Quick summary:

State Senator Tony Strickland is teaming up with Simi Valley City Council Member Barbra Williamson to raise money for charity.

He continues to hold scheduled public meetings, something Rep. Gallegly isn't doing.

State Senator Tony Strickland voted for the budget but thinks it is bad for everyone involved.

He finally helped eliminate one of those boards in Sacramento that pays politically connected people a high salary to for a few official meetings every month. I don't know what made Democrats defend them for so long but at least this talking point is removed from future budget negotiations.

Click on continue reading for the rest of the email update.

At the end of the update I posted an email sent in from a reader directed at State Senator Tony Strickland on prison issues.

Ventura County Star reporter Timm Herdt has an interesting article that lists which State Senators are taking a pay cut.

Click here to read his blog.

(This image is from State Senator Tony Strickland's Twitter page.)

Coming after Conservative writer George Will ridiculed Republican Secretary of Transportation ( Click on the graph for an article that shows he doesn't appear to have researched his article enough.) for supporting more ways to convince people to ride their bikes to work State Senator Tony Strickland celebrated ride your bike to work month by setting an example.

State Senator Tony Strickland is effective at using technology to keep his constituents updated on what he is doing, including radio appearances, public events, and other routine legislative schedules.

That is unlike Rep. Elton Gallegly, who brags he is in the district every weekend but doesn't hold public events where people can go for free and ask questions that often.

When was the last time any of you saw Rep. Elton Gallegly holding a public forum that was free to attend and scheduled for him to appear at? I have called his local office but they always tell me they don't have access to his schedule.

Here is what he said in a recent article:

Rep. Gallegly, if you are really around every weekend to meet with the public why not have your staff post it on your website?

Click here for a page on a new blog that follows congressional elections with details on CA 24 that a reader sent in for me to post.

What is it that Elton Gallegly refuses to do? Release his schedule and host scheduled town hall events.

I have been calling his offices for months asking when the next town hall event is and they have transferred me, asked for my number, sent me to voicemail, and told me to call a long distance number to Washington DC. They even claim the local office doesn't get a copy of his schedule even when he is in the district.

Wouldn't it be easier and more friendly to your constituents to post your events online?

Here is an excerpt from State Senator Tony Strickland's website:

Senator Strickland's Upcoming Events

Strickland Hosts Community Coffee Event

Date: Friday, April 24, 2009, 8:00 AM - 9:30 AM
Location: Santa Clarita Valley Chamber of Commerce, 28460 Ave. Stanford #100, Santa Clarita, CA 91355

State Senator Tony Strickland recently introduced legislation that would ban paying money to a spouse to be a consultant on a political campaign. In the past Tony Strickland took money from contributers and paid his wife to work for him. Elton Gallegly has been paying his wife to work on his campaigns for years.

Here is a quote from Timm Herdt's article on the legislation:

Westlake Village political activist Bob Larkin, who has loudly criticized the Stricklands for having paid each other's companies out of their campaign funds, said the practice should have always been illegal because it's already against the law for an elected official to transfer campaign contributions into their personal accounts.

"When it's illegal to move money from Point A to Point B, and you move it from Point A to Point C and then move it to Point B -- that's money laundering," he said. "If someone took a check from Chevron and put it in his personal account, he'd go to jail."

The proposal isn't likely to become law but it does show there is a difference between Elton Gallegly and Tony Strickland on this issue?

Who do you side with on this issue? Tony Strickland or Elton Gallegly?

Do you agree it would be a decent idea to post events that are open to the public on a legislators website?

Our elected representatives should have to take tough questions, with follow ups, from the public.

In blog news The Star has enabled me to allow TrackBacks on my entires. I will be using them for most future posts.

Also, when you leave a comment use the URL feature to drive traffic to your favorite blog, business, or cause.

Thanks for reading and commenting on my blog.

Does the uniform look familiar? Click on the image. Click here for the details of State Senator Tony Strickland's upcoming basketball season. Click here for a recent story of him playing basketball against a radio DJ.

Before the vote on the state budget Ventura County school district Superintendents held a meeting to discuss the impacts of different proposals on local schools. State Senator Tony Strickland, State Senator George Runner, and State Assembly Member Audra Strickland did not attend. State Senator Tony Strickland was at a card table event meeting constituents, State Senator George Runner didn't release a statement on why he didn't attend, and State Assembly Member Audra Strickland had to deal with a family emergency. None of them sent staff to sit in the audience and take notes.

Local Democrats have been calling on State Senator Tony Strickland (R), State Senator George Runner (R) and State Assembly Member Audra Strickland (R) to reschedule a meeting. Democratic elected officials that represent Ventura County in the legislature attended the last meeting .

Click on continue reading for the latest email from the Ventura County Democratic Party on the issue. Their website uses new techniques to help organize grassroots activists. Even if you aren't interested in this story the technology they are using is very promising for online organizing.

Obviously the Superintendents are advocates for public education but their goals and policy priorities don't always line up with those of the California Teachers Association (CTA). Meeting with the local superintendents would allow them to listen to what exactly is going to be cut in local schools under different budget proposals, including the impacts of the May ballot propositions. I spoke with State Senator Tony Strickland's Chief of Staff and he said he was against Proposition 1A and is split on the rest of the proposals. He supports taking money from mental health for the general fund but hasn't announced his position on the lottery proposal yet. I expect we will see his opinion on all of the proposals soon.

Not going to meetings like this reinforces the public perception that Republicans aren't concerned with public education as much as Democrats are concerned. The trio should take this opportunity to bring their ideas for education funding and reforms and see if they can convince some local education leaders to support them.

I don't know why Assembly Member Cameron Smyth was not included in the email blast even though he represents a major portion of Simi Valley.

Tony Strickland's Chief of Staff said they were in the process of scheduling another meeting with the Ventura County Superintendents that State Senator Tony Strickland will be attending. One goal of such meetings is to inform elected officials of the impacts of their choices. With that in mind it would be best before he announced his position on all of the May ballot propositions.

Click here for a past entry from Making Waves blogger Marie Lakin explaining in detail the frustration from many over the failure for local Republicans to schedule a meeting. Marie Lakin is a progressive Democrat that supported Hannah-Beth Jackson in the last election. But she is also a leader and fundraiser for local education causes.

I didn't call and ask Assembly Member Audra Strickland's office but I assume the meeting will include other area elected officials like the last meeting did.

I reported here that Audra Strickland opened an account to run against Secretary of State Debra Bowen.

Thanks to Timm Herdt for giving credit to me for breaking the story .

I don't expect her to run as Debra Bowen is a popular elected official without much controversy in the office of Secretary of State.

State Senator Tony Strickland does have time to ready his alternative energy proposals but the cynic in me wonders if they are going to go anywhere in the state legislature. If they are good ideas and can gain enough support to pass wouldn't the Democrats put up a slightly different version and pass theirs instead? Add to that highly limited budgetary options and the chances of passage don't seem strong. Am I too cynical?

Here is a video of State Senator Tony Strickland briefly explaining his legislation:

Tony Strickland spoke at a recent Tea Party protest where people were encouraged to send tea bags to their elected officials to complain over government spending and taxation. To see his Twitter page click on the images below.

The Santa Barbara Independent write a recap of the event. Here are a few key quotes:

"...believes the protest's aims should be seen without party bias. "It's the elites versus the masses," he said, articulating his reasons for protesting on Saturday. "It's not a partisan issue."

And...

Among the speakers on Saturday were California State Senators Tony Strickland and George Runner; Carpinteria City Councilmember and head of Santa Barbara County Taxpayers Association Joe Armendariz; Andrew Caldwell of COLAB (Coalition of Labor, Agriculture and Business); Lompoc Mayor Dick DeWees; screenwriter Andrew Klavan; and UCSB student Gabriela Murillo. Political singer Lloyd Marcus also contributed to the protest, singing songs attacking President Obama. "Mr. Obama," sang Marcus, "don't talk down to us!"

And

President Ronald Reagan was remembered and missed again and again as speakers cited him as the greatest president in memory. Reagan was quoted at the rally more than any other figure from American history.

So much for nonpartisan and aimed at bringing in people from across different political ideologies.

Click here for the rest of the story from the Santa Barbara Independent.

The Santa Barbara event was emceed by Tammy Bruce. Recently Tammy Bruce called Michelle Obama trash as she was ranting over Michelle Obama telling young African-Americans that she was ridiculed when she was young for trying hard in school.

Listen to the audio:

Sharing a stage with someone doesn't mean you agree with everything they have ever said. But that isn't the type of person he should associate with if he is serious on fulfilling his campaign platform of reaching across the aisle and working with the majority party to pass legislation. Bruce is bitter and will twist anything to make a nasty personal attack to sell a few more books or stay in the public spotlight for a few more minutes. Her appearance at this Tea Party shows that it really was a gathering of conservatives and far right activists, instead of the grassroots groups from all walks of life like they tried to pretend.

I remember people for the last eight years demanding civility and respect for President Bush because he was our president. Somehow many of those that demanded a high level of respect have lost their voices in less than a hundred days of a new presidency.

Tony, to show that you strongly disagree with the lack of class Tammy Bruce showed for the President you could let people know your feelings on this type of gutter politics. A press release, blog post, or news story might be too much, but could we get a Tweet on your Twitter account? If your basketball practice schedule is included I am sure you could find the time and room for a few supportive words for the first family.

You have more class than Tammy Bruce. Your Twitter update will be posted on my front page and will stay at the top for a week if you take me up on the offer.

Did any of my readers attend the Tea Party in Santa Barbara? How was it? Did you see mythical ACORN protesters? Who did you enjoy listening to the most?

On Friday State Senator Tony Strickland hosted an event in Camarillo at a Marie Calendar's to listen to his constituents and answer some of their questions. I posted a blog entry on it Thursday night, but some technical glitch made it disappear sometime on Friday.

Anyways, good job State Senator Strickland. I am glad when public officials make themselves open and accessible to the public by holding events like you did.

Why doesn't Rep. Gallegly hold more scheduled and open town hall type meetings?

If you see a comment you post disappear it might be the technical glitch. I might have already figured it out but I am not sure yet.

At the 4 PM News Break State Senator Tony Strickland was questioned over his opposition to removing the 2/3rds requirement to the state budget. He said something along the lines that without the 2/3rds requirement the tax increases in the state budget would have been even larger.

An Argument against the 2/3rds budget is that no party is held accountable. I would like the two parties to be competitive and offer the voters of California different visions that can create electoral coalitions. It currently seems like legislative Republicans are satisfied with their status in the legislature.

The Republicans against lowering the requirement seem to be speaking with the assumption that they are going to be in the minority. While that might currently be true, it isn't outside the realm of possibilities that they will retake the majority. If they do, they might have a different view on the 2/3rds requirement when they are trying to get a bunch of Democrats to vote for their budget when the Democrats are putting themselves out there as defenders of public safety or education.

It would be interesting to see a budget created by moderate Democrats that could attract the whole Republican caucus to cross over to support it. Most of this seems like an academic debate as the voters have expressed their preference for the 2/3rds majority vote many times. But with the frustration over the recent budget more people might be willing to listen to a convincing argument.

If you see any great arguments for or against the 2/3rds requirement leave a comment with a link. I am not convinced we need to change it, but I am willing to study the issue more. I have been reading some interesting posts on the subject over at Calitics.com.

Click on continue reading to see the provocative and controversial "Heads on a stick" graphic on John and Ken's website.

The battle over the budget might soon be over if the big 5 ( The Governor, and the leaders of both parties in the State Assembly and State Senate) announce their compromise budget as expected within the next few days. But the interest groups, activists, unions, talk radio host and others are putting pressure on legislators to pass a budget of their liking. The plan as of now is to release the compromise budget and then vote on it before too much pressure could be brought against our legislators to abandon the compromise and to stick by their respective constituencies.

Locally, a group of educators, Democratic activists, and PTA leaders rallied outside of State Senator Tony Strickland's office asking him to compromise and help pass a budget. To see pictures sent in to me from that event click on continue reading. Opponents of State Senator Tony Strickland's have begun to circulate "Phony Tony Bucks" in an effort to blame him for the lack of progress on the state budget. State Senator Tony Strickland has not given any sign that he would compromise his no new taxes pledge, even with all of the pressure from different groups and his own governor.

But if State Senator Tony Strickland was thinking of going along with any compromise that raised taxes he would have to deal with conservatives on his side and the outrage breaking his pledge not to raise taxes would cause. So far if the contest between the two sides is over who has the most over the top graphics The John and Ken show has a pretty wild page showing Republican legislators heads on sticks and other objects for considering raising taxes.

If there is a compromise I don't expect State Senator Tony Strickland will be voting for it. But I am curious to see which Republicans vote for the compromise.

Click here for the website of John and Ken of KFI AM 640 Talk Radio.

Click here for my earlier coverage of the rally.

Click here for a report from Marie Lakin who attended the rally.

Ventura County Supervisor Peter Foy is said to be thinking of running for governor according to a recent article from Ventura County Star report Timm Herdt and other sources. He has a few people mentioned as opponents in recent polls including Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, former US House of Representative Member and State Controller Tom Campbell, former Ebay CEO and Mitt Romney/John McCain campaigns leader Meg Whitman.

Do you think he will run? I think there is a chance he is leaving it as a possibility to build up his name recognition and attract attention. I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up endorsing another candidate and then ran with their endorsement of him for State Insurance Commissioner. Even though in the past Peter Foy has used "farmer" as a ballot designation I would think that with his background in insurance he could run with that experience as a major issue. If he ran for governor I would expect his past support for very conservative candidates and policies out of the mainstream to be the center of any strategy against him. But with all of the problems in the state voters might not be interested in discussions over the wild things Alan Keyes has said over the years on topics from gay people, to the Democratic Party, to personal attacks on Barack Obama.

Click here for a more detailed post about his support for former Presidential candidate Alan Keyes.

Whatever he runs for would leave an open seat on the County Board of Supervisors representing Simi Valley, Moorpark, and some surrounding areas. Peter Foy has said int he past he wasn't planning to make a career out of being on the Board of Supervisors and there has been discussion he would only serve one term. A possible candidate to replace him is termed out State Assembly Member Audra Strickland. While that is a likely scenario she did open up an account to run for Secretary of State recently.

What other candidates do you think are possible in this game of musical chairs? Any chance Jim Dantona will run again if it was an open seat? What about former Supervisor Judy Mikels? City Council Member Barbra Williamson ran before and might be interested. I also see Moorpark City Council Member Keith Millhouse as an intriguing candidate. What candidates would you like to see on your ballot?

Click here for Timm Herdt's article and here for his blog post.

Click here for an entry on State Assembly member Audra Strickland opening an account to run for Secretary of State.

Making Waves blogger Marie Lakin went to the protest in front of State Senator Tony Strickland's office today and has posted a blog entry describing the event.

Click here to read her blog.

In her post she said:

As for Mr. Strickland and staff, they were nowhere to be seen. Not surprising after Strickland and his wife both bypassed a recent meeting with all the county superintendents. Another meeting is planned soon and both legislators have been invited.

For those of you that were upset State Senator Tony Strickland wasn't able to make the last meeting to discuss what the various spending proposals would do to local schools there should be a meeting soon. Marie, will the other legislators from the Democratic side also be invited?

The problem seems to be the two sides won't negotiate. How are they to compromise and work together if they don't even all meet together? I would like to see them all meet together and have a video so we can listen to our legislators explain their reasons for failing to compromise thus far.

Thanks for covering the event.

There is a rally called for tomorrow ( Thursday ) afternoon outside State Senator Tony Strickland's office calling on him to compromise to help get a budget passed. I don't know how effective it is to rally outside the office of a State Senator that was too busy to meet with local superintendents recently ( Marie Lakin also pointed out he didn't send a staff member in his place to take notes ) and has already said he isn't going to compromise on anything that would involve raising taxes. But PTSA members including teachers plan to rally to put pressure on him to compromise.

Here is the press release:

Republicans Need to Stop Blocking the Budget

Spread the word. Please try to get at least 10 people from each school in Ventura County. It is important that you bring your children. Kids count! We cannot stand silently by and let our Senator, Governor and Legislators think the proposed cuts are okay with us!