The Pasadena School District has been a mess in recent months. With budget shortages due to declining enrollment (Who knew? When schools are bad, parents opt to find other options for their kids’ education). The Superintendent recently left. There have been ongoing talks of numerous school site closings.

With all that, and the general union/lefty tilt of the town, it was pleasantly surprising to read that they’re considering Charter Schools as part of their solution.… Read More

Thanks to FR friend Karen Hanretty for tipping us off this morning to a great post on the KQED Capitol Notes Blog site authored by John Myers that previews a in-depth article on former California Finance Director Donna Arduin. You can read Myers intro post right here, or skip it and read about Arduin in Duke Magazine here. (Arduin is a Duke University graduate).

We here at the FlashReport are big fans of Donna’s. She has written for this site, and was a Director of Finance that was undeniably focused on rooting waste and largesse out of state government spending.

Arduin was Governor Schwarzenegger’s first Finance Director, and now is in consulting firm with reknowed economist Arthur Laffer.… Read More

Today’s lead Editorial from the Orange County Register Are we borrowing trouble again? Audit finds millions misspent from parks, water and wildlife bonds passed in 2000 and 2002. An examination of annual state audits of four bonds passed in 2000 and 2002 shows "questionable spending on public relations, lobbying and even yoga classes."

The San Jose Mercury News, in stories published on Tuesday, outlined that some groups receiving bond money "failed to properly document expenses, claimed unallowable costs and went over budget because of inconsistent monitoring by state agencies."

California voters should keep such audits in mind as they consider five bond measures on the November ballot: Propositions 1B (transportation), 1C (housing), 1D (schools), 1E (levees) and 84 (water quality and parks).

The Mercury News studied audits from the California Department… Read More

My friend Nathan Barankin who works for Attorney General Bill Lockyer has to be having a good chuckle after reading the latest post on the Los Angeles Times Political Muscle Blog, penned by veteran political reporter Bob Salladay.

From the Tales of the Bizarre comes this story about some long-ago history on Claude Parrish, the GOP nominee for State Treasurer. Apparently once upon a time back in the ’80s, when Parrish owned an ice-cream company, he bought a pricey sports car, and according to records unearthed by the Times, he proceeded to not make his payments. The story of what happens from their is, like I said, bizarre. I would try to summarize it here, but I have to say that Bob Salladay does a delightful job of sharing the story. But with players like Claude Parrish, the "Cheap Detective Agency." and a Mercedes-Benz SL380 Roadster — we know it will be interesting.

I will make two observations, and then send you on to read the sordid details…

… Read More

Many politicos in San Diego and Riverside are chuckling over Monday’s SDUT story indicating that Democrat challenger Mark Hanson hopes to raise $1.6 million to unseat Senator Dennis Hollingsworth in the 36th SD.

Uh huh, right. The district is 50% Rep, 27% Dem, and elected Bush over Gore in ’04 by 30 points. Hollingsworth initially won the seat over the more moderate Charlene Zettel, even though he had way less money. Even SDUT reporter Phil LaVelle had to have written Hanson’s claim while smirking about such gravitas.

By all standards, SD 36 is a suicide seat for any Democrat.Hanson, who doesn’t seem to have any significant personal resources, raised $80k thru September 30, with $11k cash-on-hand.His unrealistic hopes may be based on the fact that Hollingsworth has only raised twice that and has a mere $56k on-hand.

OK, for some fun, email me and take a stab at how much Hanson will actually raise for the… Read More

Nationally syndicated columnist Bob Novak, most recognizable from his many years as a co-host of CNN’s Crossfire program, follows politics pretty closely. As a matter of fact, his Evans & Novak Political Report is a great e-mail to receive if you don’t get it already. It’s free, so you can check it out if you want (if you aren’t wary of feeding your e-mail to him, and whomever he sells it to). Anyways, Novak has officially placed Arnold Schwarzenegger in the "Likely Republican Retention Column" in his latest e-mail. Here’s his chart:

Republican-Held Governorships In Play… Read More

We will devote quite a bit of space in the FlashReport in the coming weeks to articulating why the five "big bonds" measures on the November ballot — Propositions 1B, 1C, 1D, 1E and 84 — should all be rejected by California voters. You’ve heard me make the case over and over if you are a regular reader, but if you are new to this site, I can sum up the main over-arching reasons to reject all of this borrowing in just a few paragraphs: For decades, the liberals who control the state legislature, along with a string of Governors who aided them with budget signatures, have neglected infrastructure investment in California. Instead, these liberals have taken the state budget (which is now well over $100 billion annually) and have put much of that money into their lefty social engineering programs and into fattening the state bureaucracy. Lack of proper funding for infrastructure has also been exacerbated because of initiative and ballot measures that have been passed by voters over the years that create ‘locked in’ formulas for spending – usually because the voters are taking into their own hands… Read More

Here are some things to look for when reading today’s political news on the FR main page: *Apparently an audit has found that voter-approved bond money have been misused. The Contra Costa Times has the story. Yet another reason for FlashReport readers to VOTE NO on Propositions 1B, 1C, 1D, 1E and 84.

* San Bernardino County FR Correspondent Brad Mitzelfelt makes big ink in the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin with a recent post on the FlashReport… * With four weeks until election day, Phil Angelides is finally airing a "this is who I am" commercial? Earth to Phil: You’ve already been defined — you are the TAX MAN. * Bill Bradley takes today’s Golden Pen Honors with his in-depth look at the California Republican Party’s Victory ’06 Get-Out-The-Vote operations. * Anyone with a doubt on how to vote in the Attorney General’s race today should check out Marylee Shrider’s column today in the Bakersfield Californian. * 28 days until the ill-advised proposed sales tax to subsidize the Sacramento Kings is up for a vote. So far, reports the… Read More