Free Republic

Opposition has emerged to several ballot measures that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders believe are essential to resolving the state's massive budget deficit. There may never be a better time for opponents to pounce. Voters are angry about the economy, state budget and leadership in Sacramento, and seem willing to express their disgust through the six measures, according to a survey released Wednesday by the Public Policy Institute of California, or PPIC. "I think this thing is going to go down because the people of this state have just about had it," said Ted Costa of People's Advocate, a...

The much discussed idea of removing the Legislature from the process of political map drawing is again the subject of some intense discussions at the Capitol. On Thursday, Governor Schwarzenegger met privately with a group of strong supporters of redistricting, including former Senate GOP Leader Jim Brulte, former Democratic Assemblymember Fred Keeley, and Proposition 77 author/recall proponent Ted Costa. A senior advisor to the governor said in the meeting, Schwarzenegger pledged to spend much of next week trying to win passage of the current redistricting proposal, SCA 3 by Sen. Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach). State elections officials have suggested that...

Let fight over wording resume after election, state high court says. By Jim Sanders -- Bee Capitol Bureau Published 2:15 am PDT Saturday, August 13, 2005 Story appeared on Page A1 of The Bee The California Supreme Court put Proposition 77 back on the special-election ballot Friday, ruling that controversy surrounding the redistricting measure can be decided after the November vote. The decision breathes new life into a cornerstone of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's agenda to overhaul state government. "Close to 1 million Californians signed petitions demanding redistricting reform - and today their voices have been heard," Schwarzenegger said in a...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Supporters of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's redistricting initiative asked the state Supreme Court on Wednesday to overturn two lower court rulings and put the measure on the November special election ballot. Attorneys for political activist Ted Costa and other official sponsors of the initiative said a Sacramento Superior Court judge and an appeals court majority erred in ruling that the initiative failed to make the ballot because supporters used two versions in the qualifying process. One version went on petitions signed by voters. The other went to the attorney general to prepare a title and summary of...

Will Attorney General Bill Lockyer succeed in taking Proposition 77, the governor's redistricting initiative, off the Nov. 8 special election ballot? We hope not. The simple essence of democracy is that voters get to vote. When their votes are prevented or in some way diminished, so is democracy. Unfortunately, on Friday evening Mr. Lockyer announced that he had filed suit to remove Prop. 77 from the November ballot. Prop. 77 would replace the current system, in which legislators draw their own districts, with a system in which districts are drawn by a panel of three retired judges. After the title...

Secretary of State Bruce McPherson has asked the attorney general's office to examine the wording of a ballot initiative that would redraw legislative districts, a cornerstone of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's special election. At issue are discrepancies between the wording of the measure that was circulated for signatures earlier this year, and the wording submitted to the attorney general's office for title and summary. Under state law, the attorney general must draft an impartial title and summary. The title is designed to explain the result of a "yes" vote if the measure is passed and the result of a "no" vote...

"What kind of democracy is that?" Mr. Schwarzenegger asked in his State of the State address. He noted that the current system allows special interests to dominate low-turnout party primaries, which thus favor rigidly ideological candidates in both parties. He vowed to repair this "rigged" system even though many incumbents in his own party don't want to put their own seats at risk. ... In tackling redistricting, Mr. Schwarzenegger faces a daunting political challenge. Five times in the past, voters have rejected redistricting reform, including similar commissions. Former Assembly Speaker Willie Brown boasted in the 1980s about his ability to...

SACRAMENTO -- Supporters of a ballot measure to take the redistricting process away from the Legislature received permission Tuesday to start circulating petitions -- for the second time. The measure is sponsored by Ted Costa, the political activist who first launched the recall drive against Gov. Gray Davis. "This is the other half of the recall," Costa said. "We changed the executive branch. Now we must change the legislative branch. They're entrenched and their first allegiance is to the special interests who give them money, and not the voters." The measure would create a panel of three retired judges, selected...

Conservative groups are out to take back California with two petitions demanding “fair districts” and a part-time legislature. All they need are signatures—more than 600,000 of them, per petition. Nevertheless, leaders of the most recent movement say they will succeed where several previous petition drives failed. Leading the group is Ted Costa, who said the group has 100,000 signatures for their redistricting initiative. Costa and his group, People’s Advocate, submitted paperwork for their petitions in October. Costa, a veteran of the gubernatorial recall, started accepting signatures after the Nov. 2 election. The petitioning group had previously submitted paperwork for the...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The same organization that spurred the recall of former Gov. Gray Davis has now set its sights on creating a part-time Legislature in California. Ted Costa and the group "People's Advocate" gathered on the west steps of the state Capitol Wednesday morning to announce the start of a statewide signature drive. Costa says removing Davis was a big step, but more reform is needed in California. He says the Legislature is angering Californians by failing to resolve the state's budget mess. More....The Sacramento Area Conservative Townhall Chapter (Sactownhall), by unanimous vote of the membership last night, voted...

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 24 — As President Bush declared his support for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, the political and legal landscape surrounding the marriage licenses issued here to same-sex couples appeared rockier than ever on Tuesday. Mayor Gavin Newsom, whose city was singled out by the president, held a news conference at which he called Mr. Bush's support for an amendment "shameful" and "cowardly" and accused the president of a "lack of truthfulness." Mayor Newsom, whose directive to the county clerk on Feb. 12 has resulted in more than 3,200 same-sex marriages in San Francisco, said Mr. Bush's...

SACRAMENTO – Even as Attorney General Bill Lockyer prepared court papers Tuesday to stop same-sex marriages, a pair of conservative Republicans who helped organize last year's recall of former Gov. Gray Davis announced plans to remove Lockyer from office for "neglecting" state marriage laws. U.S. Senate hopeful Howard Kaloogian and political consultant Ted Costa opened a petition drive to recall Lockyer, arguing that the two-term attorney general has been ignoring Proposition 22, a measure approved by voters in 2000 that requires the state to only recognize marriage between a man and a woman as valid. Lockyer, a potential rival to...

<p>If the Legislature doesn't shape up and enact sensible budget and other reforms, what next can be done? Maybe return to a part-time Legislature such as the state had until the 1960s.</p> <p>The part-time idea is being advanced by Ted Costa, CEO of People's Advocate, the Sacramento- based activist group that spearheaded the recall of former Gov. Gray Davis.</p>

Shortly after the 45-minute ceremony on the west steps of the Capitol, the new governor delivered on that promise, issuing Executive Order 1, which repealed the $4-billion increase that had been approved by the man he replaced — Gray Davis. It was the first of a series of rapid-fire actions meant to draw a clear contrast with a Davis administration renowned for its caution. Schwarzenegger issued proclamations to convene a trio of special sessions of the Legislature aimed at overturning a new law that allows illegal immigrants to obtain driver's licenses, cutting workers' compensation costs and capping state spending. In...

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...

The Battle of the Recall: Read How it Began By Eric Hogue, KTKZ AM 1380 Talk Show Host How serious are the people of California about the recall effort of Gov. Gray Davis? In two hours time, I had my answer—and the answer to the future of California. I was unsure of the announcement. We had the exclusive story on 1380 KTKZ, in Sacramento. I confirmed the date, Tuesday, Feb. 4—it would be a weekday morning at 6 a.m. We would supply the "daily Gov. Davis fiscal mismanagement facts" and then provide the opportunity. No ad campaign, no promotional remote,...

<p>SACRAMENTO - As the slightly wacky anti-tax warrior of California politics, Ted Costa has played the bad boy of Sacramento politics for two decades, relatively unknown and swiping from the sidelines of power as he tried to thwart tax-and-spend politicians.</p> <p>Today, Costa has come in from the fringe.</p>

10,000 hits in 4 days to Davis recall website By Bay City News Service Within four days after the Web site "RecallGrayDavis.com'' was launched last week, about 10,000 Californians joined the organized effort to remove Gov. Gray Davis from his seat in Sacramento, according to the group's organizers. Former Republican Assemblyman Howard Kaloogian of Carlsbad, who is spearheading the effort, said, "The Recall Gray Davis campaign is committed to organizing the tens of thousands of Californians we will need to carry out this recall effort.'' Kaloogian called the number of visitors to the Web site a sign of how...