Pass the cigars
There’s a reason that it’s often said politics make strange
bedfellows.
And none stranger than the governator and our very own state
Sen. Jeff Denham, R-Merced.
Pass the cigars
There’s a reason that it’s often said politics make strange bedfellows.
And none stranger than the governator and our very own state Sen. Jeff Denham, R-Merced.
If anyone profited from California’s embarrassingly protracted budgetary standoff, it was Denham.
Partisan wrangling continued through the dog days even after 49 other states managed to approve budgets, and even the public began to notice a greater-than-usual lack of progress around the capital.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was elected because he promised to lead from the middle, began to take a thumping from the most zealous of the state’s Republicans. Unlike their spendthrift brethren in Washington, D.C., California’s GOP still lays claim to fiscal conservatism, and the budget is the year’s leading opportunity to paint the other party as tax-and-spend profligates.
In spite of the best efforts of representatives from the fringes of both the Democratic and Republican parties, a budget compromise was reached this week.
The big losers were a cadre of the most conservative GOP senators who held the required two-thirds majority budget approval for ransom for two months.
In the end, they had to settle for just about the same deal they were offered more than a month ago.
So where does Denham come in?
His fiscal conservatism outraged Sacramento Democrats, brought public criticism from Gov. Schwarzenegger and gave him the kind of publicity that a well-oiled campaign machine can’t buy.
That puts him in a great spot to make a run at his dream job, the 2010 race for California lieutenant governor, according to San Francisco Chronicle political reporter Carla Marinucci.
If that’s the case, Denham definitely owes Schwarzenegger a thank-you card and a box of cigars.
The action hero governor did OK for himself as well.
Talk show nuts and some Senate Republicans labeled their top office-holder as a “Republicrat.” Schwarzenegger took his show on the road and engineered a compromise to end gridlock.
That should earn him brownie points with the majority of voters who elected him, largely on promises to rise above the paralytic partisan bickering that characterizes life in Sacramento.
Oh happy day!
I made a public spectacle of myself Sunday, but the result of that makes the pain worthwhile.
Strolling along with wife and dog at just about sunset Sunday evening, I encountered a wet patch of sidewalk. The next step resulted in a sudden shift of perspective that’s still somewhat confusing.
The sidewalk on Cerra Vista Drive was covered in black slime, the result of a sprinkler that had been leaking for a long, long time.
After determining that nothing seemed to be broken, and that eyeglasses were located only a short distance away from my near-corpse, I quickly jumped to my feet.
“Nothing to see here … everything’s fine. Move along, move along,” I wanted to say.
A woman who had seen the pratfall rushed to me and offered to summon assistance. Seconds later another dog walker passed, and his dog slipped and did a pretty good canine impression of what I’d just done.
The resident of the home was solicitous. By the next morning, he had posted warning signs.
After changing out of clothes coated in black slime, ice packs were in order.
Then the good things started to happen.
It was Monday morning that my wife mentioned to fellow employees at City Hall that there’s a patch of Cerra Vista that’s a little like an ice rink. That brought a quick visit from a crew led by no less a personage than Community Services Director Clay Lee. The hazard was marked and steps were launched to take care of the problem.
Now I wonder, if I fell down in San Francisco, would Gavin Newsom have made a house call?
Lest that be considered a fluke, a call this week to Abraham Prado in the planning department for a simple inquiry about local sign ordinances brought a flood of information, delivered in a friendly, helpful tone.
I might be tempted to suspect that I’m getting that kind of service because I’m part of the city of Hollister family by virtue of my wife’s employment there, but recent calls in which I’ve not identified myself have brought the same results.
A few barricades for use during the motorcycle rally? No problem.
Some free mulch for the yard? You got it.
Jeez, if you can’t complain about your local government, what’s left?
Notebook is compiled by Mark Paxton, with occasional contributions from other staff members as noted. He can be reached via e-mail at [email protected].
