The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has drawn a line on homelessness, voting 3-2 to support a challenge to an expansive 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that forbids local governments in nine Western states from enforcing laws against camping or sleeping on sidewalks or in other public places unless overnight shelter is available.

That ruling came in September 2018. In invalidating a Boise, Idaho, law against sleeping on public lands, Judge Marsha Berzon wrote that “just as the state may not criminalize the state of being ‘homeless in public places,’ the state may not criminalize conduct that is an unavoidable consequence of being homeless — namely sitting, lying or sleeping on the streets.’” Berzon wrote for a three-judge panel.

Ted Olson, the former U.S. solicitor general who won the Bush v. Gore case before the U.S. Supreme Court in 2000, is among the attorneys working with the city of Boise on an appeal. Los Angeles County will file an amicus brief in support of the appeal.

Republican Supervisor Kathryn Barger and Democrat Supervisor Janice Hahn co-sponsored the resolution to file the brief. Democratic Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, a member of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s state homelessness task force, surprised some observers by being the third vote for the resolution. Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and many big-city Democrats have endorsed policies that emphasize helping and sympathizing with the homeless. Garcetti has called homelessness “the moral and humanitarian crisis of our time.”

Supervisor: Don’t accept ’emergency’ as ‘new normal’

But Ridley-Thomas said in a statement that he was “fed up. The status quo is untenable. … We need to call this what it is — a state of emergency — and refuse to resign ourselves to a reality where people are allowed to live in places not fit for human habitation. I refuse to accept this as our new normal.” Los Angeles County has nearly 60,000 homeless people, according to official estimates, more than double the numbers seen 20 years ago.

Supervisors Sheila Kuehl and Hilda Solis, both Democrats, voted no on the resolution, saying homelessness should not be criminalized. Kuehl also said she feared what a “terrible” U.S. Supreme Court might decide in its ruling.

Activists blasted Barger, Hahn and Ridley-Thomas not only for lacking compassion but for reinforcing the narrative of President Donald Trump that homelessness is out of control in coastal California.

“We can’t let Los Angeles, San Francisco and numerous other cities destroy themselves by allowing what’s happening,” Trump said last week.

The president has used Twitter to depict leaders of these cities as hapless and paralyzed in responding to declining quality of life caused by homelessness. He also dispatched Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson to visit Skid Row in Los Angeles last week and said he wanted to help California deal with its homeless problem.

But the nature of possible federal help is unclear. Trump has suggested that homeless people might be rounded up and housed on federal property or military bases, but civil-rights lawyers say the president has no authority to forcibly relocate individuals who have not committed federal crimes. 

The Associated Press reported that Carson might link federal housing grants to local governments’ efforts to make it easier to add housing by limiting regulations. That approach would parallel efforts by Newsom and lawmakers led by state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, to weaken local zoning rules that they say enable NIMBYs to block new housing.

Trump supporters to “watch” polls next week

Good morning! TGIT. Two more days until the weekend and six more days until the election. 

And don’t be surprised if when you go to vote next Tuesday (if you haven’t embraced mail-in voting yet) someone is there watching you. According to the Riverside Press Enterprise:

“Supporters of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump have announced plans to observe Election Day voting throughout California. … Poll watchers can’t legally interfere with voting, interact with voters within 100 feet of a polling place or challenge a voter’s eligibility. But the leader of a pro-Trump veterans group said his people are prepared to call for help if they see anything suspicious.” 

In other news:

• One of the 17 measures voters will consider, Proposition 51, a $9-billion school bond, is struggling, according to polling from the last two months, despite the fact that school construction spending tends to be popular at the ballot box. The Los Angeles Times has more.

• In non-ballot measure election news, “Bay Area billionaire philanthropist Herb Sandler, who was among those blamed for the 2008 mortgage meltdown that triggered the financial crisis, has edged back into the spotlight thanks to the WikiLeaks hacking of the email account of Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman, John Podesta.” The San Jose Mercury News has more. 

• And speaking for the influence of the wealthy, “California lobbyist employers spent $84.4 million to advocate to officials and influence legislation from July 1 through September,” writes The Sacramento Bee. “NextGen Climate Action, a campaign committee led by billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer, topped the list of lobbyist employers, spending $7.3 million during the seventh quarter of the 2015-16 legislative session, according to state filings.”

• LA Weekly wonders if a Los Angeles Times investigation about questionable political contributions from a local developer will upend an L.A. County supervisorial race where Democratic Congresswoman Janice Hahn has been the frontrunner.

Legislature:

• Gone till December. 

Gov. Brown:

• Out on the trail, per Politico: “California Gov. Edmund J. Brown Jr., joined by Los Angeles firefighters, nurses, business and labor leaders, will detail his opposition to Proposition 53, the ballot measure that undermines local control by forcing a statewide vote on water, highway, and other local infrastructure projects.” Details: Thursday, 10 a.m., United Firefighters Headquarters, 1571 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles CA 90026

• Per Opposition to Prop 53 release: “California Gov. Edmund J. Brown Jr., joined by public safety and local government leaders, will detail his opposition to Proposition 53, the ballot measure that undermines local control by forcing a statewide vote on water, highway, and other local infrastructure projects.” Details: Thursday, November 3, 2016, 1 p.m. at IBEW 569 Union Hall, 4545 Viewridge Ave, Suite 100, San Diego.

Tips: matt@calwatchdog.com

Follow us: @calwatchdog @mflemingterp

New follower: @sheadeanda

Read more

SoCal school district using loophole to pay board members for meetings they didn’t attend

Trustees of the El Monte Union High School District have been drawing monthly stipends even when they haven’t attended board meetings, possibly violating state and internal policies.

CalWatchdog found at least nine instances since 2015 where stipends were paid despite absences, although a loose interpretation of what constitutes a meeting provided a loophole.

While not a large sum of money, the lack of accountability over trustee stipends builds on a lawsuit and scathing news report earlier this year that the district was either not tracking millions in bond expenditures or hiding the records.

CalWatchdog has more. 

In other news: 

• “California Treasurer John Chiang hit Wells Fargo Bank with the loss of state investments and other sanctions Wednesday, punishing the mammoth bank for ‘fleecing’ customers who had credit cards and other accounts fraudulently opened in their names. Other state and local governments should follow suit, he said.” The Sacramento Bee has more. 

• “Steve Napolitano has filed a lawsuit against his rival in the 4th District race for the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, U.S. Rep. Janice Hahn, for allegedly failing to return more than $324,000 in illegal political campaign contributions,” reports the Daily Breeze.

• “Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday rebuffed lawmakers’ efforts to subject California’s $64-billion bullet train project to increased financial scrutiny, vetoing a bill that had gained bipartisan support,” writes the Los Angeles Times. 

• “Following a trend that began in the months prior to June’s statewide primary, contributions to independent committees seeking races for the Legislature have now blossomed to more than $4.8 million,” writes the Los Angeles Times.

Legislature:

• Gone ’til December. 

Gov. Brown:

• Signing a bill that will automatically enroll employees into private retirement accounts. In Sacramento, around 9:30 a.m. For more on this legislation, see our story from March. 

Tips: matt@calwatchdog.com

Follow us: @calwatchdog @mflemingterp

New followers: @TinaSwarens

Two months ago, Republican operatives feared that presidential nominee Donald Trump would destroy their chances to

Now things look much brighter for the party after a rough stretch for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. The Senate appears less at risk because the fact that Trump is the GOP nominee doesn’t seem to be held against GOP incumbents. Gerrymandering appears to have left the House Republican majority safe, perhaps until 2022, after the next census.

But in California, at least, the assumption remains the Trump will drag down GOP candidates in congressional races. That’s why the state Democratic Party is seeking in seven swing districts to target Republicans who are “running on the Trump ticket,” according to a party statement last week as it launched the WrongForCA.com website and related social media efforts.

Four of the Republicans are incumbents: Jeff Denham, R-Turlock, Darrell Issa, R-Vista, Steve Knight, R-Lancaster, and David Valadao, R-Hanford.

The other three are businessman Justin Fareed, seeking the seat of retiring Democratic Rep. Lois Capps in the Santa Barbara area; businesswoman Denise Gitsham, who’s going against Rep. Scott Peters, D-San Diego, and Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones, who is targeting Rep. Ami Bera, D-Elk Grove

Michael Soller, communications director for the California Democratic Party, likened Trump’s candidacy to a “sick joke.”

The best hope of sinking a GOP incumbent may be in Issa’s district, which straddles north San Diego County and south Orange County and appears to be moving leftward from its traditional Republicanism. Issa only got 51 percent of the vote in the June primary and has a higher-profile opponent than in past elections, former Marine Lt. Col. Doug Applegate. Running against a poorly funded, little-known Democrat in November 2014, Issa took 60 percent of the vote. The former chairman of the House oversight committee has endorsed Trump, while also making clear his lack of enthusiasm for the New York billionaire.

In November 2014, Denham won with 56 percent of the vote. Knight won with 53 percent and Valadao with 58 percent.

GOP could take first CA Democratic House seat since 1998

Of the other three races, the most surprising is the battle for the seat of the retiring Capps. The Cook Political Report moved the race between Fareed and Santa Barbara County Supervisor Salud Carbajal from “solid Democrat” to “leaning Democrat” last week after Carbajal’s campaign released a seemingly credible Tarrance Group poll showing Fareed up 46 percent to 43 percent.

But as the Cook analysis noted, California Republicans have not won a congressional district represented by a Democrat since 1998. That was when then-Assemblyman Steven T. Kuykendall, R-Rancho Palos Verdes, defeated Janice Hahn of the dynastic Los Angeles political family for a seat that had previously been held by Jane Harman, who ran for governor in 1998. Harman defeated Kuykendall in 2000, making him the only House incumbent to lose that year.

Hanh succeeded Harman in 2011.

Diaper benefit

Good morning. Happy Hump Day. It’s the last day of the legislative session. While we wouldn’t rule out last-minute fireworks, we aren’t expecting them. Instead, there will be a flurry of more modest bills (modest in scope, not necessarily in importance). 

For example, low-income Californians could soon receive a monthly, $50 benefit for diaper purchases, according to a bill approved by the Legislature on Tuesday.

The monthly benefit would be given for each child two years old or younger, with a requirement that the money be spent only on diapers.

The benefit would not begin being awarded until 2020, and is expected to cost around $14 million to $18 million annually as part of the CalWORKS welfare program.

CalWatchdog has more:

In other news:

• Democratic Congresswoman Janice Hahn, who is running for a seat on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, “may have to refund more than $280,000 in contributions from political action committees after county election officials alleged that her committee probably violated campaign finance rules,” reports the Los Angeles Times.
• “Gov. Jerry Brown will decide whether to eliminate California’s 10-year time limit to bring rape and child molestation charges after several women were precluded from bringing cases against actor Bill Cosby,” writes The San Jose Mercury News/AP.

• “New California parents would be able to take unpaid time off without losing their jobs under revived legislation that cleared the Assembly on Tuesday. The 43-15 vote for Senate Bill 654 marked a critical step in the once-dead measure’s revival. A nearly identical bill fell in the Assembly Labor Committee in June,” reports The Sacramento Bee. 

• “Lawmakers on Tuesday narrowly rejected an effort to create new disclosure rules for California political mailers and money gathered from several donors into a single contribution,” reports the Los Angeles Times.

Assembly:

• In at 10 a.m.

Senate:

• In at 10 a.m.

Gov. Brown:

• Attending the 20th Annual Lake Tahoe Summit, which will focus on water quality. Capital Public Radio has more. 

Tips: matt@calwatchdog.com

Follow us: @calwatchdog @mflemingterp

New follower: @elmayedda

By JOHN SEILER

Yesterday Democrat Janice Hahn beat Republican Craig Huey to fill the 36th Congressional District, a severely gerrymandered district covering much of Southwest Los Angeles. But her victory total, getting just 55 percent, was a severe drop from the 69 percent Jane Harmon won during the 2008 election that swept fellow Democrat Barack Obama into the White House.

As the map at right shows (click for a bigger version), the 36th has long, narrow patches connecting heavily Democratic districts. Democrats have an 18-point registration advantage there, making a Republican win nearly impossible.

The seat was vacated earlier this year by Jane Harmon, who became the head of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. In 2009, Harman had come under investigation for alleged ethical breaches, but no action was taken against her.

Despite the Democratic registration advantage and the gerrymandering, Hahn won by only 55 percent to 45 percent. Her victory number was the lowest victory number since Harman won with 48 percent in 2000. That was before the severe 2001 California state gerrymandering that led to the passage of Proposition 20 last year, which established the Citizen Redistricting Commission currently working on the redistricting following the 2010 U.S. Census.

Despite her ethical difficulties, last November Harmon garnered 60 percent of the vote, and a whopping 69 percent in 2008. After the 2000 redistricting, in the gerrymandered 36th Harman never got less than 60 percent.

Tea Party Power

So Huey’s showing, although not a victory, demonstrated both the power of the Tea Party activists who supercharged his campaign and the dissatisfaction with the national economic policies of Obama and his fellow Democrats. It does not bode well for the Democrats next year.

National unemployment rose from 9.1 percent in May to 9.2 percent in June. And California’s rate was 11.7 percent in May, a number likely to rise when June figures for the state are released next week.

Part of Hahn’s problem was her mixed message on the economy. Her Web site explained in a section “Economy and Jobs”: “In Congress, Janice will fight to create new jobs, expand clean energy technologies and ensure that local small business owners get the help and opportunities they need to flourish in a global economy.” (Bold face in original.)

And her Web site even had a special section, “Green Jobs Plan,” which read: “Seeing solutions to a lingering recession and a local unemployment rate of more than 12 percent, Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn today announced her plan to create 25,000 green jobs.” No date was given for “today.” The specifics of the plan were laid out in a separate .pdf.

But those standing for months in unemployment lines don’t care about “green” jobs. They just want jobs, period — green, red, brown, black, blue, white, yellow, anything. They want to work and get off unemployment insurance and food stamps.

Hahn campaigned as if she were Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2006, running during  the phony real estate boom on a green platform based on AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, which he had just signed into law. California’s unemployment rate in 2006 was 4.9 percent, less than half what it is now.

Obviously, national economic policy is the most important factor affecting California. But despite all the promises of a green jobs bonanza, AB 32 has not sparked a jobs recovery. Neither has Obama’s national green jobs program.

Obama Re-Election in Question

Check out the above numbers again. From 2008, Obama’s big victory, to yesterday’s election the Democratic candidate’s vote dropped from 69 percent to 55 percent — a 14-point drop.

In 2008, Obama won California handily, with 61 percent of the vote. But if he loses 14 percentage points of that, he would get only 47 percent and lose to the Republican nominee. The last Republican presidential candidate to win California was the first President Bush in 1988, a vice president riding on the high popularity of incumbent President Reagan, a Californian.

That’s unlikely to happen in 2012. Obama almost certainly will win. But as the 36th District’s results show, the election should much closer than was the 2008 election.

Moreover, in 2008 Obama won with 53 percent of the vote at the national level. If he drops 14 percentage points nationally, in 2012 he would get just 39 percent — a total wipeout. That’s on the level of the 41 percent Democrat Walter Mondale got in 1984 against Reagan; or the 38 percent Democrat George McGovern got in 1972 against Republican Richard Nixon, a California native.

Obama is unlikely to drop quite that far into the electoral abyss. But Hahn’s relatively poor showing yesterday in the 36th District shows that he and other Democrats are going to have a tough time in 2012. He won in 2008 on promises of fixing an economy broken by the Republican Bush administration. But the economy only has gotten worse.

Unlike in the November 2010 election, yesterday’s election again made California a bellwether for the nation.

By KATY GRIMES

After the February resignation of Democratic Rep. Jane Harman from the 36th Congressional District, most political observers assumed that it would be just another ho-hum political race. They expected a Democrat would easily win in the predominantly Democratic district.

But that assumption was quickly put to rest when Craig Huey, a Republican businessman and political outsider, won the second slot. He beat 15 other candidates, including California Secretary of State Debra Bowen.

Tomorrow is the special runoff election to fill the vacant seat.

Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn won the primary, but is facing an unexpected challenge from the come-from-nowhere businessman.

Huey attributes his surprise primary win and subsequent rising poll numbers to voters of both parties being fed up with business-as-usual politics. His articulate message of limited government, jobs creation and less government spending seems to resonate with voters.

The favorite in the race is Hahn, a longtime Los Angeles city councilwoman, who comes from a family well known in regional politics. Hahn’s father served for many years as a Los Angeles county supervisor and her brother served as mayor of Los Angeles.

Despite those ties, the congressional seat doesn’t appear to be a sure thing for Hahn, who slung a great deal of dung during the primary at Bowen, which may come back to cover her.

Huey calls Hahn a “career politician” whenever he has a chance, and blames her and other Democrats for rampant deficit spending, jobs-killing regulations and policies and overspending.

“It’s The Economy, Stupid”

The economy has been the singular theme for Huey, despite attempts by the Hahn campaign to get him off message and onto social issues. Huey has repeatedly said that Democrats are not only ignoring the disaster they’ve created in the country, but voters will not be forgiving because of the debt and dire times ahead for their children and grandchildren.

During one townhall meeting, Huey was asked about his position on abortion. Pajamas Media reporter Zombie shared Huey’s answer to the question:

One of the things that has been a part of all this screaming has been the issue of abortion. The first thing is, I believe that the Supreme Court Decision of Roe v. Wade is an incorrect decision as bad as the Drew Scott decision by the Supreme Court years ago about slavery — Dred Scott [correcting himself], thank you.

But the fact is, it’s the law of the land. This is not an issue in this district, it’s not an issue of Congress, it’s not an issue that I have.

What’s my stand on abortion? Well, let me tell you what my stand is. I believe that life does begin at conception. And this is a very personal thing for me. Because, you see, I’d been adopted. And I thank God for the two parents that I had. [Audience applause.] I thank God that I have life. And so what I believe is you promote a culture of adoption, as an alternative.

And so, bringing up the abortion issue is part of the scare tactics. It’s just disgusting to me. I’ve been focused on the economy, because that’s what people are concerned about. They realize that we have no bigger crisis than the economy.

Free Speech

Besides the economy, Huey strongly opposes attempts to revive the Fairness Doctrine, “a policy that is nothing more than a transparent attempt to silence those with whom powerful politicians disagree.”

And rather unusually, Huey also favors creating a 12-year limit for elected service in each house of Congress in order to stop career politicians from serving indefinitely in Washington.

But it’s his economic policies that seem to be winning him favor with voters. Huey supports reining in Federal spending, wants to cut taxes and subsidies, and to make the Bush tax cuts permanent. The cuts were extended in 2010, but expire again in 2013.

“It’s all about the economy,” Huey said on Monday in a CalWatchdog interview. “And while this is all new to me, it’s only about the deficit, debt, and people being out of jobs.”

While Huey focuses on mostly economic issues, Hahn supports the creation of a “green jobs plan,” which includes “Federal funding and regulatory policy for green energy” and plans to “level the playing field with Big Oil.”

Hahn’s economic priority “will be creating sustainable, well-paying jobs in the 36th District.” But her endorsements include more than 15 individual labor organizations, including the United Steel Workers, Iron Workers and firefighters. And she boasts a lengthy record on labor concessions, including a list titled,  A True Friend of Labor with the Record to Prove It.

Hahn supports policies “that empower local classroom teachers and schools principals,” as well as “making college affordable for everyone and she’ll work to ensure that Pell Grants and other forms of financial assistance are made available to students and their families.”

Huey’s endorsements are far different and seem to come from individuals, as well as elected Republican politicians.

The Los Angeles Times reported that the candidates also have funded their campaigns differently: “A substantial portion of Hahn’s contributions come from developers, lobbyists and others with business at City Hall. But she also has had help raising money from prominent Democratic leaders, including former President Bill Clinton; Emily’s List, which supports pro-choice female Democratic candidates; and others. Organized labor also is providing help with precinct walks, telephone banks and efforts to get people to vote.”  Hahn has raised more than $1 million.

Huey has raised $839,514 — of that, $695,000 he lent to his campaign, according to the Times.

“But Huey, too, has added to his coffers since June 22, according to notices filed with the FEC. On June 24, he donated $100,000 to his campaign. He also received $5,000 from the California Republican Party and $10,000 from others in the last few days,” reported the Times.

While the dichotomy of the two candidates is distinct, the race would have been a Democratic shoe-in if Huey had not beaten Bowen in the primary. Last year, voters passed Proposition 14, the Top Two primary system. Under it, a single primary is held among all the candidates from every party, or no party. A runoff then is held between the top two primary winners.

Hahn and Bowen widely were expected to be the top two winners in the May primary for the 36th district, giving Democrats both runoff slots. Hahn got the top slot. But Huey surprised everyone by edging out Bowen.

Tomorrow’s dogfight determines who goes to Congress.