POLITICAL BRIEFS
Jose Gaspar: Q&A with Florez, Parra – The upcoming June primary for the 30th Assembly District seat features a face-off between two well-established Democratic candidates, Fran Florez of Shafter and Pete Parra of Bakersfield who recently registered in Hanford. The Bakersfield Californian contributing columnist recently posed a series of questions to the candidates. Gaspar column in Bakersfield Californian
Stockton Record: Misrepresentation – While we're not willing to call Ashburn a hypocrite, we are troubled by his rationale on two counts. First, if he feels his constituents' values on this issue are so important, didn't he have a duty to be truthful to those voters about who he is? Second, isn't his defense a smear on the very voters he says he's trying to represent? Stockton Record editorial
Jim Boren: Is Whitman so unable to speak off script? -- Every time Boren sees the handlers for Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman shield her from fielding tough questions, he wonders just how bad she'd be speaking without a script. This strategy makes it appear that Whitman would stumble over the simplest questions. Boren column in Fresno Bee
Dan Walters: Candidates for governor all agree on silence – They also agree that they shouldn't tell the public in any detail how the budget gap, at least $20 billion a year according to the Legislature's budget analyst, should be closed. Walters column in Sacramento Bee
Poizner and Whitman battle for title of speechmaker-in-chief – The Republican candidates for governor will test their mettle head to head in their first debate Monday night. But one of the candidates, Steve Poizner, was already trying to prove his oratorical superiority at the party's convention Saturday evening. LA Times article
GOP hopefuls spar over their ideological purity – Republicans running for their party's nomination for California governor and the U.S. Senate brawled over conservative purity Saturday as they vied to inspire the party's wary rank and file. LA Times article
Both candidates veer right in California governor’s race – Former eBay chief executive Meg Whitman is trying to persuade fellow Republicans this weekend that she is the only GOP candidate with a legitimate shot at winning the governor's race next November in California, where Republicans are a distinct minority. AP article
McClintock: Whitman would be Schwarzenegger 3rd term – Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Poizner told the California Republican Party's convention in Santa Clara that he's the true conservative in the race while delivering his standard campaign speech with a few variations Saturday. Capitol Alert
DeVore renames Fiorina video and says he’s related to Jerry Brown – Forget about Hot Air, the name Carly Fiorina's campaign gave its new surrealistic video short featuring the elongated head of Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) floating across the state. Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, a Republican fighting Fiorina for the party's nomination to run for Senate, came up with a moniker of his own for the video after its release Saturday: the Hindenboxer. LA Times article; San Jose Mercury News article
GOP Senate candidates tear into Boxer at convention – In a year when Republicans believe they have a serious shot at defeating three-term Democratic U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, the three GOP candidates this weekend downplayed the social planks that ordinarily would go a long way in winning support from the party's conservative base. Sacramento Bee article; AP article
Lots of tough talk at GOP convention – In a midterm election year when angry voters are turning on Democrats and turning out at Tea Party protests, California Republicans are talking up volatile issues that have historically resonated in hard times, including getting tough on environmental regulations and undocumented immigrants and their children. San Francisco Chronicle article
Maldonado: GOP can’t just serve tacos and expect Latinos to sign up – State Sen. Abel Maldonado, the moderate Santa Maria Republican running for lieutenant governor, opened his speech to party convention delegates Saturday afternoon by acknowledging the discomfort many of them have with him for supporting new taxes, among other votes he has taken. LA Times article
A time to consider local fuel fees – Democrats in the Legislature threw a fiscal lifeline to public transit last week, bolstering financing for buses and trains at a time when the state is cutting just about everything else. New York Times article
Lopez trial exacts cost politically for Christianson’s campaign -- Airing dirty laundry in a recent sexual harassment trial didn't help Sheriff Adam Christianson's re-election campaign, some political observers say, but losing the case could have proved disastrous. Modesto Bee article
Dan Morain: Lacking big bucks, Ted Costa keeps getting dissed -- The business of politics is dominated by huge money and high stakes. There isn't much room for a guy like Costa. Big money guys who use initiatives to buy laws and shape state policy simply don't want to fund a measure if he is in control. Costa is not poll-tested or focus-grouped. He says what he thinks, and that is dicey, given the multimillion-dollar stakes involved in initiatives. Morain column in Sacramento Bee
NEWS BRIEFS
Top Stories
Valley nursing grads scramble to find jobs – Once seen as a lucrative and recession-proof career, nursing has hit hard times. Nursing-school graduates across the San Joaquin Valley and the state face frustrating job hunts. Fresno Bee article
Stanislaus tops for cheaters targeting lenders -- Lenders are being warned there's a higher risk of mortgage fraud in Stanislaus County than anywhere else in the United States, and it's almost as bad in San Joaquin and Merced counties. The risk of borrowers ripping off lenders is twice as high in the Northern San Joaquin Valley compared with the national average, according to mortgage application data analyzed by Interthinx. Modesto Bee article
Economy
Case Lawrence: Our Valley’s economy is endangered – The founder of Cargo Bay and venture capitalist writes that like the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, our Valley economy is an especially fragile ecosystem and investment capital has long been our most endangered species. Although we have aspired to economic diversity, the truth is that most of our Valley's capital is still quietly tucked away in farms, orchards, F-150's and processing plants. Lawrence op-ed in Fresno Bee
Judge rules Fresno County overcharged cities – Fresno County charged local cities excessive fees when calculating property-tax revenues for three years under a complex formula devised by the state, a Fresno County Superior Court judge has ruled. Fresno Bee article
High hope grows where the water flows – The soon-to-be-completed Mill Creek linear path, the transformed park, the nearby Bakersfield Museum of Art, the private galleries that dot the surrounding streets and the newly opened Padre Hotel to the west all point to a renaissance, they say, a turning point for a city on the verge of something momentous. Bakersfield Californian article
Gottschalks creditors OK liquidation plan -- Creditors owed as much as $105 million by bankrupt retailer Gottschalks have voted overwhelmingly to approve a liquidation plan that could pay them pennies on the dollar. Fresno Bee article
Fresno competes to be Google Fiber test market -- A campaign to bring Google’s experimental high-speed Internet service to Fresno is gaining momentum with the help of tongue-in-cheek YouTube videos and Facebook page photos. The city of Fresno is applying to be a test market for Google Fiber, a new broadband network the Internet giant says is 100 times faster than the average home Internet connection. Fresno Bee article
Googlefy Modesto to try road show – The group that wants Google to use Modesto as a test city for its new ultrahigh-speed Internet service is taking its show on the road, literally. Googlefy Modesto will walk, bike and run from Modesto to Google's headquarters in Mountain View to raise awareness for its effort. Modesto Bee article
Modesto Bee: StanCERA, county facing hard decisions – The Stanislaus County Employee Retirement Association board has had to make some difficult choices in the last two years, since its investments lost big dollars -- like everyone else's -- and a new financial consultant determined its long- term forecast was well off the mark. Modesto Bee editorial
Financial planners alarmed as people tap into retirement savings to pay bills now -- More and more Americans are tapping savings for the future to pay bills today. Premature withdrawals from retirement funds rose 26 percent between 2005 and 2007, the latest year for which the Internal Revenue Service has statistics. Bakersfield Californian article
Education
Bakersfield Californian: Layoffs tend to shaft low-income students – Low-income students tend to have less stability in their lives already, and school districts contribute to the problem by cutting their teachers first. Bakersfield Californian editorial
Specialization makes the difference at teacher job fair -- Other than reinforcing her opinion that it's time to get a more specialized teaching credential, Saturday's annual Teacher Job Fair did little to lift Charity Schuck's spirits. Bakersfield Californian article
Law enforcement group wants more after-school learning for kids -- Although California schools offer more after-school programs than the nation as a whole, the need for many low-income students in Kern County is being unmet and lack of funding is to blame, according to a report released Thursday. Bakersfield Californian article
Stockton Unified weighs options to fix schools -- The president of the Stockton Teachers Association said this week her union would be willing to consider tying teacher evaluations to student assessments as a means of helping Stockton Unified address its lowest-performing schools. Stockton Record article
Environment/Energy
Sacramento Bee: AB 32 foes are slick and predictable -- There will always be naysayers to a healthy environment, but their hot air can't stand the test of time. Sacramento Bee editorial
Health/Human Services
Suicide rates rise in Kern -- Suicides in Kern County hit unprecedented levels in 2009, when 98 people took their own lives, the Kern County coroner's staff reported. That's a 44 percent jump from the average of 68 in the first seven years of the 2000s decade. Bakersfield Californian article
Stockton Record: Volume of challenges -- Could there be a worse time to try to run a public library? Or be a new city hire in Stockton? Stockton Record editorial
Other Areas
Two of 5 Stockton city manager candidates identified – A former Fresno city manager and the manager of National City were two finalists for Stockton city manager interviewed by the City Council on Saturday at a secretive meeting in which the city locked the building where the meeting occurred, restricted access to the adjacent parking garage and shuttled candidates to interviews from outside places where they parked. A third candidate shielded his face as he was driven away in a BMW. Stockton Record article
Kern prosecutors unhappy with law letting prisoners shave time off sentences – A new law that adds incentives that could potentially take months off certain inmates' prison sentences has local prosecutors concerned about the community's safety. Bakersfield Californian article
State considers charge for rural residents to pay for firefighting – State officials looking for ways to increase funding for state firefighting efforts are debating whether to sock every homeowner in California with a surcharge on their insurance or whether to levy a special assessment only on property owners in so-called State Responsibility Areas. Stockton Record article
$2 million bill just for 3 recent lawsuits filed by Stanislaus female workers – Taxpayers have covered $2.1 million in legal costs to defend the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department from three recent lawsuits brought by female employees. And that's the price for winning -- or at least not losing. Modesto Bee article
Bill McEwen: Grand jury offers chance to probe into government -- Maybe you can't beat City Hall and other government agencies. But, as a grand jury member, you can embarrass, educate and whip them into shape. McEwen column in Fresno Bee
EDITORIAL ROUNDUP
Bakersfield Californian – Low-income students tend to have less stability in their lives already, and school districts contribute to the problem by cutting their teachers first.
Fresno Bee – California can be proud of public health statistics that show the Golden State bucking a national trend. Teenage girls here are giving birth in record low numbers; Signs not encouraging for Israeli peace deal.
Modesto Bee – The Stanislaus County Employee Retirement Association board has had to make some difficult choices in the last two years, since its investments lost big dollars -- like everyone else's -- and a new financial consultant determined its long- term forecast was well off the mark; Moves to solve state’s pension woes may be too little, too late.
Sacramento Bee – AB 32 foes are slick and predictable; Hmong seek fair treatment from U.S., Laos.
Stockton Record – Could there be a worse time to try to run a public library? Or be a new city hire in Stockton?; Sen. Roy Ashburn does his constituents a disservice.
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UPCOMING EVENTS
The Kenneth L. Maddy Institute at California State University, Fresno was established to honor the legacy of one of California’s most principled and effective legislative leaders of the last half of the 20th Century by engaging, preparing and inspiring a new generation of governmental leaders for the 21st Century. Its mission is to inspire citizen participation, elevate government performance, provide non-partisan analysis and assist in providing solutions for public policy issues important to the region, state and nation.
This document is to be used for informational purposes only.Unless specifically noted, the Maddy Institute at California State University, Fresno does not officially endorse or support views that may be expressed in the document.If you want to print a story, please do so now before the link expires.
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