Posts Tagged: john

Parched state looks for rain — anywhere

Islands in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, an aerial view. The Delta is home to about half of California's drinking water. (Photo: Worldislandinfo.com

by SCOTT SORIANO posted 02.03.2015

John O’Hagan of the Division of Water Rights told the board that the state’s snow water equivalent — which is the amount of water that the Sierra snow pack will produce — is only 14% of average. He added the states reservoirs are only 50 percent of capacity. Both figures elicited a gasp from those present.

Bay Area advantage — Is being from LA a statewide political liability?

A view toward the Bay Bridge, via Chinatown. (Photo: Christian Mehlfuhrer)

by ANTHONY YORK posted 04.23.2014

ANALYSIS: Los Angeles County is home to more than 26% of all Californians. But when it comes to running for statewide office, being from Los Angeles may be more of an obstacle than a political advantage. While the people may be in Los Angeles, the largest chunk of the state’s voters – those who actually cast ballots — come from the nine counties in the San Francisco Bay Area.

CAPITOL WEEKLY INTERVIEW: Assembly Speaker John Pérez would like to stay in the Legislature but he’s got a problem: The law won’t let him. He’s termed out next year under voter-approved term limits and it’s time to move on. Pérez heads into the controller’s race with a $1.5 million campaign war chest. He likely will face fellow Democrat Betty Yee, a former chief deputy in the Finance Department, the office that writes budgets for the governor. Yee currently serves on the state Board of Equalization.

“The Guardian Scholars program helped me share my story with other foster youth. No one really understands what we go through except other foster youth. This program helped me psychologically by helping me learn that there are people who do understand. I didn’t know how I would be able to afford college but the Guardian Scholars program has helped me financially through scholarships that are only available to Guardian Scholars. Joy Salvetti, the program’s director, was like a parent to me. She provided the warmth and the help I needed.

Ron Loveridge hasn’t been around forever, but sometimes it seems that way.

Loveridge is retiring after decades in public service that includes an unprecedented five terms as mayor of Riverside. But for a guy who built his career hundreds of miles from Sacramento, Loveridge has a remarkable profile in state government that extends far beyond

As the state shifts more and more responsibility to local governments, disputes over the size of the tab and who picks it up are growing.

In theory, the transfer of state authority to the locals, such as in the $6.3 billion realignment program in which some state prisoners are sent to county lockups and myriad

John P. Quimby, a craggy Capitol fixture for five decades as first a legislator and then a lobbyist for the Inland Empire, died December 23 of complications from pneumonia. He was 77.

A Democratic Assemblyman from 1962 to 1974, he subsequently lobbied for the counties he previously represented, San Bernardino and Riverside.

“Politics

By Mark DiCamillo, The Field Poll

The 2012 elections may prove to be a turning point in California politics – one that has been many years in the making – as the political might of the expanding ethnic voter population fully exerted itself in this year’s statewide elections.

According to the network exit poll, Latinos,

Signature gathering began last week for an initiative to switch new hires of California’s largest city from pensions to a 401(k)-style plan, a change begun in the second largest city, San Diego, after voters approved a similar initiative in June.

Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, who has warned the city is sliding toward