CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
April 29, 2012 | By Michael J. Mishak, Los Angeles Times
SACRAMENTO - At a posh downtown sushi bar, Assemblyman Charles Calderon, one of the Capitol's most powerful politicians, tossed back his second Black Russian as a cadre of lobbyists lined up to pay respects. But the Whittier Democrat directed each well-wisher to the person he really wanted them to meet: his 26-year-old son, Ian, standing in a dark corner behind the tempura and dumplings. The former surfing champion and fledgling reality TV producer, hands shoved in his suit pockets, seemed ill at ease with the task at hand: collecting campaign checks to help him win a legislative seat and continue a long-running political dynasty.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
March 5, 2011 | By Maeve Reston, Los Angeles Times
Over lunch at a downtown hotel last month, the business executives who'd gathered to hear from Los Angeles City Councilwoman Jan Perry were keen on talking about the upcoming election ? not so much the one on March 8 or even the 2012 presidential race, but the 2013 contest for mayor. Though the election is two years away, the race officially begins Saturday when potential candidates, including Perry, can file paperwork to raise money. With at least seven Los Angeles heavyweights considering a run to replace Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who is boxed out by term limits, the race is drawing comparisons to the 1993 contest, when two dozen candidates lined up to take over from retiring Mayor Tom Bradley.
OPINION
April 26, 2012
Legislative term limits are a bad idea, and The Times opposes them. From the time California voters adopted Proposition 140 in 1990 to today, neither the Assembly nor the state Senate has become the model of legislative efficiency that the measure's promoters promised. Quite the opposite. The limits - three two-year terms for a member of the Assembly and two four-year terms for a senator - thrust rookies into leadership positions, and their inexperience shows. Rather than rising to the position of Assembly speaker or Senate president pro tem based on years of legislative accomplishment, ambitious members walk in the Capitol door for the first time with no credentials for office or for elevation other than the power to raise lots of money and a penchant for making promises.
OPINION
October 12, 1997 | Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, a contributing editor to Opinion, is a senior associate at the Center for Politics and Economics at Claremont Graduate University and a political analyst for KCAL-TV
California voters approved Proposition 140, which limits state legislators' terms, because they wanted to shake up the system by breaking the stranglehold of incumbents on government and politics. Regardless of how its constitutionality is resolved, one thing is clear: Proposition 140 has done at least part of its job.
OPINION
May 14, 2012
Most voters have by now received their sample ballots, and those who plan to vote by mail are sending in their applications. The June 5 election is underway right now. It is noteworthy for several reasons. Los Angeles County voters will be selecting a new district attorney, and this is the first time since 1964 that there is no incumbent trying to hold onto the seat. The field is wide open. To win outright in this nonpartisan race, a candidate must get more than 50% of the vote.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
July 21, 2011 | George Skelton, Capitol Journal
The vision of legislative term limit advocates — that of "citizen legislators" dominating California's Capitol — always was a fantasy. Now a think tank proves it. The research group has splattered indelible facts all over the Norman Rockwell image of a selfless local merchant serving a few years in Sacramento, then returning home to tend the store and resume community volunteerism. "The record disputes the idea that legislators will return to their pharmacy, return to their farm, return to their law firm," says Bob Stern, president of the Center for Governmental Studies.