I was lucky enough to be given my very own DVD player for my birthday two weekends ago, so during the past week, I went on a bit of a DVD binge. In addition to the one movie Jen gave me along with the player, I've added another four titles to my newly-forming collection -- just in the past week. If I keep buying DVDs at this rate, I'll have spent my tax return before I even get it.

Have a great week, and happy filing!

-Gabe

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The constitutional officers in California -- the governor, the lieutenant governor, the secretary of state, the controller, the treasurer, the insurance commissioner -- are selected by popular vote.

As the state's top executive, the governor obviously should be chosen by the people in a direct vote. Few would argue that the governor's job should be filled by some appointing authority -- such as the Legislature, for example -- because of the need for the governor to be held popularly accountable. The governor has some 3,700 executive appointments -- a third of them full-time salaried positions, not including hundreds of judgeships and appellate and supreme court justices -- and signs or vetoes legislation. Such vast power demands regular public review, and our constitution provides for it.

But what about the controller? Or the treasurer or insurance commissioner or secretary of state?

These jobs are largely ministerial in nature, despite what those who currently hold those positions may believe. Rather than chart new political courses, these jobs are purely functional. They make sure state employees get their paychecks or invest funds or track election returns or monitor insurance companies. These jobs are largely administrative and defined by voluminous regulations. They could just as easily be appointive, and a good argument could be made that they should be, particularly in the case of the insurance commissioner, which only became an elected position after a voter-approved 1988 ballot initiative.

The commissioner is the newest of the constitutional offices, but it is certainly one of the most powerful. That's because the commissioner -- a position currently held by Republican Charles Quackenbush -- has the authority to set rates, examine the financial books of companies, discipline insurers, seize insolvent companies to protect policyholders and generally ride herd on a powerful segment of California's business community.

But the position is elective every four years, which means any candidate who seeks the job -- or any incumbent who holds it -- is faced with the necessity of obtaining contributions to finance a credible political campaign. There is only one group with a strong motive to contribute to a candidate for insurance commissioner: insurers. Those are the very people the commissioner is charged with regulating, so it is clear that the potential for conflict is high indeed.

Quackenbush, a former combat helicopter pilot and a member of the Assembly, was elected commissioner in 1994 and re-elected in 1998, and most of his campaign war chest was built on contributions from insurers and their allies. He now faces media reports that he has accepted contributions from people or companies with business before him, and that he allowed several companies to donate to a nonprofit foundation he set up instead of paying potentially far higher penalties into the state treasury.

The issue is rapidly developing into a major political problem for the commissioner. But the core of the problem is the candidate's need for campaign funds, which can lead to the perception of conflict even when none exists.

This is a problem that would be diminished if the commissioner were an appointee of the governor, confirmed by at least one house of the Legislature. Appointees don't need to campaign. Their jobs are based on the grace and favor of the appointing authority, not the public.

The notion that the commissioner should be elected so that he can be held publicly accountable is not persuasive: Many gubernatorial appointees are dismissed if they act in a way that is politically embarrassing to the governor. Why not a commissioner?

The creation of an elected commissioner simply injected campaign politics into a position that had functioned reasonably well, and in obscurity, for years.

The last thing the public needs is more political campaigns.

--Bruce V. Bigelow in the San Diego Union-Tribune, who reported on Bill Lerach, the master of shareholder lawsuits. Lerach "is corporate America's Ty Cobb -- always spoiling for a fight, sliding into second base with his spikes aimed high. He never gives up. In the 25 years since he moved to San Diego, Lerach has established himself as the nation's foremost practitioner of the shareholder lawsuit. It's a role he has claimed with intensity. Even the $50 million settlement paid last year hardly has slowed the indomitable Lerach. His firm, Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach, filed more cases than ever in 1999 -- suing Microsoft, Mattel, McKesson HBOC and scores of other companies, lodging various allegations of corporate misconduct." April 9. http://www.uniontrib.com/news/uniontrib/sun/news/news_mz1n9spoilin.html

--Charlie Goodyear in the San Francisco Chronicle, who reported that "for drug traffickers, the thefts were the equivalent of strolling out the gates of Fort Knox with sacks full of gold. As many as 20 barrels of a common over-the-counter cold pill -- coveted by those who can easily cook it into methamphetamine -- vanished from a pharmaceutical plant in Vacaville before authorities caught on in 1998. That same year, more than 4 million similar pills -- enough to produce half a ton of pure meth -- were stolen from a health-products company outside Los Angeles in a still-unsolved heist. Both cases received almost no attention publicly, but privately drug war officials were worried. April 7. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2000 /04/07/MN6880.DTL

--Chris Bowman in the Sacramento Bee, who reported that "California environmental officials have launched a computerized mapping system that for the first time identifies underground fuel tank leaks and shows MTBE-contaminated sites posing threats to public wells. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory devised the program to help regulators set priorities on groundwater cleanups. But its posting on the Internet is a windfall for consumers wanting to know the safety of their drinking water. They point and click to track the location, spread and toxicity of underground chemical plumes encroaching on wells -- information that until now could take hours of paper-chasing through several agencies." April 7. http://www.sacbee.com/news/news/local01_20000407.html

-- Paul Rogers in the San Jose Mercury News, who reported that "In a significant ruling that means average citizens will bear greater responsibility for reducing water pollution, a federal judge in San Francisco has upheld the right of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to set limits for polluted runoff that fouls America's waterways. Such runoff -- including fertilizers, pesticides and sediment from logging -- is now the leading cause of water pollution in the nation. Most factories and sewage plants are dramatically cleaner after 30 years of EPA crackdowns." April 6. http://www.mercurycenter.com/premium/front/docs/pollution06.htm

2000 POCKET DIRECTORY OF THE STATE LEGISLATURE ---------------------------------------------- 27th Edition of "the little red book" is now available! Current contact information on each legislator, including photos, committee assignments, Capitol and district office addresses, phone numbers and staff. Separate listings of all Senate and Assembly standing, select, special research, joint and sub committees, with members, staff, phone and room numbers. Don't be without this indispensable directory!

2000 LEGISLATIVE UPDATES VIA EMAIL ---------------------------------- Receive late-breaking changes to the Pocket Directory monthly throughout the year -- via email. To keep your directory up to date, you will be provided with any "information changes" that occur after the February publishing date. In addition to "changes," the updates will include profiles of new members, alerts to new committees and other legislative news items. Easy way to keep your directory current!

2000 U.S. CONGRESS DIRECTORY ---------------------------- Convenient 4" x 9" spiral-bound directory includes photos, key staff members and committee memberships of the 100 U.S. Senators and 435 U.S. Representatives. Separate listings of Senate and House committee and subcommittee memberships, the President's cabinet with key staff members, the State governors with addresses and phone numbers, and the Supreme Court members with phone numbers.

ORDER NOW THROUGH OUR WEB SITE: http://www.capenq.com/order

or fax the EASY ORDER FORM from our brochure to (916) 442-1260

1999-2000 WHO'S WHO IN THE CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE ------------------------------------------------- 8" x 11" loose-leaf binder of political and personal biographies of all 120 legislators, including each legislator's photo, education, career, campaign issues, legislative interests and accomplishments. Each district information page has exclusively created easy-to-read district and "locator" maps. The Who's Who makes a wonderful legislative yearbook keepsake.

1999-2000 CALIFORNIA STATE AGENCY DIRECTORY ------------------------------------------- Information on the governor's appointments! This handy 4" x 9" directory lists all agency and department-level organizations and most division and branch-level offices. Includes names and titles of state officials, with addresses, phone and fax numbers. Where a vacancy exists, the position is listed without a name. The next more complete edition will be published in the Fall of 2000.

COMING LATER THIS YEAR

Open & Public III ----------------- Open & Public II is no longer available -- it is being updated now and will be available in September 2000. For a current guide to public meetings and the Ralph Brown Act, see The Legal Notebook.

OTHER PUBLICATIONS NOW AVAILABLE

* The Legal Notebook * Navigating the Legislative Process * Conflict of Interest Laws for Local Government Officials * Paper Trails: A Guide to Public Records in California * California Election District Zip Code Directory * Election District Diskette * Mailing Labels on Diskette * Senate, Assembly & Congress District Wall Maps

ORDER NOW THROUGH OUR WEB SITE: http://www.capenq.com/order

or fax the EASY ORDER FORM from our brochure to (916) 442-1260