Campbell a part of puny group

Paul Clinton

Newport-Mesa Assemblyman John Campbell headed into his weekly

meeting of “The Puny Ten” a little after 3 p.m. on Thursday, saying

he was not optimistic about progress on the state’s stalled budget.

Assembly Speaker Herb Wesson formed the cleverly named caucus last

week, and invited the five leading assembly members from each party.

As the vice chairman of the influential budget committee,

Campbell, who holds the 70th Assembly District seat, was an easy

choice.

The caucus is a nod to “The Big Five” -- the high-ranking

assemblage of Gov. Gray Davis and the top Democrat and Republican

from the Assembly and Senate.

So far, the Puny Ten haven’t made any outsized progress to close

the partisan gap on the budget, Campbell said.

“We’re not sure what the heck we’re doing this for,” Campbell

said. “We’ve been talking about things, but we haven’t gone

anywhere.”

Vespa nice to meet you

Assemblyman Ken Maddox doesn’t represent Costa Mesa or a sliver of

Newport Beach yet. However, he has a plan for that time.

Maddox said he hopes to buzz up and down West Coast Highway in his

new Vespa scooter to check out the new 68th Assembly District.

Maddox will represent portions of northwestern Newport-Mesa if he

wins the election for the newly realigned district in November. He

recently bought one of the popular scooters at Vespa Newport Beach.

“It’s to cruise up and down Pacific Coast Highway, checking out

the new district,” Maddox said. “It’s my beach-mobile.”

A flight for flight’s sake

Taking up the cause to extend flight restrictions at John Wayne

Airport, Supervisor Jim Silva and Newport Beach Councilwoman Norma

Glover headed to Washington D.C. to meet with the people who may

influence the issue.

Silva, whose Second District includes Newport-Mesa, and Glover met

with Federal Aviation Administration officials in the morning on

Thursday and a handful of lawmakers during the afternoon.

They met with Reps. Dana Rohrabacher who represents Costa Mesa, Ed

Royce (R-Fullerton) and Ken Calvert (R-Riverside) to inform them

about the approval of the extension, on June 25, by the Board of

Supervisors and City Council.

Airport Director Alan Murphy also joined the delegation.

Avoiding a power outage

State Senator Ross Johnson is pushing for a public explanation

from the man who created Cal-ISO, the marketplace for sales of “spot”

power.

Johnson, who represents Newport-Mesa via the 35th Senate District,

wants state Sen. Joe Dunn to call David Freeman, the head of the Los

Angeles Department of Water and Power, for testimony.

Dunn is chairing a committee that is looking into market

manipulation between the fall of 2000 through the summer of 2001.

Freeman, the Cal-ISO’s trustee, has come under fire for possibly

using improper “ricochet” energy trading, in which power is bounced

out of state and brought back in to inflate prices.

Gov. Gray Davis has nominated Freeman for the chairman of the

Consumer Power and Conservation Financing Authority. He must be

confirmed by the Senate by Aug. 13.

“The Senate should not be in a position of voting on David

Freeman’s confirmation without benefit of the facts concerning his

involvement in potentially illegal activities,” Johnson said. “The

best way to answer these questions is to have Mr. Freeman publicly

and under oath.”

Cox improves his space in cyberspace

Rep. Chris Cox has unveiled a higher-tech Web site as a way to

better communicate with his constituents about his weekly activities

in the nation’s capital.

The handsome site now includes easy-to-use navigational bars along

the left-hand side. It also features golden-colored tabs along the

top of the site. The site also includes streaming video and glossy

pictures.

A trip to the site results in a chance to watch a press

conference, held jointly by Cox and Democratic California Sen.

Barbara Boxer, about the unveiling of a new child-support bill. Watch

Cox field questions from reporters, in one of the video clips.

Cox, who represents Newport Beach, unveiled the site about two

weeks ago.