California Governor

The pictures that dominated the news last week formed two parallel realities. In one, Teddy Kennedy's face was young and unlined, his jaw taut, his bearing vibrant, as he was when he campaigned for his brothers and when he ran for president, with one of his final victories the 1980 Democratic primary in California. In another, the Massachusetts senator was grayed and stooped, if still smiling, as he was when longevity helped him forge a stunning array of accomplishments in the United States Senate.

SACRAMENTO - Jerry Brown told voters he was different - that only he, a septuagenarian government veteran with no aspirations to higher office, could fix the cycle of swelling budget deficits that has plagued California for more than a decade. But the release of Brown's updated budget plan Monday shows that he is being trapped by the same partisanship and dysfunction that hobbled his predecessors when they tried to repair the state's finances. "No governor, under the system we have in California, really has the ability to deal with the mess we've created," said Mark Paul, a former deputy state treasurer and the coauthor of a book about the state's financial quandary.

Vik S. Bajwa Age: 42 Party: Democrat Occupation: Businessman Residence: Santa Rosa Family: Married, three children Education: Undergraduate degree in public administration, 1977, and J.D., 1980, both at Punjab University, India. Career highlights: Started a real estate development business that concentrates on building townhomes, single-family homes and hotels. Quote: "This election is open to everyone and it's an opportunity to bring in new ideas and new blood."

No matter how you feel about Meg Whitman, head of Hewlett-Packard, former head of eBay, you'd have to concede that one of her biggest contributions to the California economy was as candidate for California governor. She lavished about $160 million on her failed campaign, and we'd have to guess that most or all of that was spent within the state. It might be hard to get the engine of California's economy revving again, but we do get a good, if short-term, cough out of political campaigns, and the most recent proof of this is the spending on Proposition 29, the initiative that would impose an extra dollar-per-pack tax on cigarettes and use most of the proceeds on medical research for cancer and cardiovascular and lung diseases.

Former U.S. Rep. Tom Campbell's shift Thursday from the governor's race to the contest for U.S. Senate may have simplified things for him -- he will now be running against a single multimillionaire for the Republican nomination, instead of two. But the road ahead remains rocky, as Campbell tries to persuade the conservative voters who control the party's primaries to overlook his moderate views on social issues and his recent support for temporary tax...

Republican National Chairman Lee Atwater said Wednesday that next year's California gubernatorial campaign will be the "No. 1 race" in the country because of its potential impact on the nationwide struggle for reapportionment of congressional seats. As things stand in the competition for the seat, Republican Gov. George Deukmejian will vacate after two terms and U.S. Sen. Pete Wilson is all but assured the Republican nomination. Atty. Gen. John K.

Late last year, Gov. Jerry Brown pushed for a top state regulator to ease key requirements for companies seeking to tap California's oil. The official balked. Relaxing rules on underground injection, a risky method of oil extraction common in the state, would violate environmental laws, wrote Derek Chernow, then head of the Department of Conservation, in a memo obtained by The Times. The process, in which a rush of steam, water and chemicals flushes oil from old wells, had been linked to spills, eruptions and a Kern County worker's death.

Sitting on a hard wood bench for an hour listening to Gov. Jerry Brown field questions, it's often difficult to tell whether he's articulating a conviction, hiding something or sorting out his thoughts as he speaks. All of the above, I suspect, but mostly the latter. Brown on Tuesday invited into his cabinet room a gaggle of Capitol reporters who had asked for year-end interviews. Rather than meet with each one individually, he agreed to a group sit-down — on very uncomfortable seats.

OK, I plead guilty. I'm a sucker for historical dates and have a weakness for granddaughters. It was 45 years ago Tuesday that Pat Brown was sent packing out of the California governor's office. The evictor was a political novice, actor Ronald Reagan. Nov. 8, 1966 — a time of political turmoil that would have made today's Occupy bands look like Sunday picnickers in the park. It was an era ripe for political outsiders; rotten for old pols like Brown. I have an indelible memory of the day after.

Gov. Jerry Brown will have a hot pen this month as he signs or vetoes bills passed during the legislative session that ended Friday. There's no telling what will pass muster and what won't, but a look at some of his recent veto decisions reveals our past and present governor as a man with a smart legal mind who usually does the right thing — except when his curmudgeonly evil twin takes over. Some of Brown's veto messages and other memos are concise masterpieces of legislative wisdom.

Reporting from Sacramento -- Jerry Brown may have earned the nickname "Governor Moonbeam" for the futuristic proposals he made as California's chief executive decades ago, but these days he is offering few ambitious policy ideas. He says the state can't afford them. Instead, Brown plans to spend the rest of the year implementing and defending the austere budget he signed June 30 — a spending plan that is being challenged in court, may be assailed at the ballot box and is already being buffeted by a stubborn recession.

The heat has cooled between Gov. Jerry Brown and Democratic leaders of the Legislature. But for a while, there seemed to be a pending explosion. Brown quickly vetoed the Legislature's gimmicky state budget — no California governor apparently had ever dared that — and the leaders angrily countered that he was ineffective and confused. All's calm again, however, now that the Democrats have produced a more honest spending plan and Brown has signed it, praising them for "a hell of a job. " But what does the public flare-up between a governor and legislative leaders of his own party say about Brown's leadership skills?

When Gov. Jerry Brown proposed a new state budget in January, he projected saving $515 million in employees' take-home pay through collective bargaining. He didn't come close and is being ripped by critics. He particularly is being slammed for a contract his representatives negotiated with the politically powerful prison guards union. "Union puppet. " "Payoff . " That sort of thing. After all, the guards union — the California Correctional Peace Officers Assn. — did spend nearly $2 million helping him get elected last year.

Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger justified his 11th-hour sentence reduction for the son of a fellow Sacramento politician, saying that "of course you help a friend" and that he felt good about the decision. Schwarzenegger came under heavy fire for the move, which took place hours before he left office in January. In May, former Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez's son Esteban accepted a plea deal in the death of Luis Santos, a 22-year-old college student. Schwarzenegger decided to reduce the sentence from 16 years to seven years, infuriating prosecutors as well as the victim's family members, who were not notified beforehand.