San Bernardino County Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt – who was appointed by his colleagues to complete the four-year term Bill Postmus, who was elected County Assessor in November 2006– announced today that he will in fact stand as a candidate for election to that post in June 2008. Tapped to replace Assessor Postmus in January, Supervisor Mitzelfelt – a former Flashreport correspondent – has been off to a tremendous start in his new position; numerous local leaders and the Flashreport have been encouraging Supervisor Mitzelfelt to declare a run for this seat.

(As astafferto then-Supervisor Bill Postmus, I had the distinct privilege of working with Brad Mitzelfelt and I have endorsed his candidacy as well.)

From the Mitzelfelt for Supervisor press release:

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The Governor has become famous for flip-flopping and folding in the face of criticism from liberals and the media. I say it ain’t so! The Governor is consistent on at least in one area. He has consistently appointed Democrats to the bench in LA County. See FR post here. In the past the Governor appointed 2 Democrats for every Republican. Closer to the election it changed it a little and it included a Democrat re-registering shortly before the appointment from Dem to DTS in order to confuse the numbers. See FR post here. Today the Governor stayed true. Today he appointed three to the LA Superior Court, 2 Dems and 1 GOP.See press release here. The worse news is he is now replacing a seat with a GOP judge held.Richard Van Dusen, a former Republican Club President passed away … Read More

I had the good fortune of attending the Rod Stewart concert in San Jose last night. He put on a 2 ½ hour show with no opening act (except for some bagpipes wondering around the crowd beforehand), and it was spectacular!!! There aren’t a lot of 60-somethings who could pull off “If You Want My Body,” and “Tonight I’m Yours,” but he did!

When he sang “Young Hearts Beat Free Tonight”, I had to kick myself for being a terminal political junkie, because the song made me think of Senator Harman’s bill, SB 126, which will require that the next set of health education content standards developed by the State Board of Education include instruction on child abuse prevention. The song talks about a young couple who run away together “’cause there ain’t no point in talking when there’s nobody listenin’”, and how their lives turn out very difficult. It made me think of all the children who are victims of various forms of neglect and abuse, and how the lifelong ramifications of that abuse can… Read More

In Homer’s The Odyssey, the Greek’s laid seige to the ancient city of Troy for a decade. Finally, the Greeks ended their seige, and sailed away in the boats, leaving only a very large wooden horse outside of the massive walled city — seemingly a tribute to the Trojans who had held them at bay for ten years. The Trojans brought this horse into their city, where they began revelry and celebration at the broken seige of their city. In the early morning hours, while the celebrants slept, Greek soldiers who had been secreted away in a hidden compartment of the wooden horse snuck out and open the large gates allowing the Greeks in, who then conquered, sacked and burned Troy.

This story becomes important because in the battle for property rights in California, the League of California Cities has… Read More

In Homer’s The Odyssey, the Greek’s laid seige to the ancient city of Troy for a decade. Finally, the Greeks ended their seige, and sailed away in the boats, leaving only a very large wooden horse outside of the massive walled city — seemingly a tribute to the Trojans who had held them at bay for ten years. The Trojans brought this horse into their city, where they began revelry and celebration at the broken seige of their city. In the early morning hours, while the celebrants slept, Greek soldiers who had been secreted away in a hidden compartment of the wooden horse snuck out and open the large gates allowing the Greeks in, who then conquered, sacked and burned Troy.

This story becomes important because in the battle for property rights in California, the League of California Cities has… Read More

The Secretary of State’s office has released the off-year Report of Registration, which shows nearly one million fewer registered voters this year than two years ago. 22 million people in California are eligible to vote, but only 15,682,358, or 69%, were registered to vote as of Feb. 10. Registration totals for the six qualified political parties and those not affiliating with any political party follow:

· Democratic – 6,667,437 or 42.52%

· Republican – 5,362,473 or 34.19%

· American Independent – 313,461 or 2%

· Green – 138,861 or 0.89%

· Libertarian – 83,420 or 0.53%

· Peace and Freedom – 58,264 or 0.37%

· Decline to State – 2,953,414 or 18.83%

·Others– 105,028 or 0.67%

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With a h/t to Bob Salladay at the L.A. Times Political Muscle blog, here is a list of Governor Mitt Romney’s California Finance Co-Chairman – pretty impressive:

Scott Baugh, Former Assembly Republican Leader, Orange County Dick Boyce, Partner, Texas Pacific Group, San Francisco David Bradford, CEO, OWNLI, Orange County Jonathan Bullen, CEO/President, Eagle State College Group, San Diego Malin Burnham, Chairman, Burnham Real Estate, San Diego Kelly Burt, Chairman and CEO, Price Self Storage, San Diego Roger Carter, Investments, Morgan Stanley, San Francisco Rick J. Caruso, President and CEO, Caruso Affiliated, Los Angeles Mark Chapin Johnson, President and CEO, Chapin Medical Company, Orange County John Clarey, Chairman, RF Comsites, Orange County Robert Day, Chairman, Trust Company of the West, Los Angeles Bill Draper, General Partner, Draper Richards L.P., San Francisco Steven Fink, CEO, Lawrence Investments, Los Angeles Bradford M. Freeman, … Read More

From today’s Wall Street Journal Political Diary…

Term Limits vs. Perk Limits

California’s legislature is getting ready to water down the state’s 16-year-old term limit law by allowing members to serve up to 14 years in either house and by "grandfathering" in the existing Assembly and Senate leadership, allowing members, in effect, to restart the clock on their service.

Term-limit advocates can’t do anything to block this incumbent-protection scheme from being placed before voters on February’s primary ballot. But they believe they can defeat the proposal partly by promoting a countermeasure to stir up old populist resentment of legislative perks. The measure would strip away a legislator’s cherished tax-free $153-a-day allowances for lodging and meal expenses incurred while the legislature is in session. The per diems add up to more… Read More