CalWatchdog Morning Read – June 28

28 Jun, 2016 by CalWatchdog Staff

Assembly speaker, transparency proponents spar
PUC reforms coming
Nothing bad ever seems to happen at UC
Who were the white supremacist groups in Sacramento last weekend?
Water management in CA

Good morning!

A war of words erupted in recent days between the proponents of a transparency ballot measure and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, after members of the Legislature and legislative counsel dismissed the measure as full of “ambiguities” and introduced their own watered-down versions.

In a scathing letter, the Lakewood Democrat accused the measure’s proponents of allowing their “passion” for the measure “blind” them to the “shortcomings that may be obvious to others,” painting them as unwilling to work with the Legislature.

But Hold Politicians Accountable — the committee formed by former Republican legislator Sam Blakeslee and Republican donor Charles T. Munger, Jr., backing the California Legislative Transparency Act — fired back that the measure was “refined by three distinguished attorneys, including a Constitutional scholar,” and independent vetting by cosponsors, none of whom found fault.

CalWatchdog has more.

In other news:

Sweeping reforms of the state’s embattled Public Utilities Commission were announced Monday, which, subject to legislative approval, “would give the attorney general new authority to enforce limitations on private communications between PUC personnel and utility executives — a key issue after an email scandal revealed numerous improper contacts,” writes The San Jose Mercury News.
“In the wake of a scathing state audit released in March, the University of California mounted a $158,000 publicity campaign to dispute claims that its admissions policies had disadvantaged resident students,” writes The Sacramento Bee.
“The two groups at the center of a violent Sacramento rally that left at least seven people with stab wounds on the Capitol grounds Sunday represent a marriage of the past and future of white supremacist organizations, experts and law enforcement officials said,” writes the Los Angeles Times.
How bad is water management in California? The Capitol Weekly answers that question.

Assembly: