Partisan gridlock in Sacramento: is there no end?

You may not have noticed that the Lieutenant Governor's job in Sacramento is vacant. No, this is not a long-overdue elimination of a largely ceremonial job to help balance the budget. It is because the former occupant, lifelong politician John Garramendi, won election to Congress recently. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has the authority under the California Constitution to appoint a successor, subject to confirmation by the Legislature. Schwarzenegger, a Republican, nominated a fellow Republican, State Senator Abel Maldonado, to succeed Garramendi, who is a Democrat.

None of this much matters to the voters in California. But the bitter partisan gridlock in Sacramento is damaging the future of the seventh largest economy in the world and the 35 million Californians who depend on it for our future. So when Sacramento politicians play partisan games, it perpetuates the reason why less than one in eight California voters that they approve of the performance of our State legislators.

Our local assemblymember, Democrat Pedro Nava, flanked by two colleagues, called a press conference today to urge that Maldonado be denied confirmation. According to the Ventura County Star, Nava "singled out such issues as Maldonado’s opposition to a bill requiring health insurance plans to include maternity coverage and his no vote on AB 32, the state’s landmark law to regulate greenhouse gas emissions."

Do the votes cited by Nava really put Maldonado outside of the mainstream of California voters, let alone Republicans? Maldonado is one of only a tiny handful of Republicans who sided with Democrats and Governor Schwarzenegger to approve our current budget. He's a rare political species -- a moderate. In fact, his moderation was a key reason he lost to his primary bid for State Controller to our local State Senator, conservative Tony Strickland.

Nava is a thoughtful and hard-working legislator. So is Abel Maldonado. It is hard to fathom why Nava would lead the charge to block Maldonado's appointment beyond partisan politics.

Can't even the moderates in the two parties get along? And if they can't, what hope have we of agreeing on a budget before the State prints more IOUs, further damaging California's already abysmal credit rating?

The City of Ventura has no position on who should be Lieutenant Governor, nor as City Manager, do I have have an interest in how all this turns out. But the State budget crisis directly affects local government. That's the major reason the California League of Cities is spearheading a petition drive to safeguard local revenues. Normally leery of "ballot box budgeting," the League has given up hope that the ongoing crisis won't lead to more efforts (even unconstitutional ones) to fill the widening hole in the State budget by stealing or "borrowing" local funds that are used to support vital police, fire, library and park services in California communities.

Everyone knows we are in tough shape in California. Now, more than ever, shouldn't we expect statesmanship in our State capital?