Skinny

Political watchdog exec Roman Porter announced he is leaving the political watchdog agency – and that’s not good news. Porter analyzed and posted independent expenditures – a first at the FPPC – and made public the millions of dollars in so-called charitable payments solicited by politicians, led by Jerry Brown. The payments had been around a decade but were virtually ignored until Porter targeted them publicly. He worked under FPPC Chair Ross Johnson, the curmudgeonly politico and former caveman,who knew where the bodies were buried because he put most of them there himself. Quite a pair, those two. The question now is whether the watchdog will turn toothless, something of an irony for Brown… Meanwhile, political data wiz Mike Donovan is leaving Mark Bogetich’s storied oppo research firm after a decade and striking out on his own to form his own outfit, Donovan Research and Public Affairs in the Esquire Building. Donovan, a veteran of the Deukmejian and Wilson administrations, has been around the Capitol since 1987, when he started as an intern in Richard Longshore’s office. He’s worked on state, local and federal campaigns and like Mark, he’s a magician with public records. Here’s a surprise: His friends call him “Doc.” Here’s another surprise: He’s taller than John Wayne on stilts… And finally, Capitol Weekly today celebrates the 6th anniversary of our first issue on Aug. 18, 2005, that had a dog on the cover. Time marches on, but we’re still here. Phew….