“Make ’em, Don’t Break ’em — New Year’s Resolutions for Lawmakers”

By Greg Lucas

Sacramento News & Review, December 27, 2012 — Elected officials aren’t mutants from an alternate universe sent to infect our world with madness.

They used to be regular folks anonymously striving to meet their monthly nut, not piss off partners (business or otherwise) and navigate life’s pothole-pocked path without major catastrophe.    Read more »

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So Far, 2013 Is The Year of the Well Read Legislator

On the January 6, 2013 Viewpoints page of the Sacramento Bee, Assemblyman Jeff Gorrell, a Camarillo Republican, opines that despite he and the members of his party holding less than one-third of the seats in both the Assembly and Senate for the first time in 80 years, they still influence the legislative process.    Read more »

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Remembering John Quimby

John Phillip Quimby, a craggy Capitol fixture for five decades first as a legislator and then a lobbyist for the Inland Empire, died December 23, 2012 of complications from pneumonia. He was 77.

A Democratic Assemblyman from 1962 to 1974, he subsequently lobbied for the counties he previously represented, San Bernardino and Riverside.     Read more »

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The Case of the Stolen Overcoat

The California Assembly’s Indomitable John Quimby Had a Lion’s Build, a Cheery Wit and a Hound’s Tooth Coat He Didn’t Own

By James R. Mills

San Diego Magazine, December 1983 

“Hire the handicapped,” John Quimby used to say. “They’re fun to watch.”

Upon his arrival in Sacramento in 1962, John had become the most popular member of the State Assembly, partly because he carried on so cheerfully and indomitably in spite of his own handicap.    Read more »

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Can the Capitol’s Existing Hearing Rooms Handle the Capacity?

Assembly Speaker John Perez announced the membership of the lower house’s committees on January 3.

The smallest number of members in a committee is seven. The largest is the Budget Committee at 27 members. 

There are 19 members on the Health Committee, which will cope with implement of the Affordable Care Act, slated to take full effect in 2014.    Read more »

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Green on the Outside But Not on the Inside

The cardboard box to the left, which is 14 inches long, 10 inches wide and 5 inches deep, arrived January 3 at the offices of California’s Capitol.  The green stamp on the lid proudly notes that “this carton made with recycled material for a better environment.”

Inside the 14 by 10 by 5 inch box were four 6 inch by 6 inch recyclable semi-inflated clear plastic AIRSPEED packing pillows, an 8.5 by 11 inch paper invoice and one  4 inch by 4 inch by 1.5 inch trapezoidal box containing one Hewlett Packard 61XL Tri-Color inkjet cartridge.     Read more »

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Supporting Toni Atkins and Who Else?

Assemblywoman Toni Atkins, a San Diego Democrat, is holding a $1,000-per-head cocktail fundraiser January 16 at a Sacramento Irish pub near the Capitol. 

Atkins generously notes on the invitation below that under the terms of Proposition 35, approved by voters in 2000, “an individual, union, (Political Action Committee) and other entities may contribute a maximum of $4,100 to (her) committee per election, primary and general.      Read more »

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Are There Any Pretzels Instead?

More than 3 million people in the United States report being allergic to peanuts, tree nuts or both. Peanuts is the most common food allergy for children. Only 21 percent of those who are allergic to peanuts grow out of it. Each year, some  15,000 emergency room visits due to anaphylaxis and nearly 100 deaths are attributed to  peanut allergies.    Read more »

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Some Advice for the New Year

From St. Francis:

“Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”

From Mark Twain:

“The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret to getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks and then starting on the first one.”    Read more »

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Same For A Lot of Things

“Forecasts usually tell us more of the forecaster than of the future.”

— Warren Buffett    Read more »

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