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Back to homepageWill State Pay For Special Elections?
JAN 14, 2011 By ANTHONY PIGNATARO The best current estimated cost for Governor Jerry Brown’s proposed special election on whether to extend tax hikes another five years is roughly $70 million. Given recent history, counties across the state will have
Read MoreBrown's Status-Quo Choices
JAN. 10, 2010 By JOHN SEILER “Personnel is policy” is a saying I heard often when I was a journalist in Washington, D.C. in the 1980s during the Reagan administration. The meaning was that, in large, complex modern organizations such
Read MoreConway's Discipline Problem
JAN. 7, 2011 By ANTHONY PIGNATARO State Assembly Minority Leader Connie Conway has a real discipline problem. Not with her family, or her staff, but with her Republican caucus, and the ruthless arithmetic that governs it. Of the 80 members
Read MoreBrown Sets State Up For Tax Vote
JAN. 4, 2011 By JOHN SEILER In his inaugural address Monday, new (and past) Gov. Jerry Brown spoke eloquently of past Californians, including his great-grandparents, who overcame tremendous obstacles to build our state: The people of California have not lost
Read MoreTerm Limits' Silva Lining
Anthony Pignataro: Here’s something to think about as you’re getting ready to toast the New Year: Assemblyman James W. Silva, R-Huntington Beach, is considering running for the state Senate in 2012. This isn’t idle speculation: the California Secretary of State’s
Read MoreThere's Something About Mary
DEC. 30, 2010 By K. LLOYD BILLINGSLEY The Sacramento Bee is publishing an eight-part series on “Californians to watch in 2011.” The Dec. 28 profile of Mary Nichols by Rick Daysog fails to mention key reasons why Californians might want
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California 2010: The Year in Review
DEC. 30, 2010 By JOHN SEILER For California, 2010 brought exciting developments in many areas. The year catapulted our local computer company, Apple, into the first position among information companies, based on market capitalization (the total value of stocks). It
Read MoreDid Arnold Blow Up The GOP?
Anthony Pignataro: It’s beyond cliche to say these days that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger — whose term of office ends Monday, Jan. 3 — leaves behind a “mixed” legacy. He leaves a budget “in desperate shape,” but he “set a new
Read MoreFPPC Investigates Ex-DMV Staff
DEC. 29, 2010 By ANTHONY PIGNATARO It’s always fun to watch one government agency investigate another agency. Or, recently departed agency personnel, as in this case, which popped up about two weeks ago. On Dec. 14, the state Fair Political
Read MoreBrown Turns Blind Eye To Waste
DEC. 23, 2010 I know you’re busy and all setting up a new administration and picking curtains for your hip, new Midtown digs, but I just wanted to drop you a brief note saying Thanks for getting rid of Laura
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