Free Republic

A committee trying to bar undocumented immigrants from obtaining driver's licenses has failed to report how much money its campaign has raised, according to the California Secretary of State. The Secretary of State's Political Reform Division is investigating the Save Our License committee, an organization that has collected money and signatures since October 2003 to place various anti-illegal immigration measures on the ballot. The group, which claims it has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars since it organized in October 2003, has not filed a single campaign finance report with the state - a violation of state campaign finance rules,...

Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez's office Monday left in doubt whether a legislative panel will resume hearings on Secretary of State Kevin Shelley's use of millions of dollars in federal voting funds now that he has resigned. On Friday, after the embattled Democrat quit effective March 1, Núñez indicated that the Joint Legislative Audit Committee would proceed with hearings once Assembly and Senate leaders agreed on parameters. But on Monday, the speaker's office said it was uncertain whether the panel - which met only once - will convene again. "The speaker is in the process of consulting with the independent counsel...

Analysis: A career flattened by a chain of blunders By Amy Chance -- Bee Political Editor Published 2:15 am PST Saturday, February 5, 2005 Secretary of State Kevin Shelley insisted to the end that he had done nothing illegal, and even his harshest critics had to concede Friday that there's no concrete evidence to contradict that yet. What he did do, however, had piled up to the point that it crushed both his ability to run his office and preserve his political career: * He created what the State Personnel Board concluded was "an abusive working environment" for his staff,...

Potential Replacements - Shelley's job a political plum Mid-term appointment gives governor a rare chance to put a Republican in office Sacramento -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is said to be eyeing a list of former Republican lawmakers and at least one member of his Cabinet as he considers filling the now-vacant secretary of state's position. The resignation of Kevin Shelley represents a rare opportunity for Schwarzenegger to appoint another Republican to statewide office. Any appointee could be rejected by a majority of either the Senate and Assembly, which are controlled by Democrats. The governor said in a statement that he...

SACRAMENTO (AP) -- Secretary of State Kevin Shelley was to announce his resignation Friday amid investigations into his handling of federal election funds, questionable campaign contributions and bad behavior, a source close to Shelley told The Associated Press. Shelley, 49, was leaving his $131,250-a-year post before having to testify later this month at a Legislature audit committee hearing about his handling of millions of dollars in federal elections funds. Shelley, the son of former San Francisco Mayor and U.S. Rep. Jack Shelley, was once one of California's rising political stars. His move paves the way for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a...

Embattled Shelley Resigns From Office California's embattled secretary of state plans to resign amid investigations into his handling of federal election funds and questionable campaign contributions, a source close to the official told The Associated Press on Friday.

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Embattled Secretary of State Kevin Shelley should not be forced to testify before a legislative panel if he decides to resign his offices, Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez said Thursday. Shelley's appearance before the Joint Legislative Audit Committee was pushed back at least three weeks after independent counsels appointed by both parties said they needed more time to review the case. The reprieve also means that legislative leaders have more time to negotiate the possible conditions of Shelley's resignation, which has been rumored in the Capitol for weeks. Nunez, D-Los Angeles, said he did not think Shelley should...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Secretary of State Kevin Shelley, scheduled to testify under oath Thursday before a legislative committee, received a reprieve Wednesday when legislative leaders pushed the hearing back to Feb. 22. Although legislative leaders said independent counsels appointed by both parties needed more time to study the case, there was renewed speculation that Shelley may resign before the new hearing date. Wednesday's postponement would provide three additional weeks to negotiate conditions of stepping down, which a handful of Democratic lawmakers and most of the state's major newspapers have asked Shelley to do. Critics have said he is no longer...

Sacramento -- Legislative leaders are scheduled to meet today to discuss management of the Legislature's investigation of Secretary of State Kevin Shelley, including whether Shelley's scheduled appearance Thursday should be delayed, according to people close to the proceedings. Shelley is set to testify under oath about his oversight of the secretary of state's office and its use of federal Help America Vote Act funds. The funds' use has been criticized as partisan and meant to advance Shelley's political career. But two sources familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition that they not be named said Tuesday that lawyers...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - As Secretary of State Kevin Shelley faces multiple investigations into his performance in office, as well as calls for his resignation, a key constituency - California's 58 county elections officials - has been conspicuously absent in rallying support to him. County officials call Shelley's tenure as California's top elections official a disappointment, so many are standing on the sidelines as he struggles to keep his job. "The point of view I have is we're all disappointed in the way things have happened in the secretary of state's office under his watch," said Debbie Hench, registrar of voters...

SACRAMENTO - Buried amid thousands of pages collected by auditors investigating Secretary of State Kevin Shelley is a memo from a state consultant who attended a union-sponsored "Take Back the White House" rally. The consultant wrote that he "was there to represent the SOS office" at the April 3, 2004, event and a state investigator's note on the document indicates that one of Shelley's top deputies asked the consultant to go. Shelley aides have vigorously denied that the Secretary of State's office misused federal voter outreach funds to send consultants hired with the money to partisan political events. Shelley's spokeswoman...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - As Secretary of State Kevin Shelley struggles to keep his job, he's received only a single $250 contribution to his three-month-old legal defense fund, which he also lent $100,000 from money borrowed against his San Francisco home. The embattled state elections official has likewise received only $28,000 in campaign cash since his mounting legal troubles began last August, and none since the new year opened, according to campaign contribution reports released Monday. Aides said Shelley is too busy defending himself and running his office to raise money. "In October, the secretary took out a $500,000 loan on...

In addition to borrowing several employees from the Legislature and using state and federal funds to pay their salaries, Secretary of State Kevin Shelley also was lent a San Francisco city employee for half of last year. The arrangement, which allowed Shelley to bypass the state's civil service system in order to fill a routine scheduling position, was detailed in a contract between the secretary of state and the office of San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom. The contract was noted in an audit released Tuesday by the State Personnel Board that accused Shelley, a San Francisco Democrat, of using inappropriate...

Sacramento -- California campaign-finance regulators are investigating whether Secretary of State Kevin Shelley illegally accepted a political donation in his government office from a contributor seeking help with a tax problem, The Chronicle has learned. Investigators from the state Fair Political Practices Commission have met with at least one potential witness in the case, seeking details about a meeting in June 2003 between Shelley and the donor, and about how the campaign check was delivered, according to a person who was questioned. "They were clearly trying to dot their i's and cross their t's," said the person, who spoke on...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Secretary of State Kevin Shelley's expected appearance before an obscure legislative committee next week presents a rare spectacle in a state Capitol where few statewide elected officials have ever found themselves so engulfed in controversy. While many lawmakers have endured scandals and some seen the insides of prison walls, Shelley has few precedents as he prepares to testify before a committee that has traditionally concerned itself with auditing humdrum issues such as grazing fees and Medi-Cal overpayments. Though the 14-member Joint Legislative Audit Committee is also making headlines with its probe of cost overruns on the Bay...

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Elections Assistance Commission voted Thursday to audit California's alleged misuse of federal election funds, dealing another blow to embattled Secretary of State Kevin Shelley. In ordering what will be the first special audit under the $3 billion Help America Vote Act, the four-member commission based its unanimous decision on the spate of troubling questions raised in a report last month by the state's chief auditor, including Shelley's alleged use of federal elections-improvement money for partisan purposes. "I don't know of any circumstances where federal funds could be used at partisan events," said Gracia Hillman, the panel's...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - A fourth major California newspaper called Thursday for the departure of Secretary of State Kevin Shelley from public office, following three other calls by major newspapers since Tuesday for him to resign or be impeached. The Sacramento Bee said Thursday that Shelley has become ineffective while combating numerous charges and investigations into his performance in office. "That scratching sound you hear is California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley hanging on by his fingernails," said The Bee. "It's a futile effort. Shelley must go and soon." In editorials published Wednesday, The San Francisco Chronicle and San Jose Mercury...

WASHINGTON - The federal commission that distributes election reform money to states voted Thursday to audit millions in questionable expenditures overseen by California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley. In the latest blow to Shelley, who is also facing criminal investigations of his hiring practices and campaign fund-raising, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission voted unanimously to undertake a formal accounting of the $180 million in federal funds sent to California. A state audit released last month said Shelley, a Democrat, mismanaged the funds, using some of it to pay employees and consultants for attending partisan events. "Legitimate questions have been raised...

Sacramento -- Legislative leaders agreed Wednesday to hire independent counsels to manage an investigation of embattled Secretary of State Kevin Shelley, who said through a spokesman that he did not plan to resign. Following the model established in the Legislature's investigation of former state Insurance Commissioner Charles Quackenbush, each party's members on the Joint Legislative Audit Committee will retain their own independent counsel. The agreement on ground rules and procedures came after the investigation got off to a rocky start, with many questioning why the committee chairwoman, Nicole Parra, D-Hanford (Kings County), had called Shelley to testify even before an...

SACRAMENTO -- Embattled Secretary of State Kevin Shelley does not plan to resign from office and is expected to testify before a legislative panel next week on charges he mishandled federal voter funds, a spokesman said Wednesday as the Legislature drew up rules for a lengthy investigation. "The secretary does not intend to resign," his campaign spokesman Sam Singer said Wednesday. "He says there is much to be done in his office and he plans to carry out his duties." Asked if that meant Shelley would appear under oath before the Joint Legislative Audit Committee Feb. 3, Singer said "presumably,...