I'm shocked that this is even being brought up. If some person who works for the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Mission Indians wants to comp some dignitaries, and then claim it, well its on them.

I would offer tickets to any of my shows to Mrs or Mr. Strickland or to there staff or any number of people, because I just like them. I think about Audra and feel sometimes a thank you is in order for her inviting me to be part of things too. I appreciate the invitation to some of the things she does, to learn about the history of our state, when she is able to arrange speakers, etc. There is nothing I want from her other than to see her once in a while out enjoying herself with her family. Whats wrong with that? Could it be that is exactly what this person did? Or are you insinuating something?

For all the good that they do for us, come on, tickets to Billy Joel?? thats not even an "E" ticket these days.

This is just a job, they are just humans. THEY OWE NO ONE ANYTHING FOR TICKETS TO A CONCERT...COME ON!

And did you ask if they even gave it to a staff member, because they are usually always so busy taking care of our state they rarely gets out unless its to help in some service project or asked to represent the state in some official fashion?

"Note to elected officials: The average voter doesn't think it is okay for you to take concert tickets and other gifts that are obviously being given to influence you from special interest groups. The small gifts aren't worth the trust you are losing. We pay you fairly high salaries. Please pay for your own meals and tickets." I DISAGREE AND I'M AN AVERAGE VOTER"

Geeshe... I'm really worried about you Brian.

Cherie,

Do you think a business would give tickets to any legislator, regardless of their voting record, or just to those that have shown support for their business in the past?

I agree with you that the tickets aren't expensive normally and that is all the more reason to have someone that gets paid very well to pay for the tickets out of their own money.

If you think this is outrageous then how much should a business, that is heavily regulated by the state, be able to give as gifts to the people that write legislation?

This isn't about a particular elected official as this is a common practice. This is only news because some officials were mentioned for not correctly reporting the gifts give to them.

Read this story:

http://articles.latimes.com/2009/mar/01/local/me-expenses1

And then ask yourself why an energy company gave tickets to a Justin Timberlake concert to an official.

Yes, I do fully believe that stories about gifts given to public officials erodes what little trust voters have in their government. Voter trust is critical in a democracy and it shouldn't be tossed out to save a few dollars.

You said you would give someone tickets to a show of yours. That's your right but if you are lobbying for an interest group that impacts all of us that is different.

Thanks for reading my blog and posting a comment. I appreciate your feedback.

Das Williams fined for cowbell... Is that next?

I agree with Cherie,

Uptown Girl wanted to see a Billy Joel concert Brian. As long as Billy Joel wasn't driving I don't see a problem.

Legislators should NOT accept gifts of any kind from those groups or individuals that are conducting legislative business with the State and if they do they should report those gifts so that voters know who's greasing who's palms. Little gifts grow into bigger gifts and then grow into corruption & graft.

Trying to control gifts is like trying to control money. Staff members can accept gifts all day long and not be reported. Central Committee can launder large amounts of money and IEC's are easy to set up. And FPPC fines are the cost of doing business. One slate mailer, the Non-Partisan Candidate Evaluation, owes $84K in fines and doesn't even bother to respond to questions. And still gets business - most recently from Dennis Carpenter for Sheriff. I wonder if he even knows and is just listening to his "advisors". What other bogus advice is he getting???

Staff members have to fill out Form 700s, too, Katie. A gift is considered something that is valued at $50 or more. Even wedding gifts fall under this if they are from reportable sources.

But mistakes happen and sometimes things get forgotten or overlooked.

The small amount of unreported gifts pales in comparison to the quarter-mil that's spent by special interests in declared gifts to politicians.

I did not know that Marie. What about interns - who aren't on the payroll - are they allowed to "accept" gifts without reporting them?

They call her Fraudra because she does things like taking bribes from the indian gaming bosses to do their bidding. Fraudra will get most of her carpetbagging money from indian casino bosses, tobacco company bosses and other groups who want to buy her votes. Keep Fraudra out of office and vote for Linda Parks!

And they call Parks a "Put-On" because she pretends to represent her constituents in the 2nd District (most of whom are conservative Republicans) by simply registering as a Republican.

This will be brought to light in the campaign when she actually has to defend her record of supporting high taxes and acting to impede job creation and good economic development in the County. I can't wait.

By "good economic development of the County" I presume you mean that The Strickland's will continue to keep developing economic opportunities for themselves and fight hard to make sure that no one does any business in Ventura County without first contributing to the Strickland coffers?

As for jobs creations...do you know that Strickland sued to prevent CA from entering into a 22 year deal with power companies to provide electricity at $70MW? That would have made CA's power bills the lowest of any state, through 2023 and attracted businesses & jobs. Instead CA power rates are almost twice that price and are among the highest in the nation. that's forced too many businesses to relocate elsewhere, taking jobs and revenues.

Did you also know that after receiving a $1M campaign donation from Intuit, Strickland fought to prevent CA from distributing its own, free & easy to use tax software to CA taxpayers? Instead of allowing CA taxpayers to reduce the cost of doing their taxes, Strickland fought to make CA taxpayers pay a private firm for the privilege. That's not saving anyone money except Intuit's CEO.

Don't make the same mistake CA voters have made time and time again...and that's voting for unworthy candidates like the Stricklands.

Hi Katie, only folks on the payroll have to do that. Interns don't normally go to events where they would be comped for something and they aren't involved in decision-making processes. Legislative aides, if they are comped for an event with a ticket worth more than $50 have to declare it.

But city commissioners who are appointed but aren't paid also have to fill out a Form 700 as well.

Golly, I don't think I saw Parks name as someone accepting free concert tickets from Indian Casino bosses and then not reporting it. Are you saying poor Audra is just too stupid to know she should have reported that bribe, I mean gift, from Chief Rippumoff? So do "real republicans" support tobacco companies and gambling the way Audra does? Did they make a mistake when they voted Audra the worst assembly member based on her lousy record of having done nothing?