Posted on 07/08/2002 4:26:46 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
SACRAMENTO -- What makes Dean Florez run?
Why does the assemblyman from Shafter alienate so many people, especially members of his own Democratic Party, by sticking stubbornly to an independent course of action?
Elected to a legislative position in which success usually depends on building coalitions and alliances to help push your agenda, would it hurt him so much to go along a little more to get along a little more?
Those are questions a whole lot of people in Sacramento and Bakersfield are asking these days after Florez was publicly chastised by Assembly Speaker Herb Wesson, ostensibly for skipping town last Monday to attend his son's baseball game in Shafter while the speaker was trying to pass a big environmental bill.
There aren't many people in Sacramento who think that was the real reason Wesson removed Florez as chairman of the legislature's investigative committee.
But it was at least the last straw after nearly four years of pleading unsuccessfully with the moderate Florez to join fellow Democrats in supporting liberal legislation on gay rights, environmental restrictions and gun control.
But most people, including Florez, believe it had more to do with Florez's aggressive hearings into the mishandling of the Oracle software contract by officials of Democratic Gov. Gray Davis' administration and his plans to grill the administration next about why the Department of Veterans Affairs is such a mess.
Why does Florez do that stuff?
The answer is frustratingly elusive unless you're prepared to take Florez at his word, something most are reluctant to do when it comes to politicians.
When asked, he says, "What I really care about is doing the right thing."
By that, he means exercising the Legislature's oversight role and asking tough questions when things go wrong in a state or local government agency.
It also means voting the way he thinks people in his heavily Latino, but conservative, westside assembly district want him to vote, which is not in favor of gay rights, gun controls or more environmental restrictions.
For those who think Florez is extremely ambitious and that this is all part of a long-range strategy to gain publicity for a future bid for statewide office, he won't offer an argument.
"Obviously, statewide office is in my sights," he said late last week.
He agrees when it is noted that he has probably received more favorable statewide publicity in the past two and a half months over the Oracle hearings -- and his ouster from the committee -- than he ever saw in his previous three and a half years as an assemblyman from an obscure valley district.
Sacramento wags are already speculating about what would happen if Florez became the state controller with a huge audit staff and the authority to investigate almost anything.
But Florez has beaten them to the punch.
"Obviously, there isn't an investment banker in the world who wouldn't want to be the treasurer or controller of California," Florez said.
Florez's professional background, by the way, points to another reason that he, unlike many of his legislative colleagues, can afford to thumb his nose at his party's leadership.
With an MBA from Harvard, Florez left a budding career as an investment banker and municipal financial consultant to run for the Assembly in 1998, and he could always return to it if politics doesn't work out.
"I took a little bit of a pay cut to take this job," he says. "(For) some of these guys, this is the best job they will ever have -- $100,000 a year and a lot of perks."
For the immediate future, Florez is running for the state Senate in the 16th District, a seat being vacated by the retiring Jim Costa, D-Fresno, an election Florez is all but assured of winning.
Despite the growing frustration with him among Democrats, Florez has received many thousands of dollars for his current campaign from Assembly Democratic leaders and labor unions that usually take their cue from party leaders.
He insists he doesn't think they will stop giving to him and offering their support.
"It's going to be fine," he says cheerfully.
And speaking of independence, there are many who think Wesson's move to punish Florez might come back to haunt the speaker.
Florez is one of them.
The overdue state budget is currently pending in the Assembly, and the chief responsibility for garnering the two-thirds majority, or 54 votes, lies with the speaker.
Wesson needs at least four votes from Republicans, assuming he can get all 50 Democrats to support the spending plan. The refusal of any Republicans to cross party lines so far is the reason the budget missed the legal deadline of June 30.
With the public spanking he just received, Florez said he no longer feels any obligation to vote for the budget.
He insists he is not setting a price for his vote, but says, "I'm definitely going to give this budget a much harder look."
As one lobbyist said, Wesson's firing of Florez "must mean he thinks he's got five Republican votes for the budget."
The darker side of Florez's independent streak involves his isolation from many Kern County Democratic leaders who backed him wholeheartedly when he first ran for office.
They include county Supervisor Pete Parra, with whom Florez has maintained a bitter feud that has become personal for both sides. They also include one of the county's wealthiest and most influential Democrats, attorney Milt Younger. Younger is a trial lawyer who clashes with Florez over business issues, and has remained loyal to Parra and other local Democratic activists who were here long before Florez became politically active in the late '90s.
Florez insists he is not worried that his alienation from the party leadership in the valley or in Sacramento will hurt his future political career.
"I have one role model," he said. "Gray Davis. Who liked him when he was in the Assembly? Who liked him when he was controller or lieutenant governor? He was independent, and he did his own thing, and that's why he's the governor today."
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What a stupid quote! All respect I gained for this Democrat over the past few months has been completely eroded.
Not for long!
Didn't think it was possible. A newspaper more liberal than the LA Times or McClatchy's Bees.
Wonders never cease (I thought the Okie from Muskogie was still alive and well in Bakersfield).
Dang! I'm gettin pinged, ponged, flagged, bagged with all these great artickles till my self-search is so clogged up it takes my puny connection several minutes ta load 'em all up!!!
I ain't complainin so keep 'em comin. Just commentin that now I'm afraid to click on one of them there links cause I might git hooked for hours and hours!!!
I am on cable and I am unable to keep up with all the pings I am getting!
But downloading graphics is not a problem, slow machine and slow eyeballs are a problem.
But I am working on that!
The LA Hadayet or Hadayat terrorist has generated a huge number of threads. I really got interested in why the FBI was resisting calling it a Terrorists event. That hasn't yet been answered.
But Davis is the centerpiece of much of the activity I am watching!
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