chairman of the Lake County GOP in Northern California for three years and was that county's chairman for the Bush Cheney 2004 election. Richmond said he hopes to build voter registration in the county. “With all of the Party working together, Riverside County Republicans will become a powerful political force that Democrats will fear and Republicans will be proud to claim,” he said. Miller, of Corona, is seeking the Republican nomination in the 71st Assembly District, where Spitzer has served the maximum number of terms. -- MICHELLE DeARMOND Another week, another small nation's GDP's worth of money for the fight over casino-expansion agreements on the Feb. 5 ballot. Nearly $96 million has been raised, based on campaign-finance reports through late Friday afternoon. Competing campaigns collected more than $11.3 million this week. The financial picture heading into the holiday weekend: The pro-compact Coalition to Protect California’s Budget and the Economy reports raising $70.6 million, more than $26 million of it since the start of the year. Riverside County tribes with deals targeted by next month’s referendums have contributed nearly all the money. The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, which operates two Palm Springs-area casinos, has given $14.7 million. The Sycuan Band of Kumeyaay Indians near El Cajon has given $5 million. Opponents, meanwhile, have raised $26.6 million, more than $18 million of it since Jan. 1. -- JIM MILLER Democrats are digging deep as they try to muster the votes to overturn President Bush's veto of the State Childrens Health Insurance Program. With a showdown over SCHIP set for next Wednesday in the House, Democrats figure they need about 14 Republicans to change their votes on the legislation in order to garner the necessary two-thirds majority. But with the most moderate Republicans already on board, Democrats are targeting 50 members, including Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Corona, who have voted against the legislation. Proponents of the measure sent out a news release in which they "implore" Calvert and the others to change their minds. Reps. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill, and Diana DeGette, D-Col., and a handful of activists followed up today with a teleconference. They said the target list is made up freshman members, those facing tough races and those most likely to switch their vote. They didn't mention Calvert and admitted the list amounts to "the best of what's left." Calvert shot back with this statement:
Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas has endorsed Rancho Santa Margarita Councilman Neil Blais for the 71st Assembly District. Blais is one of four candidates seeking the GOP nomination in June for the Republican-dominated district, which includes Corona, Home Gardens and Norco in Riverside County and the Orange County cities of Mission Viejo, Orange, and Rancho Santa Margarita. More about the 71st race here -- JIM MILLER State Sen. Jim Battin, R-La Quinta, has made it official: He supports the ballot measure to change the state’s term-limits law. Battin's endorsement of Prop. 93 on the Flashreport web site (somehow we missed it until now) came the same day as word that Gov. Schwarzenegger was behind the measure. Battin and Schwarzenegger are among the few Republican lawmakers in the state to back the initiative, which would reduce from 14 years to 12 years the maximum amount of time someone could serve in the Legislature. The current rules allow someone to serve no more than three two-year terms in the Assembly and two four-year terms in the Senate. The measure would let Battin and several other senators facing term limits this year run for re-election in November. Not that Battin’s support was a major surprise. Back in September, Battin urged party activists at the GOP convention in Indian Wells to stay neutral on the initiative. Referring to term limits, he later said, "I just don't think they've been productive, especially in the Assembly." -- JIM MILLER
An OC-ista is abandoning the Republican primary race for the two-county 71st Assembly District and throwing his support behind the only candidate from Riverside County. John Paul Ledesma, a member of the Mission Viejo City Council who sits on the state GOP central committee, endorsed Jeff Miller, a Corona councilman. Ledesma’s departure leaves Neil Blais, a Rancho Santa Margarita councilman, and Steven Choi, an Irvine councilman, as the remaining Orange County residents in the hunt. Of course, the turn of events will be moot if voters approve Prop. 93 on the Feb. 5 ballot and the 71st's current occupant, Assemblyman Todd Spitzer, R-Orange, decides to seek re-election. Even with Ledesma’s backing, his leaving the primary race still carries a political downside for Miller. The more Orange County candidates in the mix, the more splintering among the 90,000 GOP voters in the 71st’s Orange County portion in the June 3 primary election. Miller, meanwhile, is expected to poll well among the 36,000 Republican voters in the district’s Riverside County half. -- JIM MILLER In today’s Sacramento Bee, Gov. Schwarzenegger elaborates on his efforts to encourage the federal government to sign off last month on gambling agreements between the state and four Southern California tribes. Schwarzenegger told The Bee’s editorial board Wednesday that he asked U.S. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne to “give attention” to the deals, which are the subject of voter referendum measures on the Feb. 5 ballot. The federal agency’s surprise approval of the deals has injected intrigue into the campaign over the casino-expansion deals and raised the likelihood of a post-election court fight. Negotiated by Gov. Schwarzenegger and tribal leaders, the compacts are between the state and the Morongo Band of Mission Indians near Banning, the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians in the Coachella Valley, the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians near Temecula and the Sycuan Band of Kumeyaay Indians near El Cajon. If upheld by voters next month, the agreements would let the tribes install as many as 17,000 additional slot machines. In return, the tribes would pay the state a share of their slot-machine earnings. At a minimum, the tribes would pay the state $123.6 million annually on their existing machines. If voters reject the agreements, there is speculation that the agreements still could take effect because of the December federal say-so. Opponents of the deals, though, have said the agreements never should have been considered by the federal government while the legislation was the subject of a referendum challenge. -- JIM MILLER Eager voters who want to get their absentee ballots mailed in need to watch their ballot weight. The absentee ballots can be shipped with a standard 41-cent stamp — the cost of sending a one-ounce letter — but extra paper in that envelope could make the mailing more costly. Rebecca Martine with the Riverside County Registrar of Voters said the ballots her office has sent to voters weigh exactly one ounce, after their perforated stubs are removed. "If they leave the ballot stub (on), it could throw it over," she said. Ballots, which just went out last week, already are making their way back to election officials. Ballots must be received in the registrars' offices no later than 8 p.m. Election Day, Feb. 5. —Michelle DeArmond
It’s been more than a month since businesses linked to real-estate investor Terry Fancher made a major contribution to the campaign seeking to overturn four Southern California tribes’ casino compacts on the Feb. 5 ballot. He’s back. New campaign-finance reports show nearly $1.25 million in contributions this week from Stockbridge Real Estate Fund, the Fancher company that owns Bay Meadows and Hollywood Park race tracks, and another $625,000 from Bay Meadows. The payment brings to nearly $6.2 million what Fancher-connected donors have given to scuttle the deals, which include three agreements between the state and Riverside County tribes. Two gambling tribes opposed to the compacts continue to be the opposition campaign’s top contributors. Tribes for Fair Play, the tribes’ campaign committee, has contributed $13.5 million to the anti-compact effort. The latest donation came this week, when the United Auburn Indian Community of the Auburn Rancheria near Sacramento gave $1.875 million. The Sacramento-area tribe has given $8.4 million altogether. -- JIM MILLER There have been a few more endorsements in the fight for the GOP nomination in Riverside County’s 37th Senate District. The campaign for former Assemblyman Russ Bogh announced the support of Norco Councilman Malcom Miller. Yes, the 37th, currently represented by Jim Battin, R-La Quinta, does go all the way to Norco. A little further afield, Assemblyman John J. Benoit, R-Bermuda Dunes, released the endorsements of Assembly colleagues Joel Anderson, R-Alpine, and Jim Silva, R-Huntington Beach. -- JIM MILLER A new TV ad featuring American Indians calls on voters to defeat the tribal casino agreements on the Feb. 5 ballot. The spot, which began airing Monday statewide, underscores the split in California’s lucrative tribal gambling industry. It marks the first time in this campaign that opponents have run an ad featuring other American Indians criticizing the deals as unfair. The ad features Leroy Miranda, the vice-chairman of the Pala Band of Mission Indians in northern San Diego County. The tribe also operates a successful casino – something never mentioned in the ad – and has contributed millions to the campaign to overturn the deals. The Pala tribe opposes the deals because they believe the compacts give nearby tribes' casinos an unfair advantage. -- JIM MILLER The Riverside office of the Obama campaign remains closed today, one day after the storefront's scheduled grand opening. Inland leaders and supporters of Sen. Barack Obama gathered outside the 3555 Market St., Riverside office on Sunday afternoon, but workers will keep it closed until they make it accessible for the disabled, said Jose Medina, a coordinator for the campaign's 44th congressional district. The planned opening was delayed after an Inland activist pointed out the site was not compliant with the American with Disabilities Act. Volunteers worked to get the site ready in time for the opening, but, in the end, curious Obama supporters only got brief tours of the office space Sunday.
MICHELLE DeARMOND In May, Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Corona, stepped into an open seat on the powerful House Appropriations Committee after fellow Califonia Rep. John Doolittle, R-Roseville, had to step down in the midst of an FBI probe. The arrangement, according to Calvert staffer Rebecce Rudman, was that Calvert's seat was considered permanent -- but that he would voluntarily relinquish it if Doolittle was ever able to come back to the panel, which controls the purse strings for federal spending. On Thursday, Doolittle - still under the cloud of the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal - announced that he'll be retiring at the end of his current term. Thus, Calvert won't have to give up the coveted seat. --BEN GOAD The United Auburn Indian Community of the Auburn Rancheria has put up another $1.5 million to overturn four gambling compacts going before voters Feb. 5. This week’s contribution brings to $6.5 million what the tribe, whose Sacramento-area casino is hundreds of miles from those of the tribes with targeted agreements, has spent to block the deals. A representative of the tribe has said its leaders view the agreements as more generous than the tribe’s 2004 deal with the state and setting a bad precedent. But the agreements’ supporters contend that United Auburn and a San Diego Country tribe against the deals are just trying to stifle competition. -- JIM MILLER Bill Hedrick, a Corona-Norco schools trustee, is kicking off his campaign for Rep. Ken Calvert's seat with a celebration at the Winery at Canyon Crest in Riverside. Hedrick, who also is president of the teachers union in Rialto, is holding the event from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. tomorrow at 5225 Canyon Crest Drive, Suite 7A, Riverside. Hedrick faces Democrat Louis Vandenberg, a public-radio broadcaster, in the June primary before he can take on Calvert in November. Calvert, R-Corona, has represented the Republican-leaning district since first being elected in 1992. Republicans make up 46.65 percent of the district, which covers western Riverside County, including Riverside and Corona, and stretches to San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano in Orange County. Democrats make up 32 percent of voters in the district. --MICHELLE DeARMOND Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is proposing to close 48 state parks, including four in the Inland region, to help fix the state's fiscal woes. The parks include California Citrus State Historic Park in Riverside; Mount San Jacinto State Park at the top of the Palm Springs Tramway; Salton Sea State Recreation Area on the east side of the desert lake that stretches into Riverside and Imperial counties, and Providence Mountains State Recreation Area in the Mojave Desert. "I'm aghast at that, I really am," said Terry Wold, conservation coordinator for the Inland chapter of the Sierra Club. Wold said the parks are popular with hikers, equestrians and campers. California faces an estimated $14 billion shortfall between spending and revenue over the next 18 months. --Jennifer Bowles Tim Prince, a San Bernardino attorney and Democratic activist, announced this week that he's ready to officially launch his campaign to oust Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Redlands. Prince will have an uphill battle if he wants to unseat the 15-term congressman - no matter how often he points to the federal investigation involving Lewis. And you can bet that will come up. The Prince campaign is throwing a "huge gala" Jan. 30 at the Mitten Building on 5th St. In Redlands, according to an announcement sent out this week. The cost is $99 a person and $149 per couple. -BEN GOAD Rep. Duncan Hunter's presidential bid hasn't gone too well. His campaign says he's still running for president but according to this blog, Duncan -- a Riverside County native (he grew up in Jurupa Hills) -- may have gubernatorial aspirartions as well. Neither his campaign staff nor his staff in Washington could be reached for comment on the rumor. -BEN GOAD Arnold Schwarzenegger proved his popularity at the polls before he ever ran for office, with a 2002 ballot measure to give more children a chance to attend after-school programs. The measure helped him lay the groundwork for his run for governor in 2003. But just a year after it took effect — boosting state spending on after-school programs from $120 million to $550 million — Schwarzenegger plans to go back to voters to scale it back. The governor’s 2008-09 budget, released today, calls for amending Prop 49 to save $59.6 million. Budget documents say the reduction would not have much of an impact on schools and other agencies getting the money, because some that got grants recently haven’t started their programs or don’t have the enrollment they projected. —Shirin Parsavand Riverside County is finally entering the modern age – at least as far as campaign-finance filings go. Starting this month, candidates and committees now are able to file their campaign disclosure statements online with the registrar of voters. The office started accepting statements last week, but the real demonstration of this new system will come at the end of the month when the latest statements are due. Federal and state candidate reports have been posted online for years, and San Bernardino County recently started making campaign finance statements available online. The deadline for the July 1 through Dec. 31 period is Jan. 31. Candidates and committees still will be able to mail or hand deliver their documents, but the registrar then will place the documents online. The Web site to view the documents is: http://www.netfile.com/agency/ctriv/ Candidates and committees can attend a meeting at 10 a.m. Thursday to learn how to use the new online system. The meeting will be at the registrar of voters’ office, 2724 Gateway Drive, Riverside. Call 951-486-7200 for more information. -- MICHELLE DEARMOND The campaign to overturn four Southern California tribes’ casino compacts on the Feb. 5 ballot has announced a new statewide TV commercial. With the beeping jangle of slot machines in the background, the ad’s voiceover warns that the agreements would allow 17,000 additional slot machines, equal to a dozen Las Vegas casinos. -- JIM MILLER Richard Milanovich, chairman of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, was in the Capitol on Tuesday to attend Gov. Schwarzenegger’s State of the State Address. Not that he was entirely satisfied with what he heard. Milanovich, whose Coachella Valley tribe is fighting to uphold its renegotiated gambling compact on the Feb. 5 ballot, said afterward he would have appreciated a plug for the deal and the three others going before voters. “I understand it’s a delicate issue, but by the same token it’s new money coming in,” he said. In other referendum news, the San Mateo paper today reports on the role of Terry Fancher, whose investment firm owns Bay Meadows south of San Francisco and Hollywood Park in Inglewood. Both horse tracks have heavily funded the push to overturn the deals. Even if the referendums fail, the story says, “There is little chance that a breakthrough would come in time to save Bay Meadows from being torn down and redeveloped, since construction is set to begin late this year. But Hollywood Park could stand to benefit from any such tilt in the competitive balance.” -- JIM MILLER
San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors Chairman Paul Biane didn't wait until California’s February primary to get involved in the Republican race for president. Biane flew to New Hampshire on Monday to spend two days helping former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney get out the vote in Tuesday’s all-important primary. Biane became a Romney supporter after meeting him a year ago at a campaign event in California, said Matt Brown, Biane’s chief of staff. -- Imran Ghori New campaign finance reports show that the ballot fight over four Southern California tribes’ casino-expansion agreements burned through nearly $46 million in 2007. The reports, filed with the secretary of state’s office late Monday, show that the coalition of three Riverside County tribes and one San Diego County tribe spent $34.1 million to defend their agreements, known as compacts. About $25.1 million of that came in the final three months of the year. Two campaign committees have raised money to overturn the deals on the Feb. 5 ballot. Tribes for Fair Play, comprised of the Pala Band of Mission Indians in northern San Diego County and the United Auburn tribe near Sacramento, spent $4.1 million last year, the reports show. About $2.6 million of that money was given to another opposition committee, Californians Against Unfair Deals, which also received money from two horse tracks and the hotel and restaurant employees union. The committee reported spending $10.2 million through December, $5.8 million of that in the final three months of the year. -- JIM MILLER Maybe it was the conviviality of the first day of the 2008 session that sealed the deal. Whatever the reason, Assemblyman John J. Benoit, R-Bermuda Dunes, on Monday announced the endorsements of a few more Assembly colleagues for his state Senate candidacy: Assembly members Alan Nakanishi, R-Lodi, Roger Niello, R-Fair Oaks, and Cameron Smyth, R-Santa Clarita. Benoit is running against former Assemblyman Russ Bogh in the GOP primary for the 37th Senate District. -- JIM MILLER Democrats still have a significant edge in California, but not among permanent absentee voters. The latest statistics show that Democrats make up 40.8 percent of permanent-absentee voters, and Republicans make up 40.3 percent of them. The numbers are being reported today by The California Target Book, which evaluates political races. Nearly 4.3 million voters are classified as permanent absentee voters, and 1.75 million of those are Democrats and 1.73 million are Republicans. Local election officials have been asking decline-to-state voters if they want a Democratic ballot or a non-partisan ballot with only state and local ballot propositions. -- MICHELLE DeARMOND California’s absentee ballots are in the mail, and some presidential candidates already are making their bid for those voters’ support. Democrat Hillary Clinton is holding a rally today in Sacramento to get absentee voters’ support. Republican Rudy Giuliani’s California chairman, Bill Simon, issued a statement making the same request. Voters who want absentee ballots but are not registered as permanent absentee voters can request a ballot from their county registrars until Jan. 29. Voters need to list their name, residence, mailing address (if different from residence) and signature on requests and mail or fax them in. Request forms also are included in sample ballots that have been mailed to voters. In Riverside County, voters can mail their requests to 2724 Gateway Drive, Riverside, CA 92507 or fax them to 951-486-7272. In San Bernardino County, voters can mail their requests to 777 East Rialto Ave., San Bernardino, CA 92415-0770 or fax them to 909-387-2022. -- MICHELLE DeARMOND
Michelle DeArmond in today's Press-Enterprise reports on a new TV commercial featuring Gov. Schwarzenegger talking up Props. 94 through 97, the Feb. 5 referendum measures on the gambling agreements he negotiated with three tribes in Riverside County and one in San Diego County. The Sacramento Bee, meanwhile, scrutinizes that ad as well as the commercial that opponents of the deals began airing en masse earlier this week. -- JIM MILLER
The Morongo Band of Mission Indians near Banning has contributed another $10 million to the campaign to pass its renegotiated gambling compact and three others on the Feb. 5 ballot. Thursday’s donation brings to nearly $55 million what the pro-compact Coalition to Protect California’s Budget and Economy has gathered. Of that, the Morongo tribe has given the most -- $20.5 million. Amended campaign reports filed this week show that the coalition spent about $9 million through September. Judging from the volume of TV ads and other campaigning, though, a lot more has been spent since then. -- JIM MILLER
Opponents of three Riverside County tribes’ casino-expansion agreements with the state have started running TV ads, only days before absentee voters can fill out their ballots for the Feb. 5 election. The ballot includes referendum measures on the pacts and another targeting a San Diego County tribe. The commercial, which aired during New Year’s Day bowl games, alleges that the tribes “cut themselves a Sacramento deal” that goes far beyond what voters wanted when they authorized gambling on tribal lands in 2000. The agreements between the state and the Morongo Band of Mission Indians near Banning, the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians near Temecula, the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians in the Coachella Valley, and the Sycuan Band of Kumeyaay Indians in San Diego County would let the tribes install up to 17,000 additional slot machines. In return, the tribes would pay the state a share of casino revenue. The Bay Meadows and Hollywood Park horse-racing tracks, the Unite Here restaurant and hotel employees union, and two other gambling tribes, the Pala Band of Mission Indians in northern San Diego County and the United Auburn tribe near Sacramento have spent millions to overturn the agreements. On Monday, the United Auburn tribe near Sacramento contributed $4.5 million to the effort, the anti-compact campaign’s largest single donation so far. The tribes’ coalition has been airing pro-compact TV ads for months and has a significant financial advantage. -- JIM MILLER |
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