We just posted an editorial saying that state Sen. Pat Wiggins’ health problems are so serious that she needs to resign. You can read it here. With her health so obviously deteriorating, why haven’t her political allies, aides, family members or the legislative leadership pushed her in this direction? I’m [...]
If you want to talk more about the challenges Santa Rosa faces in balancing its budget, join us for a discussion today on KSRO 1350 "The Drive" at 3:30 p.m. I've been invited to come on and talk about my column last week ("SR has nowhere to go but pay cuts") in which I discussed the difficulty [...]
So what exactly is going to be Sen. Evan Bayh’s legacy? That he ran away at the opportune time - for the betterment of the nation? I don’t get it. There’s no health issue. There’s no political scandal, for a change. The guy’s a lock to be re-elected, but he [...]
Here’s a Twitter post from Jake Mackenzie regarding today’s Close to Home column by fellow SMART director (and supervisor candidate) Debora Fudge: “well said in rebuttal to the untruths recently perpetrated here for crass political purposes in the supes race.” Hmm. Before this, the kvetching from SMART board members was [...]
There seems to be some denial going on out there. I've encountered a couple of people today who still don't believe that the Santa Rosa school board would really eliminate all spring sports including baseball, softball, track, swimming, badminton, boys' golf and boys' tennis. But believe it. It's done. The [...]
The state Fair Political Practices Commission released a Top 10 list of sorts today, listing the 10 people who donated the most money to state candidates and campaigns over the past 10 years. The numbers are, well, prodigious. 1. Steve Bing, Southern California businessman, $58 million. 2. Steve Poizner, state [...]
For the first time, more than one in five California voters doesn’t belong to a political party. A new state registration report says 20.2 percent of voters are registered declined to state. The actual number is probably a little higher as many political scientists agree that some voters who check [...]
The more things change, the more things stay the same. Exactly 50 years ago, there was a big political battle in Santa Rosa over a plan to move the Sonoma County courthouse out of downtown. Now there may be a battle over moving it back. As noted in today’s story [...]
Tom Campbell clearly was the most qualified candidate for governor, so I was disappointed when he opted to run instead of the U.S. Senate. But if he hadn't switched, we never would have met ... The Demon Sheep. The red-eyed ovine stars in an Internet ad posted by Carly Fiorina's [...]
Political pros call campaign fund-raising the money primary, and some early returns arrived this week with year-end campaign finance reports for 2009. News reports note that the three leading candidates for governor banked nearly $60 million, with much of it coming from the deep pockets of Republicans Meg Whitman and [...]
Paul Gullixson
Jim Sweeney
This blog is written by Press Democrat editorial writers Paul Gullixson and Jim Sweeney.