California GOP in total collapse

Kamala Harris and Loretta Sanchez

The Death of Democracy

• Corruption  -  In November California voters will be given a "choice" for U.S. Senate between a Left-wing open borders Democrat and another Left-wing open borders Democrat.

By Gary;

Californians can say goodbye to Democracy, but I fear the mouth-breathing voters do not even have a clue.

Slack-jawed troglodyte Californians are much more interested in their newest phone app, tweets about trendy causes and what their friends ate for lunch than in freedom.

For the few of us who can still think the rotten fruits of the corrupt "top two" primary system have come home to roost. Voters will have a U.S. Senate "choice" between two Democrats:  Kamala Harris and Loretta Sanchez.

There will be no Republican at all on the ballot.  But that does not bother me too much since it was the GOP that created this corrupt "top two" system in a midnight back room deal with no public hearings.

But worse, the Dems and the GOP have prevented voters from voting for minor parties or independent candidates plus your write-in vote is illegal.

It will be Democrat vs Democrat.  Welcome to the true birth of the People's Republic.

From California Secretary of State

Californians gather to view the remains of
the nearly extinct Republican elephant.

A
California GOP Corruption
Under the corrupt leadership of GOP State Senator Abel Maldonado and GOP Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (and backed by other Republicans) party primaries were abolished in California and only the top two vote getters were allowed on the general election ballots..
This was deliberately done to weaken the voting power of Conservatives.
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Four opposition parties from both the Left and the Right were effectively banned from the November ballot - The American Independent Party, the Green Party, the Peace and Freedom Party and the Libertarian Party.  Maldonado not only wanted opposition parties banned, but independent candidates also.  In addition all write-in votes were made illegal.
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Both Republican and Democrat leaders were happy to eliminate ballot opposition.  Other nations that ban opposition political parties are Communist China, Communist Vietnam and Communist Cuba.

"Racism" - Garden Grove settles lawsuit, will move to district elections

Garden Grove Mayor Bao Nguyen
Hispanic Leftists say the "wrong" race won office.

Phony Cries of "Racism"

• Racist Hispanic leftist groups take cities to court because the voters dared to elected councilmen of the wrong race to office.
• The same nonsense happened in Palmdale where the "evil" racist voters dared to elect an African American Councilman instead of a Hispanic.

GARDEN GROVE (Orange County Register)  –  The City Council upended how residents will select its members Friday night, doing away with an independently elected mayor and opting to create five voting districts.

The changes will go into effect in November 2016.

The City Council approved district elections as part of a settlement agreement with Rick Montoya, a former council candidate who argued the at-large system – where the entire city votes for each council seat – violates the California Voting Rights Act and essentially disenfranchises Latino voters.

The city also has to pay $290,000 to Montoya for lawyer’s fees and other litigation costs.

District elections, which are becoming increasingly common throughout California, are viewed by many as a way to give Latinos a more prominent – and, some say, fairer – role in local government.

Garden Grove, which became an incorporated city in 1956, is about one-third white, Latino and Asian, but there is no record of a Latino ever being elected to the council. The current council is a majority Vietnamese-American.

“I believe by-district elections will lead to better representation in our government,” said Montoya, who sued the city in July about a month after several Latino-rights organizations threatened to do the same. “And it will lead to more voices being heard.”

Councilman Chris Phan, however, said he is no fan of district elections and it is still too early to know whether district elections will help Latinos get on the City Council.

Councilman Chris Phan
Hispanic Leftists complain because voters
elected the "wrong" race.

“This basically lowers the bar for council candidates,” he said. “No amount of districting can cure an apathetic voting bloc.”

In past elections, residents voted mayors to two-year terms and council members to four-year terms.

Under the settlement, the city will have five districts with each geographic area voting for one council seat. All five seats will have four-year terms.

The City Council will vote among itself to decide who will be mayor.

In 2016, the seats of Mayor Bao Nguyen, Phan and termed-out Councilman Steve Jones will be open.

But first, the city must undertake a months-long process of hiring a demographer to analyze the city’s ethnic, financial, age and geographic fault lines to create the five districts.

Garden Grove will have a series of community meetings before the council votes on the new maps, said City Attorney Omar Sandoval.

“The electoral record of Latinos has been abysmal in Garden Grove,” said Zeke Hernandez, the president of the Santa Ana chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens, which also threatened to sue. “I applaud the City Council for taking this momentous step. I think the city will be better for it.”

Read More . . . .

The Calif. GOP which represents no one will meet less often

GOP - A Meaningless Political Party

• Wow, the corrupt California GOP, which does not represent any voters at all, will now meet less often.
• The so-called "delegates" to the California GOP convention are appointed by political insiders.  The average Republican voter has no say in any way, shape or form about the direction of his own political party.

(Sacramento Bee)  -  The California Republican Party will gather to pour drinks and talk politics a little less frequently from now on.

Party activists on Sunday approved reducing the number of state party conventions to two annually in odd-numbered years and one annually in even-numbered years, eliminating its convention closest to the general election.

The party has historically held two conventions every year.

Party Chairman Jim Brulte has long argued for a lighter convention schedule.

He said in an email to party leaders last year that conventions are costly and can be unhelpful late in the election cycle, when “the press come looking to write the narrative that Republicans are fighting.”

Many staffers and politicians are busy campaigning during conventions close to elections. But conventions remain popular with the party’s rank-and-file activists, and the vote to reduce the convention schedule was divided.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article35897541.html#storylink=cpy

Read More . . . .

California's Counties
k
Building a Real Political Party
k
If the Republican leadership has any interest at all in building a grass roots party, which they don't, they would totally scrap the corrupt state party system that serves only insiders and big money special interest groups.
k
One obvious reform would be to hold mini GOP conventions in each of California's 58 counties.  Registered Republicans could gather to openly debate the issues of the day and elect delegates to represent their county at the state convention.  These conventions could be held all over the state on the same day to generate maximum publicity with TV news and newspapers.
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Transparent conventions would show a Republican Party open to all voters, and that is why this reform will never happen.  The corrupt Elites have no interest in their own voters.

Supreme Court could take away 6 California congressional seats

Scum and Villainy

Six less jerks going to a nest of corruption.  

I'm trying to see the downside.

(Los Angeles Times)  -  The U.S. Supreme Court's agreement Tuesday to hear a case that could potentially overhaul how political districts are drawn has sparked waves of speculation among political and legal wonks -- including questions as to how a ruling could affect California's clout in Congress.

The case, which the court will hear this fall and rule on next year, centers on the "one person, one vote" principle that has long guided how political districts are drawn. Currently, districts are drawn to be of roughly equal size based on total population. But a Texas conservative group wants those lines to be drawn based on citizens who can vote.

Although the case pertains to state and local districts, experts say the justices could issue a ruling broad enough to also affect congressional lines, as well as the number of representatives each state sends to the House of Representatives.

Congressional seats are apportioned every 10 years, based on the census. States with large noncitizen populations -- such as California -- may be assigned fewer seats if only eligible voters are considered.

If the court's ruling affected reapportionment, "California would be the biggest loser," said Paul Mitchell, vice president of consulting firm Political Data Inc.

Mitchell estimated that California would lose six congressional seats, dropping to 47 seats from 53. Texas, which also has large numbers of people living in the country illegally, would face the second-largest drop,  going to 32 seats from 36.

"The average size of a congressional district would go from the current 710,000 to approximately 500,000 per seat," Mitchell said. 

Read More . . . .

Palmdale officials settle lawsuit, agree to voting by district

Palmdale City Councilman Fred Thompson
Thompson was elected to the Palmdale School Board and subsequently
appointed to the City of Palmdale Planning Commission.

Racism - The Wrong Race 

is on the City Council

• Latino "activists" somehow managed to find three "discriminated against" residents willing to put their names on a multi-million dollar racism lawsuit and share in the settlement.
• The fact that an African American is on the city council means nothing to so-called Latino "activists".  He is a member of the wrong race.  So who are the real racists?

(Los Angeles Times)  -  Palmdale officials Wednesday night announced that they have agreed to major changes in their elections system, settling a widely watched lawsuit over minority representation and the California Voting Rights Act.

Until now, Palmdale was a lone holdout in a string of lawsuits filed against cities that resisted district voting, which backers say helps minority groups gain elected office.

The city agreed to align its balloting to coincide with state and federal general elections, starting in November 2016. It also agreed to have voters choose elected officials by four geographic districts, including two with Latino majorities, rather than from the city as a whole.

Palmdale also will pay $4.5 million plus interest to lawyers (editor - follow the money!!!) for the three minority plaintiffs who argued that the city's at-large voting system deprived them of opportunities to elect representatives of their choice.

The current City Council members will continue to serve until the next election, when the balloting for mayor — elected at large every two years — also will be held. Council terms can be staggered after that, according to the agreement.

The settlement represents the end of a three-year court battle and a major victory for voting rights activists.

Most cities, school districts and other jurisdictions targeted under the state's voting rights law have switched rather than wage costly court battles. Santa Barbara and Whittier are among the most recent cities to agree to change from at-large to by-district elections.

Jurisdictions vulnerable to lawsuits under the act generally have significant minority populations but few or no minority elected officials. In Palmdale, minorities make up almost 75% of the population, but candidates of color rarely have won a seat on the City Council.

Councilman Fred Thompson, an African American, said his 2013 election proved the lawsuit was “both unnecessary and disingenuous.”

Mayor Pro Tem Mike Dispensa called on the state Legislature to make changes in the voting rights law.

“This lawsuit has never been about race or voting rights,” Mayor Jim Ledford said, adding it “always has been about money and politics.” Ledford produced a list of 25 voting rights cases across California that he said have cost taxpayers more than $13.8 million.

Read More . . . .

Palmdale is in the northern Mojave Desert of Los Angeles County. 

Vote for one candidate - several times: It could become legal in Santa Clarita elections

Reform Voting for State Offices Too

While we are at it we need to reform elections for the legislature

and restore democracy instead of rule by the Elites

who buy and sell legislators.

In the Los Angeles County city of Santa Clarita voters may become the first in California to elect city and community college officials by cumulative voting.

The little-used system would allow voters to cast multiple votes for the same candidate. For example, in a City Council election to fill three seats, a Santa Clarita voter could cast three votes for just one candidate, or distribute votes to two or three candidates.

After hearing arguments on Monday, Superior Court Judge Terry Green approved cumulative voting in Santa Clarita city and the Santa Clarita Community College District. The ruling could help resolve lawsuits claiming violations of the California Voting Rights Act, according to attorney Kevin Shenkman.

With cumulative voting, individuals who are part of a minority bloc of the population could amass their votes behind a single candidate and win a seat, Shenkman said. He represents two plaintiffs who had sued to eliminate the traditional at-large voting system used in Santa Clarita elections reports KPCC News.

The suit against the city, the college district and the William S. Hart Union High School District in Newhall alleged that Latinos, who make up 30 percent of the city's population, could not amass enough votes to win representation. The Hart high school district is in the process of dividing into voting districts for future elections.

But the city and community college boards wanted to avoid splitting their jurisdictions into districts. They reached a mediated resolution in January to use cumulative voting instead, Shenkman said. Monday's hearing was intended to confirm that cumulative voting is a legal remedy in California.

Santa Clarita makes no admission of a violation of the state voting rights laws in entering the settlement, said Brian Pierik, assistant city attorney.

The settlement also calls for city elections to move from April to coincide with state and federal elections in November of even-numbered years, he said.   That will be done either by consolidating city elections on the county ballot, or by the city holding its own elections on state and federal election days.

Non-Latino whites make up about 56 percent of the city population, with Asians representing 8.5 percent and African-Americans making up 3.5 percent. The city's lone Latino councilmember, Dante Acosta, was elected this year.

The California Voting Rights Act requires that cities, counties and other local governments abolish at-large voting systems if plaintiffs can show at trial that voting patterns are polarized along racial or ethnic lines.

The vast majority of governments that have faced voting rights lawsuits in California have chosen to abandon at-large voting systems in favor of districts. Those include Whittier, Compton, Anaheim and numerous school districts.

Santa Clarita's tactic of cumulative voting might offer another option to city councils reluctant to face the horse-trading and turf battles that can come with elective districts. Cumulative voting is used in Peoria, Illinois, and in Port Chester, New York.

Jerry Brown looks to rig California elections

Crooked Bastard Alert!

• Socialist Democrats are frightened to death of free elections and passed a bill allowing government agencies to raid the offices of their opponents during and election campaign.
• Nothing to see here.  Move along.  This is only a needed "reform" of the law.

The People's Republic of California's ethics and tax agencies now have more power to conduct campaign finance investigations under a law signed by Comrade Governor Jerry Brown.

The law gives the Fair Political Practices Commission and the Franchise Tax Board the ability to begin audits during an election campaign.  The campaigns only need to be "suspected" of illegal activities, even if campaign statements or finance reports have not yet been filed.

TRANSLATION  -  The corrupt power broker Elites in Sacramento are going to fuck over their political enemies at election time.  Imagine the visual image of cops raiding the office of a candidate two weeks before election day and walking out with files on live TV.

It also explicitly allows the commission to seek an injunction in Superior Court to compel disclosure.

Brown signed the bill, AB 800, into law "to strengthen the public’s right-to-know in California political campaigns,” said Jim Evans, a spokes-hole for the governor.

Assemblyman Rich Gordon (D-Menlo Park), the bill's author, said the measure improves the commission's effectiveness in the current campaign finance landscape, particularly the increasing involvement of nonprofit groups in elections spending. The law makes changes to the Political Reform Act, a 1974 initiative that set rules for disclosure of money in politics.

"This bill will give the FPPC the tools to make sure voters get what they asked for when they approved the Political Reform Act," Gordon said.

TRANSLATION  -  Dare to oppose your Masters and we will do an IRS-Tea Party screw job on you that you will remember for the rest of your life.

 

Erin Peth, executive director of the Fair Political Practices Commission, hailed the law as "a big step towards ensuring that campaign laws are followed before the election, when it matters."

 

Opponents had argued the measure gave the commission too much authority during the election season. Jason Kaune, president of the California Political Attorneys Assn., said last month that the measure allows the agency to "insert itself into the political process before an election and before an alleged violator has even filed a disclosure form."

 

The bill, which required a two-thirds vote, cleared the Legislature last month, in the narrow window when Democrats had a supermajority in both houses.

See more at the Los Angeles Times.

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Democrat Corruption
Comrade Obama directed his boot-licking lackeys in the IRS to crush political opposition, end free speech and rig elections at the Federal level. 
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The corrupt one-party controlled California legislature saw their marching orders.  They used their temporary two-thirds majority in the legislature to ram through a bill making it "legal" to use the police power of the state to rape their political opponents during an election.

The Rise of One-Party Elections in California

"I screwed you all."

A Bi-Partisan Fucking

Both parties worked together to abolish

democracy in California.

"Corruptus in Extremis"  -  Under GOP Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger corrupt "reforms" were passed by both parties in the dead of night without public hearings that abolished what little democracy was left in the People's Republic of California.

These cooked election changes are putting political parties in the background under a new system in which only the top two vote winners in the open primaries get a place on the general election ballot, regardless of party.

Translation -  Political parties are not allowed to nominate their own candidates, small parties are banned and your write-in vote has been declared illegal and will not be counted by our Masters.

Since the changes were instituted in 2012, voters are often finding themselves forced to choose between candidates within the same party. Candidates, in turn, must run less partisan campaigns to achieve the broader public appeal necessary for a victory, the Los Angeles Times reports.
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"It's the really big news of 2014" in California politics, Tony Quinn, a veteran political analyst told the Times. "I think we're going to have a historic number of same-party runoffs."

The one-party trend is most apparent in legislative races, where nearly a fifth of the 100 contests for the Legislature could become highly competitive one-party runoffs, according to the Times. In 2012, there were 28 same-party runoffs in legislative and congressional races.

Quinn estimates there will be 17 potentially competitive same-party runoffs this year — 14 in the Assembly and three in the Senate, all for seats being vacated by incumbents.

(Newsmax.com)

Total Corruption - One-Party Elections

• Under bi-partisan "reform" the voters are only allowed to vote for one party, maybe two on the November ballot. 
• All small opposition parties and independent candidates are effectively banned from all future general election ballots.  Your write-in vote has been declared illegal and it will not be counted by our Masters.
• We are seeing reduced voter choices where only one party appears on the November ballot.

 

November 2012 - 31st Congressional District of California
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Gary Miller (incumbent)	88,964	55.2%
	Republican	Robert Dutton	72,255	44.8%
Totals			161,219	100.0%
	Republican hold

 

November 2012 - 30th Congressional District of California
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Brad Sherman (incumbent)	149,456	60.3%
	Democratic	Howard Berman (incumbent)	98,395	39.7%
Totals			247,851	100.0%
	Democratic hold

 

Election Reform - Businessman wants to expand the California legislature

Restoring Democracy To California

• A flawed plan to restore democracy to California may appear on the 2014 ballot.  Flawed, but at least someone is trying to do something to end the corruption of our elections.

A San Diego businessman is campaigning to expand California’s 120-member legislature to the size of a small town.

John Cox’s Rescue California was approved Thursday to circulate petitions for a ballot measure that would expand the state’s Assembly and Senate to a total of 12,000 members. Assembly members would represent 5,000 people and senators would represent 10,000 people.

State Senators in California currently represent roughly 950,000 people, meaning they and counterparts in Texas have larger districts than members of the U.S. House. Roughly 475,000 people live in each California Assembly district reports the Washington Post.

The group says its proposal targets special interests.

“One of my favorite expressions is we don’t elect policy leaders in the legislature, we elect professional fundraisers,” Cox, 56, told the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Cox was also once president of the Cook County Republican Party in Illinois and the first Republican to formally seek the party’s 2008 nomination for president of the United States, according to NBC’s San Diego affiliate.

The proposal to expand California’s legislature may seem like it would make representation unrealistically local, but there are members in other states with fewer residents.

• In New Hampshire, the state with the largest legislative body with 390 members in the lower chamber. Each House member represents about 3,300 people.
• In Vermont, each district houses roughly 4,175 residents with 150 members in the lower house. In no state, however, do members of the upper chamber represent fewer than 10,000 residents, as is proposed under the plan.
• Senators in North Dakota represent roughly 14,890 residents and has 47 members.
• Even larger sates like Pennsylvania have better representation.  Their lower house has 203 members with each district representing a modest 62,128 people.
• In Indiana their 100 member lower house represents 65,846 people per district. 

Under the California proposal, every hundred legislators would elect one among them to represent their interests in the state capital— thus maintaining a 120-member body in Sacramento. To qualify the measure for the ballot, the group will have to collect 807,615 signatures from registered voters by May 19.

Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Insanity.  In California each of the 80 Assembly members represents a massive and unmanageable 475,000 people. But in the lower house of Pennsylvania (above) there are 203 members with each district representing a modest 62,128 people.

California - The best legislature money can buy.
Because of the huge size of California's legislative districts our "representatives" are totally bought and paid for by special interest Billionaire Cartels of big business and labor.  Millions of dollars are spent by corrupt special interest groups looking to buy their very own legislator.
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If you reform the State Assembly with some level of higher membership and smaller districts then the average person will be able to run for office without mountains of corrupt campaign money.
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My suggestion is cap Assembly seats at 100,000 people - about the size of a small city.  Running for the Assembly would be much like running for a local city council seat.  This would grow the California Assembly from 80 to about 360 members.
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This is neither a liberal nor a conservative idea.  This is about bipartisan democracy and legislators as free from the corruption of big money as possible.   

Obama's IRS targets California Conservative Group

Obama's IRS Gestapo at Work

• The targeting of Conservative groups by Obama's Fascist IRS has not stopped.  These Fucking Bastards will do anything to crush Freedom of Speech.

A conservative advocacy group in Sacramento says the IRS erroneously yanked its nonprofit status this summer, hampering the group's ability to raise money this year.

"I don't know if it's incompetence or if we were targeted. I honestly don't know," said Karen England, executive director of Capitol Resource Institute. "But I find it interesting."

The faith-based group opposes abortion and same-sex marriage. It has been active this year in pushing a referendum to overturn Assembly Bill 1266, which allows transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms that reflect the gender they identify with, rather than the gender of their birth reports the Sacramento Bee.

Other conservative groups complained this summer that they were receiving undue scrutiny from the IRS when applying for nonprofit status. Groups affiliated with the tea party said the Obama administration was targeting them because of their political orientation.

Federal tax authorities grant groups nonprofit status if they primarily engage in "social welfare" activities. But many of those groups are also active in politics, creating a murky area in the world of campaign finance. The Obama administration last month proposed a new set of rules to clarify the kinds of political activity nonprofit groups can perform, and California's political watchdog agency fined two political nonprofits this fall for not properly reporting campaign donations.

England said the IRS revoked her group's nonprofit status over the summer on grounds that it had failed to file all necessary paperwork. The action was in error, she said, because the organization had properly filed everything, but it took several months to sort out the mistake.

In the meantime, Capitol Resource Institute was unable to solicit donations. England said she skipped her salary for six months so that she could keep paying her staff while donations were not coming in.

An IRS spokesman said the agency cannot comment on specific cases. England provided a letter the IRS sent Capitol Resource Institute on Dec. 5 that says, "We have confirmed that you were erroneously put" on the list that revokes nonprofit status.

England is highlighting the snafu in an end-of-year fundraising appeal, saying "we hope that our donors rise to the occasion and see the harm that has been done." 

Read more here: http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2013/12/conservative-group-reports-irs-snafu.html#storylink=cpy

Karen England, executive director of the Capitol Resource Institute,
testifies in the Capitol in March 2007.
(Sacramento Bee/ Brian Baer)

Read more here: http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2013/12/conservative-group-reports-irs-snafu.html#storylink=cpy

Loon Judge overturns a democratic election - The will of the People has no meaning

Palmdale is in the northern Mojave Desert of Los Angeles County. 

"Evil" Racist City Elects Black Councilman

• Palmdale is the first California city to have its election system upended in court by Democrat Leftist Loons looking to elect more brain-dead "community organizers" like themselves to office. 
• In a racial Pogrom that would make Hitler proud, Leftists scream to divide Americans by race, because in their sick minds race trumps all.
• Also ignore the fact that the "racist" people of Palmdale just elected a African American to the city council. 

A wacko loon Los Angeles County Superior Court judge in a quest for some insane Liberal "racial justice" has declared the 2013 election in the city of Palmdale null and void.

The fact that those "common people" dared to hold a free election means nothing to these Leftist bastards.

This nutcase judge earlier this year found the city of Palmdale to be in "violation" of the California Voting Rights Act, has ordered the city to hold a new by-district election for its four City Council posts.

In a ruling dated last week, Judge Mark V. Mooney ordered that the special election, to replace the balloting for council seats held last month, is to be conducted June 3, the same day as the California primary.


Idiot Judge Mark V. Mooney
Leftist political hacks and their judges want
to divide everyone into racial groups.
(AP File Photo)

Future elections are to be held in November of even-numbered years, to dovetail with state and federal balloting, in the expectation that such coordination will increase voter turnout reports the Los Angeles Times.
 

The judge allowed Palmdale to continue to elect its mayor by voters throughout the city. That means Mayor James Ledford's recent reelection will not be affected by the ruling.

A Palmdale official on Monday reaffirmed the city's intention to appeal the trial court's finding that the practice of electing council members at large, rather than by geographic district, deprives minorities of an opportunity to elect candidates they feel can best represent them.

"We're still analyzing the opinion and our options," Assistant City Atty. Noel Doran said Monday. "We've needed this ruling ... so we can appeal the entire matter."

As yet unclear is what, if any, effect a pending appellate court decision on whether to certify last month's election will have on the case.

The city's election system has been under attack since last year, when several minority residents filed suit claiming that the method of electing officials from across the city diluted their ability to participate in government. About two-thirds of residents are minorities, but voters had chosen only one Latino for office since its 1962 incorporation.

Last month, Fred Thompson of Palmdale was elected its first African American council member, whose status, along with that of his three council colleagues, has been thrown into doubt by the court's edict. Mooney ruled that none of the current council members can serve past July 9, 2014, presumably allowing enough time for the special election to be conducted and the results certified.


New City Councilman Elect
Served 7 years on the City of Palmdale Planning
Commission; 20 years on the Palmdale School
Board; Former Dean at Antelope Valley
College; Palmdale High School Hall of Fame
Inductee; Member of Kiwanis Palmdale
West and Antelope Valley College Foundation;
Supporter of Special Olympics Antelope Valley.
(Facebook.com)

The judge rejected the city's proposed new districts in favor of a plan offered by the plaintiffs, which will give the city two Latino-majority districts and another with substantial numbers of black and Latino residents.

"The current members of the Palmdale City Council were elected through an unlawful election," Mooney wrote. "The citizens of the city of Palmdale are entitled to have a council that truly represents all members of the community."

City officials have maintained throughout the court process that its election system does not hinder minorities. They blamed a lack of experience, community involvement or a viable campaign for minorities' failure to win office.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs said they were "generally pleased" with the ruling, although they had sought to create a fifth council district and have the mayor's post rotate among the members rather than elected separately.

The ruling makes Palmdale the first California city to have its election system upended in court under the 12-year-old state Voting Rights Act. Many other local governments with significant minority populations but few or no minority representatives have switched voluntarily to elections by geographic district or have done so to settle lawsuits.

A handful of others, including Anaheim and Whittier, are facing trials after deciding to defend their practice of electing council members citywide.

The Insanity of Liberal Racism
Actor Dwayne Johnson's father is of Black Nova Scotian origin, and his mother is of Samoan heritage.  The insane racists of the Left are not sure what to do with Americans of mixed race who do not fit into their fantasy world of "pure blood" racial groupings.
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The Leftists wring their hands, do you put The Rock in the segregated so-called "Black" election district.  Do you hold out for a segregated "Asian" election district.  Or because The Rock is a mainstream American, do you put him in with those evil racist "Whites".

Why does the Calif. GOP oppose democracy? - It is time to reform the party.

Abe Lincoln re-enactor, Robert Broski, poses for a photo at a previous
California GOP convention in Los Angeles.

 

 

The GOP - A top-down unelected oligarchy

• I say, "Who the Hell cares about the GOP."  At least in its current form.
• The California GOP claims we should vote Republican, but the party has no interest in you or your opinions.
• Republicans should energize the voter base, adopt democracy and actually allow average Republicans to elect delegates to the state convention.

By Gary;

The California GOP convention in Anaheim just ended. 

Let's bottom line it.  Who gives a shit?  I sure don't.

The state Republican Party is an top-down unelected oligarchy that represents no one except the corrupt Sacramento power brokers.  The "party" resembles more of a political action committee that is funded by big money special interests than a real party representing its membership.

The voting members of the state party are appointed by the GOP Congressmen, State Senators, Assemblymen and losing party candidates.  The average Republican is told to go away - nothing to see here.

We are not living in an ancient Roman dictatorship.  We are supposed to be living in a free nation.  If that is the case let's have reform and adopt democracy.

The 80 California State Assembly Districts.

A new kind of Republican Convention

Let's have 80 local GOP Conventions to

elect delegates to the state convention.

Every state party can set their own policies.  To energize the base of voters the GOP needs to get them involved in the workings of the party itself.

The state is already divided up into 80 State Assembly districts for the legislature. 

Designate a Saturday for Republicans registered in the party for at least one year to gather in 80 local conventions based on Assembly District lines.  There they can openly debate issues of importance to their local communities and select delegates to the state GOP convention.

Some "crazy" people might call this democracy.

Each district would have at lease three delegates.  Those districts with more registered Republicans would be assigned more delegates on a sliding scale.

Huge Publicity  -  Think of the Iowa Caucuses and the massive positive publicity they generate for Conservatism and the GOP.  The voice of the average party member is sought out and given power.

The caucuses are a from the bottom up democratic movement.  The state GOP is a from the top down oligarchy that could care less that the lowly party member is even alive.

Reform is long overdue.  But reform is also good politics.

A Blast from the Past.
Back in the olden days when the Republican Party in California actually mattered.
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William Jennings Bryan (left), Republican Governor Hiram Johnson, and Robert F. Rae on steps outside Governor's Mansion, Sacramento, Calif.

A Blast from the Past
February 1946 - Republican Governor Earl Warren signs bill providing $7,000,000 for medical school at Los Angeles campus of the University of California.

A Blast from the Past.
California Senator Richard Nixon at the 1952 GOP Convention.

A Blast from the Past
California Governor Ronald Reagan meets with President Richard Nixon.

Democrat San Diego mayor accused of sexual harassment, asked to resign

Former Councilwoman Donna Frye

San Diego's first Democratic mayor in
20 years asked to resign

A prominent onetime supporter of San Diego Mayor Bob Filner urged him to resign Wednesday less than a year after taking office amid allegations that he sexually harassed women.

Radio and television station KPBS obtained a letter to Filner from former Councilwoman Donna Frye that said she recently received "credible evidence" that the mayor harassed more than one woman.

She asked that the City Council schedule a special election to replace him.

Frye, a fellow Democrat who once came within a whisker of being elected mayor in a write-in campaign, is highly regarded among Filner's liberal base and served as the mayor's director of open government for several months until resigning for a position at Californians Aware, a group that advocates for open government reports USA Today.

"Those who have spoken to me recently would not make the allegations lightly or without cause, and I believe them," Frye wrote. "I cannot in good conscience remain silent on this, even if those who have spoken to me choose to do so out of fear of retribution or the possibility of a media circus where they could be twice victimized."

Frye, who didn't immediately respond to a phone message from The Associated Press, was scheduled to appear at a news conference Thursday. Marco Gonzalez, an attorney who has worked closely with her on many issues, confirmed that she wrote the letter, which was posted on KPBS' website (KPBS Site.).

KPBS reported that Frye made clear in an interview that she was not harassed by Filner, a 70-year-old divorcee.

The mayor's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.



Democrat Mayor Filner

Frye's call for the mayor to resign came two days after Filner's fiance, Bronwyn Ingram, announced in an email to her team of volunteers that she was breaking the engagement.

"I am extremely disappointed and heartbroken, both for what Team First Lady could have accomplished, and for me, personally; however, this is the only action I can take given the devolvement of our personal relationship," Ingram wrote.

Gonzalez also called for Filner to resign and planned to appear with Frye at Thursday's news conference.

"At our recent meeting I was of the impression that you understood the gravity of the circumstances surrounding your treatment of staff, and in particular, the women who work for you in the Office of the Mayor," he wrote.

Frye lost a write-in campaign for mayor in 2004 only because several thousand voters who wrote her name on the ballot failed to darken the adjoining ovals. If those ballots were counted, she would have unseated Republican Dick Murphy, who later resigned amid a scandal over city finances.

Filner was elected San Diego's first Democratic mayor in 20 years in November after 10 terms in Congress.