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Posted on 10/31/2003 3:33:59 AM PST by goldstategop
The same grass-roots group that launched the successful recall of Gov. Gray Davis turned its attention to the Legislature on Thursday and kicked off an initiative drive to reconfigure legislative districts so that politicians face tougher competition on election day.
Ted Costa, chief executive officer of the conservative antitax group, People's Advocate, has taken the first step toward putting an initiative before voters next November that would take redistricting out of the hands of the Legislature and give it to a panel of retired judges.
Costa does not want to wait eight years to get rid of the district boundaries drawn by the Legislature in 2001, which he describes as "bipartisan gerrymandering." If his initiative is enacted by voters, he said, the first election using a new map will be held in 2006. ...
Costa said the People's Advocate, based in Sacramento, would ask the same network of 150,000 volunteers that circulated petitions in the recall to collect the nearly 600,000 signatures needed to put the constitutional amendment on the ballot.
If the initiative is cleared by the attorney general and the secretary of state in the next 45 days, as expected, signature-gathering can begin in January, said Costa. He said People's Advocate would solicit donations on its Web site and from the 93,000 people on its mailing list to pay for the signature-gathering.
Under Costa's proposed initiative, the Democratic and Republican leaders of the Legislature would nominate a dozen retired state or federal judges who had never held partisan political office and had not changed their party affiliations in the previous five years. The nominees would have to pledge not to accept government posts or run for political office for at least five years.
From that pool of 12, three "special masters" would be chosen by the state's Judicial Council — the policymaking panel for the state courts, led by the chief justice of the state Supreme Court. The three-member panel would then hold public hearings to consider redistricting plans. The panel would choose a plan, which would have to be approved by voters in a statewide election, even if it were adopted by the Legislature and signed by the governor.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Arnold is, indeed, the Rats worst nightmare. Look at the press and apparent progress in Washington and he is not even governor yet. With the 'net and talk radio, you are right. Arnold's Army is on the march. Hehehehe....
Hugh?
I think you meant to say "Ted Costa's recall army marches on".
Arnold was simply a slick speculator on that train. A passenger who boarded the train, on a dead run, carrying a carpet bag full of Lincoln Club agenda, long after the train left the station, just before the train reached the city limits, while the GOP was standing in the shadows along the track waving furiously for Costa to apply the brakes.
Huh? Aren't you happy that a Republican is in power in CA? He stepped in due to popular demand and rode a wave of popularity to the governor's chair.
No. Quite the opposite. I see very little difference in Arnold's slick package and the political elitism that created the atmosphere which led to the recall in the first place.
From my perspective life in Scaramento will be closer to business as usual than the comming of the Messiah. I care not the political registration of the participants, but rather the character of their soul and the philosophy that guides their actions.
I have promised many that I would wait 100 days before judging Schwarzenegger's actions and I plan to keep my vow. I didn't however promise to abstain from commenting on the process, the character of the participants and the promises made during the campaign, no matter how obsure.
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