Ventura City Councilman Bill Fulton, a noted writer and commentator on statewide land-use planning issues, wrote a column out this week in his newsletter, California Planning and Development Report, predicting that perhaps the "stars are aligned" for the state to begin to assert a role in growth policy.

Fulton notes that the subject has been somewhere on the edges of the radar screen for 16 years, but nothing ever comes of it. He suggests the astrological alignment might now work in its favor because it's an issue of interest to new Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata and also to Business, Housing and Transportation Secretary Sunne McPeak. The unknown, Fulton wrote, is whether administration officials can get the issue on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's "short list."

The key administration position in the area of growth policy is the director of the Office of Planning and Research, who presumably would have to be the one to get the issue on the governor's short list. The position that was unfilled at the time Fulton wrote the column.

On Wednesday, Schwarzenegger announced his appointment: Sean Walsh, a career political operative that no one will ever accuse of being a policy wonk. On the surface, it appeared to be a purely political appointment that rewards Walsh with a $123,000-a-year-job. Walsh played a key role in the recall campaign by taking the lead in an aggressive campaign of damage control after the Los Angeles Times published a long story detailing allegations of groping lodged against Schwarzenegger by a number of women.

I called Fulton yesterday to inform him of the appointment. His response: "I'm going to retract my column."