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In her 11 years as Sacramento County district attorney, Jan Scully has cultivated a reputation as a no-nonsense law-and-order type. California taxpayers are about to find out if it's a reputation she deserves. In March, Attorney General Bill Lockyer – citing a conflict of interest – turned to Scully and asked her to review the First 5 California Children and Families Commission's use of $23 million for TV ads promoting “preschool for all” at the same time a “preschool for all” initiative was seeking placement on the ballot and voter support. State law makes it a felony to use public...

To live in California is to pay the highest state income tax rate in the nation, if you're wealthy enough. Last week, voters had a chance to raise that tax rate to new heights by approving Proposition 82. They declined. Did they figure that the Golden State's rich were already thoroughly soaked — or did 82, which would have funded universal preschool for 4-year-olds, just not present a convincing enough case? Nevada is right next door, after all, and it has no income tax, period. Proposition 82 would have raised California's top tax to 12% from 10.3%. Rodriguez sees a...

Despite Prop. 82's loss, director-activist says he'll continue to back liberal causes. LOS ANGELES -- After shutting himself off from the public for nearly three months, movie director and actor Rob Reiner stepped back into the spotlight election night and declared he wasn't leaving the political stage. Voters had just handed a resounding defeat to Proposition 82, the universal preschool initiative he'd championed. Reiner had been forced to step down from the chairmanship of the First 5 California commission because of criticism about its $23 million taxpayer-financed preschool advertising campaign. He'd gone into a self-imposed exile from the media in...

SACRAMENTO — A Santa Monica advertising firm that produced a tax-funded $23-million ad program touting the benefits of preschool settled a suit after one of its subcontractors made $2.5 million in payments, the firms have announced. GMMB Inc. alleged in a suit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court in April that the subcontractor, Durazo Communications, failed to pay some television stations that aired the commercials, which were funded by the First 5 California Children and Families Commission. (snip) The suit attracted attention when Hector Ramirez, the commission's chairman, called on the Los Angeles Police Department and the state Bureau...

The Nays Have It by Steve Voeller June 9, 2006 Preschool tax fails in California Every one has a breaking point when it comes to tax hikes. Tuesday, Californians soundly defeated a tax increase to pay for universal preschool. According to San Diego television station KFMB: "Proposition 82, the universal preschool measure, was also defeated, as 61 percent voted no compared to 39 percent that approved the measure. Proposition 82 would have spent $2.1 billion during the first year, increasing to $2.6 billion by 2010. The measure, conceived by actor Rob Reiner, would have provided hundreds of millions of dollars...

People of California Defeat Prop 82.. This week in California there was a special election for the House seat that was previously occupied by the disgraced Republican Duke Cunningham. It was somewhat newsworthy that the GOP held onto the seat, but what was even more newsworthy was the defeat of proposition 82. For some reason this is not getting the play it should. Proposition 82 was a bill to raise taxes on all Californians earning over 400,000 a year. It would have affected .6% of the people of California. The tax hike was proposed for the purpose of providing Universal...

California voters turned frugal Tuesday, turning down several state and local bonds and taxes -- and raising questions about prospects for $47 billion in state bonds proposed for the November ballot. The failed statewide ballot measures would have used $600 million in bonds to build and refurbish public libraries, and raised income taxes on wealthy Californians by $2.4 billion annually for preschools. Their demise could give pause to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democrat legislative leaders as they contemplate how to convince Californians to support the richest series of bond measures in the state's history. Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata,...

Universal preschool advocates vow to continue effortsBy Dana Hull Mercury News Advocates of universal preschool vowed today to continue their fight despite the crushing defeat of Proposition 82 in Tuesday's election. According to the final tally of ballots cast, 60.9 percent of voters statewide opposed Prop. 82 while just 39.1 percent supported it. The initiative, which needed a simple majority to pass, narrowly prevailed in just three of California's 58 counties: Alameda, Imperial, and San Francisco. In conservative Orange County, 73 percent of voters came out against it. ``It was a tough environment for initiatives,'' said Prop. 82 spokesman Nathan...

California voters soundly rejected Proposition 82 Tuesday, crushing the hopes of early childhood education advocates who hoped to make universal preschool public policy in the nation's most populous state. Throughout much of the evening, returns showed that 60 percent of voters statewide opposed Prop. 82 while just 40 percent supported it, making it nearly impossible for the measure to ever get the simple majority it needed to pass. ``It doesn't look good,'' admitted Hollywood director Rob Reiner, who spoke to about 200 supporters at a Los Angeles hotel ballroom shortly after 10 p.m... (see more at link)

California voters soundly rejected Proposition 82 on Tuesday, crushing the hopes of early-childhood education advocates who hoped to make universal preschool public policy in the nation's most populous state. ``Prop. 82 sounded really good, but the more I looked at it, the more I realized it was subject to shenanigans,'' said David Yomtov of San Jose, who said he voted against it. ``Kids should go to preschool, but it didn't sound like Prop. 82 would help the families who most needed the help.'' Proposition 82 enjoyed support in staunchly liberal enclaves like San Francisco, but it was overwhelmingly rejected in...

Welcome to the live thread for the California Primary Election. Polls are open until 8pm tonight. If you are a registered voter, it is your duty to vote and defend your rights and civil liberties, protect your pocketbook, and vote the bums out where applicable. Feel free to discuss issues key to your local area that others may be interested in. Post your polling place experiences if you like. And post numbers as they come in later tonight.

Preschool measure tumbles in poll By Dana Hull Mercury News Support for Proposition 82, California's Preschool for All Act, has plummeted, according to a Field Poll released Friday, and political analysts say the measure appears extremely vulnerable in the final days of the fiercely fought campaign. Forty-six percent of likely voters plan to vote against the initiative, while 41 percent favor it, found the poll, which was taken May 23-31. That's a significant plunge from polls conducted in February and April, when supporters held double-digit leads over opponents. With momentum building behind a ``No'' campaign fueled by concerns about the...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Provide free preschool for all California children, tax the rich to pay for it, and get a famous Hollywood director to sell it. A measure on Tuesday's ballot to create universal preschool in the nation's most populous state seemed like a can't-miss idea in heavily Democratic California. But the $2.4 billion-a-year plan has been a tough sell. The Preschool for All initiative's best-known supporter, "When Harry Met Sally" director Rob Reiner, ducked out of the campaign spotlight this spring after a state education commission he headed was accused of improperly using taxpayer money to run TV commercials...

Ballot measure would expand programs by taxing richest Attending preschool for free would become a constitutional right for every 4-year-old in California if voters approve a June ballot initiative that could dramatically reshape the state's public education system. Called a key to improving the state's lagging schools by proponents and a colossal waste of money by opponents, passage of Proposition 82 would place the state in the forefront of a national movement toward standardizing pre-kindergarten education. Illinois, Georgia and Oklahoma already have implemented or are considering universal preschool programs. Most of California's half-million 4-year-olds attend some form of preschool or...

YOU CAN NEVER BE TOO rich or too thin, the saying goes, and it certainly holds true for California's June 6 primary. State Controller Steve Westly, a former eBay executive and Democratic candidate for governor, has spent $34.5 million of his own fortune in hopes of earning the right to face Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger this fall. The other Democrat in the race, State Treasurer Phil Angelides, would certainly be out of the running by now but for a wealthy friend who spent $6 million on an "independent" expenditure to prop up his flagging campaign. As for the Governator, he's not...

SACRAMENTO – An initiative on the June 6 ballot that would give all 4-year-olds the right to attend preschool is casting California once again in the role of possible national trendsetter. A drive to give all children the chance to begin school a year before kindergarten, with the aim of helping them become better readers and learners later on, has begun in Oklahoma, Georgia and Florida. But Proposition 82 is much more ambitious and likely more controversial – not only because the program would be funded by $2 billion a year raised through increased taxes on upper-income Californians. The measure,...

Actor-director Rob Reiner on Thursday wrote a $1.65 million check to boost the closing campaign for Proposition 82, his initiative to tax wealthy residents to pay for free preschool. Reiner's donation pushes his total contributions to the campaign to $2.8 million. His wife, photographer Michelle Singer Reiner, has donated $1.3 million to the initiative, and his father, writer-comedian Carl Reiner, has contributed $500,000. Meanwhile, Democratic gubernatorial candidates Steve Westly and Phil Angelides are both opening their wallets to give their campaigns new infusions of cash, according to announcements by the campaigns and reports filed with the secretary of state's office....

With polls showing that his Prop. 82 universal preschool measure is carrying a narrow lead into the final days before the June 6 election, actor/director Rob Reiner put another $1.65 million of his own money into the campaign today. So far this year, Reiner already had spent better than $1.15 million on the campaign, which has also collected about $1.3 million from his wife, Michelle Singer Reiner, and $500,000 from his father, comedian Carl Reiner. Prop. 82, which would hike taxes on wealthy California residents to provide free preschool for all the state's 4-year-olds, had a 50 percent to 43...

Not quite 5 years old, Aniyah Slocum has plenty to report about her experience at the Richmond College Prep Preschool."I learned how to do the months of the year," she offers, clutching the turquoise marker she has been using to practice writing numerals. "I learned how to do puzzles, I learned my numbers and I learned my ABCs so my great-grandma can be proud of me."At programs like this one, serving one of the city's most impoverished flatland neighborhoods, teachers don't have to be convinced of preschool's role as an academic equalizer.From the slew of storybooks to the college banners...

ELECTION 2006 Unions threaten consumer boycott to dry up campaign contributions California labor groups warn national retailers: Oppose Reiner initiative, you'll be blackballed Union supporters of a California ballot measure promising "Preschool for All" have threatened several national retailers with a nationwide boycott if their companies or major shareholders make contributions to the opposition campaign. Representatives for the Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic – major mall-based clothing retailers – were sent letters last week from the Service Employees International Union and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees warning that a national action against all their stores...

Employing a new political tactic, two large labor unions are using the threat of a consumer boycott to try to curb corporate contributions to groups opposing the universal preschool initiative on the June ballot. The Service Employees International Union and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees sent a letter last week threatening a national boycott of all of the Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic stores. They said they would launch the boycott if the Gap, its affiliates or any members of the family that founded the Gap donated to groups opposing actor and director Rob Reiner's...

Amanda Riccetti supports universal preschool, but she plans to vote against Proposition 82. Director of Big City Montessori School in San Francisco's Bayview district, Riccetti fears the June ballot initiative to provide free preschool to all California 4-year-olds is so restrictive that schools like hers will be shut out. "The initiative puts in very precise directions, making it more difficult for programs to be individualized and for parent choice," said Riccetti, who runs a school for 100 children founded by her mother in 1972. It has been turned down as a site for San Francisco's fledgling universal preschool program, though...

Prop. 82's margin has fallen in past few months, even among Democrats - A ballot initiative that would raise income taxes on the wealthy to provide free preschool for every 4-year-old in California remains ahead in a new statewide poll, but the lead is shrinking. Fifty-two percent of likely voters say they will support Proposition 82 on the June ballot, while 39 percent oppose the measure and 9 percent are undecided, according to a Field Poll released today. The new numbers show the proposition is losing support and the June result is likely to be very close, said Field Poll...

More preschools oppose initiative offering early education; critics say it could compromise their teaching methods. It sounds like a no-brainer for advocates of early childhood education: a state ballot initiative that would offer preschool to every 4-year-old in California, free of charge to parents. What preschool wouldn't be all for that? But as the June 6 election approaches, an increasingly vocal number of preschools are lining up against it.Some Montessori schools fear Proposition 82, dubbed the Preschool for All Act, would lead to new state standards that could compromise their unique teaching methods and mixed-age classrooms. Faith-based preschools say they...

SAN FRANCISCO Prop. 82 backers picket Gap store Backers of Proposition 82, which would offer free preschool to all California 4-year-olds, called for a boycott of Gap Inc. because of its owners' opposition to the June ballot measure. About two dozen Prop. 82 supporters set up a boisterous but peaceful picket outside the Gap's San Francisco flagship store at Powell and Market streets on Thursday. John Fisher, whose father is Gap founder Don Fisher and who manages the family's multibillion-dollar investment portfolio, gave $25,000 to the campaign opposed to Prop. 82. Family members also have contributed to business groups campaigning...

State contractor sues subcontractor; police and auditor notified. Sacramento -- Nearly $3 million in public money earmarked for pro-preschool commercials is missing, marking a weird twist in the controversy surrounding a move by a state commission headed until recently by director Rob Reiner to air the commercials while Reiner was working to get a preschool initiative on the ballot. The new head of the First 5 California Children and Families Commission and the commission's lead advertising firm acknowledged Thursday that $2.8 million owed to Spanish-language television stations for commercials aired last fall is unaccounted for. The firm, GMMB Inc., filed...

Controller Steve Westly and Treasurer Phil Angelides put aside their campaign differences today to support Prop. 82, the Preschool for All initiative at Children’s Institute in Los Angeles. Calling the initiative a critical investment in our education system, the two leading candidates for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination urged Californians to pass Prop. 82 in June. “Every child in California deserves a world-class education and the opportunity to attend quality preschool,” said Treasurer Angelides. “As State Treasurer, I am fighting to fully fund our schools, because giving our children the resources they need and access to preschool is essential if we...

SACRAMENTO - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is opposing a June ballot initiative promoted by director Rob Reiner that would raise income taxes on the rich to pay for universal preschool, his campaign team said Wednesday. "Put simply, the governor does not support tax increases and is opposed to Proposition 82 because it will raise taxes," said his communications director, Katie Levinson. Until now, Schwarzenegger has avoided definitive statements on Proposition 82, an initiative that is similar to an after-school measure he spearheaded in 2002 for after-school programs. Voters approved that measure and it is set to be funded for the first...

The contentious relationship between supporters of Proposition 82 and the June state ballot measure's opponents played out Tuesday when campaign backers crashed a press conference organized by a UC Berkeley think tank. Policy Analysis for California Education called the teleconference to explain its new study of the proposal to tax the wealthiest Californians to provide free preschool for all 4-year-olds. The study questions whether the plan will put existing schools out of business and benefit more families that can already afford to pay for preschool. UC Berkeley Professor Bruce Fuller, who leads the think tank, has become a lightning rod...

New PPIC Survey: Prop. 82 Sinking Fast in Latest Poll In what can only be interpreted as very bad news for the Yes on 82 camp, a new Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) survey shows voter support for the measure has plummeted 14 percent since the last PPIC poll in January, while opposition grew 10 percent. According to the poll, 52 percent currently support the measure and 41 oppose. It’s clear that once educated with the facts, voters understand that Prop. 82 is not a vote for or against preschool. It’s a vote about whether Prop. 82 is the...

Complaining of "personal political attacks," Hollywood director Rob Reiner resigned Wednesday as chairman of a statewide preschool commission he helped create that's under scrutiny for $23 million in advertising spending. Just two weeks ago, Reiner dismissed suggestions that he should step down from the California First 5 Commission, which has collected nearly $4 billion in tobacco taxes to fund early childhood programs. "Everything I've done is completely legal," he said at the time. But Reiner called Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger over the weekend and resigned, said Margita Thompson, a Schwarzenegger spokeswoman. In a letter to the governor Wednesday, Reiner said, "We...

Amidst continuing partisan furor, Hollywood producer Rob Reiner today resigned his seat on a state commission he helped found, and was replaced by another Democrat. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger praised Reiner's service while accepting the resignation, which Reiner two weeks ago said he would not submit. Schwarzenegger named Hector Ramirez, 38, of La Mirada, as Reiner's successor. Republican state senators had campaigned against the noted liberal Reiner, accusing him of abusing his position as chairman of the First 5 California Children and Families Commission to further passage of Proposition 82, an initiative on the June ballot that would create universal preschool....

Pro-preschool campaign well ahead in fundraising The campaign for Proposition 82, the Preschool for All Act, raised $2 million between Jan. 1 and March 17, according to campaign-finance records released this week. That's 10 times as much as the $196,000 raised by the ``No on 82'' campaign. The no campaign has $81,000 in remaining cash on hand; the pro-82 campaign, $1.6 million. Rob Reiner, who at nearly $657,000 is the campaign's biggest donor, has also become the focal point for its opposition. Much of the controversy surrounds conflict-of-interest charges stemming from Reiner's role as chair of a state commission, First...

Rob Reiner claims that opponents of Proposition 82, his ballot initiative for universal government-run preschool in California, are making him the issue because they are incapable of arguing against the measure on its merits. In recent days, Reiner has become the issue, but for reasons related to his first political production. The child of show-biz magnate Carl Reiner, Rob Reiner made his television debut as a motorcycle hood in a "Partridge Family" episode in 1970. The following year, Norman Lear cast him as the verbose liberal Michael Stivik in "All in the Family." His fame secured, Reiner went on to...

LOS ANGELES - Defying Senate Republicans' wishes, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday said he would not replace director Rob Reiner from the chairmanship of the state agency First 5 California. The governor told the Fresno Bee's editorial board that he was standing by his "friend" Reiner until there is evidence of wrongdoing. "Innocent until proven guilty," Schwarzenegger said. Senate Republicans had asked the governor to replace Reiner in the chairman's job because the agency spent $23 million in tax dollars on an ad campaign promoting preschool while Reiner was qualifying a universal preschool initiative - Proposition 82 - for the...

It is remarkable how a committee of so many well-intentioned people can produce a disaster as uniformly flawed as Proposition 82, the "PreSchool for All" ballot measure on this November's California ballot. If there is fault to be found -- and there is -- it rests squarely on the shoulders of Proposition 82's huckster-in-chief Rob Reiner. While no one can deny Reiner's commitment to his utopian schemes, like many who presume to know what's best for the rest of us, Reiner has scarcely encountered a corner he hasn't cut. To date, he stands accused of: 1) Funnelling $23 million of...

During an editorial board meeting with The Fresno Bee today, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he won't fire Democratic activist Rob Reiner, a director and fellow actor, as chairman of the California Children and Families Commission. Reiner has taken a leave of absence from the First Five Commission after reports of questionable spending under his tenure. He 's pushing Proposition 82, the universal preschool initiative on the June ballot. The commission reportedly used $23 million in tax dollars for advertisements supporting universal preschool while Reiner was collecting signatures to get his preschool initiative on the ballot. Schwarzenegger said there is only...

LOS ANGELES - The state agency under fire for using tax dollars to promote preschool as a preschool initiative was qualifying for the June ballot has a history of hitting the airwaves while voters are considering measures that could change its programs. First 5 California Children and Families Commission launched its first ad campaign - a $14 million bilingual media buy - just six weeks before a March 7, 2000, vote on a ballot measure to repeal Proposition 10, the initiative that created the agency. The ads said nothing about Proposition 28, the initiative seeking to repeal Proposition 10. But...

Why hasn’t Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger replaced controversial movie director/initiative promoter Rob Reiner as chairman of the California Children and Families Commission? That’s the question that has many, especially Schwarzenegger’s fellow Republicans, perplexed. Reiner has stepped away, taken a “leave of absence” from his post at the so-called “First Five Commission” in the wake of revelations about its highly questionable spending practices under his leadership. But he intends to return to the chairmanship after his Proposition 82 universal preschool initiative is voted on in June, even though his term in office expired in 2004. Many Republicans thought they understood Schwarzenegger’s motivation...

All 14 Republican state senators have called on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to replace Hollywood producer Rob Reiner on a commission the filmmaker helped found — and Reiner flatly rejected the suggestion Tuesday. A letter to Schwarzenegger signed by the Republicans accused Reiner, a Democrat, of using his position as chairman of the First 5 California Children and Families Commission to further a political goal: winning passage of Proposition 82, an initiative on the June ballot that would create universal preschool. The commission used public funds for an ad campaign touting the benefits of preschool at the same time Reiner launched...

Reporters Grill Reiner Over First 5 Preschool Ad Spending Written for the web by C. Johnson, Internet News Producer Film director and children's activist Rob Reiner defended himself Tuesday over the alleged misuse of taxpayer money to promote his universal preschool initiative. Answering reporter questions today at the Sacramento Press Club, Reiner said neither he nor the First 5 Children and Families Commission has done anything wrong. "We've been audited every year," he said. "We've been audited seven or eight times. Clean bill of health every time. Contracting is clean as a whistle. Everything we've done has been above board."...

BEVERLY HILLS - Facing a state audit and possible criminal investigation of the state commission he chaired, movie director Rob Reiner on Monday said his opponents are targeting him for attacks to avoid discussing the merits of the universal preschool initiative he put on the June ballot. "They will do whatever it takes to knock this thing out," he said in an interview with The Bee. "So they will attack me because they know they can't talk about the initiative." Opponents responded that they have discussed the shortcomings of Proposition 82, including their argument that raising taxes on the wealthy...

The controversial preschool-for-all ad campaign paid for with public funds and timed to coincide with the unveiling of Rob Reiner’s universal preschool initiative had its roots in a 2002 memorandum that laid out a detailed strategy for changing the public’s mind on the issue. The memo, which you can see in pdf form here [link on page], was prepared by GMMB, the same ad firm whose principals have close ties to Reiner and created the $23 million campaign that began airing late last year just as Reiner and his allies began to seek signatures for the initiative that will appear...

Legislators have decided to launch a formal audit of the spending practices of the state commission led by actor/director Rob Reiner, in the wake of news stories examining whether the commission spent taxpayer dollars for an ad campaign that promoted Reiner's political efforts at universal preschool programs. The audit, which officials say could take 4 or 5 months, was approved this afternoon by the Joint Legislative Audit Commitee. Reiner, the driving force behind June's Proposition 82 to create taxpayer-funded preschool for all children, has served for several years as the chairman of the state First 5 Commission, which focuses on...

Attorney General Supports Poochigian’s Request for Review of First 5 Commission’s Use of Taxpayer Funds Citing Conflict, Lockyer Refers Investigation to Sacramento County District Attorney “Attorney General Bill Lockyer has acknowledged that allegations that the First 5 Commission may have misused taxpayer funds in connection with campaign advertising for Proposition 82 warrant a prompt review. Although the Attorney General’s office has investigated and prosecuted other state entities and officers in the past, he has decided to refer this case. I believe that Sacramento County District Attorney Jan Scully will fully investigate the matter and, if warranted, prosecute any civil or...

They don't make humanitarians like they used to. Ten years ago, if someone were asked for an example of a humanitarian, chances are Mother Teresa, who devoted her life to helping the poor, would come to mind. Fifty years ago, Dr. Albert Schweitzer, who brought modern medicine to a remote area of Africa, was a humanitarian icon. When he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952 he used the $33,000 to expand his hospital and build a leper colony. One hundred years ago, Andrew Carnegie was busy giving away a fortune, much of it to public libraries and education....

Do you remember Chuck Quackenbush? He was the insurance commissioner who lost his job because he used fines that he collected from insurance companies to buy television commercials to promote his political career. It was a huge scandal at the time, and Quackenbush, who was a colleague of mine in the Assembly, left his job in disgrace, having been run out of office by Legislative Democrats for abusing state money. Another boondoggle is brewing, only this time Legislative Democrats are strangely silent. A few years ago, Rob Reiner (“Meathead” from the old television series, “All in the Family”) sponsored an...

Assembly Majority Leader Dario Frommer, a Los Angeles area Democrat who was also a high-ranking aide to then Governor Gray Davis, has formally joined forces with state Senator Dave Cox, the Sacramento area Republican, in requesting a state investigation of the Rob Reiner-led California Children and Families Commission. This as a result of a letter to the Joint Legislative Audit Committee dated February 24th and recently uncovered. The committee meets on March 8th. During that meeting, as committee chair Nicole Parra, an ally of Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, told me on Wednesday, the committee is expected to authorize an investigation...

Actor-director Rob Reiner is taking a lot of well-deserved media and political heat - from politicians in both parties, for a change - over a lavish promotional program for preschool education financed by tobacco tax money that is controlled by a commission he heads. Although Reiner and the First 5 California Children and Families Commission insist that he didn't play a direct role, it's perfectly clear that the commission was using public money to boost a Reiner initiative to tax the wealthy for preschool programs. Reiner temporarily stepped down from the chairmanship last week as political and media criticism mounted,...

Strickland Files “Public Documents” Request for Reiner Documents “The public has a right to know how their money is being spent” (Sacramento) – Taxpayer Advocate Tony Strickland has filed a request pursuant to the California Public Records Act for all documents surrounding the decision of a California commission to funnel millions in public funds into a television advertising campaign that may have been designed to boost an initiative petition being circulated by a member of the commission. The Sacramento Bee broke the story in December, with a more recent Los Angeles Times story highlighting the fact that more than $23...