The Capitol Morning Report regularly provides its readers with a write up of the Sacramento Press Club monthly luncheons. Below is the CMR story on the luncheon with Speaker Pérez that first appeared in CMR’s March 3rd edition. Thanks to the good folks at CMR, it is reprinted here their permission. Photos from the event here.
By Bob Schmidt, Capitol Morning Report
The Sacramento Press Club yesterday brought forth just the right luncheon speaker at just the right time. The speaker was the Speaker of the Assembly, John Perez, and it was the right time because he knows what's happening with the cliff-hanging budget process and because his bill to disincorporate the City of Vernon is just now capturing widespread attention at the Capitol, as evidenced by a Page One story about it in yesterday's Sacramento Bee.
On the budget, Perez said several times that he was optimistic that enough Assembly and Senate Republicans would vote for Gov. Jerry Brown's tax extension plan to put it before voters. So far, Republicans in both houses have insisted there will be no GOP votes for the Governor's proposal.
Asked for the basis for his optimism, He said "I know my colleagues. The majority do not want to run the state into the ground."
Asked if Democrats would attempt to place the issue on the ballot by a simple majority vote, he said "No," and explained only that there were moral and legal reasons for not doing that.
The speaker began his presentation by saying he was the only Democratic leader in the country who not only retained all the Democratic seats in his house, but actually picked up one in what had been a Republican district.
And he corrected Press Club President Rich Ehisen, who had said in his introduction that Perez is the only "gay person of color" to be elected to a legislative leadership position.
"I am the first and only gay person of any color to be elected speaker," Perez said.
The speaker gave nearly 15 minutes to the City of Vernon issue, saying his introduction of AB 46 was providing "full employment at the cost of millions of dollars of taxpayer money for political consultants, campaign managers, and lobbyists" in Vernon's effort to kill the bill.
He recited a litany of examples of what he described as "an unequaled level of corruption," that would have stimulated citizens of any other city to launch street demonstrations in protest.
"That is not happening in Vernon," Perez said, "because the city is both landlord and employer of the 100 city residents." The former mayor had been in office for 50 years, he said, and there were no city council elections held from 1984 to 2006.
Perez said he began paying attention to politics after his father, injured and unable to work because of an industrial accident, lost his benefits because of actions taken by President Reagan's administration.
Additionally, he said, there was an East Los Angeles furor over the state's plans to locate a state prison nearby rather than in an area where there were higher priced homes.
He decided to run for public office, he said, "to help working men and women."
Press club president Ehisen said Perez agreed three weeks ago to speak at yesterday's luncheon, making the good timing of his talk something of an accident. But whatever the cause, the talk drew 105 paying guests, a relatively high number according to club treasurer Kathy Beasley. Contact:
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Click here: SPC in the News to see additional media coverage of Speaker Pérez at the Sacramento Press Club.
