Sun Jun 21, 2009 at 23:37:55 PM PDT
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X-posted at California Represent!
Way back in April, I wrote a post about Sen. Jon Kyl's plan to place a hold on Ellen Tauscher's confirmation to the position of Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security.
Well, it looks like Kyl's threat was far from idle. That hold was placed sometime last week, although there seems to be a lot of confusion as to whether Kyl put a hold on just Tauscher and one other nominee or whether it's a blanket hold on all State Department nominees. The precise reason for the hold seems unclear as well.
Here's what The Cable is reporting about Kyl's action:
A Congressional source says that Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) put a hold on all State Department nominees earlier this week because he is not satisifed with the information he has been receiving from the administration on the progress of arms control negotiations with Russia. [...]
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Thu Jun 18, 2009 at 12:15:38 PM PDT
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(cross-posted at California Represent!)
I was skimming Roll Call's Shop Talk that get's emailed to me once a week (cause I'm cool like that) and typically it's just ex-hill staffers bragging about their new consulting firm, or new clients etc.
This one though had some local news:
The Winding Rivera. The California consulting firm Gilliard, Blanning, Wysocki & Associates has promoted Cristina Rivera to lead their new political action committee fundraising division. Rivera comes from California Republican Party and worked on the effort to recall then-Gov. Gray Davis (D). GBWA consults with several Congressional clients, and Rivera said she is handling district fundraising for businessman Jon Del Arroz in California's 11th district.
So who is Jon Del Arroz? Well first off he apparently he has some problems with the truth.
Using the Google, one of the first hits besides his campaign site was The Huffington Post's Fundrace. On his website he says that he is a lifelong resident of the 11th District. Problem is Fundrace has him making a $500 contribution to Ron Paul's presidential bid in 2007 at his residence in LaFayette, well within Ellen Tauscher's district.
Perhaps he's moved into the 11th since then, but lying about being a lifelong resident it isn't a great way to kick off your campaign.
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Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 11:26:39 AM PDT
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The Political Blotter published this blurb about San Ramon last week:
Mayor Abram Wilson is up for re-election along with councilmembers Dave Hudson and Jim Livingstone [both Republicans].
Wilson has said he will seek re-election and he has also said he will run again for state Assembly in 2010. Wilson, a Republican, is the city's first directly elected mayor and he has never faced significant opposition. But it one wonders if the Democratic Party will attempt to field an opponent in the mayoral contest in an effort to weaken Wilson's chances for success in the Assembly.
Well, it seems like the more things change, the more they stay the same. It's nearly two years since I wrote the following post here:
As I write this post, the City Council of San Ramon is appointing two incumbent council members, Carol Rowley and Scott Perkins, and the current mayor, H. Abram Wilson, to new terms. All Two out of three of these appointees are Republicans, including Wilson, who has announced his plans to leverage his mayoral office to run for the Republican primary in AD-15 (this appointment will give the Republican front-runner an extra two and a half months to campaign for AD-15).
These three seats were scheduled for a November 2007 election. So why are the incumbents being appointed rather than having to face the voters in November? Because nobody challenged them for their seats.
The City Council scheduled a special meeting at 5:30 pm on Monday, August 20, 2007, to appoint the Mayor and City Council members. Since only the incumbents filed for reelection, the City Council will vote to appoint the three qualified candidates to the positions.
The State of California requires the appointments to be made 75 days before the election, August 20th is 78 days before the election, and 5 days after publication of a notice in the newspaper. The City will save over $100,000 by not holding a public election.
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Mon Jun 15, 2009 at 12:32:59 PM PDT
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If you live in CA-10, you may have gotten a robocall from John Garamendi over the weekend telling you about his candidacy and encouraging you to visit his website www.Garamendi.org. The only problem is that these annoying political robocalls are illegal in California. Our state laws specifically prohibit robocalls unless the call is announced by a live operator who requests your permission to continue.
Here's what the California Public Utilities Code has to say on the subject:
2874. (a) Whenever telephone calls are placed through the use of an automatic dialing-announcing device, the device may be operated only after an unrecorded, natural voice announcement has been made to the person called by the person calling. The announcement shall do all of the following:
(1) State the nature of the call and the name, address, and telephone number of the business or organization being represented, if any.
(2) Inquire as to whether the person called consents to hear the prerecorded message of the person calling.
Garamendi's robocall had no live voice at the beginning, and no request for consent was made. And the PUC has made it very clear in a FAQ sheet (PDF) that this law explicitly extends to political campaigns:
3. What about the robocalls I get around election time about political candidates or other election issues?
Political candidates or others supporting candidates or ballot issues also must follow the
law and about using Robocalls, which is found in the California Public Utilities Code,
Sections 2871-2876.
So what can you do if you receive an annoying robocall from a candidate? Well, you have three options:
1) You can ignore them (or blog about them);
2) You can follow the PUC advice from its FAQ sheet and file a complaint with your local carrier; or
3) You can notify the National Political Do Not Call Registry through their website at StopPoliticalCalls.org and hope that they are successful in bringing your complaint before the California PUC.
In the meantime, speaking as a resident of CA-10, it sure would be nice if the other candidates in the race made the decision to abide by California law and take a pledge that they will not engage in placing these annoying and illegal calls.
X-posted at California Represent!
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Fri May 22, 2009 at 16:08:26 PM PDT
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Don't be surprised if things are a little weird at The Progressive Connection for the next couple of days. We're going to be totally refurbishing the joint... trying on a new name and a new look. But never fear, the focus will remain the same: local politics for the East Bay and beyond.
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