Illustration by Chris Shary93. Dean Cortopassi Though we catch a lot of flak for salting this list with old white guys, it would be hard to leave off Dean Cortopassi, the 78-year old Delta farmer who just might blow up the Delta tunnels and derail the bullet train. The Stockton-born Cortopassi insists that it is his concerns about public debt,
Illustration by Chris Shary88. Jeff Randle
Jeff Randle, deputy chief of staff to former Gov. Pete Wilson, has built an enviable record in business, political strategy, marketing and communications during the past two decades. He is CEO and president of his 21-member firm, Randle Communications, and his eclectic client base includes such heavy hitters as the California Hospital Association,
89. Steve Juarez UC is a mighty institution that gets things done, and one of the reasons is Steve Juarez, who lobbies on behalf of UC’s Office of the President. People in both houses who know higher education lobbying – and some outsiders, too – say Juarez is one of the reasons. He’s smart, prompt
87. Wendy Mitchell Communications consultant Wendy Mitchell, a member of the California Coastal Commission, has strong ties to the Capitol and the politics and intricacies of state budgeting. She was a senior budget consultant in the Assembly, then served as chief of staff to former Sen. Denise Ducheny, the San Diego lawmaker who for years
76. Jeff Grubbe
Chairman Jeff Grubbe is in his fifth consecutive two-year term as the head of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians. Grubbe, an increasingly prominent leader in Indian Country, worked his way up to Chair after starting out as a casino table games shift manager, and, like Pechanga Chairman Mark Macarro
Oroville Lake. (Photo by Pauk, via Wikipedia)California’s combination of climate, native ecosystems, and human uses makes water management inherently hard, unsatisfactory, and evolving. California is doomed to have difficult and controversial water problems. No matter how successful we are.
Vintage Illustration of Mr. ZIP, modified by Tim Foster/Capitol WeeklyIncreasingly, California voters use the mailbox, not the ballot box. But in three of California’s 58 counties — Plumas, Alpine and Sierra — there was no other choice but mail-in voting. And they like it that way.
Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky. (Photo: Jason Doiy/The Recorder via AP)To further explore the issue of Judge Persky’s possible recall, we conducted a poll of 776 registered voters within the county who would be passing judgement on a recall if it were to qualify for a future ballot. And, rather than a few loud voices of protest, our poll finds that two-thirds (67%) of Santa Clara County voters support a recall. Women, and especially younger women, are at the center of the storm with a more than 4-to-1 support.
The lighthouse off Front Street in Crescent City, Del Norte County. (Photo: Joseph Sohm)After hours of passionate testimony, almost exclusively in support of beleaguered executive director Charles Lester, the Coastal Commission voted 7-5 to fire him. Four months later and 600 miles to the north, the aftershocks of the Commission’s political earthquake are still being felt: On June 7, Martha McClure, a commissioner who voted to fire Lester, lost the Del Norte County supervisor seat that she has held for the past 20 years.
A physician flanked by the California flag. (Illustration: Niyazz, via Shutterstock).Hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants in California would be able to buy insurance through the state healthcare coverage marketplace if the federal government accepts a newly signed state law to exempt them from the federal rule. On June 10, Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation requiring Covered California to ask the federal government for a waiver to let an estimated 390,000 undocumented immigrants buy health insurance – as long as they do it with their own money.