On May 15, 2008, members of around thirty different California labor unions met in the Plaza of Flags, at the Santa Ana Civic Center, to protest Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed budget cuts, now estimated at about $17 billion.  Particularly hard hit are California's schools and teachers.  Although the school budget cuts were a focus of the demonstration, the rally was in support of middle-class workers generally.  Private-sector and public-sector unions were represented.
 
OCEA General Manager Nick Berardino said:  "The crowd was estimated at nearly two thousand.  Union members throughout southern California organized bus trips, and we had at least 26 busloads come in from out of the area.  They came to protest the assault on the middle class by government and corporate interests.  They protested the fact that some can barely afford gas to get to work, and some are losing their homes."
 

Things are already starting to heat up in Irvine. The past few weeks myself and a few other Irvine activists raised some money and bought some signs to be put out over the city that said "Goto www.irvinetattler.com". Within one day of putting them up, they were gone. I suspect they were ordered to be yanked out by the powers that be at Irvine City Hall(read that as The Larry Agran Cabal Inc), but I'm not certain yet. I'm going to do a lot more digging today on this issue. Stephen Smith wrote this morning on his website, Irvine Tattler, that the signs were ordered to be taken down "because the city had received some complaints about them". That has got to be one of the lamest excuses of all time. They took them down because they were starting to have a small impact. Stephen wrote that hits to his website nearly tripled after the signs were put out. I faxed over a letter this morning to City Hall that read as follows:

Mimi Walters Calls Supreme Court Ruling on Gay Marriage a Travesty for Family Values 

SACRAMENTO - Today, in response to the California Supreme Court ruling that struck down Proposition 22 on a 4-3 vote, Assemblywoman Mimi Walters called the decision a travesty for family values.

"The Supreme Court today blatantly disregarded the will of Californians to protect the sacred institution of marriage. The Court stated that it could not 'find that the retention of the traditional definition of marriage constitutes a compelling state interest,'" Walters said.  "I could not disagree more strongly with the Court's ruling today.  Marriage between a man and a woman is the foundation of our society, and the Court's action is a travesty for family values."

"Today's decision completely ignores the will of over 60% of California's voters who approved Proposition 22 eight years ago," Walters continued.

The California Marriage Protection Act, an initiative in circulation that has gathered 1.5 million signatures and will appear on the November ballot, will write into the California Constitution that the only marriages recognized in this state are those between one...

Board of Supervisors Ask Court to Pull the Plug on Electrical "Peaker" Plant Permit in Ladera Ranch

SANTA ANA, CA - Due to ongoing litigation, Supervisor Pat Bates will be releasing the
following statements.

"Upon the advice of County Counsel and the Planning Director, the Board of Supervisors voted to unanimously inform the Superior Court that the environmental documentation provided to the County as part of its permit review and approval process was inadequate. Based on new information, the County now believes that the permit issued by the Planning Commission should be invalidated."

"As an advocate for business and as a representative of Orange County residents, my role is to ensure that there is a balanced and sensible project proposal that meets the needs of both the community as well as private enterprise. The process undertaken to review this project fell short of the necessary effort to provide my office, the Planning Commission and, most importantly, the residents the true scope of the proposal."

"The...

This just over the transom from Gillard's Office....

Orange County Business Council
Endorses Supervisor Janet Nguyen

 

GARDEN GROVE, CA -- The Orange County Business Council has endorsed the re-election of Supervisor Janet Nguyen in the First District, noting her "strong record of support for OCBC's business agenda."  
 
Lucy Dunn, President and CEO of the Orange County Business Council said of Supervisor Janet Nguyen, "Her efforts on behalf of workforce development and improved infrastructure are aligned with OCBC's own priorities, and the Business Council is proud to support her efforts to continue this good work."
 
"I am very honored to receive the support of the Orange County Business Council and look forward to working with them and other business leaders to enhance Orange County's economic development and prosperity," stated Supervisor Nguyen.

Mayor Neil Blais Condemns Supreme Court Ruling
Vows to Fight for Traditional Family Values

(Orange) - Conservative pro-family Republican Neil Blais blasted the Supreme Court ruling today that overturned Proposition 22 and allows same sex marriages.

"This is totally outrageous," said Blais.  "As a conservative and a strong supporter of traditional families, I will fight to ban gay marriages from California and restore the will of the people.  Today's ruling by the Supreme Court, if upheld, poses a significant threat to the traditional family as we know it, and what we witnessed is typical of overzealous Justices who think they can legislate from the bench.  When elected to the Assembly I will do everything I can to ensure that family values are protected."

Pro-Family Leader Gail Knight Endorses Jeff Miller for Assembly
Sponsor of November Initiative to Protect Marriage says Miller Needed in Assembly

Mission Viejo, CA -- Within minutes of the California Supreme Court's ruling today overturning Proposition 22 -- the Defense of Marriage Act, Assembly Republican candidate Jeff Miller received the endorsement today of Mrs. Gail Knight, the widow of the late Senator Pete Knight, author of Proposition 22, and one of California's leading pro-family advocates.

Gail Knight is co-sponsor of the Marriage Protection Initiative expected to qualify for the November ballot.

...the language of section 300 limiting the designation of marriage to a union "between a man and a woman" is unconstitutional and must be stricken from the statute, and that the remaining statutory language must be understood as making the designation of marriage available both to opposite-sex and same-sex couples. In addition, because the limitation of marriage to opposite-sex couples imposed by section 308.5 can have no constitutionally permissible effect in light of the constitutional conclusions set forth in this opinion, that provision cannot stand.

Plaintiffs are entitled to the issuance of a writ of mandate directing the appropriate state officials to take all actions necessary to effectuate our ruling in this case so as to ensure that county clerks and other local officials throughout the state, in performing their duty to enforce the marriage statutes in their jurisdictions, apply those provisions in a manner consistent with the decision of this court.

Tick, tock, tick, tock; the accountability clock is ticking. Word on the street is there are some members of the Democratic Party of Orange County who will ask the Party Central Committee to reconsider its endorsement last month of Hoa Van Tran if amendments to his campaign finance reports are not filed with the Registrar of Voters by the next meeting on Monday, May 19th at 7 pm.

We'll have to wait till then to see what if anything happens, but the accountability clock is ticking. This is getting as stupid as Janet Nguyen not disclosing the names of the donors to her "illegal" legal defense fund last year.