What I feared most from the special election loss seems to be happening; Governor Schwarzenegger is appeasing the liberals. I grimaced when the Governor gave in to the nurses the day after the election; but justified it as ‘we lost-you won- here is your reward’. I can not for a moment think that losing an election is any reason to reward murderer Stanley ‘Tookie’ Williams. The word that the Governor is even going to think about clemency for this guy makes my heart sink.

It is wonderful that Mr. Williams has become a role model in prison for gang youth. I don’t mind that he sharpened his wordsmithing skills writing childerns books for the past two decades living on my tax dollars. However, the wonderful things that Mr. Williams has bestowed on society does not excuse him from the fact that he ended the lives of fellow human beings at the end of the shotgun. If Mr. Williams really wanted to help troubled youths, he should be brave enough to die and set an example that this is society there are… Read More

On November 23, a three-judge panel of the federal 9th Circuit Court of Appeal came down with a doosy of a ruling that has the potential to confuse and hamstring the already complex initiative and referendum process. The ruling, Padilla v. Lever, 2005 U.S. App. LEXIS 25254 (9th Cir. 2005), relates to the 2002 recall of Santa Ana Unified School District Trustee Nativo Lopez. No doubt, many FlashReport readers who are in tune with OC politics are familiar with Lopez’s long-standing activism in the Latino community and are familiar with the reasons leading to his recall. However, those issues were not relevant to the ruling, which deals exclusively with the application of federal law to the recall petition process contained in the California Elections Code.

At issue in Padilla was whether the notice of intention and the recall petitions prepared by recall proponents was required to comply with provisions of the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 (the "VRA"). Specifically, section 203 of the VRA requires that certain "covered jurisdictions" must "provide . . . materials or information relating to the… Read More

Can Los Angeles County Sheriiff Lee Baca be beat? As Baca approaches re-election, there are dark clouds above him. Prisoners escape, get killed aor are let out early. He supported a tax increase that failed.

Baca is allegedly a Republican, although no one would know if from his endorsements or public policy ideas.

The Los Angeles Times has an article on the three current challengers Ray Leyva, Ken Masse and Don Meredith. See it here.

In full disclosure, I know Don Meredith from his time on the LA County Republican Central Committee a decade ago and I’ve met with Ken Masse, a West Covina resident several times about his campaign.

I’m in the process of writing an analysis about this race—so stay tuned. [Publisher’s note: I certainly remember when Baca… Read More

Happy Thanksgiving to all fans of the FlashReport! We are getting close to two months of publishing of this site! I hope that you have enjoyed it. Today in my Commentary, I am soliciting your input and feedback. If you read this blog (which, if you are reading this, you undoubtedly do) — take the opportunity to tell me how you would like to see it improved or changed — or tell me what you like about it.

There are plans underway to integrate a method for you, FR blog readers, to be able to comment on the site. We are considering options with a goal of minimizing anonymous blogging, but maximizing reader interaction. Anyways, read more about this and provide your input here.

Finally, did you know that union bosses have been quietly circulating petitions to qualify a so-called "Shareholder Protection Measure" for the June… Read More

[This request for input will be here Thursday – Sunday of the holiday weekend. I hope you and your family had a great Thanksgiving! – Flash] The online version of the FlashReport is getting ready to celebrate its two-month anniversary next week. I hope that you have enjoyed the new look and format of the report. As most of you know, the FR was an e-newsletter for years before being published as a website.

The process of creating this site was a collaborative one. I had a lot of input from readers, and also a great development crew over at Cloudspace in Orlando (they are the development team with which I worked – and their site is linked at the bottom of the site).

That said, we are constantly updating the site, both the front-end for you, the user, as well as the ease of use ‘backstage’ for the Publisher (me!) as well as the fantastic FR Blog Team (aren’t they great?).

Just recently we… Read More

Fior d’Italia may not be the darling of the foodies in San Francisco, but it is one of city’s oldest restaurants and serves a mean plate of pasta. It made headlines on Wednesday for offering dinners at… Read More

Given the FlashReport’s wide viewing audience, and knowing that many of its readers are local and state elected officials, I wanted to give you a heads up that the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) recently revised the financial disclosure statement that most state and local elected officials (as well as many managerial-level state and local employees) file annually. The form, known as a Form 700 "Statement of Economic Interest" has been revised to clarify several things, including how to report investments in business entities where the filing party owns 10% or more of a business entity. There had been some confusion in the past as to where to report 10% + interests on the Form 700. That has now been clarified. Most of the other changes are technical. The revised Form 700 also summarizes new legal requirements that generally prohibit elected, appointed and managerial local government employees from lobbying their jurisdiction for one year after leaving office. Additionally, the revised form summarizes a new law that requires local government officials to attend ethics… Read More

MARK WYLAND – A GREAT LEGISLATOR Yesterday’s news that Assemblyman Mark Wyland, the well-respected legislator from northern San Diego County will not run in the GOP primary for Congress (the seat currently occupied by the sullied fighter ace, Duke Cunningham) will certainly impact that Congressional race. But it should not be lost that Wyland, who will likely face little or no competition for the State Senate seat for which he has opted to run, will make a great addition to the State Senate GOP caucus. State Senator Bill Morrow is term-limited out of his office, and is a leading candidate for the Cunningham seat.

In his time as a State Assemblyman, Wyland has garnered a reputation for being a smart, political savvy, and policy-wise legislator. He has been a leader within his caucus for philosophical conservatism, and he also has put together a great group of staffers who are dedicated to the same limited-government cause which Wyland… Read More