I finally got the names and numbers together today.
— Government editor Christine Bedell
Campaign contributions to Kern County supervisors from July 1 to Dec. 31 of 2007
Ray Watson — 4th District
Beginning cash balance: $0
Monetary contributions: $35,649
Payments made: $97.11
Ending cash balance: $35,551.89
Monetary contributions:
3-WAY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP $500
ADAVCO $500
ARCIERO $ SONS INC. $500
MARK AND LINDA ARNOLD $125
GARY AND JACQUALINE ATT $100
BAKERSFIELD-MOUNTAIN GATE LLC $500
BAKERSFIELD LAND CO. LLC $125
BAKERSFIELD LAND INVESTMENT II LLC $500
RAY AND PATTY BASS $250
BELLANAVE CORP. $500
GEORGE GARY BELTER $100
F. LYNN AND PATTI BLYSTONE $250
ANTHONY AND STACIE BOHN $500
BOLTHOUSE PROPERTIES $500
THOMAS AND CONNIE BRANDT HIS WATERS/TBS DISTRIBUTING $100
C.T. AND CATHERINE BURROW $125
CALIFORNIA INDEPENDENT PETROLEUM PAC $500
CARE INC., DBA COMMUNITY AMBULANCE SERVICE $500
W. MICHAEL AND DONA CHERTOK $125
JAMES AND AMY CHURCH $125
THE CLEVELAND REVOCABLE LIVING TRUST IRA C. CLEVELAND, TTEE CHARLOTTE L. CLEVELAND, TTEE $500
JEFFREY AND SARAH CROWLEY $500
DELANO AMBULANCE SERVICE $500
DERREL'S MINI STORAGE INC. $500
RAYBURN AND JOAN DEZEMBER $1,000
ALFRED EATON JR. $250
WANDA D. ENGLAND $500
JAMES AND JEANNE FILLBRANDT $125
DONALD AND BONNIE FITZGERALD $250
HOWARD AND SUSAN FRICK $250
GENE TACKETT CONSULTING $500
GENERAL PRODUCTION SERVICE $500
GEOSTAR CORP. $250
GRANITE CONSTRUCTION CO. $500
W.A. AND RUBAE GRIFFIN $1,000
H.M. HOLLOWAY INC. $500
HALL AMBULANCE SERVICE INC. $500
BOB AND JUDY HAMPTON $1,000
RODNEY AND SUSAN HERSBERGER $125
MILTON AND DORIS HUGGS $125
GARY AND CYNTHIA ICARDO $100
INDEPENDENT OIL PRODUCERS AGENCY $500
T.J. JAMIESON $500
CLAUDIA O. KEE JONAH $100
JSA COMPANY $250
KCBEX INC. $500
SHAWN AND LORI KELLY $200
KERN AMBULANCE SERVICE $500
KERN COUNTY AMBULANCE ASSOCIATION $500
KERN OIL & REFINING CO. $500
KLEIN, DENATALE, GOLDNER, COOPER, ROSENLIEB & KIMBALL LLP $500
DIANE LAKE $500
LAW OFFICES OF LEBEAU THELEN LLP $500
WILLIAM LAZZERINI JR. $500
BRUCE MACLIN $125
MANAGED CARE SYSTEMS, L.P. $500
JOSEPH MANSOUR AND MELANIE MANSOUR $1,000
WM. PATRICK MARCHBANKS $125
GEORGE MARTIN $1,000
LOUISE MCCARTHY $100
MESA MARIN RACEWAY $250
HORACE AND BARBARA MITCHELL $125
MMR BAKERSFIELD LLC $250
BOB AND RUTHANN MONTGOMERY $125
NICKEL FAMILY LLC $500
DANIEL AND SALLY PANERO $500
PETE AND MONA PANKEY $500
BRIAN AND KAY PITTS $100
LLOYD PLANK $125
DALE POE REAL ESTATE GROUP $500
LAWTON POWERS $500
ELMER AND ROBIN PRICE $500
WALTER AND RAMONA PRICE $500
PROGRESSIVE AMBULANCE INC. $500
R.L. ABBOTT AND ASSOCIATES $125
VINCENT ROJAS JR. AND LINDA $100
S.A. CAMP COMPANIES $500
BILL & PATRICIA SCRIVNER $125
JAMES P. SEARS $125
JOSEPH AND MARY KATHERINE SHELL $125
KENNETH AND ZELDA SHELTON $125
CHARLES AND JOANNA SMITH $500
SUPERIOR SANITATION SERVICE $500
TRC OPERATING COMPANY $1,000
JON VAN BOENING $500
VERNON VARNER $500
VINT AND KRISTIN VARNER $500
EUGENE AND LINDA VOILAND $250
LELAND AND SUSAN YEOMAN $250
MICHAEL AND SALLY YRACEBURN $250
ZACK SCRIVNER FOR CITY COUNCIL $500
Michael Rubio — District 5
Beginning cash balance: $86,686.82
Monetary contributions: $48,055
Miscellaneous increases to cash: $182.32
Payments made: $34,196.81
Ending cash balance: $100,727.33
Monetary contributions
KERN OIL & REFINING CO. $500
SALMA H. KHAN $500
TATANEH KHORRAMI $500
EVAN KING $250
OTTO C. KOOREN $250
MANAGEMENT SERVICES ORG. INC. $500
CECILIA E. MARSTON $500
ALLEN MILLER $500
SHARON N. MILLER $100
MMR BAKERSFIELD LLC $250
JOHN L. MORAN $500
NADER DEVELOPMENT $250
KAREN NALOS $500
EVELYN NYITRAY $500
OMEGA FINANCIAL AND INSURANCE SERVICES $250
LEE PALMER $105
PARAMOUNT FARMING CO. $500
PROCESS TECHNOLOGIES $500
R.L. ABBOTT & ASSOCIATES $100
REBECCA RIVERA M.D. INC. $500
REGIONAL HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS INC. $500
ARLINDA M. REYES $500
RAUL R. ROCHA $100
BEVERLY RUBIN $500
MEL RUBIN $500
SAG — SANGERA AUTO. GROUP $200
GONZALO R. SALDANA $500
STEVE SCHILLING $500
SEIU LOCAL 521 PAC $500
GEETANJALI SHARMA $500
LOUIS SIMPSON $200
ARUN SOFTA $500
SCOTT SUMMERS $500
SHERRY L. SUMMERS $500
THE PRINCETON REVIEW $500
ARTHUR R. TITUS $100
CAMERON A. TORABI $500
MIKE TORABI $500
SHAHRZAD TORABI $500
KENNETH C. TWISSELMAN $150
VALLEY MEDICAL GROUP OF KC INC. $500
WILLIAM NYITRAY $500
YANKEE COMMUNICATIONS $500
3 BRAND CATTLE COMPANY $500
3 WAY CHEVROLET $500
BARBARA ACKERMAN $500
LISA ACKERMAN $500
ONDREA E. ACKERMAN $500
RICHARD L. ACKERMAN $500
ADELANTE EDUCATIONAL SERVICES $500
JULIA R. ALANIZ $150
CARLOS A. ALVAREZ $500
AMBIKA SOFTA, M.D. INC. $500
AJAY ANAND $500
MADHU ANAND $500
VICTORIA ANDERSON $300
ANNSON CONSULTING $500
MARK A. ARNOLD $100
MIRIAM R. AUDELO $250
BAKERSFIELD WELL CASING $500
DIANE BASHIRTASH $500
FARHAD BASHIRTASH $500
FATEMEH BASHIRTASH $500
MASOUD BASHIRTASH $500
MONA BASHIRTASH $500
REZA BASHIRTASH $500
ANJU BHAMBI $500
BRIG BHAMBI $500
MANICK BHARDWAJ $500
ARCHANA BINDRA $500
BLUMER CONSTRUCTION INC. $500
BALJIT K. BRAR $500
JASVEER S. BRAR $500
IGNACIO M. BRAVO $100
CAMERON POINT LLC $500
CKY LLC $500
MORGAN CLAYTON $250
D.J. FOOD MART/SUBWAY $500
KIRIT R. DESAI $500
SUJATA K. DESAI $500
DAVID J. DMOHOWSKI $100
SANJIV SHARMA $500
ED ARIEY POOLS LCC $250
BONNIE ELLIS $500
STANLEY W. ELLIS $500
MELINDA K. FALLGATTER $500
THOMAS C. FALLGATTER $500
JOSHUA D. FINCH $500
ZOE F. FINCH $500
GOLDEN EMPIRE TOWING $500
GRANITE CONSTRUCTION $500
AMY HALL-BLAIR $500
HARPER ENTERPRISES $500
MARGERY K. HUBERLAND $500
TETSUO ISHIMORI $500
YUKO ISHIMORI $500
RUPINDER S. JHAJ $500
CHANDRIKA KATRAGADDA $500
DEVI KATRAGADDA $500
KCPA-PAC $1,500
KCSCA $500
Mike Maggard — District 3
Beginning cash balance: $2,918.10
Monetary contributions: $2,960
Payments made: $1,263.69
Ending cash balance: $4,614.41
Outstanding debt: $25,100
Monetary contributions
JAMES NICKEL $500
KATHLEEN NICKEL $260
MEL OWENS $500
FOUNDATION FOR MEDICAL CARE OF KERN COUNTY $500
JANET LEDBETTER-BITTLE $200
S.C.O.P.O. $500
HEAT & FROST INSULATORS & ABESTOS WORKERS LOCAL 5-PAC $500
Jon McQuiston — District 1
Beginning cash balance: $1,476.20
Monetary contributions: $1,500
Payments made: $2,149.97
Ending cash balance: $826.23
Monetary contributions
WAN MO YOUN $500
BENZ SANITATION $1,000
No contributions:
Don Maben — District 2
Beginning cash balance: $10,064.82
Ending cash balance: $10,064.82
From a Capitol Weekly blog today:
The Skinny
By Capitol Staff (published Thursday, February 28, 2008)Some former staffers of Nicole Parra, who incidentally has publicly committed to Chuck Calderon for speaker, are planning a reunion. Let’s hope they’ve booked a big room. The invite went out to “Chiefs of Staff 1-6, Legislative Directors 1-9, Schedulers 2-14, and many other veterans of the Parra Experience for a celebratory dinner.” “The first 100 to RSVP get a ceremonial ‘I was fired by Parra’ pin.”
Here's the original post: www.capitolweekly.net/article.php
This L.A. Times poll really surprised me. Not the part about McCain winning in a hypothetical match-up with Clinton but in one with Obama as well. And that McCain has an advantage over the Democrats even on domestic issues.
It goes against everything else I've been reading. What do you think of the findings?
Here's the top of the TImes story and a link to the entire thing:
WASHINGTON -- As he emerges from a sometimes- bitter primary campaign, presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain poses a stiff challenge to either of his potential Democratic opponents in the general election, a new Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll has found.
The findings underscore the difficulties ahead for Democrats as they hope to retake the White House during a time of war, with voters giving McCain far higher marks when it comes to experience, fighting terrorism and dealing with the situation in Iraq.
You can read the full story at: www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-poll27feb27,0 ,5452138.story
In the final debate before the crucial Texas and Ohio primaries next week, Hillary Clinton went on the attack against Barack Obama, but Obama deflected the former frontrunner's jabs and Clinton couldn't score the knockout punch her faltering campaign needed.
Read an analysis of the debate here.
Do you think Clinton should pull out of the race if she doesn't win Texas and Ohio next Tuesday?
Assembly Speaker Fabien Nuñez weighed in on the latest twist in Parra-Florez, through his spokesman, on the Fresno Bee's blog.
"The Speaker fully expects her to support the Democratic nominee. Republicans shouldn't count on any assistance from any Democrat for their candidate that doesn't represent Valley values, period," wrote Steven Maviglio.
Meanwhile, at least one local Democrat is mad. Jon Johnston, a Shafter resident, sent me this over the weekend:
"As a Democrat and a personal friend and supporter of Senator Florez, and although Dean, and Nicole’s father were having some kind of difficulty I still supported Nicole for the Assembly Seat 3 elections. I always thought she was a bright young lady who would look out for the southern end of her district. Boy did I make a mistake!! Her name should be stricken from the Democratic Party. She might think elephants have long memories, however wait for her run for the State Senate or Congress, even Republicans do not like TRAITORS. And she has burnt that Democratic Bridge."
-- James Geluso
Opinion piece in the L.A. Times compares the John McCain/lobbyist brouhaha to that of Bill Thomas several years ago:
"It’s odd how one politician’s scandal tends to bulletproof the next politician who runs into the same kind of controversy.
(After talk of Dan Quayle and others it gets to this):
"And now there’s the New York Times story about John McCain and a woman lobbyist.
There’s some precedent there, too -– but this time the politician didn’t contradict the newspaper report: Bill Thomas, a Bakersfield Republican and Congressional veteran who ran in 2000 the House Ways and Means health subcommittee.
That year, as Thomas pushed and prodded and ramrodded to get a prescription drug bill through Congress, his hometown paper, the Bakersfield Californian, quoted unnamed sources to report that Thomas had a close personal relationship with a woman who lobbied for major drug and health care firms -– and that those sources had told the newspaper that Thomas’ chief of staff had said so to several people.
Thomas’ response, unlike McCain's, was not a denial: ``Any personal failures of commitment or responsibility to my wife, family or friends are just that -– personal.’’ His public duties meant he had sacrificed ‘’perhaps too often to be as good a husband or father as I should or could have been.’’ Thomas stayed on in Congress another six years, wrapping up as the Big Cheese of Ways and Means.
But curiously, it wasn’t Thomas who cushioned the blow for McCain –- it was Clinton, again. Monica-gate, and the Republicans’ shabby shot at impeachment over it, have generally raised the bar when it comes to the power of sexual misconduct accusations. The public shrug to the New York Times story seems to show that the sexual innuendo part of the story, and public distaste for it, somehow made the lobbyist part of the story inconsequential.
You can read the full piece at: opinion.latimes.com/opinionla/2008/02/back-when-i n-be.html
According to the Drudge Report, Hillary Clinton staffers have circulated a photo of opponent Barack Obama dressed as a Somali elder on a trip to Kenya in 2006.
Read the story here.
You might remember a Clinton volunteer coordinator being asked to step down earlier in the campaign after forwarding an e-mail saying Obama is a Muslim.
Is the photo's release fair game in the race for the White House, or is it another example of Cinton's desperateness?
Assemblywoman Nicole Parra announced her last bills Friday, if you'd like to take a gander (she's about to be termed-out and recently announced she's dropping out of politics after that):
The six bills and one resolution introduced by Assemblymember Parra are:
AB 2342 – California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley. The Partnership was originally created by Governor Schwarzenegger's Executive Order S-5-05 in 2005 to improve the economy and well-being of the people of the San Joaquin Valley. The Partnership is a concerted effort to coordinate a creative response from leaders at all levels of government and the community to spur economic development in the Valley. The Partnership was extended via Executive Order S–22-06. There is currently no statutory authority for the Partnership, which is scheduled to sunset on December 31, 2008. This bill would establish the Partnership in state statute.
AB 2572 – Menu Labeling. This bill would require a restaurant chain, with at least 20 restaurant locations in the state to disclose certain nutritional information for each standard food item, including: calories, amount of fat, saturated fat, and trans fat, amount of carbohydrates, and total amount of sodium. This bill would ensure people can make informed dietary decisions when they eat out at restaurants.
AB 2061 – Compulsory Education. This bill would provide that a parent, guardian, or other person having control or charge of a pupil who fails to comply with compulsory education provisions related to truancy, is guilty of an infraction punishable by certain fines. This bill would ensure parents take responsibility for their children and their academic well being.
AB 2219 – Developers Water Credits. Currently, whenever residential development is proposed, it must undergo a water usage study to determine if there is enough water to supply the future residents. This bill would allow developers to use water-saving features in the development (such as low-flow toilets, water efficient washing machines, and other technologies or building practices) as credits towards their final water-use impact.
AB 2063 – Smog Checks. This bill would require all vehicles currently registered in areas where smog checks are only required upon change of ownership to pass smog tests every two-years. Our Valley residents already must have their vehicles inspected every two-years. However, many other areas of the state only have vehicles smog-checked when a vehicle changes ownership. This bill makes sure all Californians share in the responsibility of cleaning the air pollution in the state.
AB 2217 – Tax Check-off Funds. This bill would clearly state that each of the 16 voluntary tax check-off funds would continue to pay out awards until all monies contributed are exhausted. Currently, these funds revert to the general fund after two years if the monies housed in the funds are not spent. This bill would make sure that the money people donate to charities in good faith, as portions of their tax returns, are received by those worthy causes.
ACR 97 – Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park and the town of Allensworth. This resolution commemorates the centennial of the founding of the Town of Allensworth. The story of Allensworth is inspiring, truly a story of the "American Dream," when a number of African-Americans, including Civil War heroes and ex-slaves, came to an isolated spot in the southern San Joaquin Valley to build a town where hard work, dedication, and faith would allow them the opportunity to control their own destiny in a discrimination-free environment. Allensworth is the site of Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park.
At last night's Lincoln Day Dinner, the annual Republican love-fest at the Doubletree, former Congressman Bill Thomas forgot to put his hand over his heart when the national anthem was being sung.
Big whoop, you say?
I didn't blink when I first looked at the photo.
But then I read Andy Kehe's column about Cal State Bakersfield basketball player Nikki West , who was recently painted in print (the Californian's letter page) as an unpatriotic heathen.
Her crime?
Not covering her heart during the playing of the national anthem.
I wonder if letter writers Bob Williams and Judith Mosier, and the Cal State students who jeered West to tears, will go after Thomas next.
Check out Andy Kehe's column on the sin of salute at:
http://www.bakersfield.com/...
- James Burger, Californian staff writer
This is not to be missed, either.
Lest anyone accuse this blog of being too serious, here's a video of President Bush dancing in Liberia Thursday.
Watch the video here.
Jeff Flores will be a Kern County Planning Commissioner.
Flores, a well-known Republican from the ultra-conservative Roy Ashburn camp, is being nominated for the post by Ashburn ally and Kern County Supervisor Mike Maggard.
Flores is a staffer in Ashburn's Bakersfield office.
Flores is perhaps most well-known on the blog-o-sphere for his he-she-said dust up (or would that be "grapple-up") with former Chamber of Commerce staffer Steve Teglia over drinks at Cafe Med.
Flores takes over for Kay Pitts on the commission — which reviews development projects and land use changes across the county.
Is Flores getting set up for a run for real political job?
Maggard said not.
"He’s exceptionally bright, he knows how government works and he shares my commitment to a better community," Maggard said. "It’s not a political thing,"
The Ashburn connection was "how I got to know him."
But Maggard said he made the nomination because Flores is "a perfect fit for the job."
BY JAMES GELUSO
Californian staff writer
e-mail: jgeluso@bakersfield.com
Party loyalty can’t beat a family feud.
Retiring Assemblywoman Nicole Parra, D-Hanford, would rather support a Republican than a Democrat named Florez.
That works well for Danny Gilmore, who is running as a Republican for Parra’s 30th District Assembly seat. His most likely opponent is Fran Florez, a Shafter city councilwoman and mother of state Sen. Dean Florez, D-Shafter.
Gilmore challenged Parra in 2006, getting 48 percent of the vote and winning each county except Kern. “It was a brutal race,” Gilmore said. “I said that night I would never run for office again.”
But other people convinced him to reconsider, so he decided he would run for the seat — if Parra didn’t. When she announced in early February that she is retiring from politics, Gilmore immediately got on the phone to raise money for his campaign.
Parra told the Fresno Bee that she would consider voting for Gilmore, and she won’t endorse Florez.
“I find it very interesting,” Gilmore said of Parra’s almost-endorsement. “I’m honored that she thinks I would make a great representative for the district.”
Parra declined to speak to the Californian, but her chief of staff said she isn’t endorsing anyone yet.
Fran Florez said Parra is directing her move at the wrong target.
“I think she has a problem with Dean,” she said.
Dean Florez said Parra’s move is a slap in the face to local Democrats.
“I thought she was going to support the very people who have kept her in office,” he said. “I think it shows, you know, a lack of maturity, political maturity.”
Florez said Parra is continuing a feud that has long ceased in his mind. But she can’t get over that he supported Michael Rubio’s successful run to unseat her father, then-Kern County Supervisor Pete Parra, in 2004.
The two sides were feuding long before, though, and both sides have offended each other side.
The 30th District includes parts of east Bakersfield, Lamont, Arvin, Shafter and northern Kern County, plus Hanford and Coalinga. Most of the district is also represented by Dean Florez in the state Senate.
Are you a Democrat who supported Nicole Parra? What do you think? Reach James Geluso at 395-7320.
... and this one by Vic Pollard is from Aug. 27, 2005.
SACRAMENTO -- The political feud between the Florez and Parra families hit a new level this week.
Fran Florez, the mother of Democratic Sen. Dean Florez of Shafter, confirmed that she is thinking about running for the Assembly next year against Assemblywoman Nicole Parra, a fellow Democrat.
"I haven't made a decision," said Fran Florez, who is the mayor of Shafter. "But I haven't ruled anything out."
Parra charged that the move is part of Dean Florez's bitter opposition to her and her father, former Kern County Supervisor Pete Parra.
"The comments I've heard up here is that this makes him look so petty," Nicole Parra said. "People say this guy's obsession with me is going to drive him crazy."
She also speculated that Dean and Fran Florez may not be serious about Fran Florez running next year, but are using it as a ruse to "clear the field" for her to seek the office in 2008 when Parra will be termed out of office.
"Smart move," Parra said.
Dean Florez said his mother makes her own decisions, but he would back her in a minute over Parra.
He said he considers Parra more of a Republican than a Democrat because she often votes with agriculture and business interests against what he feels are bills to benefit labor and consumers.
"Pragmatically speaking, I'm not sure Democrats can afford to have that seat held by a Republican for the next two years," he said.
Besides, Florez said, Parra herself touched off this latest episode weeks ago when she acknowledged that she was thinking about running against him for the Senate next year.
Florez said he would love to see that because he believes he could beat her, and it would clear the way for his mother to run for Parra's Assembly seat.
Responding to Parra's comment about his obsession with her, Florez said, "My only obsession with Nicole Parra is to get a real Democrat in that seat."
Fran Florez said although she has made no decision about running for the Assembly, "I have a real strong desire to serve the community and serve the residents of the 30th Assembly District.
That district covers parts of four counties on the west side of the valley. It also lies mostly within the 16th Senate District represented by Dean Florez.
Fran Florez is no stranger to politics herself. She was elected to the Shafter City Council in 1996, two years before her son won his first election to the Assembly.
She also serves on the California High Speed Rail Authority, where she was recently elected chairwoman.
How did it start?
That is unclear. Dean Florez has said it began when Nicole Parra once "cussed out" his chief of staff, Al Wagner, for something Florez had done. Nicole Parra and her father, Pete Parra, have refused to discuss its origins.
When did it start?
That is also unclear. Dean Florez and Pete Parra were once friends and political allies. The feud first surfaced publicly in May 2001 when Dean Florez and Pete Parra, then a county supervisor, sparred angrily with each other over flood control issues at a community meeting in Lamont.
How have they treated each other?
* When Nicole Parra first ran for the Assembly in 2002, Florez backed her opponent in the Democratic primary election, Jim Crettol.
* In 2003, Florez accused Nicole Parra of working behind the scenes with Assembly Democrats to try to scuttle his legislation --that eventually passed -- requiring agriculture to help clean up air pollution for the first time.
* About the same time, Florez went on the warpath against what he called wasteful spending of tobacco tax money by the First 5 Kern Commission, which was then headed by Pete Parra.
* Last year, an aide to Florez, Michael Rubio, ran against Pete Parra for county supervisor and defeated Parra.
Have they ever cooperated with each other?
On rare occasions. They both signed a letter to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger protesting his plan to divert more money away from local governments to help balance the state budget. Parra also supported Florez's proposal to ban the import of sewage sludge for use as fertilizer in Kern County.
This is a Sept. 1, 2003 story we ran about the ongoing feud between the Parras and the Florezes, by Vic Pollard.
SACRAMENTO -- What are we going to do about Dean Florez?
That's the question fellow legislators in both parties are asking as they shake their heads over the latest set of unorthodox tactics the maverick state senator used to blast away a political roadblock threatening to stymie one of his bills.
Florez, D-Shafter, convinced Democratic members of the Assembly Appropriations Committee to vote for his big anti-smog bill even though he infuriated them in the process by publicly attacking a freshman assemblywoman who also represents Kern County.
It wasn't the first time Florez has gotten things done by ignoring the traditional political strategy of going along to get along.
He hadn't been in office more than a few months in 1999 when he rattled the Bakersfield political establishment by blocking money for the popular Kern River Freeway project until planners agreed to protect a groundwater storage facility important to farmers.
While that involved a local flap, he left the whole state gasping last year when he skewered Democratic Gov. Gray Davis' administration in hearings on its mishandling of a computer software purchase contract.
"I've always got a battle," Florez said in an interview. "That's my style."
But the story of how he got the smog bill through the Assembly Appropriations Committee marks a new high in the Florez record of bulldozer politics -- or a new low, depending on whom you ask.
It has plots and subplots like a Russian novel.
It wasn't always easy getting the highly controversial bill through the state Senate. For the first time in history, it will require farmers and dairy operators to shoulder part of the burden of reducing pollution-causing emissions. That sends shivers down their spines, given the complaints they hear from other industries.
But Florez said he always expected smooth sailing for it in the Assembly money committee. It is dominated by Democrats, most of whom are urban liberals who never met an environmental bill they didn't like.
But a couple of days before the scheduled Aug. 20 hearing, he said he was warned that the bill might be in trouble. That meant that there was unexpected opposition among Democrats, since the minority Republicans are automatic no votes on such a bill.
To Capitol insiders that had all the earmarks of a last-minute behind-the-scenes power play by somebody who wanted to scuttle or gut the bill for personal or political reasons. Those reasons may or may not have anything to do with the policy in the bill.
When confronted with that situation, the traditional response is for the author to quietly approach committee members -- or whoever's running the power play -- to see what's bothering them or try to work out a compromise. That may or may not be successful, depending on the influence or the feeling behind the play.
Florez quickly concluded that it was an effort by top Democrats to sidetrack the bill. They wanted toprotect Assemblywoman Nicole Parra, D-Hanford, from having to vote on a controversial issue. It is commonly believed she will have a tough re-election battle next year and she doesn't need to make enemies among farmers or environmentalists.
The leader of the opposition among Assembly Democrats, Leland Yee of San Francisco, said he objected on policy grounds, but he told the Los Angeles Times that at least one colleague mentioned protecting Parra as the reason for his opposition.
Florez knew he was at a disadvantage if he tried to penetrate the circle of Assembly insiders surrounding Parra. He has few friends there.
His response was unique in the memory of many Sacramento veterans.
In the news media, he fired an angry blast at what he called a sneaky maneuver that disregarded the health problems of children in the valley to protect Parra politically.
It wasn't his first public jab at Parra, either. But for the first time, it exposed the entire Legislature to the ugly feud between Florez and Nicole Parra and her father, Kern County Supervisor Pete Parra.
The depth of bad feeling stunned most fellow lawmakers.
"There's a real war there," marveled Republican Assemblyman Richard Mountjoy, who got caught up in another Florez vs. Parra issue. That involved Florez's request for an audit of the way the county tobacco-tax commission -- headed by Pete Parra -- is handling its money.
Mountjoy initially agreed to a request from Nicole Parra to vote against the audit. But after a hallway conversation with Florez, after which a reporter heard Mountjoy say, "She lied to me," he switched and voted with Florez for the audit.
Mountjoy said Parra told him the audit was part of a political vendetta by Florez against her father and was unnecessary, Florez told The Californian.
Revealing details of such a conversation is a breach of political etiquette and it had a predictable effect.
Florez lost another friend.
"I think it was very vindictive of Dean Florez," Mountjoy said. "When I have a conversation with another legislator like that, it stays between him and me."
Although it cemented Florez's reputation for running roughshod over people's feelings, it accomplished his goal of getting it on the record that Nicole Parra had personally lobbied audit committee members to protect her father from a potentially embarrassing audit.
The Florez-Parra feud has overshadowed Kern County politics almost from the moment Florez was elected to the Assembly in 1998.
Its origin has been a bit of mystery, but Florez is now telling people, including reporters, that it began shortly after he first took office in 1999.
His version is that Nicole Parra verbally attacked him after he publicly criticized Ed Velasquez, who was then the embattled director of the Kern County Economic Opportunity Corp.
Velasquez eventually resigned under fire for collecting compensatory time-off pay in addition to his salary for work over 40 hours a week, although he was strongly supported by Pete Parra.
Neither Nicole nor Pete Parra responded to requests for comment for this article.
She is under heavy pressure from the Assembly Speaker's office not to respond to attacks or other comments from Florez, apparently in hopes that will allow the sparring to die down.
She finds that difficult, however.
She couldn't resist telling a Fresno Bee reporter that "Mr. Florez seems to think that attacking me will clean up the air in the Central Valley. I don't think that's right."
Whatever the origin of the feud, Florez and Pete Parra regularly sparred in public. Florez supported Jim Crettol against Nicole Parra in the Democratic Assembly primary election last year.
In Sacramento, the result of Florez's outburst was to expose the opposition to his bill and force critics to sit down in public and negotiate their points of difference. The negotiations did not produce an agreement with agriculture, but it eliminated the argument that Florez was obstinate. It also made it much more difficult for the environmentalists on the committee to vote against the bill.
None of them did and the bill passed the committee easily on Friday.
Another subplot is the question of why Florez is carrying not just one major environmental bill, but a whole package of measures to crack down on air pollution from farm and dairy operations, the biggest industry in his district.
For four years in the Assembly, Florez stood out as perhaps the most conservative Democrat in Sacramento. He drove fellow Democrats and legislative leaders crazy with his opposition to environmental and gay rights legislation and his support for business-friendly laws.
It all came to a head last July when Florez left the Assembly floor and flew home just before a crucial vote on the signature environmental bill of the session. That was the measure by Assemblywoman Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills, to curb greenhouse gas emissions from SUVs.
Assembly Speaker Herb Wesson immediately fired Florez as chairman and member of the legislative audit committee, which had just completed the headline-grabbing investigation of the Oracle software scandal.
Although Wesson said the reason for the firing was Florez's break with party ranks on the Pavley bill, most people believed the Oracle hearings, with day after day of embarrassing revelations for the governor, was the real reason. For one thing, Florez's vote wasn't necessary for the Pavley bill. It passed without him.
Now, Florez is not only sponsoring a package of environmental bills opposed by agriculture, he also has been publicly beating up on the No. 1 industry in his district with almost daily criticism of their efforts to water down the measure.
How can he afford to do that politically, when he may have to seek re-election in 2006?
Florez says he's not worried because he has carried a great deal of political water for the agriculture industry in the last four years.
"I have a big bank account with agriculture," he said. "There comes a time when you have to withdraw something from the bank account in order to accomplish something."
Others in Sacramento have another theory: Florez makes no secret of the fact that he wants to run for state Treasurer at some point in the future and probably higher statewide offices later.
But he is likely to have a tough time winning a Democratic primary because of his previous votes against environmental bills, gay rights bills and his attacks on Davis in the Oracle hearing, they say.
Florez needs to polish his credential with the left-of-center elements in the Democratic party if he wants to stand a chance in a statewide primary.
Florez doesn't deny that's a factor, but he insists that his main goal is to clean up the air in the Central Valley.
The farm-pollution bills also have another key ingredient of a Florez crusade: newspaper support. The epidemic of smog-related asthma was the subject of a major report in the Fresno Bee last year.
No one in Sacramento jumps on a big newspaper headline like Dean Florez, and he makes no apology for that. "My style is to do things in the press and use that to get my message out," he said. He said it's the best way to let voters know what he's working on and it insures follow-up coverage by the media.
In fact, that was behind his angry outbursts to reporters over the committee's handling of the smog bill.
When something like that happens, Florez said he's not one to take it lying down. "I'll expose them with the hot light of the press," he said.
That's against the rules of political etiquette, but it works for Florez, one reason why they still haven't figured out what to do about Dean Florez.
Yee said he has a theory.
"I think the way to deal with Dean Florez is to confront him and don't backdown," Yee said.
But that didn't work either.
Florez got his bill through the committee.
John McCain attacked a new report on today's front page of The New York Times which revisits the Republican presidential candidate’s relationship with a female lobbyist. Click here for the Times story.
What did McCain say about the story this morning.
It's no secret that many newspaper readers consider the Times a liberal rag, but to counter claims that the story is a simple hit piece designed to derail McCain's campaign, the paper has been working on the story for many months.
However, the last word goes to McCain's campaign:
“Americans are sick and tired of this kind of gutter politics, and there is nothing in this story to suggest that John McCain has ever violated the principles that have guided his career.”
|
