Shelley’s Last Stand?
While others were more charitable, I have never trusted Kevin Shelley. From the beginning of his term, he played one dirty trick after another on the recall effort, each time with no legal basis, just crass partisan tactics. On the rare occasion where Shelley was on the right side of an issue, such as nominally opposing the ACLU’s attempt to cancel the October 2003 election, he took a position that made you wonder if he really wanted to win. Then, when the recall became a fait accompli despite Shelley’s best efforts to sabotage it, he prolonged Gray Davis’s tenure for a full month afterward, the maximum allowable by law.
Now, Shelley is embroiled in unrelated corruption charges and likely on his way out (to be replaced by Bill Jones? Don’t laugh.). However, he hasn’t resigned yet, and appears to be plotting one last Stupid SOS Trick. According to Save Our License, Shelley is listing March 4th as the circulation deadline for the SOL petition rather than February 22, the deadline his official schedule provided. Unfortunately, SOL does not provide a link to the offending page, nor have I been able to find it while poking around the election area of the SOS web site. So maybe this Stupid SOS Trick is also an Ineffective SOS Trick. We’ll see.
UPDATE: Aphrael found the link. Apparently, the “error” has been fixed. Reached for comment, a spokesman for Mr. Shelley said “Oopsie!”
UPDATE x2: Meanwhile, Lonewacko found another location on the SOS web site that was not corrected. Hoo boy.
UPDATE x3: Welcome, Michelle Malkin readers! Hope you like it here and bookmark my site. To everyone who got here any other way, be sure to check out Michelle’s entry as well. She’s got a good round-up of l’Affaire Shelley.
January 26th, 2005 at 10:57 am
I’m confused. I would think that extending the deadline, thereby allowing more time for circulation, would be something the circulators were in favor of. Why is allowing more time for circulation a problem?
Circulation deadlines, along with signature requirements, can be found under the initiative titles and before the summaries on this webpage: Initiative Update. It looks like they are correct about what he is listing the deadline as.
January 26th, 2005 at 12:33 pm
You were right Xrlq, Shelley is Shady. I’ll be happy to see him go.
January 26th, 2005 at 2:52 pm
If he actually extended the deadline, that would be fine. That’s not what they did. Merely announcing a later deadline accidentally-on-purpose is a great way to trick people into signing the petitions late or sending them in late. Note that the “extended” date is no longer on the site, now that they’ve been caught with their pants down.
January 26th, 2005 at 3:12 pm
The version here is still incorrect.
I’d say this is grounds for an extension.
January 26th, 2005 at 3:14 pm
Xlrq -
My charity, I should point out, was in defense of his handling the recall business. He made some noise here and there, at first, about delaying it, but let it run its course. I certainly have no fondness for him over this sordid business and will happily see him go.
January 26th, 2005 at 4:12 pm
Andrew, I know. Back then, no one knew about the scandals he is currently embroiled in. However, I don’t think the recall well, either. All along he acted as though he were on a jihad to restore crass partisanship to an office his Republican predecessor had made every bit as harmless and boring as it ought to be.
Think of it this way. If California’s electorate shifted and we became a swing state again, Democrats would still win some close elections under SOS Bill Jones. It would never work that way in reverse under SOS Shelley.
January 26th, 2005 at 4:14 pm
To be fair, Jones *kept it* boring and harmless. Both March Fong Eu and Tony Miller had run very quiet, very boring SoS offices.
January 26th, 2005 at 5:21 pm
No argument there. “Kept” is a better verb than “made,” as it’s what we should expect of the office no matter who runs it. It’s also what I fully expected Shelley to do when he first assumed office, but it sure didn’t take long for him to prove that expectation unwarranted.
Maybe the best solution is to reinstall Jones or any other boring, uneventful ex-SOS, and then amend the California Constitution to remove term limits for the SOS. If California wants to keep on re-electing boring ol’ Bill, why not. Meanwhile, have governors and lieutenant governors run in pairs like Presidents and Vice Presidents do at the national level, and have every other statewide officer serve at the pleasure of the governor. I mean, let’s face it, no one ever informs themselves well enough to vote intelligently on those offices anyway, and if anything goes south, the Governor is the one voters will punish. If the buck is going to stop there, authority better reach there.
January 26th, 2005 at 9:10 pm
ANOTHER SMELLY DEMOCRAT VOTE SCANDAL
Voter fraud fiascos in Wisconsin and East St. Louis are now on top bloggers’ radar screen. Now, it’s time to turn the spotlight on the stink in Sacramento. California-based watchdogs have been hot on the dirty trail of embattled Democratic…