Tag Archives: karen bass

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Legislative Leaders Given Kennedy Center “Profile in Courage” Award

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I’ll have to admit, I’m a bit shocked by this:

Boston MA – The four members of California’s legislative leadership who in 2009 led a bi-partisan effort in a bid to close the state’s devastating budget deficit have been named this year’s recipients of the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award™.

Dave Cogdill, California State Senator and former Senate Republican Leader; Mike Villines, California State Assembly Member and former Assembly Republican Leader; Darrell Steinberg, California State Senator and Democratic Senate President pro Tem; and Karen Bass, California State Assembly Member, and former Democratic Speaker of the Assembly, were chosen in recognition of the political courage each demonstrated in standing up to the extraordinary constituent and party pressure they faced while working with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to address California’s severe financial crisis. (Press Release)

Look, I don’t want to take anything away from the enormous difficulties that these four faced in political terms. Cogdill and Villines were villified by leading voices on their own side (ie…John and Ken heads on a pike), while Bass and Steinberg were never going to get those votes. As for the Democratic leaders, well, Democrats are in a really tough position with the supermajority constraints.  It looks like they are working to do something

I suppose much of this is for history to answer.  But I will say this as somebody who worked to oppose Prop 1A personally and professionally, the February deal that was rejected on May 19 last year, we are still on the same road to shock doctrining that we were on in January 2009.  Nothing has changed on that front.

So, courage? Perhaps, if you mean courage in that, courage to keep the lights on sort of way.  But if we are to truly build a sustainable future for California, the heaping amounts of courage that will be required from our leaders will make this look like tiny in comparison.  In San Francisco terms, they had to jaywalk on Front Street.  We need leaders willing to crawl over Highway 101 in rush hour. Blindfolded.  On one leg.

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Bass and Newsom Each Move Forward On Campaigns

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Election news never stops, and this being an election year, don’t expect a slowdown any time soon.  So, why not combine two of the developments?

First, Speaker Bass made her entry into the congressional race to replace Diane Watson official.

“This is a very, very humbling moment,” Bass told community leaders and supporters who joined her at her Mid-Wilshire-area office. “I am so proud to announce I’m going to throw my hat into the ring.”

If elected, Bass said, she’ll have “very big shoes to fill.”

Watson, who announced last week that she would not run for reelection after 35 years in public office, said she was pleased to back Bass.

“I 100% — maybe 300% — endorse Karen Bass,” said Watson, 76, whose Los Angeles-area 33rd Congressional District is among the most diverse in the nation. (LA Times)

Last week, Watson declined to endorse anybody in the race. It was a bit of surprise, but perhaps they just wanted to wait to make the announcement official this week.  With the current field, Bass appears to be the big front-runner. Nobody else has really made noise about entering the race, but Congressional districts only come up so often, so you never know.

Now, to SF Mayor Gavin Newsom.  When he left the race for Governor, he was struggling with money, paying Garry South $20K per month, and becoming increasingly unsettled. But apparently, he’s interested in Lite Guv:

Nothing official yet, but San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom  is putting together a campaign team for a possible run for lieutenant governor and will probably submit a ballot statement today to go in the state voter guide. (SF Chronicle)

As Matier and Ross point out, he was literally running from SF reporters at the end of his Gov campaign. But, Gavin Newsom is addicted to politics, and leaving the game is more easily said than done.

I’m still not sure if Newsom will actually enter the race, but if he wins, expect all hell to break out in San Francisco.

Election 2010

CA-33: Will Karen Bass Go To Congress?

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That’s the report coming out of a meeting yesterday in Southern California with Diane Watson, who currently represents the 33rd District in Congress. A Swing State Project user diary from someone who attended the meeting, augmented by our own BruinKid who also was at the meeting and wrote about it in the comments to yesterday’s open thread, explains the story:

Just left a CA delegation meeting with Cong. Diane Watson was quietly telling Members that she will not be running for re-election.

Word is that Former CA Assembly Speaker Karen Bass will immediately enter the race following Watson’s announcement.  Further proof of this plan — Bass is scheduled to be in DC next week for a series of meet and greet events with potential financial supporters.

This would be a welcome development. Karen Bass brought a lot of progressive potential to the Speaker’s office in 2008, but ran immediately into the brick wall of the state budget crisis, the 2/3rds rule, and the breakdown of California’s system of government, all of which frustrated her agenda.

Term limits mean we’ll never know how Bass would have taken those lessons and applied them to state government. But if the reports are true, she would be able to bring the experience of trying to revive an economy and protect the most vulnerable people in a truly broken political system to another institution, the US Congress, that is quickly going the way of the California Legislature in terms of Republican obstruction and inability to properly function.

Bass would certainly be both more progressive and more activist than Watson, who has not been very visible in her district in recent years. Bass would be a strong advocate for federal aid to state budgets, as she’s seen the impact of budget cuts on core services.

The filing deadline is February 16th, just over two weeks from now, so we will soon learn whether these reports are indeed accurate. If so, the California Congressional delegation and the people of the 33rd District will be getting a good progressive leader to represent them in Congress.

The only downside, and this isn’t Bass’s fault, is that it shows California government, once regarded as the nation’s best, is experiencing a worsening brain drain. Bass would join former Lt. Governor John Garamendi in going to Congress, and many other legislators are looking for more stable positions in local government. Term limits in particular have eviscerated our government, making it almost impossible for anyone to get the kind of experience and knowledge that is needed to help fix our ever-worsening economic and political crisis.

In some ways, the Legislature is becoming a kind of political graduate school, where those interested in public service go to learn the craft of representative government and then scramble to find a position in a tight job market that has a glut of folks competing for positions. That’s not the kind of governance that the nation’s largest state and one of the world’s largest and most important economies needs.

Conservatives would claim that term limits are doing their job and making it difficult for “career politicians” to hog elected offices, and enables citizen representation. Not only has that not been the actual outcome of term limits, the notion that it produces citizen government is particularly absurd given the fact that huge sums of money are still needed to win a state legislative race. The same conservatives who claim term limits are needed to produce citizen government also support the Citizens United decision that allows almost unlimited corporate spending to influence our elections.

In short, while community organizers like Karen Bass are pushed out of the legislature just as they’ve come to understand the nature of our problems and have started to envision lasting solutions, the only “citizens” who actually have lasting power and influence in this state are the large corporations. Once again it becomes clear that to the right-wing, feudalism is the ultimate goal, not democracy. Power and representation should only go to the wealthy, and the rest of us should be grateful for the privilege of serving them.

Anyhow, rant over. I wish Karen Bass well should she decide to run for Congress. The House will be a better place with her in it.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Budget

Arnold’s Tiff with DC is Unproductive

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Speaker Bass has been put in some tough situations as Speaker, and I have disagreed with her on several decisions. However, on this much, we agree:

In an interview, Assembly Speaker Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles) criticized the governor’s tone and called the spat “unfortunate.” She said she too would like to change federal formulas and obtain more aid but would do it in “a collaborative relationship with the California delegation.”

“I don’t think he’s doing it in a way that strengthens the relationship,” she said.  (LA Times)

The latest salvo in the back and forth was a letter that Arnold sent Wednesday pointing to some comments that DiFi made…in 2003.  The comments focused on formulas for medicaid and other federally mandated state expenses. Of course, seven years is a lifetime (or two) in politics. Why, back then, Arnold was talking about blowing up the boxes. Since then, well, boxes in place, walls even higher.

This confrontation with DC seems to have taken on a life of its own, without any real purpose.

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Kevin De Leon drops out, leaving John A. Perez to be the Next Speaker

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Apparently, some sort of deal was reached, and Asm. Kevin De Leon will be backing down from his attempt at Assembly Speaker.  That leaves freshman John A. Perez as the lone Democratic candidate.

Assemblyman John A. Perez’s final opponent has bowed out, setting the stage for the first-term Democrat to be selected Assembly speaker today — the first openly gay man to hold the post.

After behind-closed-door talks this week with Perez and other political leaders, Assemblyman Kevin de Leon agreed to bow out and is expected to nominate Perez in an Assembly Democratic Caucus today, Capitol sources said.(SacBee)

While this was a bit more heated and public than you would like to see, it is a good sign that the caucus was ultimately able to weather this storm without bringing the fight to the floor.  A vote is expected very soon, with Bass serving some sort of transition period.

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Speaker Election This Week

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While John Perez allegedly has 29 votes for the speakership within the Democratic caucus, there has been no official vote of either the Democratic caucus or the Assembly as a whole.  That’s going to change this week:

Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, is planning to hold a vote to elect her replacement on the Assembly floor this week. The two front-runners for the job – Assemblyman John Perez, D-Los Angeles, and Kevin DeLeon, D-Los Angeles — spoke for about 20 minutes this weekend, and were set to meet again today to discuss the race.

The vote would likely be a voice vote, and could come Wednesday or Thursday, as the house reconvenes to discuss education policy. (Capitol Weekly)

The two leading candidates had a conversation over the weekend, and Mayor Villaraigosa is trying to keep the peace amongst the warring LA factions over this race.  The troubling thing is that nobody really knows how this is going to play out.

Also of note, it looks like Jared Huffman of Marin is quite close to Perez, as the CW article relies on Huffman for the Perez perspective.  I don’t know if that means anything, but perhaps Huffman would have a more visible role in a Perez speakership.

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Forget 41

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You might have noticed that we’ve been talking about this whole Speaker’s race thing. First there were like 4 potential candidates, then two, Felipe Fuentes and Kevin De Leon, and then 3, with the addition of John A. Perez.  And then, Speaker Bass announced that she would be the 29th vote for a future Speaker Perez.

Yet things can never be that easy. This is California, and these are Democrats.

First there was the poll about Gil Cedillo challenging Perez for the assembly district. And then, over the last three days or so, there’s been a discussion of the number 41. Because for some reason, the fact that Speaker Bass is #29, that a consensus in the Caucus has been reached, that’s all now insufficient.  41 has been popping up in whispers around the Capitol, in random hints in quotes in newspapers and on the web.

41 is a powerful number. It’s the number that seperates Democrats from ceding power to the Republicans in the Assembly. It’s the number that allows progressives to maintain whatever semblance of power. It’s the number that keeps vows from being made to Republicans that Democrats will have to maintain.

It’s the number that represents the line that Democrats haven’t crossed.  Sure, it’s been flirted with, and Willie Brown crossed it in the 90s to take the Speakership from the Republicans.

There is only one way that the number 41 becomes relevant, if we let this become bigger than it should. If we let personal ambition and personal grievances become larger than what is best for the caucus. And more importantly, if we let what’s best for the state take a back seat.

Democrats are the Assembly Majority. The Assembly Majority Caucus chooses the Speaker.  The same as it ever was, the same as it should be. The Member who has the majority of the Majority becomes the Speaker. Forget 41. 26 is the number that matters.

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Bass Takes Heat for Speakership Race

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Since Willie Brown was termed out, the Assembly Speakership has been pretty much an LA thing.  The LA members, and some other muckety-mucks, particularly now the former speaker and current mayor, get together to decide who will be the next speaker. While it might not actually be that simple and quick, it is the gist of it.  So, people knew it was pretty much over when Speaker Karen Bass said this:

“I really very deeply believe that John will be a speaker that reflects the strong Democratic values that brought all of us here,” Bass said. “The momentum is such that it’s time for a resolution.” (SacBee)

Of course, the other big competitor, Kevin De Leon, still hasn’t conceded anything as he attempts to get 26 votes within the caucus despite Bass’s remark that she was Perez’s “29th vote.”  

During such a contentious process, there are always going to be some hard feelings.  It’s hard to imagine it any other way, such is the system that term limits has given us. Willie Brown’s days as Ayatollah of the Assembly are over, and the consistency that Willie provided with his iron grip of the office are also gone. And pretty much everytime, there’s a story like this:

Hurt feelings and allegations of treachery are de rigeur when it comes to the politics of the speakership. But the story of Assemblyman John Perez’s rise as a candidate for speaker reveals the little talked about Machiavellian side of Karen Bass, a speaker who is often cited for her calm personal demeanor and affable political style.

Bass, D-Los Angeles, came out publicly in support of Perez’s speakership bid Wednesday, telling the press about her decision before the caucus had formally chosen a new leader. But Bass’s press conference has angered some Assembly Democrats, who complained that they had the idea of a Perez speakership forced upon them with no time to coalesce as a group. (CapWeekly)

In the end, everybody will move past this, and this will be just one more little private score in a town full of scores to settle.  One can only hope that the bitterness doesn’t extend to policy and that the caucus can move forward with the business of the state. I am sure this will happen in due time, but with a pending budget battle, moping time is a luxury we may not have.

Diaries & Misc.

Yes We Can: Perez In California = Progress for the Nation

John Perez is not a household name. Yet. In the coming days, Perez may well make history, becoming the first openly gay speaker of any state legislature in the United States.  

This, from the California that narrowly voted to undo same sex marriage.  This from the same California that faces as much as $40 billion in deficits in 2010.  This from the same California that has a minority majority population, but where Latinos are fast becoming the majority.  This from the same California that used to provide the best education on the planet to all and now can not graduate the majority of most high school students in Los Angeles.

John Perez is  California.  He’s openly gay.  He’s Latino.  He’s a son of Los Angeles.  He’s an intellectual, a strategist, an environmentalist, a labor leader.  He’s an organizer, a skilled consensus-builder, a unifier and a stunningly disarming public speaker.  John is that rare elected official that we know will hold the public interest at heart.  

The only real question is why John would want the job?  If he becomes Speaker of the California State Assembly, he’ll face the worst problems this state has seen since the depression or even before. But he wants the job — and I can’t imagine a better leader in Sacramento to take it on. John has all of the qualities, and from what I hear, most of the support necessary to win. If the Democrats in the assembly unify behind John and avoid the “speaker wars” that have often marred the period since term limits passed, he will become the speaker.

I’ve known John for nearly six years.  We met in March 2003, when I was a relatively inexperienced but highly motivated supporter of Howard Dean’s candidacy for the White House.  I had, for years, been involved in politics, but never so deeply as Dean’s inspiring campaign to reverse the direction of our country.  

At the suggestion of a mutual friend, John met with me at  a restaurant at Universal City Walk right after one of the first Dean “Meetups” that would propel that campaign forward. He sat with me, very patiently explaining the who and the what of California labor and progressive politics.  He did not need to do that; he could easily have looked at this relative neophyte in state politics and said, “if this is what Dean has to offer, I’m out of here.”   But he did not.  And he was always there to help, after I became Chair of Dean’s presidential campaign in California and then went on to found the Courage Campaign.

California rarely has the opportunity to place the assembly in the hands of a speaker for more than a year or two.  John would follow Karen Bass, who has lived through one of the worst imaginable times in our history.  Karen is a true progressive, and she supports John.  So do I.  And while these leadership battles seem very arcane and insider, it’s time for all of us in this state who support progress to understand that we have a stake in who leads our assembly.

In the next few days, John Perez may well make history.  And, as progress marches on, he will eventually live in a state that allows him to marry the man he loves.

(Cross posted on Huffington Post)

Rick Jacobs is the Founder and Chair of the Courage Campaign.