For Clients & Friends of The Gualco Group, Inc.
IN THIS ISSUE – Governor & Legislature Kick Off 2021
- A Legislative Session Like No Other Convenes…
- Californians Don’t Like the Economy, Still Approve of Newsom
- Campaign to Fire Newsom Heats Up, But Recalls Are a Looooong Shot
- Governor Presides Over Musical Chairs:
- Mr. Musk Goes to Texas
- Colors of the Year for 2021? Grim Black? Nope – Illuminating Yellow & Ultimate Gray
Capital News & Notes (CN&N) harvests California legislative and regulatory insights from dozens of media and official sources for the past week, tailored to your business and advocacy interests. Please feel free to forward.
READ ALL ABOUT IT!!
FOR THE WEEK ENDING DEC. 11, 2020
A Legislative Session Like No Other Convenes…
Associated Press & CalMatters
California lawmakers convened a legislative session like never before Monday, swearing in newly elected lawmakers remotely while substituting the regal state Capitol with a cavernous NBA arena on a day the government ordered more than 33 million people to stay home because of a pandemic threatening to overwhelm hospitals.
State health officials ordered all of Southern California, a large swath of the Central Valley agricultural region and five counties around the San Francisco Bay Area to stay home because of dwindling capacities in hospital intensive care units.
But the state Constitution requires lawmakers to meet on the first Monday of December in even-numbered years to organize themselves for the upcoming session. Lawmakers gathered in person and indoors — something state officials have been begging people not to do. But their gatherings had the blessing of public health officials in Sacramento County, where the latest stay-at-home rules do not apply.
The state Senate met in the Capitol as usual, where 17 lawmakers were sworn in, including two who participated via video. Three others will be sworn in at a later date. The Assembly met in the Golden 1 Center, home of the NBA’s Sacramento Kings, to give members room to spread out.
Lawmakers reelected Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon to new terms in their respective leadership positions, with both Democrats pledging to pass legislation addressing the state’s housing crisis while expanding high-speed internet access to more disadvantaged communities during the pandemic.
“If we’re gonna tell kids they can’t come to school, but we want them to learn at home, we have to make it possible for them to do so,” Rendon said, telling his colleagues in a speech that “it has to happen this session.”
Earlier this year, the Legislature passed a law banning evictions for people who have been unable to pay their rent since the pandemic began in March — but only if they can pay 25% of the rent they owe since September. Those protections expire Jan. 31.
Nearly 240,000 Californians are behind on their rent and will owe their landlords a combined $1.7 billion by the end of the year, according to a recent analysis by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. If California lets its protections expire in January, those bills will come due.
Assemblyman David Chiu, a Democrat from San Francisco, introduced a bill on Monday that would extend those protections through at least the end of 2021. In the state Senate, Sen. Anna Caballero’s bill would extend the protections through the end of March.
While the protections would keep renters from being evicted, it wouldn’t forgive their debt. Chiu introduced another bill that aims to help renters pay off that debt, potentially with the help of a $26 billion one-time windfall lawmakers expect to have this year.
“We have not seen the tsunami of evictions we were all very concerned about because these protections are in place,” Chiu said. “We know without meaningful public funding, economic recovery will be that much harder for all of these folks.”
California Republicans focused their attention Monday on the state’s unemployment benefits crisis. Assemblywoman Marie Waldron, the Republican leader, said she will author a bill that puts a deadline on the state Employment Development Department to process new claims.
And after the state OK’d about $400 million in fraudulent unemployment benefits in the names of state inmates, Republican Assemblyman Phillip Chen said he will author a bill requiring the state to cross check unemployment claim applications with state and county correctional inmate data.
State officials have said a state law prevents prison officials from sharing inmates’ social security numbers to check against unemployment claims.
“We’re trying to bring attention to this fraudulent set of circumstances that is costing the taxpayer,” said Assemblyman Tom Lackey, a Republican from Palmdale, who said he will author legislation creating an advisory committee to oversee the state’s unemployment benefits agency.
Monday was the first day lawmakers could introduce new bills. Democratic leaders, who enjoy super majorities in both chambers, said they would continue to emphasize the same themes.
“Housing will be back, emergency preparedness and wildfire response will be back, efforts to end the harm of 400 years of systemic racism will be back,” Atkins told her colleagues during a floor speech.
Several bills that failed to pass last session have returned, including high-profile measures from state Sen. Nancy Skinner to make some disciplinary records for police officers available to the public and from Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez to ban police from using projectiles, chemical agents or tear gas to break up peaceful protests.
Last month, a group of organizations representing police chiefs and officers proposed requiring prospective officers complete some college courses to prepare them for the work of modern policing.
But Monday, Assemblyman Reggie Jones-Sawyer introduced a proposal that would go much further than that by requiring prospective officers to either have a bachelor’s degree or be at least 25 years old.
Jones-Sawyer pointed to research that says people’s brains do not fully develop until age 25 — an argument usually used for sentencing reform. But he says the same logic should be applied to police officers who often must make life or death decisions in a split second.
“It’s really about having the maturity,” Jones-Sawyer said. “Especially when talking about life and death situations, you really need the best trained individuals out there on the street.”
The legislative session begins in earnest on Jan. 4 and will be defined by its response to a pandemic that has left many Californians clinging to the edges of a rapidly fraying safety net. Here’s a look at some key proposals lawmakers introduced Monday:
- A bill forbidding landlords from evicting pandemic-affected rentersthrough Dec. 31, 2021.
- A bill requiring public schools to reopen under most circumstances when infection rates drop.
- A bill providing a tax credit for businesses complying with COVID regulations.
- A bill allowing local jurisdictions to enable more outdoor dining.
- A bill requiring the unemployment department tocross check claims against state prison rosters.
- A bill requiring a direct deposit option for unemployment benefits.
- A $1 billion “broadband for all” bill to bridge California’s digital divide.
- A bill to expand Medi-Cal coverage to all income-eligible Californians, including undocumented immigrants.
- A bill requiring the state to address racism as a public health crisis.
- A bill requiring every active registered voter be mailed a ballot for all future elections.
OK, so you know there are 80 assemblymembers and 40 state senators — but what else do you know about the Californians representing you in Sacramento? Here’s a closer look at the Legislature’s demographic breakdown, according to statistics compiled by the California State Library.
- There are 60 Democrats, 19 Republicans and 1 No Party Preference member in the Assembly. In the Senate, there are 30 Democrats, 9 Republicans and 1 vacant seat (state Sen. Holly Mitchell’s; more on that below).
- There are 24 women and 56 men in the Assembly, compared to 14 women and 25 men in the Senate. At the start of the last session, California tied Georgia for 20th place nationwidein terms of legislative female representation.
- The Assembly is composed of 39 white, 20 Latino, 12 Asian/Pacific Islander, 8 Black and 1 Native American member/s.
- The Senate is composed of 26 white, 10 Latino, 2 Asian/Pacific Islander, and 1 Black member/s.
Other interesting tidbits from Monday’s swearing-in ceremony:
- State Sen. Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh of Yucaipa became the first Republican Latina elected to the California Senate Republican Caucus.
- Assemblymember Alex Lee, a 25-year-old San Jose Democrat, became theyoungest state legislator to assume office in more than 80 years.
- Had Holly Mitchell not left her Senate seat for a spot on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors — incidentally,the first all-female board in more than 150 years — the number of women in the Legislature would have hit an all-time high.
Californians Don’t Like the Economy, But Still Approve of Newsom
Public Policy Institute of California
Californians have an unfavorable outlook for the state’s economy in the next year and beyond. Three in ten (31% adults, 30% likely voters) expect good times financially for California in the next 12 months. Less than half (40% adults, 41% likely voters) expect good times during the next five years, while majorities (59% adults, 58% likely voters) expect periods of widespread unemployment or depression.
More than eight in ten Californians say the availability of well-paying jobs is a big problem (27% adults, 28% likely voters) or somewhat of a problem (61% adults, 60% likely voters) in their part of the state. In addition, nearly one in three (32%) say the lack of well-paying jobs is making them seriously consider moving—26 percent out of California, and 6 percent elsewhere in the state.
Despite this pessimism, most approve (58% adults, 59% likely voters) of how Governor Newsom is handling the economy. An overwhelming majority of Democrats approve (85%), while 54 percent of independents and 14 percent of Republicans approve. Majorities across income groups approve.
Asked about a number of policy proposals to improve economic well-being, Californians expressed the most support for increasing public funding for job training programs so that more workers have the skills needed for today’s jobs. More than eight in ten Californians (83% adults, 82% likely voters) support increased government funding for job training, with 93 percent of Democrats, 86 percent of independents, and 63 percent of Republicans approving.
Other proposals to increase economic well-being also have the support of most Californians. These include increased funding for child care serving lower-income working parents (78% adults, 76% likely voters), a government health insurance plan similar to Medicare (77% adults, 75% likely voters), expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit (73% adults, 72% likely voters), free college tuition (66% adults, 59% likely voters), and eliminating college debt (65% adults, 60% likely voters). Fewer support the federal government providing a guaranteed income, sometimes called “universal basic income” (50% of adults, 43% of likely voters).
Campaign to Fire Newsom Heats Up, But Recalls Are a Looooong Shot
Capitol Weekly
A perfect storm of events is giving Gov. Gavin Newsom political headaches, and he is yet again the subject of a recall movement that claims to have already collected more than 800,000 signatures.
Backers of the recall have until March 17, 2021 – a Superior Court judge last month gave them an extension — to collect at least 1,495,709 verified signatures on petitions. That number, required by law, is equal to 12% of the vote for governor in 2018. They say they want to collect 2,000,000 signatures for insurance, and claim they have 5,000 volunteer petition circulators.
It marks the sixth attempt by various Republicans to oust Newsom – the other five fizzled. Few veteran political observers give this one any chance of success, either, although California politics is full of surprises.
“I’m very skeptical,” said veteran political strategist Rob Stutzman. “The effort is real, and they say they have 800,000 signatures and want two million, but it would take millions of dollars to get all the signatures they need. Who’s going to fund that?”
And as the political fallout continues from the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, a difficult economy, a widening fraud scandal in state jobless benefits and the governor’s maskless dinner at a posh Napa Valley eatery, recall proponents feel they are getting some traction, especially among Trump voters, and that several groups were getting involved in the effort.
“Finding a Trump voter in this state who would be unwilling to sign a recall petition would be a tough job,” Ann Hyde, the founder of Newport Beach-based Capitol Campaigns, noted in a Nov. 19 pitch letter to potential backers. “The Davis recall in 2003 had several independent committees working to gather petitions, and that result is history. Will history repeat itself?”
Historically, the recall backers face daunting odds: Since 1913, there have been 165 attempted recalls of state elected officials, a third of them targeting the governor. Ten made the ballot, six were successful.
The only governor recalled was Gray Davis in 2003, a year after his reelection. A Democrat, Davis was tarnished by his handling of the meltdown of California’s deregulated energy market, among other things, and replaced by movie action hero Arnold Schwarzenegger, who served until January 2011.
Schwarzenegger himself survived at least four recall efforts in 2004, 2005, 2008 and 2009.
The Davis recall initially was funded by Republican Darrell Issa, who had hoped to become governor. Issa later went to Congress, left, then was elected last month to the 50th District, replacing scandal-plagued Duncan Hunter Jr.
The Newsom recall proponents have a list of 32 grievances against the governor, including: “Granting Clemency for Felons,” “The Highest Homeless Rate in the Nation,” “Infringement of our 2nd Amendment Rights,”“Countless new Gun and Ammo Laws,” “Sanctuary State for Illegals and Criminals,”“Highest State Income Tax in the Nation,” “Highest Poverty Rate in the Nation,” and “Highest Vehicle Registration Costs in the Nation,” among others.
“Are you tired of being locked up, unable to make a living, at the same time as California’s prisons are being emptied? Did you struggle to run a business, even before this lockdown, because of overregulation and the highest taxes in America? … Are you troubled by encroachments on your 2nd Amendment rights, threatening your ability to purchase a firearm to protect yourself, especially now?”
Newsom issued a high-pitched, all-caps rebuttal, tying the recall effort to the hugely-unpopular-in-California Donald Trump:
“WARNING: THIS UNWARRANTED RECALL EFFORT WILL COST CALIFORNIA TAXPAYERS 81 MILLION DOLLARS! IT IS BEING PUSHED BY POLITICAL EXTREMISTS SUPPORTING PRESIDENT TRUMP’S HATEFUL ATTACKS ON CALIFORNIA … a handful of partisan activists supporting President Trump and his dangerous agenda to divide America are trying to overturn the definitive will of California voters and bring Washington’s broken government to California with this recall effort. The last thing California needs is another wasteful special election, supported by those who demonize California’s people and attack California’s values …”
The recall effort comes as Newsom has had to contend with a confluence of potential political disasters:
–The state’s pandemic-fueled unemployment rate of nearly 10 percent. The pandemic continues to kill thousands of Californians, with lockdowns and social distancing across the state, causing months-long disruptions of normal life.
–The state Employment Development Department muffed distribution of emergency pandemic unemployment aid to jobless Californians; then, on top of that, reporters disclosed that state prison and local jail inmates had fraudulently claimed perhaps $1 billion in EDD benefits. A report Tuesday in the Sacramento Bee, citing a letter from the Bank of America, said the scope of the fraud may be $2 billion, twice the earlier estimate.
–Previous hours-long waits at the Department of Motor Vehicles, generating teeth-gnashing and continued dislike of the DMV.
–The Nov. 6 maskless dinner party with lobbyists at the French Laundry restaurant in the wine country, which happened at the same time that the governor was pushing mask-wearing and stay-at-home policies; the disclosure immediately triggered accusations of hypocrisy.
A photograph of the dinner was seen across the state and Newsom apologized, but the damage was done.
“He has hypocritically dictated COVID-19 rules prohibiting gatherings of family and friends without social distancing and without wearing masks,” wrote Joe Rouleau, an opinion columnist for The Tribune of San Luis Obispo, “after which he himself attended a birthday party where the attendees did not follow social distancing and where no one was wearing a mask. In effect, he exempts himself, but issues ’rules for thee, but not for me.’”
Newson is no stranger to eyebrow-raising. He first gained national attention in 2004, when as mayor of San Francisco he ordered the city to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The marriage licenses were nullified six months later but the battle ended with the U.S. Supreme Court legalizing gay marriages in 2015.
Newson gained less-welcome attention when it was revealed that he had had an affair with his appointments secretary and the wife of his campaign manager and friend. It made little difference to voters: He won election overwhelmingly to a second term with 72 percent of the vote.
Newsom has also been part of a bizarre political pretzel.
While serving as a San Francisco supervisor in 2001, he married glamorous attorney/model/onetime actress Kimberly Guilfoyle. The couple was described as the “New Kennedys.” They divorced in 2006 and Guilfoyle, the former wife of an up-and-coming liberal Democrat, became a supporter of Donald Trump and the girlfriend of Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr.
Recall efforts are not new in California. The secretary of state’s office reports that over more than a century there have been been 54 attempts to recall a sitting California governor.
Three recall efforts were made against Gov. Ronald Reagan and Gov. Pat Brown. The most recall attempts — eight — targeting a statewide official were against state Supreme Court Chief Justice Rose Bird, a Jerry Brown appointee. She fended off the recall efforts but ultimately was rejected in her confirmation election and left office in January 1987.
https://capitolweekly.net/newsom-recall-unlikely-but-simmering/
Governor Presides Over Musical Chairs:
CalMatters commentary
Those of certain age might remember the once-popular parlor game called musical chairs.
A row of chairs would be set out and players — always one more than the number of chairs — would walk around them as music played and when it stopped, they would scramble to sit in the chairs. The one left without a chair would be eliminated, another chair would be removed and the game would continue until one player won by claiming the last chair.
Something like that is being played in California as Gov. Gavin Newsom decides whom he will appoint to some of the state’s most desirable political offices.
The game began last month when U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris became vice president-elect. Suddenly, Newsom was in position to make someone a major figure in national politics as a senator from the nation’s richest and most populous state.
The consensus among political handicappers has been that Newsom would make history by naming the state’s first Latino senator, with Secretary of State Alex Padilla, long one of Newsom’s closest political allies, the likely winner. If Padilla moved to the Senate, it would then create a vacancy and an opportunity for Newsom to advance someone else’s career with an appointment as secretary of state.
The tempo of the game picked up on Sunday when it was revealed that President-elect Joe Biden would nominate California’s attorney general, Xavier Becerra, as secretary of health and human services.
Suddenly, Newsom may have another big office to fill — one second only to the governorship in power and political prominence. Whomever he chooses, unless it’s a caretaker, will immediately become a potential candidate for governor or the state’s other Senate seat, given that Sen. Dianne Feinstein is unlikely to seek another term in 2024.
Dozens of names quickly surfaced in media and political circles. Obviously the next attorney general will be a Democrat and an attorney but beyond those basic criteria, the appointment will hinge on the message Newsom wants to convey, given his party’s fixation with identity politics.
Newsom made much of his appointment of a Black gay man, Martin Jenkins, to the state Supreme Court and is likely to appoint a Latino to the Senate. That would leave two other major identity groups, women and Asian-Pacific Islanders (API), to be recognized, lest Newsom face their wrath.
The leading contender for a secretary of state appointment appears to be Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, a San Diego Democrat best known for Assembly Bill 5, a controversial law that makes it very difficult for workers to be classified as independent contractors. She had already announced her candidacy for the office in 2022.
That said, Gonzalez is an attorney, so cannot be dismissed as a potential appointee as attorney general. However, if Newsom wants to pay homage to the state’s large API population, there are at least three potential appointees, Oakland Assemblyman Rob Bonta, state Supreme Court Justice Goodwin Liu and Congressman Ted Lieu.
Bonta was in the mix when former Gov. Jerry Brown appointed Becerra, then a congressman, as attorney general to succeed Harris after she moved to the Senate in 2017.
Other potential appointees as attorney general include Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg, a former president pro tem of the state Senate; San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera; congressional members Eric Swalwell, Katie Porter and Adam Schiff, and Newsom’s own chief of staff, Ann O’Leary.
Having so many major political appointments to make is a very unusual situation. And as Newsom sorts through the possibilities, maybe a more contemporary analogy would be the Game of Thrones.
https://calmatters.org/commentary/2020/12/california-newsom-appointments-senate-attorney-general/
Politico
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s outgoing chief of staff Ann O’Leary had to contend with criticisms that she was a Sacramento outsider.
Her successor as a top Newsom lieutenant, Jim DeBoo, won’t have that problem.
If Newsom was looking for a seasoned Sacramento hand to guide him through one of the most perilous stretches of his tenure, he got one in DeBoo, who has traversed the paths of California influence from the Assembly speaker’s office to a lucrative political consulting career to the governor’s Horseshoe.
DeBoo’s experience could be instrumental in helping Newsom navigate a particularly fraught political moment. Besieged by an ongoing backlash over attending an opulent French Laundry dinner for a top lobbyist, Newsom is also trying to manage a vital stretch of the pandemic as coronavirus cases spike at an unprecedented rate, compelling him to again lock down the state. In the months ahead, Newsom will need to manage a mass vaccine rollout, spur schools to reopen and help rejuvenate California’s ailing economy. A 2022 reelection campaign looms.
But if DeBoo’s experience is an asset, it could also open Newsom to criticism for bringing to his inner circle a political player who has worked for powerful interest groups in past years. Filings show a history of working for campaigns funded by formidable interest groups like those representing the medical and apartment industries. And DeBoo has had close ties in particular to the California Medical Association — the same group that became associated with Newsom’s French Laundry woes because its top two officials were with the governor.
DeBoo has helped win numerous political campaigns and boasts a deep knowledge of the Legislature’s inner workings thanks to his time working for former Assembly Speaker John Pérez, furnishing Newsom with experience that O’Leary lacked. Pérez was known as an assertive leader who would readily wield his power to marshal votes and dictate the caucus’ agenda — a contrast to current Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon’s deferential approach to members.
“Jim was functionally the chief of staff for the speaker for several months and before that he was the number two person in our time in there,” said Greg Campbell, who was Pérez’s chief of staff — a duty he briefly ceded to DeBoo when Campbell was in treatment for a brain tumor. “His knowledge of how the Legislature works, what’s important to individual legislators and how to communicate to them about their district and needs, is invaluable experience that will absolutely assist the governor’s office in a partnership that will be needed during these tough times to get things done.”
Political strategist Chris Lehman, who’s known DeBoo for about 20 years since their early days in the state Legislature, similarly lauded DeBoo as a “consummate professional, trusted by all sides to be direct and discreet.”
“He knows Sacramento inside and out,” Lehman said. “Especially the underbelly of it.”
Over the last few election cycles, DeBoo’s communications firm has earned more than $1 million working for statewide ballot initiative campaigns to block statewide rent control, pass a tobacco tax and halt an effort to increase medical malpractice payouts. DeBoo came on board for an unsuccessful, Newsom-endorsed campaign to pass a school construction bond in March. He has worked for labor-backed efforts to boost candidates for the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and the Legislature.
His firm has been an active influence conduit in Sacramento, where it earned some $900,000 in 2019 lobbying on behalf of groups such as the California Apartment Association — an active player in a rent cap deal that Newsom struck — the California Medical Association, Kaiser and developer Newport Banning Ranch LLC.
DeBoo’s past work for a group that sought to advance the oil industry’s interests — including efforts to help elect Republicans — has raised some red flags since Newsom announced his pick.
A PAC partially funded by Chevron has paid more than $300,000 to DeBoo’s firm over the last several years. It intervened on behalf of former centrist Democratic Assemblymember Cheryl Brown in 2016 when she faced a leftward challenge from now-Assemblymember Eloise Reyes, backed by environmentalist and labor interests. Despite a surge of oil industry spending for Brown that led opponents to dub her “Chevron Cheryl,” Reyes prevailed — and she recently ascended the Assembly hierarchy when Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon promoted her to majority leader.
During that time, DeBoo’s client worked to elect both Democrats and Republicans. It spent money to buoy former Republican Assemblymember Marc Steinorth and to promote Republican Senate candidate Ling Ling Chang and stymie her Democratic opponent, Josh Newman, who just defeated Chang in a rematch to return to Sacramento.
DeBoo has declined requests for an interview.
Campbell argued that DeBoo is a professional whose work for past clients would not dictate his work for Newsom. “Jim was a DJ in college. I don’t think that means he’s going to be playing house music in the governor’s office. Just because he worked for a certain group for a period of time doesn’t mean anything.”
But DeBoo’s history has already fueled suspicion among liberal California interest groups such as environmentalists. California League of Conservation Voters CEO Mary Creasman said that, given DeBoo’s “history of partnering with the oil industry to fight against climate justice candidates,” Newsom will need to “overcompensate for that history” with the type of bold climate change action that could antagonize energy firms who have helped fund DeBoo’s firm.
“You’ll need to provide right out of the gate that this hire of your closest adviser, your partner in crime, is not going to threaten at all this newfound rigor” on climate, Creasman said. “The governor has to prove that this hire is not going to weaken his drive on the climate crisis.”
Politico
Dee Dee Myers, the first female White House press secretary in history and recently a top executive for Warner Bros., will become the chief economic and business adviser for California Gov. Gavin Newsom as he grapples with a pandemic-stricken economy.
Myers, 59, will start Friday as senior adviser to Newsom and director of the Goveror’s Office of Business and Economic Development, she said in an interview with POLITICO. She’s joining the governor’s office as not only California needs repair, but also Newsom’s reputation after he attended an expensive dinner with lobbyists last month that drew criticism as the state entered an unprecedented surge of coronavirus infections.
“There are challenges — but a lot of opportunities here,” Myers said of the state’s economic situation, adding that she’s eager “to get these businesses, and small businesses, back on their feet and provide resources and capital.”
Myers said she intends to advise the governor on California’s vaccine rollout as part of her work with the business community.
“Job One is distributing that vaccine,” she said. “My role in that will be helping to facilitate recovery and helping businesses through that, while keeping an eye on the big picture … helping to advance the governor’s agenda on both those tracks.”
Myers became nationally famous as the White House press secretary for the first two years of President Bill Clinton’s tenure, breaking a gender barrier. She later served as a consultant for The West Wing television series, during which the press secretary C.J. Cregg is said to have been partly based on her Clinton role.
She is familiar with California politics, however. Before working for Clinton, Myers cut her teeth working for state Sen. Art Torres, as well as for Los Angeles Mayor and 1986 gubernatorial candidate Tom Bradley. She also served as press secretary on Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s 1990 gubernatorial campaign.
The Newsom economic post was previously held by Lenny Mendonca, who served as Newsom’s point person in California’s divergent corporate and business community. Mendonca departed in April and explained to CalMatters that he had been suffering from anxiety and depression. But the abrupt departure of the experienced business leader left a major gap in Newsom’s administration as the Covid-19 pandemic took hold.
Myers’ move to Newsom’s inner circle adds a seasoned adviser with a national profile on networks and cable TV. Her presence in Newsom’s office — known as the “Horseshoe” — also could shore up an administration that has seen high-level departures this year. They include the exits of communications director Daniel Zingale and legislative director Anthony Williams, as well as the impending departure of chief of staff Ann O’Leary, as reported by POLITICO.
The communications veteran’s background could also help Newsom rebound after political gaffes like his French Laundry birthday dinner with lobbyists, as well as overcome criticism and resentment from business interests who say his stay-at-home orders may permanently force thousands of California restaurants, nail salons and small retailers out of business.
Myers no longer works for Warner Bros., but she sits on the board of Wynn Resorts, the Nevada-based conglomerate of restaurants, hotel, hospitality and gambling interests. She received $408,156 in compensation last year for sitting on the Wynn board. Myers said she will retain her Wynn position.
She volunteered earlier this year to assist Newsom with crisis communications and strategy after working with O’Leary on the governor’s Business and Jobs Recovery Task Force, which recently dissolved. Myers plans to remain in Los Angeles while working for Newsom.
Myers said she believes “there is a light at the end of the tunnel” as she settles in for the long run. Even with a pile of pressing economic and social problems related to the pandemic, she noted that President-elect Joe Biden will take office in weeks and a vaccine is on the way.
New Air Board Chair & Members Appointed
Desert Sun & Governor’s Office
Gov. Gavin Newsom on announced his selection of Liane Randolph, a member of the California Public Utilities Commission, as the new chair of the California Air Resources Board, replacing longtime Chair Mary Nichols.
CARB, which is part of the California Environmental Protection Agency, is a key division of the state government and has a mission of remedying the Golden State’s notoriously bad air pollution, while considering the economic impacts of its regulations.
“Cleaner air is essential for California’s families and Liane Randolph is the kind of bold, innovative leader that will lead in our fight against climate change with equity and all California’s communities at heart,” Newsom said in a statement announcing his appointment. He also thanked Nichols for her work to “boldly reduce air pollution through both innovation and tenacity.”
Nichols was appointed in 2007 by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, and her term expires at the end of the calendar year. While her name has been floated as a potential candidate to lead the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Golden State environmentalists have come out against the idea. Dozens of advocacy groups wrote to the president-elect’s transition team on Dec. 2, arguing that Nichols has failed to address environmental racism.
If Randolph, a Democrat, is confirmed by the state Senate, she will inherit an agency with significant tasks at hand.
In September, for example, Newsom signed an executive order calling for no new cars with internal combustion engines to be sold in California beginning in 2035. But, his decree was light on specifics, instead deferring to CARB to build the relevant rules and regulations, a task that promises to be complex and legally fraught.
CARB also approved a first-of-its-kind rule in June that mandates all new trucks sold in the state by 2045 must have zero emissions. This presents an equally daunting task, as electric truck technology and infrastructure would need to catch up with what is already in place for passenger vehicles.
In addition to Randolph, board member John Balmes was reappointed. Davina Hurt, a Belmont city councilmember, Gideon Kracov, a member of the South Coast Air Quality Management District, and Tania Pacheco-Werner, an assistant co-director of the Central Valley Health Policy Institute at California State University, were appointed.
The board consists of 14 voting and two non-voting members. Along with Nichols, Dec. 31 will be the end of the term for Contra Costa County Supervisor John Gioia, outgoing Rolling Hills Estates city Councilmember Judy Mitchell and Alexander Sherriffs, a doctor in Fowler.
Immediate reactions from environmental groups were mixed.
“Governor Newsom’s appointments of three women of color with formidable backgrounds and an experienced environmental justice legal advocate suggest a commitment to elevate equity and environmental justice at CARB, and hold promise for its future direction,” Gladys Limón, executive director of the California Environmental Justice Alliance, said in a statement, calling Randolph a “thoughtful leader.”
The Center for Biological Diversity, meanwhile, slammed the nominee for her time serving as the California Natural Resources Agency’s deputy secretary and general counsel from 2011 to 2014.
“Liane Randolph allowed oil companies to break the law and devastate our water, health and climate,” Kassie Siegel, director of the environmental group’s Climate Law Institute, said in a statement. “In advance of her confirmation hearings for CARB chair, Randolph and the governor must commit to putting climate and health first.”
Mr. Musk Goes to Texas
Wall Street Journal
Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Elon Musk said he has moved to Texas, becoming one of the highest-profile executives yet to leave Silicon Valley during the coronavirus pandemic.
He said the move had been in the works for months and lamented California, saying the state had become complacent with its innovators and taken them for granted.
Mr. Musk made the comments Tuesday during The Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council annual summit in an interview with Editor in Chief Matt Murray.
Startup executives and employees have fled the San Francisco Bay Area for cheaper localessince the pandemic has led to remote working conditions. Last week, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, whose origins trace back to the founding of Silicon Valley, has said it plans to shift its headquarters to Texas. The exodus has led many tech leaders and industry watchers to question whether the geographic region is losing relevance as a tech hub.
Mr. Musk threatened to move Tesla’s operations out of California while sparring with authorities there in May, after local shelter-in-place orders required him to shut down his lone U.S. car factory as part of measures to slow the spread of the virus. He criticized local officials at the time as “breaking people’s freedoms” by imposing the curbs.
The auto executive later filed a lawsuit against Alameda County, home of the Tesla factory, and defied local authorities by proceeding to reopen the plant, daring them to arrest him. The county eventually blessed the plant’s reopening and didn’t pursue an arrest.
Mr. Musk said last month that he had tested positive for Covid-19 and was experiencing mild symptoms, after repeatedly playing down the risks of the illness and raising doubts about the accuracy of tests. He has been criticized by public-health researchers as spreading misinformation about the coronavirus.
Texas has no state income tax, and Mr. Musk this year qualified for billions of dollars in stock-option compensation as part of a pay package agreement. Mr. Musk filed paperwork in late October to move his personal foundation from California to Austin, Texas, according to local records. The move was previously reported by Bloomberg.
Tesla also said earlier this year that it would build a new car plant in Austin, its second in the U.S. and first outside Silicon Valley. It is slated to start production cars next year. The auto maker said Tuesday that it would raise up to $5 billion through new sales of stock, the second time this year it is raising that amount of money to finance its expansion plans. Mr. Musk has said Tesla plans to make around 20 million cars annually in a few years, up from around 500,000 in 2020.
Mr. Musk’s other big company, Space Exploration Technologies Corp., or SpaceX, also has operations in Texas.
SpaceX launched four astronauts into orbit last month, marking the company’s first full-fledged operational mission with humans on board and beginning regularly scheduled commercial flights to the International Space Station.
Tesla, despite a temporary factory closure early in the pandemic, is on pace to meet its pre-pandemic goal of delivering around 500,000 cars this year, or roughly 36% more than last year. It is also on track to achieve its first full calendar year of profitability after posting a record profit of $331 million in the third quarter.
Colors of the Year for 2021? Grim Black? Nope – Illuminating Yellow & Ultimate Gray
New York Times
There is general agreement on very little in this world, save, perhaps, for one thing: This year has been a mess, and the next one cannot come fast enough.
So it should be a surprise to no one that the prognosticators at Pantone — those trend forecasters who scour the globe for months noting developments in clothing, cars, kitchens, coffee (the stuff that surrounds us) and translate it into a color they claim will be the dominant shade of the coming year — have chosen, as the color of the year for 2021 … two colors!
Which does not represent indecisiveness, but a metaphor. Get ready for Ultimate Gray and Illuminating Yellow. Or, in normal-speak: the light at the end of the tunnel.
After Living Coral in 2019 and Classic Blue in 2020, this may not be what anyone expected (that might have been “grim black”), but it might be what everyone needs.
“No one color could get across the meaning of the moment,” Laurie Pressman, the vice president of the Pantone Color Institute, said on a call. “We all realized we cannot do this alone. We all have a deeper understanding of how we need each other and emotional support and hope.”
Hence, said Leatrice Eiseman, the executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, the decision to select “two independent colors really coming together.”
No one ever pretended color theory was subtle. Besides, the choice does represent a step forward, of sorts.
This is only the second time in the 22 years that Pantone has been choosing a color of the year that two colors have been selected. The first time was in 2015, when Rose Quartz and Serenity were chosen (which is to say, pink and blue for 2016). That year, the two shades were meant to blend into each other, reflecting the recognition of gender fluidity and social progress. But this year, the two shades are meant to stand on their own, as complementary tones, supporting each other.
It is also the first time that a gray has earned the honor, and only the second time for a yellow. As it happens, both shades were added to the Pantone color wheel earlier this year, along with Period Red. Imagine if that one had won out.
Both Ms. Eiseman and Ms. Pressman said they did not start the process with a two-color result in mind, but they realized early on that the stakes around the choice of color for 2021 were very high and might demand a new approach.
“Ultimate Gray,” a 2021 Pantone Color of the Year.Credit…via Pantone
I “Illuminating,” the second 2021 Color of the Year.Credit…via Pantone
Not just because choosing a single anything to represent what’s next after a year of historic crisis could seem a fool’s errand. (Who knows what’s next?!) But because the question of consumption, which is intrinsically linked to Pantone’s choice, and its status as a marketing stunt, is itself fraught. Also because no one could move around as they had in the past to sleuth out what was happening in the color universe. Ms. Eiseman, for example, said she had not been on a plane since February.
Still, between the internet and the Pantone teams in almost 30 countries, the direction things were going was fairly certain by midsummer.
The prognosticators began by acknowledging the shades of gray in which we have all been immersed. Indeed, of all the grays in the palette, Ultimate Gray is a determinedly neutral kind of gray. It is not the dark gray of gathering storm clouds or the dour gray of institutional sameness or the dim gray of skulking in the shadows or the soft, luxurious dove gray of Dior, but a more solid, granite-like gray. The kind of gray of wisdom (gray beards!) and intelligence (gray matter!) and construction.
“It’s a dependable gray,” Ms. Eiseman said
One person’s dependable is another person’s depressing, however, which is where Illuminating comes in. It’s not the egg yolk-like yellow of Mimosa, the color of the year of 2009, nor an acidic or highlighter yellow, nor the “go into the light” yellow of the afterlife, or sci-fi adventure, but more of a sunshine, or smiley face, yellow.
Together, Ms. Eiseman said, “the color combination presses us forward.” It has been popping up everywhere, from Nike to the Marks & Spencer Pornstar Martini cans.
It would be easy to think that the whole “working together” aspect of the messaging includes a quasi-political subtext, as we come out of an administration marked by party standoffs, rather than compromise, but Ms. Pressman said that was not the point.
“It’s about our minds resetting to what’s really important,” she said.
The choice is also, of course, about selling. Get ready for the “Get the color of the year look!” emails that inevitably ensue.
Still, news of the coronavirus vaccine has reinforced Pantone’s selection. Even in the gray sameness of our current days, the future does look a whole lot brighter. Illuminated, even.