Illustration by Chris Shary, for Capitol Weekly81. Yvonne Wheeler
Wheeler last year became the first Black woman elected president of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO (LA Fed), an organization with over 300 affiliated unions representing more than 800,000 members, making it the second largest central labor body in America. She was also elected to the executive council of
Illustration by Chris Shary, for Capitol Weekly56. Soyla Fernandez
The daughter of migrant workers from Mexico, Soyla Fernandez spent time in her childhood working the same agricultural fields they did. Motivated for a better life, she earned a degree in politics from UC Santa Cruz, a path that eventually led her to open Fernández Government Solutions in 2004, the first lobbying
Illustration by Chris Shary, for Capitol Weekly50. Josh Fryday
Relatively unknown to many in the Capitol community, Chief Service Officer Josh Fryday is the man tasked with overseeing one of Gavin Newsom’s passion programs – California Volunteers. But that’s not all. Underneath that umbrella are also #CaliforniansForAll Youth Corps, AmeriCorps California and Californians ForAll College Corps, which collectively will soon be
Illustration by Chris Shary, for Capitol Weekly61. Yana Garcia
Another newbie to the list, Yana Garcia is the first Latina to ever lead the California Environmental Protection Agency. A native of Oakland, Garcia lived in Mexico during the heyday of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), where she developed a passion for advocating for environmental justice. And her power to
Illustration by Chris Shary, for Capitol Weekly58. Doug Herman
What if you ran a mayoral campaign where your opponent burned through $100 million dollars, outspending your candidate by about 11 to one? Moreover, the strategist for the opposition is Ace Smith (no. 69), one of the most successful campaign strategists in California history. Given all that, you’d probably expect to get
Illustration by Chris Shary, for Capitol Weekly82. Margie Estrada
Margie Estrada is the legislature’s expert on the law. In fact, the chief counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee has reached such rarefied air that she has been referred to as “the Kip Lipper of legal issues in the Capitol.” You don’t get any more influential than that – at least not
Seeking a home, image by Ralf GeitheThe Newsom administration has put a lot of faith in its own Housing First strategies, which prioritizes permanent housing solutions, to address the problem. But not everyone is as enamored of the program as is the governor.
Allison Lim, photo by Scott DuncanLim describes herself as a problem solver, a decision maker, and as someone who enjoys being intellectually challenged. She evaluates her career based on whether these attributes are encouraged and whether her opinions are respected. That, Allison said, is how she ended up working with Assemblymember Lee.
Outnumbered, image by Hernan E. SchmidtDuring one unremarkable time period of four weeks, the number of political filings was roughly 12 times greater than the total number of people working for the agency charged with overseeing the accuracy and legality of those very filings. And that was a slow month.
Image by Adao via ShutterstockANALYSIS – There is often confusion regarding effective versus operative dates. Specifically, Capitol observers often inquire when a statute actually “takes effect.” When it takes effect can be different than when the statute is operative.