PG&E spent almost $2 million on lobbying during the first quarter of 2008, according to an Associated Press report today.

Last year they spent just under $4 million, which means they’re pacing to spend double that this year. As the industry tally for electric utilities on OpenSecrets.org shows, PG&E is third in the national field – outranked by Southern Company and the Edison Electric Institute (basically a gigantic energy lobbying group of which PG&E is also a member.)

Of course, that’s just taking care of national business. Closer to home, the $13 billion utility company has dropped $208,357.08 this year on lobbying – mostly wining and dining California Public Utilities Commissioners, influencing election outcomes, and paying the salaries of their employees who sit on public boards like the Bay Conservation and Development Commission. And just an FYI for y’all — the spike in PG&E lobbying in 2006, as shown in the above graph, can be traced to the $11 million the corporation spent defeating a public power campaign in Yolo County.

As a public power initiative for San Francisco heads to the November 2008 ballot, can we expect another banner year of spending from PG&E? See this posting

BY TARA McLAUGHLIN, Californian staff writer
e-mail: tmclaughlin@bakersfield.com

After Monday, Edison School District will no longer have to pay a superintendent who hasn’t performed her duties since November.

The Californian requested public records, including employment contracts, investigation documentation, policies and other data from all 47 Kern County school districts beginning in January 2008 and continuing through April.

Two of the county’s smallest districts do not have direct superintendents but are administered by the Kern County Superintendent of Schools.

In the months that passed between data collection and publication, some information may have changed.NATIONAL AND STATE COMPARISONS:

National average 2006-2007 superintendent salaries:

All: $121,155

25,000 or more: $200,751

10,000 to 24,999: $160,047

2,500 to 9,999: $135,635

300 to 2,499: $109,245

Source: The American Association of School Administrators Web site, which says it obtained the data from the Educational Research Service

California average 2006-2007 superintendent salaries:

Statewide: $143,700

Elementary: $128,132

High School: $156,676

Unified: $160,290

Source: California Department of Education

Cheri Sanders, who’d been with the district a little more than a year before being put on administrative leave and eventually resigning, misused district funds by using a district credit card to purchase $100 worth of alcohol at a conference, among several other offenses, an investigation found.

But Sanders kept being paid under a common clause in her agreement. It was estimated she would amass about $80,000 while someone else picked up after her.

The incident outraged some citizens and prompted The Californian to re-examine the county’s 45 schools chiefs’ contracts.

It found that Sanders’ contract was not unusual. Most superintendents could be bought out for up to 18 months of their contract in some circumstances if the district wants to cut ties.

Districts may see it as a bargain because it sidesteps legal fees for pursuing a court ruling to sever the contract, said Joe Cirasuolo, chief operating officer of the American Association of School Administrators. Read more

One Good Reason: SB 1313 (Corbett)

Governor Schwarzenegger and political pundits muse about returning to a part time legislature.  Reading about SB 1313 (Corbett) this week at a few of my favorite sites, here and here, I’m inclined to join the bandwagon. 

This legislation is but one example of the thousands of pieces of legislation introduced by members of the California legislature every year that define the term “wasteful spending”.

Why should taxpayers foot the bill so that legislators – both Republican and Democrat – can introduce more “press release” bills to please some constituency or so that they can hold a press conference or have something to put in a campaign brochure?

I read somewhere that the cost of each one of these bills is at least $30,000.

I know, I know this is a time honored tradition that harkens back to the beginning of the Republic.  Yada Yada Yada. If legislators are looking for a way to fill the budget gap, limiting these press release bills would be a good place to start.

Measure would fund school repairs

By Keith Reid/Record Staff Writer

TRACY - Voters in Tracy may be asked to raise property taxes in support of a $59.1 million school bond measure in November.

Tracy Unified School District officials are taking steps towards floating a bond measure that would tax homeowners $15 per $100,000 assessed home value to repair its crumbling elementary and middle schools, Superintendent James Franco said.

A bond that size would need a 55 percent majority vote to pass.

Franco said the bond money would be used to upgrade plumbing systems, fix dry rot and replace roofs at the district’s oldest elementary and middle schools. All schools in the district will receive technology and security upgrades, should the bond pass.

“We’ll come to the board in a couple weeks with a specific recommendation and a refined basic needs list,” Franco said. “I think $15 per $100,000 assessed home value is a reasonable amount to ask.”

The district must file its bond measure with the county registrar by Aug. 4.

Results of a survey, conducted by a research firm hired by the district, show that at least 55 percent of voters would approve a property tax increase that would pay to fix school roofs, walls, heating and cooling systems, restrooms and classroom modifications.

Fewer than 55 percent of voters would approve a bond that would go towards building a gym, stadium or theater at Tracy High, according to the survey.

Fewer than 50 percent of 7,000 people surveyed seemed interested in helping the district pay to replace windows in school classrooms.

“I’m OK with a tax increase,” said Desiree Lim, a Tracy coffee shop owner. “School construction brings work to Tracy. The workers will spend in town. We’ll make more money, and we can pay the taxes.”

However, Lim’s optimistic outlook is not shared by everyone in Tracy.

“I think it’s a bad time,” said Gregory Carr, a grocery store clerk. “With gas prices … people unable to pay their mortgages … We need to cut back on costs, not add to the list.” Read more

If the election were held today Dean Andal would be our next Congress member! With 100 percent of the precincts reporting, Dean Andal had 35, 042 votes compared to McNerney’s  33,997 votes.  Hold on to your hats, it’s going to be an interesting ride.

Nonprofit director says legal opinions clear him to vote on developer issues in Clovis.

By Kerri Ginis and John Ellis / The Fresno Bee

Clovis City Council Member Nathan Magsig’s opponent for a seat on the Fresno County Board of Supervisors says he violated conflict-of-interest laws by voting on projects for developers that have dealings with the nonprofit housing agency he directs.

Magsig, who heads a nonprofit agency that builds and rehabilitates houses for low- and moderate-income people, said he has legal opinions from the city’s attorney that clear him to vote on projects involving developers who have donated money to the nonprofit agency and whose representatives sit on its board of directors.

“There were no legal or ethical issues for me voting on these projects,” he said Wednesday at a news conference.
“What I do as executive director, I keep separate from politics.”

The competitive race for the 5th District seat between community activist and businesswoman Debbie Poochigian and Magsig has turned more acrimonious as the campaign enters the final days before Tuesday’s primary.

In television and radio ads that Poochigian began airing this week, she said her opponent is being paid by developers during the day and approving their projects at night. Read more

Spanos will host fundraiser for GOP contender

By Hank Shaw/Capitol Bureau Chief

SACRAMENTO - Republican presidential candidate John McCain is coming to Stockton on Thursday, and both his fellow Republicans and local Democrats plan to give him a warm reception. McCain is scheduled to highlight a rally at the Stockton Municipal Airport at 4 p.m., much like the tarmac rally former President Clinton headlined for Democratic congressional candidate Jerry McNerney in fall 2006.

The Arizona senator will fly in from Union City, where he is slated to host a roundtable discussion that morning. After the airport rally, McCain will head to the home of Stockton developer Alex Spanos for a $1,000-a-head fundraiser. The Spanos family has been hosting fundraisers for the GOP nominee for president since George H.W. Bush ran in 1988. Read more

Roll Call  - May 5, 2008 Monday

The Few, the Proud, the Vulnerable; Four Republicans Make Their Unwanted Debuts on Roll Call’s List

BYLINE: Josh Kurtz, Roll Call Staff

SECTION: EARLY-BIRD ELECTION PREVIEW

It’s a funny time for the “10 Most Vulnerable” franchise. Not that we can’t identify several House incumbents who are in political jeopardy this year, because there are plenty. It’s just that the battlegrounds where one party(Hint: It starts with a D) can make most of its gains are open-seat races.

Thanks to an expanded political playing field this cycle (and here again, the Democrats deserve most of the credit), there in fact may be more politically vulnerable House incumbents than there have been in a long time. It’s just that there isn’t a single obvious goner. Even most of the fluke freshmen from the 2006 wave — Democrats who beat or replaced fatally flawed Republicans in heavily GOP districts — have done a good job of protecting themselves and may pull through. Hence, the list is in alphabetical order:

   Nancy Boyda (D-Kan.)

She comes off as a hardworking suburban mom, and that’s exactly what she is. But she’s still too liberal for her eastern Kansas constituency. Her victory in 2006 was as much a rebuke to the incumbent, then-Rep. Jim Ryun (R), as anything else. Now Ryun wants his old job back, but he must first get through a tough primary with state Treasurer Lynn Jenkins (R). That primary could be Boyda’s salvation.

   Christopher Carney (D-Pa.)

The only reason he won in a northern Pennsylvania Republican stronghold two years ago is that then-Rep. Don Sherwood (R), a married man, was accused of choking his much younger mistress. The Republican nominee this time, millionaire businessman Chris Hackett, has no such baggage — and is in fact an engaging, nice-looking young man. Carney is working hard and trying to make the right votes for his district. But it may not be enough.

   Tom Feeney (R-Fla.)

House Republicans are trying to exorcise the ghost of Jack Abramoff, and in several instances, they’ve succeeded: Many GOP Members with ties to the imprisoned lobbyist were bounced last time or are racing for the exits in 2008. Feeney’s transgressions on the Abramoff front may not seem so major compared to some of his current and former colleagues, but in the politically volatile Sunshine State and with a solid challenger in former state Rep. Suzanne Kosmas (D), they may be just toxic enough to end Feeney’s once-promising Congressional career.

   Mark Kirk (R-Ill.)

The $2.3 million man makes his debut on this list. It’s not his fault. He’s
raising a ton of money and advancing an agenda that should resonate with his suburban Chicago constituents. But with Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) expected to be the Democratic presidential nominee, business consultant Dan Seals (D) — himself an appealing young black man who finished 6 points behind Kirk in 2006 without much help from the national party — should benefit enormously.

   Randy Kuhl (R-N.Y.)

In one of the most Republican districts in the Empire State, a seasoned pol like Kuhl should be in fine shape. But he has never really recovered from his rocky first House campaign in 2004, when news of a drunken-driving arrest and his nasty divorce came to light; he’s never been able to endear himself to his constituents as a result, and his fundraising this cycle has been lackluster, to say the least. Eric Massa (D), the passionate former Navy officer who came within 2 points of ousting Kuhl last time, is trying again.

   Nick Lampson (D-Texas)

He may be the most vulnerable incumbent of them all. Running in a
Houston-area district represented for 22 years by former Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R), Lampson won in the previous cycle largely because of DeLay’s ethical troubles — and because his Republican opponent had to run as a write-in candidate. Democrats had hoped that controversial former Rep. Shelley Sekula Gibbs would emerge from the crowded GOP primary; instead, Pete Olson, a former Senate aide, won and appears to be a far stronger challenger. Lampson has the tools and savvy to win — but that district is awfully tough.

   Tim Mahoney (D-Fla.)

   Mahoney won in the previous cycle after then-Rep. Mark Foley (R) was swept up in a scandal surrounding his sexually charged instant messages to male Congressional pages. But without Foley to kick around anymore, the task for Mahoney becomes tougher in a previously reliably Republican district. He’s raising a lot of money and trying to stay out of trouble. And he benefits from a free-wheeling and free-spending three-way Republican primary with no clear favorite. But assuming the GOP can unify behind its nominee, Mahoney will have a big fat target on his back come autumn.

   Jerry McNerney (D-Calif.)

Not only did McNerney oust then-House Resources Chairman Richard Pombo (R) in the 2006 general election, to get there he had to upset the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s preferred candidate in the primary. So McNerney has shown his mettle. Still, he’s sitting in a fairly conservative district. And his challenger, former state Assemblyman Dean Andal (R), carries none of the baggage that Pombo did. What’s more, environmental groups won’t be running the multimillion-dollar — pardon the expression — scorched earth campaign against Andal that they did against Pombo.

   Dave Reichert   (R-Wash.)

It’s tough to go from hero cop to endangered incumbent in such a short
stretch of time, but that’s the former King County sheriff’s fate in a suburban

Seattle district that is steadily becoming more Democratic. Reichert still has a reservoir of good will to draw from as he fights off Democrat Darcy Burner for the second straight cycle. But Burner has become a more polished and confident campaigner — and has outpaced the incumbent on the fundraising front for the past few quarters.

   Don Young (R-Alaska)

He’s vulnerable in the primary. He’s vulnerable in the general. That’s not a good place for any incumbent to be, even one as tough and with as storied a career as Young’s. As one faction of Alaska Republicans, led by dynamic young Gov. Sarah Palin, seeks to install a new generation of leaders, Young has plenty to fear from his principal GOP challenger, Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell. And if Young survives the ordeal of a primary, former state House Minority Leader Ethan Berkowitz (D) could be a formidable general election challenger.

By Zachary K. Johnson/Record Staff Writer

County officials are set to decide today how to cover a projected $32.2million shortfall at San Joaquin General Hospital. One idea is to use money scheduled to build a new laboratory and improve other aging facilities used by the San Joaquin County Public Health Department.

Earlier this month, a health care consulting group hired by the county reported how deeply in the hole San Joaquin General would be at the end of July. The Board of Supervisors is scheduled today to discuss budget adjustments recommended by county staff.

“We’re not abandoning them at all,” County Administrator Manuel Lopez said. “They are really critical projects, and we need to fund them.” Read more

Meetings about PG&E proposal should be open

It was disappointing that Stockton Mayor Ed Chavez has chosen to do the heavy lifting on his proposed takeover of PG&E electric service behind closed doors.

Understandable, perhaps. But, aside from legal discussions, disappointing. Chavez last week proposed and the City Council approved formation of an ad hoc committee to work on the mayor’s proposal, which could cost $368 million or more.

Clearly when there’s that much money on the table, the public has a vested right to know what’s going on.

By forming an ad hoc committee - a working group, if you will - the mayor has legally short-circuited the Ralph M. Brown Act, the state’s open meetings law. It requires that the public’s business be conducted in public.

Elected officials a lot of times find the Brown Act inconvenient. With a huge fight in the offing from the powerful Pacific Gas and Electric Co., city officials understandably would like to keep their strategy quiet. Public rancor is one inconvenience City Hall would rather avoid.

But what they would like and what the people of this city deserve are two different things.

PG&E officials have made it clear they will fight Chavez’s plan. They successfully fought the Sacramento Municipal Utility District’s attempt to take over part of Yolo County. They are fighting an attempt by the South San Joaquin Irrigation District to go into the electric business in the south county.

As the executive director of University of the Pacific’s Jacoby Center for Regional and Community Studies, Bob Benedetti, notes, Chavez’s pursuit of a more private setting probably has more to do with keeping PG&E away than the public.

Just to show how aggressive PG&E can be when challenged, the utility ended up paying the irrigation district a more than $400,000 settlement when it was discovered a consulting firm hired by PG&E was caught lifting information from district computers. Although PG&E denied authorizing the theft, the stolen information was forwarded to the utility by its consultant.

Perhaps the mayor was thinking of the SSJID computer incident when he urged the council to set up the private forum. Perhaps he was thinking of the $10 million it spent fighting to keep Yolo County away from SMUD.

We can’t know the mayor’s mind. We do know the most important thing - something the mayor made part of this campaign for his office - is the need to trust the people of Stockton.

We are the ones who will pay if this thing goes south: if there’s an expensive court fight with PG&E, if the city goes into the electric business and finds it can’t deliver, if the costs soar beyond some of the rosy figures city consultants are claiming these days.

Chavez’s electric takeover proposal could be a boon for the city if it really delivers lower customer costs, better reliability and a steady stream of income for the city. It could be a boon, but in truth nobody knows. A lot of work is yet to be done.

What we do know is that this process must be open and transparent. City Hall will never enjoy the needed buy-in of Stockton residents without it. See this article