Free Republic

SACRAMENTO (AP) - State Auditor Elaine Howle said Tuesday that the secretary of state's office is "headed in the right direction" to better manage millions of dollars in federal election funds, but she acknowledged it's still too early to tell if a lasting turnaround is in place. Howle, testifying one week before Secretary of State Kevin Shelley was scheduled to step down from the state's top elections post, said Shelley's office has showed progress toward removing a "cloud" over its operations. A consulting firm hired by the office also detailed its work toward tightening the scandal-tinged operation within the next...

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...

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...

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...