Well, I am at the airport in Sacramento, ready to head out. I ended up leaving the Capitol a little later than I had planned so that I could make a quick stop-by to visit FR friend Adam Mendelsohn, the Governor’s Communications Director. I’d last been in the spacial CD digs in the ‘Horseshoe’ (the Governor’s Executive Offices are called that because they are, in fact, shaped like a horseshoe!). Anyways, it was a busy couple of days in the Capitol – with lots of meetings, where I was diligently working to make and maintain all of those contacts that help me to stay ‘plugged in’ to the latest news. We’ll be writing more about it, but it was certainly a strange time to be in the Capitol. The dominant issue going on were the negotiations on the Governor’s Strategic Infrastructure Bond Plan. We’ve been talking a lot about that plan on this site. So what is the latest? Well, I was actually saying hello to Senate Republican Leader Dick Ackerman around 2pm when he headed into a round of negotiations, which apparently ended… Read More

San Bernardino County will once again see an array of hard-fought contests on the primary ballot in both parties, as well as for a non-partisan county post. The non-partisan post of which I speak is the race for county assessor. We previously reported on these pages incumbent Assessor Don Williamson’s intention to retire in the wake of Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill Postmus’ (picturedleft)announcement for the post. However, at the close of filing Friday, the situation changed as the incumbent Williamson filed for reelection. In this race,Williamson (who has almost no money) has serious problems. (Full disclosure: I’m Postmus’ chief of staff.) San Bernardino County taxpayers had to pay $65,000 to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit brought against him by a county employee who repeatedly had to rebuff Williamson’s advances. The San Bernardino County Sun newspaper once said Williamson "long ago carried politics to a new level of buffoonery," and that… Read More

The San Gabriel Valley Tribune (Pasadena Star-News and Whittier Daily News) carries an editorial about the replacement of Kern and Los Angeles County Congressman Bill Thomas as House Ways And Means Chairman. The Thomas Retirement gives House Republicans an opportunityto get away from the earmark and big spending philosophy. The editorial is here.… Read More

Last Friday in the mid-afternoon, things went a little crazy as I received a call from a close source letting me know that 10-term Republican Congressman Elton Gallegly (pictured to the left) was retiring. Of course this is big news because Members of Congress tend to serve for a long time, and since almost all are in non-competitive districts, they serve as long as they want. One of them retiring is big news, but we actually have two, with Congressman Bill Thomas of Bakersfield also leaving at the end of this year. However, it would be unfair to compare the retirement of Gallegly with that of Thomas. While I am no fan of Thomas, he is retiring the right way, and Gallegly… Well, here is the tale as best as I’ve been able to reconstruct it by talking to various sources and contacts…

… Read More

Last Friday in the mid-afternoon, things went a little crazy as I received a call from a close source letting me know that 10-term Republican Congressman Elton Gallegly (pictured to the left) was retiring. Of course this is big news because Members of Congress tend to serve for a long time, and since almost all are in non-competitive districts, they serve as long as they want. One of them retiring is big news, but we actually have two, with Congressman Bill Thomas of Bakersfield also leaving at the end of this year. However, it would be unfair to compare the retirement of Gallegly with that of Thomas. While I am no fan of Thomas, he is retiring the right way, and Gallegly… Well, here is the tale as best as I’ve been able to reconstruct it by talking to various sources and contacts…

… Read More

Your FlashReport “cub reporter” is actually at the State Capitol today. I was going to search out someone that could give me an update on how the ‘Big 5’ negotiations are going on the BIG BOND$ Infrastructure Plan. Well, just now I stepped off of the elevator on the first floor of the Capitol, and found lead Assembly Republican negotiator on this package, Rick Keene.

To make a long story short, Keene was telling about 15 reporters that, despite good faith efforts by Governor Schwarzenegger, the Democrats continue to want to load up the package “like a Christmas tree loaded with ornaments” – Keene said that Republicans are still very interested in helping a common-sense infrastructure plan come forward, but that right now there is no agreement.

We’ll see how it goes – but I am proud of Keene and our GOP legislators for holding a firm line for fiscal sanity!… Read More

Update on erstwhile Mayoral Candidate Donna Frye….

Don’t even ask how I came across this one. Chalk it up to a good stable of tidbit senders. Apparently, SD Councilmember Donna Frye, once a surf shop owner but famous in recent years for one near-successful run at the mayor’s seat, is teaching a class for the Learning Annex.

You can sign up for "How to Be an Ethical, Successful Leader with Councilmember Donna Frye" online. For a mere $19.99:

You want fame and fortune… but you also want to be able to look at yourself in the mirror. Take heart. You don’t have to sell your soul to succeed.

Donna Frye will show you how, holding onto your true sense of self and standing up for what you truly believe and feel will greatly increase your chances of succeeding.

In this insightful and empowering evening, Donna Frye will reveal practical, time-tested insights you can use to develop your own leadership skills.… Read More

In a previous commentary, I went into a lot of detail about unprecedented growth that we have seen in the size and scope of the federal government SINCE Republicans recaptured control of Congress in 1994 — SINCE we replaced Bill Clinton with George W. Bush. The article I have chosen to highlight as the main link on today’s issue of the FlashReport is from the San Francisco Chronicle, and it is titled, "GOP is in a ‘deep funk’ over Bush spending" – and the article is definitely worth a read. A lot of times, I toss away articles from the main stream media (MSM) that try to tell a story of Republicans upset with Republicans, taking it as yet another opportunity for those in the media to divide Republicans. But this article is on point. I know that Republicans are upset and frustrated about ‘comfort’ and ‘enthusiasm’ that our GOP leaders seem to have in… Read More