"The most consistent and smartest thinking and writing about progressive politics isn't happening in Sacramento, but being churned out day after day on sites and by organizations like Calitics, Orange County Progressive, and the California Budget Project." - CalBuzz
Once again, Calvert's ethically-challenged behavior landed him on the non-partisan Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington most corrupt list:
Included is one of my favorites quotes from Lisa McGirr's Suburban Warriors on the history of our fair county, harking back more than forty years;
This suburban heartland was not only home to Walt Disney's visionary new park, to thousands of new California families and new towns and cities; it was also the birthing ground of a powerful grassroots political movement. A revitalized and militant Right--fueled by a politics of antistatism, virulent anticommunism, and strict normative conservatism--burst onto the scene nationally in the early 1960s, and nowhere more forcefully than Orange County. At living room bridge clubs, at backyard barbecues, and at kitchen coffee klatches, the middle-class men and women of Orange County "awakened" to what they perceived as the threats of communism and liberalism ... The characteristics of Orange County's development--its specific form of economic growth, the domination of its politics by an antiliberal and anti-eastern business elite, and the experiences of the people who settled there--created a favorable context for virulent right-wing beliefs.
But on to the question. If Placer County is the new Orange County, what are we?
We're certainly not the land of suburban warriors working in the military-industrial complex, although many of the folks who fled LA after the '65 riots are still here and still voting.
We're certainly not just a collection of bedroom suburbs, as there are more daily commuters coming to work from Los Angeles County into Orange County than the other way.
And we're certainly not the political entity we were even a decade ago. If Obama can carry Chuck Devore's Assembly district by 8,721 votes, all of the old stereotypes about Orange County start falling by the wayside.
Yet we still remain curiously amorphous, over three million people with over 34 cities and no downtown, trapped in a stereotype of angry white suburbia that we're rapidly outgrowing.
Within the next decade, as the generation that fled LA dies off, we'll become a very different place. Meanwhile, we're governed by echoes of the 60's.
As the state starts making changes to comply with the orders of the federal courts, expect more convictions for misdemeanors, with prisoners who end up in county jails rather than state prisons.
It's one of several logical reforms that the state will implement, regardless of the howls of outrage from the fear-mongerers like Tom Harman.
Compare the 2009 Grand Jury Report on the OC Jails to the grim conclusions of the federal panel, and it's obvious that the county jails do a far better job at every level, with a commitment to inmate health and safety, work-release programs that benefit the county in multiple ways, and an emphasis on reducing recidivism.
(The Grand Jury report also had strong praise for the steps taken by Sheriff Hutchens in managing the jails.)
Unfortunately, when the logical reforms start happening, we have an ocean of problems to address, many of which stem from money.
Expansion and modernization of jail facilities requires a commitment of capital funds from both the county and the state, money that is lacking as the county spends down its reserves and the state is broke.
Larger facilities require more jailers, who are employees of the Sheriff's Department, even if the county is able to replicate the Panopticon, as they apparently plan to do.
Do we expect the state to send the county more money to fund the jails? Or is it much more likely that the Sheriff's department will just have to do more with the same amount of money, or perhaps even much more with even less money.
Of course the Sheriff's department can roll the shit downhill further, pumping up the fees they charge contract cities, increasing booking fees, and pushing more responsibilities back down to local police departments, which are already strapped as their revenues plummet. But not very much.
So as our local tough on crime legislators rail on about crime, ask them how they plan to fund their plans. And when they repeat their same talking points about eliminating waste and fraud, remind them that the Governor has already budgeted billions based on phantom savings.
Listening to the county budget hearings is a little disconcerting, as County Supervisors, one after another, praise the tremendous impact that State Senator Lou Correa had on the county budget.
By trading his vote for another 35 million in property taxes this year, and 50 million a year in the future, Lou saved hundreds of county jobs, particularly in the sheriff's, district attorney's, and public defender's departments. These departments took cuts, but not anywhere near what they would have been without the extra property tax money.
The current budget is pre-climactic, because it doesn't include the barbaric cutbacks in state services proposed by the Governor, which will lead to tremendous cuts of state programs administered by the County. Also not taken into consideration are the Yacht Party's plans to borrow two billion from local government as a down payment for massive tax cuts for multi-national corporations. That would "borrow" 36.6 million from the county's general fund, and more money from parks, libraries, and flood control.
So we'll see the real fireworks later, with more rounds of cuts.
And then, if county revenue projections for property and sales tax prove optimistic, the county will come back for more mid-year cuts. There's no fat in this budget, everybody's tapping one-time money and reserves, and it's all going to get uglier.
While anecdotes aren't data, sometimes a few stories illustrate a problem that demands data.
Last night I heard a story of a case appeal in a county social services agency. There were around a dozen people in the room; one case worker, the client, and the balance from the ranks of management.
The County social services departments employ thousands of people to provide state-mandated services with state money. There are persistent stories about how these agencies are saddled with ineffective management. There are political appointees of the Supervisors who burrow in before their sponsors leave (Eric Norby) or others who have outlived their usefulness, but can't be fired for political reasons.
The county has tough choices ahead as revenues drop, and cuts will be made.
As a default position, the urgency should be to preserve as many front-line workers as possible, first cutting 30% from the bloated management and supervisor levels, and requiring every manager to interview for the remaining positions. If you have professional qualifications, you stay. If you're a termed-out supervisor's brother, buh-bye.
Ask the people who deliver the front-line services for their recommendations about structure. And remember that the salaries of the managers are much higher. Cutting two managers keeps three real workers, and probably makes them more productive.
The private sector has flattened their organizational structures dramatically. Time for county government to follow.
Yesterday, Team Courage OC did another neighborhood canvass. This time, we went south to Dana Point and Laguna Beach to walk. And while many other folks were simply going to the beach to cool off on a warm day, we were there to heat up the movement for LGBT civil rights in California.
I'm excited to announce that my district is one of only six nationwide being targeted by the DCCC in a series of radio ads being rolled out next week.
The ads will target Republican members of Congress who opposed the middle class tax cut in President Obama's economic recovery act. These ads are the DCCC's way of taking the message of middle class tax cuts and economic recovery directly to the public in radio ads called "Tax Man" that will run in the lead up to April 15th (tax day).
This is the DCCC's fourth phase of the "Putting Families First" campaign and we've been fortunate enough to be included in the other phases as well.
Representative Calvert is at it again - putting politics rather than families first.
He had the gall to release a newsletter this week touting the fact that he's once again defied the new administration.
What was particularly appalling was his slam against what he calls the "Mortgage Cram-Down Bill" (H.R. 1106), saying it would allow judges to "cram down" the principle amount on home mortgages.
Has Mr. Calvert somehow forgotten that the largest city in his district (Riverside) now has the fourth largest foreclosure rate in the country?
In today's LA Times, there's an article on just how bad the housing market is. The Los Angeles area market, which includes Orange County (again - Rep. Calvert's district), is down 39% from 2006.
What irks me the most is the fact that it was Calvert's own votes during the Bush administration that led to the housing market collapse and the current economic situation we're all in.
Calvert has voted against each and every part of the president's recovery plan and seems to be proud of that fact - even though he barely squeaked out a win himself in November.
During the 8 years of Bush, Calvert was a YES man voting with that administration 94.4% of the time yet in two short months under an Obama presidency, he's somehow joined the party of NO doing everything in his power to stall the country's recovery.
With every vote Mr. Calvert casts, he's helping my 2010 campaign. Unfortunately, his help is coming at the expense of the working families he supposedly serves in this district.
The Weekly takes a look at Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens, whose been in office just under a year, after being appointed by the OC Supervisors to replace the disgraced Mike Carona.
She took a brave stand against Carona's cronyism by reforming the concealed weapons (CCW) permit process, which Carona gave to political donors. She also hit the good old boys network when she decided to replace real deputies badges given to business people by Carona with less official ones.
Everyone doesn't see it that way. Taking guns away from political cronies pissed off the NRA types.
Soon after taking office, Hutchens abandoned what was considered Carona's liberal policy. No longer would permits be distributed with little or no thought or, worse, based on contributions to the sheriff's campaign committee. Anyone seeking a permit (or wanting to keep one) would have to demonstrate "good cause" (for example, a person who carries large amounts of cash in his job or is the subject of death threats) for needing it.
Hostile blowback from gun-rights advocates, including National Rifle Association members, was swift, rocking Norby and other four members of the all-Republican Board of Supervisors. They complained to Hutchens, who has sole responsibility for deciding the county's CCW policy.
"I've never owned a gun, but what she did was spark a revolt," says Norby. "She didn't have to do it. Why bother things? No harm, no foul, right? They [permit holders] are not the enemy. These are law-abiding people like Mike Schroeder [an insurance-company owner and political adviser to District Attorney Tony Rackauckas as well as Carona]. There wasn't a problem. Hutchens has dug in her heels on the CCW issue, and I'm not sure why. I guess she feels they were given out too loosely by Sheriff Carona."
What does Mike Shroeder need a gun permit for? He got one from Carona because he's a Republican bigwig. "Good cause" is probably a good policy on CCWs. Congrats to the sheriff for reassessing Carona's policy and setting her own, one that won't be based on patronage.
What a great public relations step that was to counteract years of corruption under Carona. The Republican Party has been in charge so long, they can't comprehend that they don't deserve special treatment.
Yes, I'm getting to go and I know I'm lucky, I will leave work early to be there and I'm bringing my digital Camera and my Blackberry to twitter all the details that's fit to be twittered. And then some. Even updates on Facebook for those "non-twitterers".
This is an exciting time for Orange County, we're on the precipice of our own change and those of us who are covering are enjoying how easy Republicans are making it for us. All you have to do is go look at the comments at the OC Register and see how wrong and scared they are. Irrelevant indeed.
But even so President Obama is here to hear us all, even those who vehemently and irrationally disagree with him.
Some wore green for Saint Patrick's Day, but it was the folks who got in line before 10:00 PM Monday night who got the tickets. And some who were there earlier, but weren't awake as the line filled in, were sorely disappointed.
The event was organized quickly, and Building 12 at the Orange County Fairgrounds will be configured for a town hall meeting to try to create an intimate setting for the new President. Demand for tickets was extraordinary, and the total distributed to the general public, including the waiting list, will probably be under 1,000.
And don't expect to find a ticket on Craigslist or through a party honcho. Those who received free tickets waited in line all night, and tickets were assigned by number and name, with each ticket-holder's name on the ticket. Traditional Democratic groups received scant tickets, and even party officials could only get tickets by volunteering to staff the ticket distribution or the event.
It turns out that Rep. Ken Calvert likes having it both ways. He voted against the spending bill yet added 34 earmarks totaling more than $42 million to it.
When asked about adding those earmarks to the bill, Calvert said, "That doesn't obligate me to vote for the spending."
Calvert also voted against the Stimulus Bill and then came home for a series of town hall meetings where he touted the new projects and jobs the bill would bring.
"House Republicans are saying one thing in Washington and then something completely different in California. It's the height of hypocrisy," said Andy Stone, a spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
I'm getting tired of hearing Mr. Calvert complain about spending after he voted to bailout banks and corporate CEOs to the tune of $700 billion with no oversight, and who repeatedly voted to spend a budget-busting trillion dollars in Iraq.
The argument is ridiculous - eight years of out of control spending by the Republicans and suddenly they are the party of fiscal responsibility? Do they honestly believe we will fall for that?
After listening to members of the Fair Board gloat about their political savvy and connection, it's interesting to watch the Fair Board getting slapped down by the County Board of Supervisors.
The Fair Board didn't even manage to have a board member or staff person to speak against a resolution carried by Bill Campbell to favor preserving the equestrian center at the County Fair Grounds. Fair Board staff had met with supervisors, without success. The resolution passed unanimously.
Listening to the Orange County Board of Supervisors discussion regarding Moorlach's egotistical power-grab to terminate the contract for the Coalition of Community Clinics because they employ Planned Parenthood for some of their services.
We get Buena Park Southern Baptist zealot Wiley Drake with his wacky theories.
"We have an illegal alien in the White House"
"Planned Parenthood is nothing more than a baby-killing orgainzation".
Our supervisors are "ordained like a minister of the gospel, and god will hold you accountable"
We can all be grateful that Crazy Wiley didn't yet call down imprecatory prayer on the County.
