Paperwork has been filed with the Oceanside City Clerk to recall Councilwoman Esther Sanchez, no surprise to anyone watching the divided city council and the brazenness of the council majority the last few years. Read the North County Times story here.

Calling Sanchez the "power behind the throne," Lawson Chadwick is leading the recall charge, to the dismay of the San Diego Democratic Party, which is considering removing him from his seat on that body as a result. So much for the First Amendment.

Some other folks signing the initial recall paperwork include political consulting partners Jack Orr and Mary Azevedo. Last Sunday, I noted Jack’s lack of fear in challenging the Oceanside troika of Sanchez, Mayor Jim Wood, and Councilwoman Shari Mackin. He proves it here.

The recallers will need to collect at least 10,680 signatures in 160 days.

Attached below is the intent to circulate petition.… Read More

Sept 19 was the date set for the recall of two of three remaing pro- Wal-Mart council members in Rosemead. See last post on Rosemead here.However, there is an outstanding court case that may screech this to a haly again. See here. This kind of election bring out all kinds of wackiness. The targets of the recall voted to ban all outdoor smoking and ant- Wal-Mart types are looking at everything Wal-Mart is doing on the building site. See here.

Of course for me the ironic part is that the election will take place after theGrand Opening of the Wal-Mart which, could put an anti- Wal-Mart council in charge of spending the tax revenue Wal-Mart produces. Only in California.… Read More

You can blame Tony Strickland for Controller Campaign Manager Paul Hegyi for the brief commentary this morning. Paul, who hails from Sacramento was down in Sacramento (he is also Assemblyman Van Tran’s Chief of Staff). FR Managing Editor Nicholas Romero and I took Paul to see Bill Cosby perform at the Orange County Fair, and the evening went quite late from there. Paul was excited to share that early polling shows Strickland ahead of his opponent — which is a great place to start given the significant voter-registration advantage that Democrats enjoy over Republicans here in the Golden State. We’ll be spending a lot of time between now and November talking about the real potential in the State Controller’s race for a GOP win. FR friend Martyn Hopper is the State Director of the National Federation of Independent Business for… Read More

You can blame Tony Strickland for Controller Campaign Manager Paul Hegyi for the brief commentary this morning. Paul, who hails from Sacramento was down in Sacramento (he is also Assemblyman Van Tran’s Chief of Staff). FR Managing Editor Nicholas Romero and I took Paul to see Bill Cosby perform at the Orange County Fair, and the evening went quite late from there. Paul was excited to share that early polling shows Strickland ahead of his opponent — which is a great place to start given the significant voter-registration advantage that Democrats enjoy over Republicans here in the Golden State. We’ll be spending a lot of time between now and November talking about the real potential in the State Controller’s race for a GOP win. FR friend Martyn Hopper is the State Director of the National Federation of Independent Business for… Read More

The FlashReport congratulates Congressman Richard Pombo (R-Tracy) on the apparent decision by national Democrats to drop their nominee, Jerry McNerney, in Congressional District 11.

This intel comes from ace political reporter Hank Shaw at the Stockton Record on his blog (which doesn’t have its own URL but try this linkthen click on Hank’s blog).

Of course, credit for this has to be split three ways. Pombo gets credit for running hard. Then there is the unlucky Dems whose ideal candidate lost the primary. Finally you can’t leave out the smart people who created a Congressional District boundary that was made to elect and keep electing a Republican…… Read More

It appears Angelides had enough out of Mulholland after last week’s comments comparing the Governor to Kim Jong-Il. So, now Mulholland’s been benched for long-time Democratic Party operatives Roger Salazar and Steve Maviglio.

Roger Salazar has already been popping up with quotes and press releases attacking the Governor. Steve Maviglio, who now works for Speaker Fabian Nunez, has been brought on temporarily to help Brian Brokaw set up a "rapid response" system for Angelides’ communications shop. I can think of no worse job than defending $10 billion in tax increases…rapidly.

It’s only July but Angelides is already reaching deep into the veteran bag of Democratic Party operatives to help his struggling campaign staff.

Salazar is fresh off of the Rocky "did anyone see who was driving the freight train who ran us over" Delgadillo campaign and Maviglio… Read More

I’m sure Mr. Joe Justin won’t mind me borrowing the song title ideafor this post entry especially as a follow up to his Take Me To The River earlier…[who can name the artists of both songs without Googling the answer? a bag ofButteCountyrice in it for the first correct guess…maybe even some Sutter County peaches if you’re ‘in the building’]

I spent part of Tuesday afternoon with Governor Schwarzeneggar,DWR, Army Corps and others out on the Yolo County levee here in the 2nd Assembly District, near Knights Landing, cited in the Justin post and Bee article, viewing the rockplacement work being done there. It is a refreshing example of getting the work done now and worrying about a lot of obstructions later. The 29 most critical sights of erosion on levees are the focus of decisive action takenby the Governor,declaring a state of emergency on them. If you could have seen thebirds-eye-view of the mass volume of water up against this leveeand all over the SacramentoValley just a few months ago, from thehelicopters that a few of us legislatorstoured in, atthe Governor’s invitation, along with… Read More

State Sen. Abel Maldanado is apologizing for his publicremarksabout the Governor. Below is the short press statement. Can’t wait to see what is said tomorrow. Heads are spinning pretty fast, but that may be better than heads rolling.

RELEASE FROM ABEL MALDONADO’S OFFICE

Statement from Senator Abel Maldonado regarding his comments in July 12, 2006, Los Angeles Times: “I apologize to Governor Schwarzenegger for my public comments to the Los Angeles Times. The Governor and I have worked together for the past three years on important issues beneficial to California’s Latinos. I will continue to support the Governor in his efforts to strengthen… Read More