Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata

Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland, sent out a message a few minutes ago saying the Senate will remain in session until it passes a budget.

That’s bad news for Democrats with plane tickets to Denver, where the party’s national political convention officially starts Monday.

Assembly Speaker Karen Bass says she won’t go to Denver, either, until the state passes a budget.

(P.S., If you’ve been having trouble finding a hotel room in Denver, try calling a Democrat in the state Legislature. You could get a killer deal.)

It’s unclear whether the prospect of watching Barack Obama’s nomination speech in person and quaffing all those free drinks will prove sufficient incentive to pass a budget, particularly for the Republicans whose convention doesn’t start until Sept. 1.

FYI, Perata is a delegate for Hillary Clinton.

Here’s what Perata had to say:

“For weeks, I have been clear: The Senate will continue to work until we have a budget. I have told Senate Democrats that they need to remain in town to do our business and should not attend the Democratic National Convention next week in Denver.

“The Senate will be in session through the end of the month, with session every day this week, the Senate on call over the weekend and session every day next week. With over 500 bills pending and a budget to resolve, we have a lot to do in the next 12 days.”

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Who needs the Legislature to raise taxes? We’ll get plenty of chances on our own on Nov. 4 to boost our contributions to government operations.

I’ve compiled a list of all the ballot measures in the East Bay and of the 55 questions, a third proposed new or extended taxes. Voters will decide on $752 million in bonds, which are repaid through property taxes, and a series of parcel taxes. Eight of the measures are for schools, although the biggest bond,at $500 million, is for parks. Public safety is popular, too.

This figure doesn’t account for the $15.85 billion in bonds proposed in statewide ballot measures, including $9.95 billion for high-speed rail.

Read more for a full list of the measures on the state and Alameda and Contra Costa ballots.

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The writers compiling Capitol Weekly’s daily round-up were downright insulting to reporters this morning. The nerve. I’m going to Denver on Saturday, and I shower. Most days.

As they wrote:

And finally, the Denver homeless population is getting some free haircuts in preparation for the Democratic National Convention.

“When Sylvester and Ghandia Johnson saw news reports about homeless people being given vouchers to the zoo and the movies during the DNC, they didn’t feel it was right.

“The couple owns Sly’s Salon at Grant Street and 16th Avenue, in downtown Denver. They decided to use their business to create a so-called cut-a-thon specifically for the homeless.

“We thought we could help some of Denver’s homeless residents by giving them a fresh look, giving them real good self esteem and helping them feel part of the DNC, so they look their best,” said Ghandia Johnson.

“She says homeless people who want to be in public during the convention shouldn’t feel ashamed about their appearance. That’s why the salon gave free haircuts, washes and styles to more than 150 adults during the all-day event on Monday.”

The Denver homeless population will now officially be better groomed than the thousands of journalists heading to Denver.

In yet another salvo in Moraga’s escalating land-use war, a new group says it will fight both of the competing initiatives on the town’s Nov. 4 ballot.

Moraga landowner Russell Bruzzone sponsored Measure J, which would largely preserve the town’s existing general plan and mandate $7 million in payments to the town in return for development approvals. Open-space advocates wrote Measure K, which would restrict development to the downtown area and designate most of Bruzzone’s land, as well as other property, as open space.

According to a statement from Citizens for Sensible Land Use (Don’t you just love these names?) former town Planning Commission Steve Woehleke will serve as the group’s chairman, while ex-towncouncilman Dale Wlwark is vice chairman. Bob Reynolds, past president of the Moraga Park and Recreation Foundation and Moraga Citizen of the Year in 2001, will serve as treasurer.

The men call both measures ill-advised and likely to mire the town in court for years.

“A no vote on both J and K is essential to keep control of land use planning in Moraga and out of the hands of lawyers and the courts,” Woehleke said in his release.

“Both of these initiatives are special-interest legislation masquerading as public interest measures” said Walwark.

Reynolds, an economist, said “The cost of almost certain litigation if either of these measures passes could bankrupt the Town. A no vote on both initiatives is essential.”

The men say none of their members is affiliated with either tje J or K campaigns and vowed to put up a web site with “factual information” about the measures.

This is gonna be a fun election season in Moraga.

If you don’t have a ticket to the Democratic National Convention next week, you can still watch Barack Obama’s nomination speech surrounded by like-minded Democrats.

Contra Costa Democrats are hosting “Denver in Danville” party at Crow Canyon Country Club on Aug. 28 at 6 p.m., complete with food, drinks and two big-screen televisions.

It’s also a fundraiser for the United Democratic Campaign of Contra Costa County. Proceeds will be used for the party’s campaign activities.

The event will be held at the Crow Canyon Country Club, 711 Silver Lake Drive, Danville. VIP tickets cost $200 for 2 tickets and 4 drinks; family package, $100 for two adults and children: general admission, $60; and seniors and students, $35 each.

For more details call 925-262-8544 or visit denver-in-danville-v-3.pdf

UPDATE 7:44 AM TUESDAY: Gary Agopian tells me this morning via email that Gary Gilbert is not his campaign manager but his campaign chairman. My apologies. The difference? Campaign managers are usually paid, professional consultants. Campaign chairmen (or women) are typically unpaid volunteers. Some do little more than lend their names to the candidates campaigns while others get right in the trenches and lick envelopes. Agopian says Gilbert, as his campaign chairman, will be “coordinating campaign activities like precinct walking, phone banking and organizing volunteers……..all of which he is particularly good at. He isn’t developing mailers or strategy. I have a team of diverse backgrounds and talents. It will take a team like that to win.” Like the candidates themselves, campaigns range in style. Agopian will certainly bring his own approach to running his race, some of which may or may not track with conventional campaign practices.

Contra Costa Supervisor Federal Glover

Contra Costa supervisor candidate Gary Agopian

No rubber chicken. No wine in plastic cups. He calls it the “unparty,” an event held anytime you choose because you don’t have to go. Instead, you pay his campaign and not to attend an event he is not holding. He asks on his invitation, “How much would I be willing to pay not to have to go? … $10? $100?”

Wow. I guess that cuts down significantly on the catering bill.

Click here to download the invitation.

It’s an interesting little twist.

Agopian recently named Antioch activist Gary Gilbert as his campaign manager chairman, a man who has demonstrated considerable organizing skills around Antioch’s dispute with the county over management of housing subsidies for the poor. But Gilbert has no experience running a political campaign. On the other hand, Agopian lacks money to hire a high-profile campaign manager and, of course, it costs money up front to put on fundraisers.

Agopian is challenging incumbent Supervisor Federal Glover of Pittsburg.

Folks have been telling me the last couple of days that citizens seem downright disinterested in running for local public office.

They cite the lack of a contested Pittburg City Council race — the first one in 60 years — and only one challenger running against the two Concord City Council incumbents. And there are 13 school board races in the East Bay with no challengers.

Local public office is a tough job, no question. Agencies face tight budget times. Running a campaign is expensive and scary. Elected officials are under media and public scrutiny. And God forbid you should actually win; that means you have to govern and perhaps make unpopular decisions.

Statistically, however, the same number of people are running in Contra Costa County this November as did in November 2004, the last presidential election. In 2004, the ballot featured 104 races and 279 candidates. This year, it’s 109 races and 279 candidates. That’s an average of 2.7 candidates per race in 2004 and 2008.

At 52, there is only one fewer contested race this year compared with 2004, too.

But the other component, which is not as quantifiable, centers around the viability of the challengers. In some of the races, these challengers are perennial unsuccessful candidates or are almost completely unknown in the political community. Do these folks have the ability to raise money and run a winning campaign? We’ll see.

Read more for the full list of East Bay candidates. Note that the list does not include uncontested races. To see a full list of all races, both contested and uncontested, click on Contra Costa County or Alameda County.

Note: I’ve been updating this list today as the clerks finalize the names and communicate the details to the county election offices.
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I’m excited to be among the journalist panelists who will interview House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, Thursday morning in a special taping of KQED’s “This Week In Nothern California” with Belva Davis.

Pelosi is on a national tour promoting her nonfiction book, “Know Your Power: A Message to America’s Daughters.”

I am one of America’s daughters, so I’m looking forward to hearing what she has to say about how to be successful in U.S. politics as a woman.

The special taping will occur Thursday morning at the public television station’s San Francisco studios. I will join Davis, my colleagues Carla Marinucci of the San Francisco Chronicle and Paul Rogers of the San Jose Mercury News in a rare opportunity (for a reporter with a desk in Walnut Creek, anyway) to sit and interview the person third in line to the U.S. presidency.

I met and talked with Pelosi very briefly at several Contra Costa County events for her close congressional colleagues, reps. George Miller of Martinez and Ellen Tauscher of Alamo. I was also in the Capitol press gallery on the day she was elected Speaker of the House and watched her walk down the aisle surrounded by her grandchildren.

But this will be my first opportunity to be part of an interview with Pelosi that didn’t involve me trying to take notes while trailing her as she heads out for another event. (Not that I’m complaining, mind you. It’s not as though the Contra Costa Times is on the speaker’s must-call list.)

Pelosi will also be a guest Thursday on KQED’s radio show “The Forum” from 10-11 a.m.

The television show featuring Pelosi will air Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 4 p.m. on Channel 9. The KQED website also includes archived shows, so if you miss it on television, you can always watch it on your computer.

Photo credit: Photo of book cover uploaded from Amazon.com.

The California Target Book’s August Hot Sheet lists Assembly District 15 as the No. 4 ranked race in a list of seven competitive Assembly seats where Democrats have the potential to pick up a formerly Republican-held post.

Why is seven the magic number?

Democrats need to pick up six seats in order to have a two-thirds majority in the Assembly and have the ability to pass a budget or raise taxes without relying on Republican votes to meet the two-thirds threshold.

In Assembly District 15, Democrat and San Ramon Valley School Board Trustee Joan Buchanan is running against Republican and San Ramon Mayor H. Abram Wilson. The seat is currently occupied by soon-to-be-termed-out Assemblyman Guy Houston of San Ramon, the only Republican holding a partisan seat in the Bay Area.

Democrats have overtaken Republicans, albeit by less than 2 percentage points, in party registration in this district, which stretches across four counties. (Click here to see a map.)

Buchanan holds the fund-raising lead per the most recent campaign finance reports but it’s a misleading figure because she had nominal competition in the June primary election. Wilson, on the other hand, had three strong competitors. And as the Target Book correctly points out, the high stakes on the outcome of this race for the two parties will almost certainly draw significant dollars into both campaigns.

The other top six competitive Assembly districts and their rankings, per the Target Book, are (click on the AD link to see a map of the district):

No. 1: AD30, Democrat Fran Florez vs. Republican Danny Gilmore

No. 2: AD80, Democrat Manuel Perez vs. Republican Gary Jeandron

No. 3: AD78, Democrat Marty Block vs. Republican John McCann

No. 4: AD15, Democrat Joan Buchanan vs. Republican Abram Wilson

No. 5: AD26, Democrat John Eisenhut vs. Republican William Berryhill

No. 6: AD10, Democrat Alyson Huber vs. Republican Jack Sieglock

No. 7: AD37, Democrat Ferial Masry vs. Republican Audra Strickland (incumbent)

There’s no stumping this fall for incumbent Pittsburg City Councilmen Will Casey and Ben Johnson .

Click here to read Times’ story by Paul Burgarino on the subject.

Their only opponent in the Nov. 4 city council race, David Manly, has apparently failed to obtain enough signatures to qualify as a candidate.

The two incumbents on the Pittsburg Unified School Board are also unopposed; Laura Canciamilla and Ruben Rosalez.

Does that mean citizens of Pittsburg are thrilled with their representation and the direction of the city and schools, and thus have no need to challenge the incumbents? Or are people turned off by the idea of campaigning or disinterested in serving in public office?