I am happy to report, however, that last Tuesday I began working full-time as Content Producer for a start-up Internet company in San Francisco, Headlight.com. Our beta site will go live at some point Monday (maybe even by the time you read this), so keep your eyes on http://www.headlight.com for the best learning opportunities on the Internet!

Now that I've adequately promoted my new company, I leave you with an usual word of advice for the week: If you go see the new Austin Powers movie, please leave young children at home. It was almost embarrassing for me to listen to all the "adult" jokes with a theater-full of children. This is not to say, of course, that YOU shouldn't see the movie.

Have a great week, and keep that feedback coming!

-Gabe

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Several sources told Capitol Action Weekly that the move to oust Villaraigosa could come as early as Monday afternoon. If that is true, the timing couldn't be worse: The Legislature is expected to begin voting on the state budget the next day, the constitutional deadline for the Legislature to send the budget to the governor, and a political battle over the speakership certainly would throw the budget parley into disarray.

Villaraigosa's usurper is likely to be Assemblyman Robert Hertzberg, a liberal Democrat from the Los Angeles area and the chairman of the Rules Committee. Hertzberg has been quietly building support for his move at the speakership, and he appears to be gaining momentum.

The reasons for the looming speakership fight are many, but they center on Villaraigosa's own ambitions to be mayor of Los Angeles. His preoccupation with the mayoral contest, coupled with his failure to deliver on several key issues -- such as an increase in the $250,000 medical malpractice lawsuit cap -- are among the reasons cited for Villaraigosa's vulnerability.

In the end, the members of the ruling Democratic caucus want a full-time speaker who will concentrate on perpetuating the Democrats' power and maintaining their fund-raising edge. This was the recipe that kept former Speaker Willie Brown in the saddle for nearly 15 years. And while Villaraigosa, who faces forced retirement through term limits, couldn't hope to equal the clout of Brown, his fellow Democrats nonetheless expect him to focus on their needs at the expense of his personal ambition. This seems to be the nut of the case against him.

In years past, speakership fights have sapped the Assembly of energy and direction. Policy becomes lost to politics, and the public's business becomes subordinated to fierce infighting.

It is clear that Villaraigosa would like to hang on until the budget is passed, because that document reflects many of the Democrats' pent-up desires that have accumulated for years under 16 years of Republican governors. With Democrats now running both houses and the governor's office, the 1999-2000 budget represents a political boon for a politician like Villaraigosa. So he wants to be able to claim political credit for the budget's passage.

This, in turn, poses an interesting dilemma for Republicans. They would like nothing better than to hang up the budget to embarrass the Democrats and win concessions favorable to the GOP. But a budget stalemate could conceivably trigger Villaraigosa's ouster, and it is by no means clear that Republicans would fare better under a Hertzberg-run house than one controlled by Villaraigosa.

To the public, a speakership coup is just another of the seemingly meaningless political diversions that periodically grip the Capitol. But to lawmakers and their staffs, the speakership represents jobs and a reshuffling of influence.

These are visceral concerns. They loom far larger, at least temporarily, than the public's business.

Regarding your recount of the story of CDF&G's eradication of Northern pike from Lake Davis [http://www.capenq.com/newsletter/archives/1999/may99/0247.html], I can't see what the problem is! The pike is a sport fish, a fighter worth catching. A problem of too many? Simply put a bounty on the pike.

You will cure two problems, the fishermen will come to Lake Davis in droves, which is Portola's main concern, and the pike will eventually reach the numbers of being endangered in the lake. The other benefit is that the cost to control this problem is minimal -- unless the state has to pay someone to do a study, of course.

- Dan Gardner

With a change in governor and the first change in party in 16 years, the new governor has been making hundreds of appointments, but he isn't finished yet. We know that you need your State Agency Directory, so we've decided to process the information we have received to date and get the directory ready for the printers. Give us a couple weeks and the State Agency Directory WILL BE AVAILABLE. We apologize for the long delays and appreciate your patience. Please be assured that we will continue to pay utmost attention to the accuracy and timeliness of information, as we have for over 25 years.

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