Some California politicians’ calendars are like open books -- while others prefer to keep them secret
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Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger releases his public schedule. So do the rest of California’s elected statewide officials.
But members of the state Legislature?
Not so much, according to a survey done by the Associated Press. Only one of the Legislature’s 120 members offered to provide the Associated Press with their schedule from last year -- Sen. Leland Yee (D-San Francisco) -- but he was rebuffed by the Senate’s record-keepers. From the AP:
In a letter to Yee, Secretary of the Senate Gregory Schmidt said the Senate had an obligation to protect citizens’ rights to ‘complain, chastise, petition or even praise’ their elected officials without third parties knowing about it.
Third parties? That would be the public that elected lawmakers in the first place.
Read the full story here.
-- Shane Goldmacher in Sacramento