Even at 100 degrees Farenheit, the Coachella Valley is gorgeous.  Here’s a pic from a house party for Manuel Pérez, Democratic candidate for the 80th AD.

As I mentioned earlier, I support Pérez because he is the strongest, best qualified candidate of a good set of Democrats.  As dday notes, this House seat leans Dem:

AD-80 (Bonnie Garcia)

Democratic: 45.59%
Republican: 37.37%

Follow me over the flip for more photos and a breakdown of why Manuel Pérez is the best Democrat to represent the 80th, and the most likely to beat the predicted Republican candidate, Palm Springs police chief, Gary Jeandron. 

Here’s another photo of Pérez speaking to supporters in Bermuda Dunes. 

Here’s a Map of the CA 80th AD.

Now, about the primary challengers:
The other Democrats in this race are Greg Pettis, Cathedral City councilman, and Rick Gonzales, Wells Fargo investment banker.  Both are great guys.  If Manuel Pérez didn’t match their strengths and up the ante considerably, I’d probably be stumping for one of them.  (A recent addition, Gilbert Ramirez, Jr. just jumped in, but I know little about him yet.  The little I do know tells me he’s no threat to Pérez.)   But as I noted in a previous diary, we have a good farm team of liberals growing in this district now, and I feel strongly that Pérez is the best in this race.

In Greg Pettis’s case, he represents a solid vote for gay rights and labor.  However, Pérez is a lifelong advocate for all civil rights, including protection for gay students, and you don’t get more pro labor than Pérez, whose UFW parents met working in the fields right here in the 80th district.  Also, Perez is a married Latino family man who is both prochoice and pro gay rights.  That’s a powerful combo for our advocate in Sacramento.  Greg’s been a fixture of Democratic politics in the area for some time, but he’s lost this race before.  Pérez is new to politics and offers a very compelling new option. 

Rick Gonzalez has a great background in D.C., working with Bill Clinton and Al Gore years back, but he doesn’t have Pérez’s experience and track record of working for social justice here in the 80th.  Rick has roots here, but so does Pérez, deep and broad roots.  As my initial Pérez diary indicates, Manuel Pérez served Riverside and Imperial Counties his entire career.  Other than short absences to attend Harvard and to work in Sacramento, Pérez has been bringing healthcare and education to the 80th as a nonprofit manager and CVUSD trustee.  Rick has excellent businesss experience with Wells Fargo, but so does Pérez, with local government and nonprofit healthcare.  The biggest difference: Gonzalez doesn’t have Manuel Pérez’s support from labor.

Finally, Steve Clute, the previous Democratic candidate for the CA 80th AD who garnered 49.57 % of the last vote, endorsed Pérez. 

At the house party, Pérez talked about the interaction between California’s schools, our prisons, and our social services, and how they don’t work cooperatively.  He knows what it is to be the at-risk-youth, the teacher, and the policy wonk.  He knows it from experience acquired here, and he can express it equally well in the salons of Rancho Mirage y las iglesias de Coachella.  This is the candidate we’ve been waiting for.

About Gary Jeandron, I hear he’s well-liked in Palm Springs where he’s been police chief for some time.  However, this Desert Sun article about veteran volunteers getting an unceremonious boot from the Citizens on Patrol program doesn’t speak well for Jeandron’s judgement.  Nor does his willingness to have intelligent design taught in Palm Springs public schools, according to this Press Enterprise article about his school board race. 

Riverside and Imperial Counties deserve a strong, compassionate, smart progressive for a change.  And the California Assembly needs all the Democrats we can get!  Please help us get there – come pay a visit to my ActBlue page for Manuel Pérez.

Crossposted from Daily Kos

“This is the first time we could quantify what the arts means to Laguna Beach,” said Nancy Beverage, chairwoman of the city’s Arts Commission. “It’s important so we don’t kill the goose that laid the egg.”

And what a mighty goose this is. The OC Register is reporting today that Laguna Beach leads the nation in money spent on the arts. People from across the nation and around the world come to Laguna Beach to enjoy the artistic spirit here. And nearly $55 million was pumped into Laguna Beach’s economy in 2005, thanks to its art scene. Art truly is the economic lifeblood of Laguna Beach.

So just how important is art in Laguna Beach? How is the art shaping the local economy? How is it shaping the city?

Follow me after the flip for more…

Laguna Beach has a long history of artistic creativity. Ever since Norman St. Claire first abandoned the San Francisco fog to document Laguna’s natural beauty on canvass in 1903, art has shaped and molded the community in Laguna Beach. In 1918, the town’s first gallery opened (now the Laguna Art Museum). When Laguna Beach became the first community in South Orange County to incorporate as a city in 1927, it did so as an artists’ colony that was already becoming world-renowned.

And in 1932, out of the economic disaster of the Great Depression, the Festival of Arts emerged. The artists in town were just looking for a way to capitalize off the Olympic games in nearby Los Angeles. Instead they started a great tradition, and a real cash cow for the now booming arts colony.

But in the 1960s, a group of hippie artists were getting frustrated with all the rigid tradition and conservative conformity of the Festival of Arts. In 1966, the young artists staged a revolt against the local art extablishment and their jury system that excluded so many talented local artists. They began their own art festival out of protest, and out of this protest the Sawdust Festival was born. And now, this is one of the top five art festivals in the nation.

Clearly, Laguna knows how to capitalize off its art. And the tradition goes on today. From The OC Register:

Today, the 9-square-mile city with about 7 miles of coastline has about 90 art galleries […]

The findings of the study will help provide the city and its residents with a substantial way to measure the value of Laguna Beach’s artistic community, said John Hoover, member of the board of directors for the Laguna Beach Festival of Arts.

According to the report, “Arts and Economic Prosperity III,” art-related spending in Laguna Beach contributes about $2.7 million in tax revenue to the state and about $2.4 million to the city.

In Laguna Beach, a person attending an artistic event spends an average of $55.41, according to the report. That is about twice the national average of $27.79 spent per person.

Most of the money spent in Laguna Beach pays for meals, lodging and souvenirs, the study said.

Wow, so the tradition continues. Laguna Beach has now made its art into a tourist magnet. Laguna is the ultimate destination for people who enjoy some aesthetic pleasure with their travel. But is all this commercial success killing the artistic spirit?

Is the artistic spirit dying in the midst of all the wealth, all the excess, and all the episodes of that MTV reality show? Is Laguna Beach starting to act too much like its snooty sister next door? Maybe Laguna has become too prosperous for its creative well-being?

No wonder why even the Chamber of Commerce President has called for more affordable housing for local artists and their galleries:

As the Laguna continues to grow and tourism thrives, the city must preserve its artistic community, [Mayor Toni] Iseman said.

As housing costs rise, the city should consider providing affordable housing to artists, some of whom are being priced out, said Dave Sanford, president of the Laguna Beach Chamber of Commerce. Galleries also need affordable space.

“When the city decides where to invest money, they need to consider this,” Sanford said.

Yes, perhaps Laguna beach should ensure that the artists are not priced out of the arts colony. Perhaps as the city considers new development downtown, the city should ensure that these artists’ lofts are spaces that young local artists can actually afford. Laguna has been so wise in making a living off its art. The colony certainly cannot afford to ultimately allow past success to choke future artistic endeavors.

After all if the art is gone, then ultimately the economy is dead. And more importantly, the creative spirit dies as the art leaves. Laguna’s history of artistic passion and astounding success is just too precious to be lost forever.

(Also see OC Blog and The Liberal OC)

Why is Orange County Supervisor Janet Nguyen evading the law? This is a question that all of us are asking. This is a question that bloggers on the left, right, and center are all asking. This is a question that Janet Nguyen is forcing us to ask so long as she refuses to file a report on those secret campaign contributions that violated Orange County’s campaign finance law. And so long as Janet Nguyen does not file this report, we will all be counting the days that she has not filed.

Even though Martin Wisckol began reporting on this matter at The OC Register’s Total Buzz blog, Janet Nguyen has not taken notice, and she has not reported. Even though Mike Lawson has begun counting the days that Janet Nguyen has evaded county law at The Liberal OC, Janet Nguyen has not taken notice, and she has not reported. Even though Matt Cunningham has spoken out about this at OC Blog, Janet Nguyen has not taken notice, and she has not reported. Oh yes, and even though we at Calitics have turned our eyes to Orange County for this, Janet Nguyen has not taken notice, and she has not reported. So what will it take for Janet Nguyen to report these contributions? How many more days must we count?

Why won’t Janet Nguyen come clean? Why won’t she report these contributions, and report of her returning this money? Who were the donors who gave to her legal defense fund? When did these donors give? And just how much did these donors give? So long as Janet Nguyen does not obey the law and report these contributions, she only invites us all to ask these questions, and she invites us to count the days that she has not reported.

What excuse does Janet Nguyen have? Why can’t she fill out the paperwork about the three donors to her legal defense fund? Why can’t she follow county law? As she is now a county lawmaker, she should be setting a good example. She needs to file a report. And until she reports, we will be counting the days.

So if Janet Nguyen can’t even follow one county ordinance on campaign contributions, then how can we trust her with this and other laws? This is why left, right, and center all agree that Janet Nguyen needs to come clean. We have waited 53 days, and Janet Nguyen still has not complied with the law. And until she complies, we will be counting the days.

Sen. Don Perata’s advisory “Out of Iraq” proposed ballot measure has cleared its first hurdle by passing the Senate.  (LA Times).

“That war is costing California dearly,” said Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata (D-Oakland), who sponsored the measure and noted that 340 soldiers from the state had died so far.

The resolution is an advisory measure that voters would consider on the presidential primary ballot next February. The proposal is expected to be approved by the Assembly, but Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has not said publicly whether he will sign it.  Democrats depicted Perata’s nonbinding measure — a rarity in California’s century of direct democracy — as a way to prod President Bush to give up on the increasingly unpopular war. They decried the conflict as a waste of money that could have been better spent on domestic concerns.

For those at the California Democratic Party, you might recall this measure from the debacle with the quorum call vote.  You see this was the resolution that originally proceeded through the resolutions committee, and when there were suggested changes, the thing blew up. The quorum call was made, and the rest is history.

But there is a lesson in local progressive action in this story as well. Follow me over the flip…

You see, while this would be the first state to have such an advisory measure, it is not the first such ballot measure in the state. You see back in November 2004, San Francisco progressives placed Measure N, a measure that announced withdrawal as the preferred policy of San Francisco. 

Supervisor Chris Daly and his progressive allies today plan to put a “Bring the Troops Home” resolution on the November ballot, timing the move to coincide with the Monday handover of power in Iraq.

“The federal government should take immediate steps to end the U.S. occupation of Iraq and bring our troops safely home,” the single-page Daly resolution reads, in part.

Municipalities in the Bay Area and around the country have put their elected legislatures on record opposing the Iraq occupation, but San Francisco would be the first to put the issue directly to the voters.

“I think the City and County of San Francisco needs to weigh in on the atrocities that the Bush-Cheney-Ashcroft bunch have really committed,” said Supervisor Jake McGoldrick, who with Daly, Matt Gonzalez and Tom Ammiano plans to sign his name to send the resolution to the electorate. “They have made us unfortunately one of the most hated countries in the world right now and it’s very sad. This didn’t have to be.

“I think San Francisco voters will undoubtedly pass this thing with an overwhelming majority. Thank God, thank God.” (SF Examiner 6/29/2004)

That measure passed with the support of nearly 2/3 of San Francisco voters. 63.33% to be exact, but I’m imagining that would be higher today. Substantially higher.

And now, a similar measure is coming to the California ballot.  But progressives, specifically, Supervisors Daly, McGlodrick, Gonzalez, and Ammiano,  led the way.  You see we aren’t called progressives for nothing, we lead, we um…progress. So, things come full circle sometimes, and this just shows how important getting out and leading on the issues of the day is for progressives.

So, good work Don Perata, congrats on following the lead of San Francisco’s crraaazzy progressive Supervisors.

Thanks to Frank Russo for informing us that Sheila Kuehl’s SB 840, the single-payer health care plan which is the the result of years of work and refining, has passed the California State Senate for the second straight year.  The mostly party-line vote was 22-14, with only Lou Correa voting with the Republicans against the bill.

Speaker Nunez and President Pro Tem Perata have health care bills up for votes, likely tomorrow, that are expected to pass.  Then the other chamber gets a crack at them all, then there will be some process of negotiation and merging of all of these health care-related bills resulting in whatever the Governor and the Legislative leaders decide is an acceptable final product.  It’s great that, by virtue of continuing to push SB 840 and not backing down, Sen. Kuehl will be in that room for those negotiations.  So this is not a fool’s errand, it’s a vital step to continue to push this state toward universal single payer healthcare and show the nation that it can be done.

On the flip for more legislative news…

In other news that really warms my heart, Sen. Gloria Romero’s SB 110, providing for an independent sentencing commission that will have the power to recommend sentencing guidelines, the TRUE way to reform our broken prison system, passed the State Senate.  Better yet, a companion bill passed the Assembly, so it looks like this sentencing commission proposal has a very good chance of winding up on the Governor’s desk.  Lou Correa again was the only Democratic Senator to vote against the bill.  I sense a pattern.  But it passed, and that’s spectacular news.  Hopefully the final bill will give the commission some teeth to actually mandate sentencing reform, and take the process out of the hands of “tough on crime” legislators.

And the Senate also voted to put the nonbinding Out of Iraq resolution on the February 2008 ballot.  I only really appreciate this in the sense that I’d love to see the Governor have to sign it.  Will he protect his party or “let the people decide?”  Other than that, I’m apathetic toward it, and I do believe it’s a stalking horse to get more Democrats to the polls in February, who may be more disposed to approving the term limits initiative that would allow the Democratic leadership to stay in office.