People like to compare San Francisco to Chicago. Chicago is, hands down, my favorite U.S. city and San Francisco doesn’t hold a candle to the Windy City….except when it comes to politics. There I will agree that the two cities have much in common: city politics and governments dominated by the Democratic Party. Today’s Matier & Ross column in the San Francisco Chronicle highlights the questionable fundraising of a Board of Supervisors candidate, Jaynry Mak. Mak has lots and lots of big donations from minimum-wage type of workers, some of whom M&R couldn’t find when they doublechecked the donor’s info. Makes me think of… Read More

In the city of San Clemente the rights of property owners have been set aside by the council majority, but some residents are not taking it lying down.

While I am mainly a pollster, ever once in while I find myself running an independent expenditure campaign or even more commonly, I am the consultant people call to take on city hall or some other government agency that has overstepped their authority. It is a role I really enjoy, mostly because I am good at it–and almost always win. Fighting for the cause of liberty and getting paid well for the work is tremendously rewarding.

I am in the midst one such battle in San Clemente.

The OC Register today published a rebuttal to one of their editorials that called the city council in San Clemente out for their anti-property rights vote. The rebuttal, written by Jim Cogan, a leader among the "we don’t think our neighbors should be able to make home improvements and add on to their homes" crowd makes me the focus of his response.

Here is an expert from the rebuttal (… Read More

OK GOP Legislators, it’s time for a huddle… Today the State Legislature will come back into session after their Summer recess, and it is my hope you Republican legislators will come to Sacramento ready to face the coming onslaught of big-government legislation as a team. Of course, the primary source of pressure to pass bills that raise fees and taxes, or expand the size, scope and reach of the state government will come from the Democrats who control a majority of votes in both houses of the legislature. By remaining unified as Republican caucuses on these bills, you GOPers in the State Senate and State Assembly can achieve two important goals: the first would be to ensure that no tax or fee increases requiring a 2/3 vote of the legislature will ever see the light of day. But equally important, your united opposition to liberal legislation will send an important message to Governor Schwarzenegger that we are unified, and opposing poor public policy proposals. Of course,… Read More

Am I the only one who is sick to death of global warming? And it frustrates me to hear the Governor talking more about that than controlling spending or fighting crime. Maybe it is because I live in Oakland and every day there is another story about a teenager shot and killed in Oakland or Richmond.

The other day a small news story caught my eye in the San Francisco Chronicle. The mayor of Richmond, Irma Anderson, announced her intention to put a measure on the November ballot which would require the city to set aside five percent of the city budget for additional police and crime-prevention programs. Frankly, I was surprised to see a Bay Area politician pushing a public safety… Read More

[Update: (3:40 p.m.) – I just got off of the phone with Paul Jacob — and he is definately committed to fighting any effort to loosen term limits. You can hear the resolve in his voice. – Flash] I have said before that I think it is very unlikely that any ballot measure would pass muster with the California to loosen term-limits for State Legislators. Unlikely, in my opinion, shifts to down-right impossible if that measure is not only placed on the ballot BY legislators, but also EXTENDS THE TERMS of current members of the legislature. That will appear so self-serving to the public that it might eclipse the debate completely.

Well, the ante has just been upped considerably for legislators thinking about noodling with the voter-imposed limits — today in Sacramento, U.S. Term Limits President Paul Jacob… Read More

This morning I awoke from my slumber and made my way down to the car wash early. In Fresno, ever present construction and agricultural harvesting creates a dusty mess and car maintenance is a must! No sooner had I sat down with my paper and coffee than up walks former Secretary of State Bill Jones, the happiest non Governor and Senator in history. As you may have read in my post earlier this year, Secretary Jones is on the ground floor of a major ethanol deal here in California, and is continuing to farm on the Central Valley’s west side also. Our conversation was brief, but quite interesting, ranging from public service to local government to Iraq and the Middle East to the current ag situation. Bill Jones remains positively one of the finest people to ever serve in California politics and it was great to visit with him.

Former Mayor Jim Patterson was also in the "car wash" crowd. One of the most effective Mayors ever to serve in Fresno, he is considering a run in 2008 for Mayor again and would be the odds on favorite to… Read More

Today was the first of the last 25 days before theadjournment of this 2 year legislative session. The big issue today was the amendment of Senate Bill 1437, which, before amends,would require public school curriculum tofeature historical events involving homosexuals. Thisbill alone has inspired as many phone calls, faxes, e-mails and lettersfrom upset parents and grandparents as anything I’ve seen here. With the Governor promising to veto it, we were offered, and passed, amendments on the Assembly floor today to strip out the curriculum aspect of the bill. Still in it is language that stops any reference that may "reflect adversely" on sexual orientation in instruction or school activities. Of course, this still could mean most anything, including sports teams that are gender specific, etc. if taken to the extreme. So, taking the amendment makes an extremelybad bill into still a bad bill…either way, it is likely to get out of this house and reach the Governor’s desk, albeit without Republican support. We’ll see. Hold on to your hat…and your wallet, these next 24 days.… Read More

Former GOP Long Beach Frank Colonna lostthe Long Beach Mayor’s race to Bob Foster. Now he is lookint running for the Water Replenishment Board of Southern California against fellow GOP’er Norm Ryan. See article here.The Water Replensihmnet District is HUGE and Colonna has good name ID and can raise some cash.

Four years ago Ryan was endorsed by the state party for the Long Beach Mayor’s job. After losing , he was elected to this post. This year he ran for council, failed to make the run-off and then endorsed the Dem.Creating some ill will.

It will be interesting to see where the party would go. Deadline for filing is Friday.… Read More