I cover Ventura County politics from Park Boards to School Boards. Sometimes I am serious but sometimes I want to use my blog for local politicians and activists to have a good time. Besides being fun I want the fun contests to remind all of us that what we have in common is bigger than what divides us. Maybe when we laugh with each other we can focus on our policy differences more than personality clashes. That's the plan anyway.

Do you remember the cutest dog competition? I am proud of how many people participated by sending in pictures.

What about the video contest Team Sojka won? Kyle Quiroz told me he is actually getting paid a very small amount by Youtube for that video.

This time I am sponsoring a Planking Competition.

Awards will be given for a variety of categories including most creative, most on message, and best picture. Elected officials, activists, and others can enter by emailing me their pictures. You can have us guess where the picture was taken or include that information for me to post.

Here is the first entry:

Moorpark City Council Member Mark Van Dam is planking in a mysterious spot. Any guesses where he is at?

State Assembly Member Jeff Gorell teased me that he might send in a picture of him planking in Afghanistan. Would you like him to send in a picture? Vote in my online poll.

I unlocked the poll so you can vote as many times as you want.

State Assembly Member Jeff Gorell is scheduled to depart for active duty in Afghanistan this week. As I have written in the past I will not be critical of his service while being a lawmaker.

I know many people think an elected official is too important to go off to war but that argument doesn't move me. Many of our armed forces leave behind their closest family members not knowing if they will hug them again.

Being a State Assembly Member is important but so is duty to family. Just because he is a public figure doesn't make his role here more important to the people that depend on him than the countless parents, business owners, employees, siblings, and children we have been sending to the war.

Jeff, before you go check in with Gov. Jerry Brown again and to determine if there are any compromises to be made that will benefit our state. Maybe a colleague will switch their vote to what you would have wanted in honor of your service.

Stay safe and I am hoping for your safe return.

State Assembly Member Jeff Gorell has been asking for ideas on how to help the reduce the burden of regulations and to help balance the budget.

I took his challenge and posted a status update on my Facebook Blog page linking to my blog post announcing his upcoming cardtable event.

On my Facebook page for my blog a group of us posted ideas for the state budget with the caveat that they must be solutions that could attract bipartisan support. State Assembly Member Jeff Gorell posted that he would review our ideas and this is his response:

Brian,

Thank you for posting my solicitation for public input on the state budget. There were some thoughtful responses and below are my initial responses. Please consider posting this.

I consulted legislative staff, caucus policy advisers, committee policy consultants, and other subject matter experts. It's a pretty steep learning curve here.

Some of the most detailed responses to the post came from "Conejo Joe". One very central theme of Joe's post is that with greater transparency we should be able to identify more waste and inefficiency in government. I agree so strongly with that goal that it is one of the key reasons for the very first bill I introduced, AB27. This bill, "The Priority-Based Budgeting Act of 2011" will change the way state agencies ask the legislature for money, requiring that their budget requests be prioritized and justified so that legislators can more easily fit our state government's nearly unlimited collection of "wants" into the reality of an austerity budget.

In Joe's post he also stated that he wants to see detailed justification for all agency budgets exceeding 90% of the prior year's allocation. This is another area that I have addressed in AB27, with the difference being that I set the cutoff point at 80% of the prior year's budget in my proposed legislation. (My legislation to date can be found here: http://arc.asm.ca.gov/member/37/?p=myLeg)

Joe was also looking for further information about the benefits that state employees receive. The Department of Personnel Administration's website (http://www.dpa.ca.gov) does have a breakdown of the benefits packages available to state workers. Any specific questions beyond the data they provide on the website can be addressed by calling or emailing the department. Specific audit requests can be submitted by the Joint Legislative Audit Committee, but these are costly and time consuming, so I will use this tool only when there is clear evidence of (need to conduct such an inquiry.)

I am optimistic about Governor Brown's desire to dig into the state budget with the goal of eliminating redundancies. The governor has already begun this in his own office, and I have offered a bill to clean up one if the biggest redundancies in our state government, which is the three-agency taxing structure that our officials have been unsuccessfully trying to consolidate since the 1940s. AB77 will merge the taxing authorities of the Board of Equalization, the Franchise Tax Board, and the Employment Development Department into a single administrative entity, which will save taxpayers time and money. I am meeting with Governor Brown on Tuesday specifically about this bill.

I would like to point out another good resource for anyone researching state contracting. The governor's transparency website at http://www.transparency.ca.gov lists all of the state's contracts, in addition to all state agency and department audits, every statement of economic interest, and all travel and expense report forms.

Brian, you offered some unique ideas as well. Your idea to stop sending out hard copy report cards is very much like current businesses that are realizing cost savings by offering their customers online and emailed bills. However, in a nod to Governor Brown's efforts to realign state authority back to the locals, this is a good decision that should probably be made by the local school boards. Some schools, especially in rural areas and in some poorer urban areas, have no choice but to mail out their report cards because many in the community do not have access to the internet or cannot afford to purchase internet in their homes. This was an issue raised by the some policy staff that I thought had merit.

Your idea of merging the STAR and High School Exit Exam has merit and has raised some interest here, especially if it can be shown that the purpose of the High School Exit Exam can be fulfilled entirely by testing which is already being done. Considering how many school districts have been cutting back on the number of instructional days on their calendars, this could also return a couple of days lost to testing back to classroom instruction. These tests are mandated by the Federal Government, and California could only make the change with a federal waiver. For this reason, I have drafted a formal request to the California Board of Education directing them to explore what it would take to get a federal waiver for these types of mandates. This information will prepare us to apply for such a waiver if this ultimately makes sense to pursue. Brian, I will let you know the response I get from the Board.

Even if we did get a federal waiver that allows schools to consolidate their mandated exams there will be no savings to our State general fund budget due to the Proposition 98 guarantee. However, I would hope that any savings would be directed to classrooms for frontline instructional use.

I appreciate the feedback and ideas. More to follow.

Jeff
Jeff Gorell
Assemblyman, 37th District
California State Legislature
State Capitol
Sacramento, CA 95814
Capitol Office (916) 319-2037
District Office - (805) 230-9167

Thanks Jeff! I have high expectations that you will be that rare legislator that can bring people together across party lines to move our state forward.

To clarify, I think an opt out program for hard copy report cards would work best. That way families with online access can help save the schools money, but families that need a hard copy will continue to receive them.

I don't want to eliminate any state or federally mandated tests but I would like to merge them to reduce the amount of money and days spent on them. Families and taxpayers deserve accountability from our local schools, but I think it can be done efficiently. Any student that passes their high school English sections of the STAR exam with the highest possible scores shouldn't also be forced to take a basic skills test on the same subject to graduate.

( I found this "unofficial" Jeff Gorell ad on Youtube that includes enthusiastic fans wearing a Vader mask and a dog mascot outfit. )

State Assembly Member Jeff Gorell might be scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan soon but he is trying to meet with as many of his constituents as he can before he leaves.

This Friday, February 4th, he will be at Howie's Bar and Grill in Simi Valley.

I am glad to see Jeff Gorell joining with almost every other legislator in Ventura County in holding scheduled and public events.

I am really glad to see that Jeff Gorell (R), Brad Sherman (D), and Tony Strickland (R) continue to hold public meetings where their constituents can come and ask them questions.

Maybe they will inspire Rep. Elton Gallegly to start joining them. Gallegly did advertise an event recently but it was a fundraiser. Citizens shouldn't have to pay to ask questions of their politicians. He also appears to Tea Party or Republican Party events.

If Gallegly has time to listen to a lecture from a Tea Party leader and Barack Obama conspiracy theorist he has time to take questions from the average citizen.

I like the example set by politicians that will take questions from the public at free and scheduled events. State Senator Tony Strickland has a larger district and he had a great townhall event yesterday in Thousand Oaks. I heard from a local progressive he was very reasonable.

Click on continue reading to see the press release from Jeff Gorell.

State Assembly Member Jeff Gorell is asking the public to meet with him and share their budget ideas. Here is his press release:

Assembly Member, 37th District

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 22, 2010
CONTACT: Adam Haverstock

GORELL SEEKING PUBLIC INPUT ON BUDGET

Assemblyman to Meet with Public at Thousand Oaks Post Office

Please meet our new Assemblyman Jeff Gorell and offer your input on the state budget. As the legislature works to address this significant challenge, Jeff is seeking public input. Please come by and meet with him in person on Thursday, December 30 in front of:

U.S. Post Office
3435 Thousand Oaks Boulevard
Thousand Oaks, CA 91362

The U.S. Post Office in Thousand Oaks is located next to the Sunset Plaza Shopping Center on Thousand Oaks Boulevard between Westlake Blvd and Hampshire Road. For complete directions you can visit GoogleMaps at: http://goo.gl/maps/KB52

Jeff will be holding a card table format from 10:00 am till 12:00 noon.
For additional information, please call Jeff's district office at (805) 230-9167.

The press release would be more accurate if it stated he was interested in ideas to cut the state budget as I doubt he will vote for any tax increases or to continue earlier tax increases. But I am open to being surprised.

Jeff Gorell is likely to be deployed overseas soon so he might not be here for some of the critical votes. But he might be here to vote to put Jerry Brown's reforms and tax proposals on the ballot in a special election.

What cuts would you like Jeff Gorell to push for? I would like to see an incentive for public employees to identify savings in their agencies or departments. It would be interesting to see what savings teachers, firefighters, police officers, and others would come up with if they were directly rewarded for studying the issue.

Here are some proposals I would support:

1. Stop sending out report cards.

I would like to see school districts report grades to families online. If a family would like a printed copy to post they could print a copy from home. That would save money that is spent on printing and mailing report cards. The cost is minimal and many schools are currently set up to let families track the progress of their students online. At the very least we can ask families with online access to help save money by opting out.

2. Merge the State STAR tests with the High School Exit Exam.

A student that scores at the highest levels on the STAR test, or a modified STAR test would show they have also passed the High School Exit Exam. Students would be more motivated to work hard on the STAR test because they could earn a few days out of school. The State wouldn't need to pay for as many High School Exit Exams to be created or to be graded.

3. Tax gratuitous references to Hitler and/or Nazism. Godwin's Law could help balance our budget. You know who else wanted to control speech?

What are your ideas? You don't need to register to comment but keep it classy. When I get enough ideas I will create a poll question and send the results to Jeff Gorell.

Ventura County Star Reporter Timm Herdt has already covered it in detail but Ferial Masry's campaign to replace Audra Strickland in the State Assembly is getting more serious. Her campaign has a new group of consultants that are more willing to directly attack her opponent Jeff Gorell. They have also sent me the HTML for a Facebook plugin as a part of their netroots campaign strategy. As of now I'd say Gorell is heavily favored to win, but I think the new team has some surprises planned.

Like many of you I thought the contest between Audra Strickland and Linda Parks would be close. I don't have much to add to what Timm Herdt and Eric Ingemunson have already written. If the race was close then it would be easy to dismiss arguments like the voters have rejected negative campaigning. But with a stunning defeat many factors are likely true.

Mike Osbourn tried to blame the money unions spent on the race but that can't be the prime cause when the VCRCC spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on Audra Strickland. They can't blame turnout when Republican turnout was much higher than DTS and Democratic voters. Besides, blaming turnout admits that Audra Strickland didn't have cross party appeal.

Blaming incumbency doesn't work either because both of the candidates currently represent most of the same people. Incumbency is usually very powerful because of name ID and the ability to raise money. Audra Strickland's supporters can't claim those worked against her because she is a well-known elected official and she was very-well funded.

I was amused that Audra Strickland's team played so many games including demanding that a fundrasier of hers or a past candidate against Linda Parks moderate a debate. She might have technically been correct that Linda Parks didn't demand a neutral moderator but did her team really think the news stories on the issue would look good to voters?

I don't know exactly what motivated voters to reject Audra Strickland's arguments or I would put it in a binder and sell it to other politicians. What do you think influenced voters the most?

It is approximately the % by which Linda Parks defeated Audra Strickland and it is also the approximate number of negative mailers Audra Strickland sent out during the campaign.

Over the next few weeks I will review some of the other campaigns. Next up: The Clerk / Recorder race.

Fellow Ventura County Star Blogger Eric Eric Ingemunson posted that Jeff Gorell swept Kern County by claiming the only vote in the Republican Primary. That was so funny I went to the elections page and found out that Democrat Ferial Masry also earned the only vote in the Democratic Primary.

Being that these two candidates have tied in Kern County I suggest that Eric and I travel with the candidates to hold a debate for these voters. Sure it wouldn't normally be a wise use of campaign time but I am confident it will attract media attention.

The news article was on the race between State Senator Tony Strickland's consultant Mike Stoker and flower grower Daniel Goldberg. But the photo focuses on Jeff Gorell's huge campaign sign.

Send in any interesting photos of campaign signs you want me to post.

I normally interview candidates on Thursday nights but last week the power company was working in my neighborhood and turned off my electricity. We started the interview last Thursday before it was interrupted. We are finishing tonight. If you know a cause or candidate that would like to be interviewed this Thursday night send me a message.

Robert Howell is running against Jeff Gorell for the Republican nomination in the 37th Assembly District. He is a conservative that supports conservative positions on social and economic issues.

http://roberthowellforassembly.com/

Robert,

Click on continue reading for the first question.

Because I live in Simi Valley I do not get the mail that Audra Strickland and Linda Parks have been sending to voters. If you scan and send me any mailers of theirs I will post it so that we can analyze it. Feel free to include the demographic details of the voters in your household if you want.