Roger Dickinson for Assembly

Six years ago I worked hard for Dave Jones against Roger Dickinson in the Democratic primary to fill Sacramento's assembly district. I argued that Dave was a real progressive and that despite Dickinson's length of public service, Dave would be the more reliable vote and the better, smarter, more aggressive assemblyman. I was right, and so was enough of the Democratic electorate to elect Dave handily. He's been a smart, aggressive, politically shrewd assemblyman and he's now in line to win the Democratic primary race for Insurance Commissioner (he'll be a great one).

This year I surprise myself by finding that I support Roger Dickinson against Kevin McCarty. Surely Roger is no Dave Jones but neither is Kevin McCarty (who inherited Jones' city council seat and now wants to follow him into the assembly). However, as a county supervisor, in a room full of supes who live for unbridled development, Roger has been a consistent sane vote for smarter growth. He hasn't always done the right thing, but he has been there way more often than not. McCarty, who may be the truer progressive in his ideology (not sure but there are signs of it), has not distinguished himself on the city council and lacks anything in particular to make up for his inexperience.


Dickinson on the other hand has years of experience in public service. He is reliable. He is supported by the Sierra Club, California Nurses Association and the local labor federation. He is the right choice for Sacramento.

Mark Leno Ends the Suspense on Clean Money

Having written before how the Assembly Appropriations Committee was keeping me in suspense, I am remiss in not stating precisely that Assemblymember Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), chair of the Assembly Appropriations Committee, ended the suspense last week by bringing a streamlined, pilot project of public financing out of committee. AB 583 by Loni Hancock, as I reported yesterday, will go to the floor of the California Assembly today for a vote.

This is significant not only because it will be the first floor vote in California on a real clean money bill, but because of what it says about Mark Leno.

As Chair of Assembly Appropriations Committee, Leno is in a position to (and indeed is expected to) raise a lot of money from special interest groups. Last week, he was appropriately taken to task for holding a fundraiser the night before his committee's biggest hearing of the year so far--the one where they decide which major bills live or die.

Believe it or not, holding it the night before was actually an improvement over the practice of former Assembly Appropriations Chair (now Senator) Carole Migden (also D-San Francisco) (against whom Leno is running for State Senate). At least one year, I can remember Migden breaking for lunch in the middle of huge Appropriations hearing, announcing that she hoped to "see us all across the street at a little event"--her big fundraiser. After the event, she moved the business of the committee to the most important issues.

Either way, fundraising of powerful committee chairs right before or during a huge hearing is distasteful at best and unethical at worst. If memory serves, another former Assembly Appropriations Chair Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) declined to hold "events" (insider speak for fundraisers) anywhere close to the hearings he would run--a better choice.

Still, in moving AB 583, a bill which would benefit no well-heeled special interest and only the people of California, out of Assembly Appropriations Committee, Leno paves the way for a new era of politics in California. He is to be applauded for his leadership and courage.