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Nov 12 Open Thread

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I (Brian) am looking forward to the CDP’s E-Board meeting; Robert will be there as well. If you are there, be sure to say hi!  Now, to the links.

• The FDIC and the state shut down United Commerical Bank. The bank caters to the Chinese community, and has been taken over by East-West Bank. East-West serves the same community from its Pasadena HQ. As a side note, United Commercial’s logo was a triangle with the Chinese character for luck.  When turned upside down, the character means uncertainty. The triangles are now upside down at many of the branches and ads around the city.

• Conveniently enough, all three GOP guv candidates are calling for Jerry Brown to appoint an independent investigator into the secret recording of conversations with reporters. I guess it doesn’t hurt that the media loves to report on itself and that the GOP candidates get to “stand up” to the likely Dem. nominee.

• Not sure what to say about this, but as the Lobbyists pretty much rule California, here’s your “meritocracy” in the form of Capitol Weekly’s Lobbyists Awards.

• CalBuzz asks if Fiorina’s strategy of ignoring Chuck DeVore is going to blow up in her face. At any rate, the GOP Sen primary should be fun.

• CalBuzz also found the video to the right of Rep. Loretta Sanchez’s purse on Politico.

4 thoughts on “Nov 12 Open Thread”

  2. in Riverside County, with the mayor of San Jacinto and several councilmembers all being indicted in a money laundering scheme.

    District Attorney Rod Pacheco said the scheme centered on Councilman James Ayres and his efforts to avoid political contribution limits and mandatory disclosure requirements during his unsuccessful campaign for state Assembly in 2006.

    The investigation started in April 2008 when prosecutors got a “relatively small tip,” Pacheco said. A year and a half later, the probe had expanded to include nine people, including some of Ayres’ friends, family members and business contacts, who were charged in a 155-count grand jury indictment last week.

    The investigation was so big that there were 32 search warrants and the grand jury proceedings took almost two months, Pacheco said.

    “The bribery amounted to hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, gifts and real estate,” he said. “I’ve never seen anything with this breadth or depth in political corruption in our county or the state.”

    ….

    Four out of five council members were charged, but the fifth, who was elected in November, cooperated with investigators and did nothing wrong, prosecutors said.

    The defendants, including Nancy Jo Ayres, Mayor Dale Stubblefield, Vice Mayor John Mansperger, Councilman James Potts and developer Stephen Holgate, face from seven to 27 years in prison if convicted on all 56 felonies and 99 misdemeanors.

    Ayres ran in the GOP primary for the 65th Assembly district, which Paul Cook (R) won.  This is gonna create havoc in San Jacinto, isn’t it?  I mean, basically, the entire city council may be going to jail!  Yeesh.

  3. love that video! though I wish they’d use a player that lets you fast forward. She has a great sense of humor.  

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