Ventura County Star Reporter Timm Herdt has a great new blog post discussing the Governor's request for the legislature to limit how many bills they propose.

I was interested in what proposals our legislators have made so I followed the link in Timm Herdt's article.

I am interested in this bill by State Assembly Member Das Williams:

AB 389

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 389, as introduced, Williams. Private schools: employees.
Existing law requires every person, firm, association, partnership, or corporation offering or conducting private school instruction on the elementary or high school level to require each applicant for employment in a position requiring contact with minor pupils who does not possess a valid California state teaching credential, or is not currently licensed by another state agency that requires a criminal record summary, to submit 2 sets of fingerprints to the Department of Justice for the purpose of obtaining a criminal record summary from the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
This bill would delete the exemption for applicants possessing a valid California state teaching credential or who are currently licensed by another state agency that requires a criminal record summary, from submitting 2 sets of fingerprints for the purpose of obtaining a criminal record summary from the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Das Williams, what prompted you to look into the fingerprinting requirement of private school teachers? Who brought this to your attention?

Readers: Go through the links on his blog post. Tell me what other bills you find interesting.

State Assembly Member Das Williams was on Anderson Cooper for not voting on a bill that would make it easier to fire teachers accused of serious crimes against children. Das Williams claims the bill is overreaching and will support a better version.

Have you seen any action from him on an improved version? Please let me know and I'll update this post.

Democrat Das Williams hasn't been certified as the winner yet and Republican Mike Stoker has sent out an email announcing he is planning to run again. Besides personal animosity between the two, I assume Mike Stoker is trying to clear the field of primary challengers.

Click on continue reading for his press release.

I am interested to see Audra Strickland's next career move.

Das Williams won the nomination of his party and will now be running against Mike Stoker in November. The district is considered a safe because of the overwhelming Democratic Party registration advantage. Mike Stoker has been insisting though he is a moderate that can reach out to Democrats. Because he previously worked for an oil company and has worked for Tony Strickland I think that will be a challenge for him.

Das Williams has been rallying the support of the Democratic Party, including elected officials that didn't get involved in the primary. I expect that he will also be finding new ways to communicate his shared values more with independents and Republicans soon too. I think the primary was helpful for Das Williams and I don't expect lasting divisions because of the tough primary to impact him in the fall. Are any of my readers Susan Jordan supporters that will now vote for Mike Stoker? I doubt there are enough to make an impact.

I don't see enough evidence that this will be a competitive election but Mike Stoker has time to provide it.

My reader poll from the primary was obviously wildly inaccurate:

I never claimed the polls are scientifically accurate but this poll is next to worthless. If there is much to learn from it I would say it shows that Daniel Goldberg's and Mike Stoker's campaigns exist more on the internet then they did in precinct walks, phone calls, street corner rallies, or fundraising.

Here is the new general election poll:

Click on continue reading to see Das Williams' latest press release.

Click on continue reading to see Mike Stoker's latest press release.

State Assembly candidate Susan Jordan is running against Das Williams for the Democratic nomination to replace Pedro Nava in the state assembly. Her campaign sent in a photo of Ashley her dog, a sign photoshopped in, and this quote:

Ever since I was little, I was bringing home abandoned animals. Looking back, my mother was very tolerant considering we lived in a small one-bedroom apartment! Ashley came to us when she was only 8 months old and had been starved and abandoned. She has been a light in our lives ever since she arrived.

Susan Jordan and Das Williams are locked in a tight battle to win the nomination of their party. The intensity is really high because the winner of the nomination is expected to be able to easily beat the Republican nominee in this district.

Lately charges have been flying that the campaign has turned negative. Susan Jordan has been accused of violating a clean campaign pledge. Click on continue reading to see the charge against her and her response.

Susan Jordan's campaign wisely linked to her mailers so that we can judge for ourselves. Download them here ( pdf ) :

http://www.jordan4assembly.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/SJ-PXP-1-Q-1-way.pdf

http://www.jordan4assembly.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/SJ-40-Years-Q3.pdf

I think it would be great if all mailers were posted online so that we can see what candidates try to target to particular demographic groups. With that in mind email me any mailer that you would like to see posted.

Before you vote click here for the other dogs.

( This was taken at last week's Democratic Convention as Susan Jordan was being interviewed.)

Susan Jordan is running in the Democratic Primary to take over for termed out State Assembly Member Pedro Nava. She has been running based on her background as an environmental activist and as a reformer that wants to change the budget process.

I asked her to be interviewed on my blog in a one on one interview. Because of that agreement I will delete all other comments until after the interview.

I know on the campaign issue she will be asked many of the typical questions over and over again. If you see that I ignore many of them know that it is not because I don't see them as valuable but because I feel confident she will have answered them many times.

I interview candidates for all sorts of offices on my blog on my Thursday Night Live feature. If you know a candidate for any office in Ventura County that would like to be interviewed send me a message. Click here and here for some past examples. I do not limit myself to people that share my ideology or party.

Susan,

Thanks for your time. I know modern campaigns are time consuming and demand constant work. I appreciate you coming here to answer my questions. Click on continue reading to see my first question.

Das Williams (D) is running against Susan Jordan (D) for the Democratic nomination to replace Pedro Nava (D) in the State Assembly. The district is generally considered to be a safe district for Democrats but the winner will face either Mike Stoker (R) or Daniel Goldberg (R) in November. I am doubting that Daniel Goldberg will gather the necessary signatures required to get on the ballot.

On many core issues the two Democrats agree with each other although the major distinction is their positions on an offshore oil drilling agreement that other sources have explained with much more detail. They largely agree upon issues that are important to groups like The California Organization of Women (NOW) support. I am impressed Das Williams was able to secure the endorsement from NOW when he is running against a woman. Obviously his involvement in NOW greatly contributed to this endorsement but that doesn't diminish how it will look on his mailers.

What important endorsements aren't claimed yet for these candidates? Do any of the remaining groups or individuals matter to you?

Tim Allison is running for the Democratic nomination to take on Rep. Elton Gallegly. His primary opponents are Marie Panec and Shawn Stern. He has just announced yet more endorsements. His newest supporters are Das Williams and Susan Jordan. What is surprising about this announcement is that Williams and Jordan are currently running against each other for the Democratic nomination to replace Assembly Member Pedro Nava in the 35th District.

Often candidates running for higher office don't want to get involved in other campaigns at the risk of alienating a group of supporters. But with Tim Allison doing so much better than the other candidates at raising money and getting endorsements they must have calculated it was worth it.

( A video titled "Dolores Huerta on the Decision Which Changed Her Life" about how she became involved with labor organizing.)

Democratic State Assembly candidate Das Williams has announced he has received the endorsement of UFCW Co-founder Dolores Huerta.

Most endorsements don't change who I would like to see win an election but I do admire Dolores Huerta. I haven't decided who I want to win the Democratic nomination and I don't expect an endorsement to be influential either. My top issues for the state assembly are jobs, the budget, and education reform.

What are your top issues?

Click on continue reading for the press release.

The first week I asked the candidates to share who some of their most influential teachers have been in their lives. Here was this week's question:

Does your favorite music tell us anything about your worldview or ideology? Please share with us a few of your favorite groups or musicians.

Moby's "And God Moved Across the Face of the Waters", Gus Gus "Believe", The Staple Singers' "I'll Take You There", a Christian song "I Could Sing of Your Love", and lately Sade's "Soldier of Love". It means that I feel a deep faith in God using us as an instrument for a better world. I think I could sing of your love is the most genuine and true Christian rock tune ever.

I listen to a wide range of music. While driving around I like to hear top 40 because it keeps me going. At home though, I really like to listen to more mellow music, maybe classic rock or jazz. To go to bed I enjoy symphony music.

What my music selection says about me is that I am always adapting to my circumstances and that I like to hear from everyone because everyone is different. I don't limit my possibilities because if I did, I would only be selling myself short.

Das Williams has announced some new endorsements from the Oxnard area following his debate. Some of the names I have seen listed as endorsing him before but together this list is impressive. If you would have asked me before who had the advantage I would have said Susan Jordan. But over the last few months I now would say it is a toss-up between Susan Jordan and Das Williams. The finance reports that are coming out will provide strong insights.

I do not have a favorite candidate and I haven't studied the oil deal that many say is the most important issue in the campaign. But this answer from the debate surprised me:

Williams serves on the board of a Santa Barbara charter school and said charters are "part of the solution" to education reform, while Jordan said she thinks charter schools are an attempt to "privatize public education."

I want to know what reforms the candidates do support for California public schools. Charter schools are not a fix all and they do have their own problems but they do have their place in reforming our schools. Democrats, especially in primaries, will often say they support fully funding education but that isn't the only education issue they will be dealing with.

The issues that divide them don't make it easy to classify one of them as more or less liberal from what I have seen thus far. That makes this contest even more interesting.

For the record: Susan Jordan has a long history in business but a recent news story that labeled her a lawyer was wrong. To read her background go to her website.

I am asking the 4 candidates vying for the 35th District State Assembly Seat a question a week from now until the June primaries.

Last Week I asked the candidates to discuss some of their favorite teachers. Susan Jordan, Das Williams, and Daniel Goldberg were all kind enough to reply. Das sent his answer in a little later but I have now included it.

There are many policy questions I could ask but between debates, news interviews, questionnaires from interest groups and editorial board interviews I feel confident most of them will be asked. That's why I am asking a mix of traditional and more quirky questions.

Here is this week's question:

Does your favorite music tell us anything about your worldview or ideology? Please share with us a few of your favorite groups or musicians.

Send in your answers by Wednesday if you can. I don't want to take too much of your time so feel free to keep your answers short.

Mike Stoker: If you send me in a widget of Fanbox I will post it for you too.