Do you wonder which judges and ballot measures to vote for?
If you think Judges are a non-partisan office, you would be technically correct. But in reality, as attested to by rulings of the 9th Circuit Court, we have judges trying to write the law from the bench. A lot of these judges worked their way up through California Courts.
Government for the People is a general purpose county committee which was founded in response to requests we received for information and recommendations on the judicial candidates and the ballot measures when I ran for State Senate in 2004.
Government for the People’s recommendations for the November 2, 2010
Ballot Measures, California Supreme Court Justices, California Appellate Court
2nd District, and Los Angeles County Judicial Candidates are below.
Note: Los Angeles County Bar
Association’s (LACBA) ratings are indicated in (Red).
No on Proposition 19:LEGALIZES MARIJUANA
UNDER CALIFORNIA
BUT NOT FEDERAL LAW. PERMITS LOCAL GOVERNMENTS TO REGULATE AND TAX COMMERCIAL
PRODUCTION, DISTRIBUTION, AND SALE
OF MARIJUANA. INITIATIVE STATUTE.
Yes on Proposition 20:REDISTRICTING OF CONGRESSIONAL
DISTRICTS.INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT.
No on Proposition 21:ESTABLISHES $18 ANNUAL VEHICLE LICENSE
SURCHARGE TO HELP
FUND STATE
PARKS AND WILDLIFE PROGRAMS. GRANTS SURCHARGED
VEHICLES FREE ADMISSION TO ALL STATE PARKS. INITIATIVE STATUTE.
NO on Proposition 22:PROHIBITS THE STATE FROM BORROWING OR
TAKING FUNDS USED FOR TRANSPORTATION, REDEVELOPMENT, OR LOCAL GOVERNMENT
PROJECTS AND SERVICES. INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT.
Yes on Proposition 23:SUSPENDS IMPLEMENTATION OF AIR
POLLUTION CONTROL LAW (AB 32) REQUIRING MAJOR SOURCES OF EMISSIONS TO REPORT
AND REDUCE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS THAT CAUSE GLOBAL WARMING, UNTIL
UNEMPLOYMENT DROPS TO 5.5 PERCENT OR LESS FOR FULL YEAR. INITIATIVE STATUTE.
NO on Proposition 24:REPEALS RECENT LEGISLATION THAT WOULD
ALLOW BUSINESSES TO LOWER THEIR TAX LIABILITY. INITIATIVE STATUTE.
NO on Proposition 25:CHANGES LEGISLATIVE VOTE REQUIREMENT
TO PASS BUDGET AND BUDGET-RELATED LEGISLATION FROM TWO-THIRDS TO A SIMPLE
MAJORITY.RETAINS TWO-THIRDS VOTE REQUIREMENT
FOR TAXES. INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT.
YES on Proposition 26:REQUIRES THAT CERTAIN STATE AND LOCAL
FEES BE APPROVED BY TWO-THIRDS VOTE. FEES INCLUDE THOSE THAT ADDRESS ADVERSE
IMPACTS ON SOCIETY OR THE ENVIRONMENT CAUSED BY THE FEE-PAYER’S BUSINESS.
INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT.
NO on Proposition 27:ELIMINATES STATE COMMISSION ON
REDISTRICTING. CONSOLIDATES AUTHORITY FOR REDISTRICTING WITH ELECTED
REPRESENTATIVES. INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT AND STATUTE.
Write
ups and campaign links on the 2010 General
Electionpage.
Our Mission:Get information out to the Voters.
Find and Support Candidates that will work for the Citizens of Los Angeles County.
Support or oppose all propositions, referendums, and ballot measures; in the best interests of the Citizens of Los Angeles County.
What we have accomplished?
We have built our base of support and contacts for our efforts on the L.A. County Superior Court.
In 2008, we had a 100% success rate in the General Election, with some very close races. In the June 2006 elections, we were credited with helping two candidates to win outright in the primary and with helping four candidates reach the runoff.
The Honorable Judy Meyer: “You were instrumental in helping me! Thank you so very much.”
The Honorable Dan Lowenthal: “Thank you for your note and for your support. It truly takes a "big" person to put partisanship aside, and support somebody based solely on qualification.”
Bob Henry: “Thank you for the assistance that you have provided and let's keep on trying to bring back Government TO the People.”
We have reached the point at which candidates are searching us out to speak with us, so that is a great indication of how effective we are at getting the word out.
What are we doing?
We continue to do database work, talking to community groups, and civic leaders to build more contacts for the 2010 election. Each election is vital to the future direction of California. We must continue to seize the opportunity to change the way Government operates in
L.A.
County and
California.
We will also be working hard to prevent what happened to the only candidate that lost even with our support.Dzintra Janavs an "Exceptionally Well Qualified" incumbent lost to Lynn Olsen who is rated "Not Qualified".Lynn won due to what in our opinion was a deceptive campaign and deceptive language on slate mailers (see below), she also outspent us at a ratio of nearly a 1,000 to 1.For future elections, we will be searching for good judicial candidates and we will be providing free assistance to guide the candidates that we recommend through the process.This will entail additional costs, so please send donations if you are able.
Miscellaneous Notes
We are overjoyed and yet concerned that everyone we are contacting via emails and direct mail with recommendations are no longer going to the website for additional details.When we put a link directly to our judicial page without putting the candidates in an email, we had over 160,000 page views.We would prefer for everyone to obtain additional information, although we are honored by the vote of confidence.
Slate Mailers are a paid advertisement that candidates buy their way onto.Slate Mailers typically pretend to represent one party or point of view, but for the Non Partisan Offices (judges, city council, etc.), the person buying their way onto a the mailer may have the exact opposite position of what the mailer portrays.Slate mailers come down to who is willing to pay so please ignore them unless you check out the organization that is putting them out.Slate Mailers are effective, but as indicated by a “Not Qualified” candidate winning over an “Exceptionally Well Qualified” candidate, they yield results for whoever spends the most money and do not represent the best candidate.
In service to California,Michael A. Jackson President of Government for the People
