9 seek Katie Hill’s seat + First Amendment award for police investigations + Newsom goes to Iowa
Top of the Tuesday morning to you, California. Thanks for starting your day with the AM Alert!
First off — Assemblywoman Christy Smith, D-Santa Clarita, earned Gov. Gavin Newsom’s endorsement yesterday in her campaign to win the congressional seat vacated by Rep. Katie Hill.
“Proud to endorse @ChristyforCA25 for Congress,” Newsom tweeted. “From her unwavering leadership in the Assembly dealing with public safety, wildfires, and our climate crisis, to fighting for affordable healthcare and housing, Christy has never been afraid to step up & step in. Let’s get her to DC!”
Nine candidates declared an intent to run for the special primary election. The nomination period opens Dec. 23 and runs through Jan. 9, the Los Angeles County Registrar’s Office said. There could be more or fewer candidates who file for the general election in November.
Among the declared candidates is George Papadopoulos, the former adviser to President Donald Trump who later became embroiled in the Russia investigation and pleaded guilty in 2017 to lying to the FBI.
Papadopoulos pledged on Sunday to “shake things up” should he be elected to fill the seat.
IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST
After the California Legislature passed Senate Bill 1421 last year to allow for the public release of investigations into police misconduct, a coalition of more than three dozen newsrooms joined together to dig into the thousands of newly available records for the California Reporting Project.
The initiative was established under a shared belief “that it is in the public interest to acquire and present these records, which had long been hidden from the people of California under restrictive state laws.” The newsrooms diligently detailed what the reports included, despite legal battles and complications by law enforcement representatives and California’s attorney general.
The First Amendment Coalition is honoring the newsrooms with the 2019 Free Speech and Open Government Award for “the project’s groundbreaking statewide campaign to bring to light records of police misconduct.”
The details:
The legislation, written by Berkeley Democrat Nancy Skinner, paved way for the production of more than 125 stories that revealed around 2,000 examples of police misconduct within California’s departments and agencies.
Spearheaded by a handful of “competing newsrooms” — Bay Area News Group/Southern California News Group, Capital Public Radio, Investigative Studios at UC Berkeley, KPCC/LAist, KQED and the Los Angeles Times — the collaborative grew into a 40 newsroom-wide project, including The Sacramento Bee.
“The California Reporting Project represents a truly groundbreaking approach to journalism and transparency in the public interest,” said David Snyder, executive director for the First Amendment Coalition. “Unafraid to knock down the walls that traditionally separate competing journalists, this group did an immense public service to California — and to all members of the public, who gained so much from the creative and aggressive approach the project embodies.”
Here are some of the reports that came of the project:
“The Sutter County Sheriff’s Office released disciplinary records in July detailing the firing of a deputy for allegedly using his position as a law enforcement officer to intimidate women into having sex with him while on duty,” via The Sacramento Bee
Ex-Richmond police lieutenant swapped sexually explicit texts with exploited teen, per records obtained by KQED
Details into how the El Cajon Police Department responded to a 2017 New Year’s Eve shooting of a suicidal man by police officers showed authorities in the agency tried to reform their use-of-force policy, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune
The project also found that more than 80 law enforcement workers still on the job are convicted criminals, “with rap sheets that include everything from animal cruelty to manslaughter,” an investigation that prompted frustration and pushback by the California Police Chiefs Association, which said the report “sensationalizes certain aspects and specific instances.”
The award will be presented during a ceremony at the California Press Foundation’s meeting in San Francisco.
POLITICAL MERGER
Two California political and government law firms announced today that they are merging at the start of next year to create Olson Remcho LLP.
The two firms, Olson, Hagel & Fishburn and Remcho, Johansen & Purcell, will represent the governor, Assembly speaker, Senate president pro tem, the California Democratic Party, labor organizations and California members of Congress, according to a press release.
The 22 attorneys will be based in Sacramento, Oakland and Long Beach and will advise “government agencies, nonprofits, unions, ballot measure committees, lobbyists, candidates, public officials, corporations, and political action committees regarding their participation in elections and government decision-making at the federal, state, and local levels.”
“Political and government law is a growing field,” said found partner Lance Olson. “We believe that the new firm will be a leader in California law and politics for years to come, giving our clients a team of lawyers with unmatched experience and expertise in the full range of political and government law matters.”
NEWSOM TO IOWA
Gov. Newsom is headed to the Hawkeye State to campaign for California Sen. Kamala Harris in her pursuit for the White House.
Harris’ campaign announced on Monday that Newsom will rally behind Harris, whose campaign has hit more than a few speed bumps in recent weeks, on Saturday and Sunday.
According to a press release, Newsom will campaign in the Des Moines area on Saturday before heading to Cedar Rapids on Sunday.
“At all of his events, Newsom will speak about Harris’ record of fighting for justice and her plans as president to fight for economic justice, reproductive justice, and health care justice,” the release read. “
GRANTS FOR NEWS
Via Alexandra Yoon-Hendricks...
For the second consecutive year, The Sacramento Bee has been awarded a grant from Report for America, which will help fund a full-time reporter in the newsroom to cover Latino communities in the region.
The new reporting position comes as the Latino population in the Sacramento region continues to grow: More than one in five residents in the Sacramento area identify as Hispanic, according to recent U.S. Census Bureau estimates, and nearly one in three in the city of Sacramento are Hispanic.
The grant announced Monday comes from Report for America, a collaborative partnership between nonprofit media outlet the GroundTruth Project, Google News Lab and other foundations. The initiative helps place reporters at newsrooms across the country, funding up to $20,000 of their annual salaries. The rest is paid for by the hosting news outlet and local donors.
You can read more about how The Bee and other local outlets plan to expand coverage here.
Finally — Republican Congressman Duncan Hunter said on Monday that he would plead guilty in federal court today to illegally misusing campaign funds and hinted at resigning, according to a report by POLITICO. Hunter had told KUSI, a San Diego TV station, that he would change his plea, despite a yearlong denial that he’d done nothing wrong.
Hunter had allegedly misused campaign finances for personal use, including for family vacations.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Gavin Newsom is too smart to hold a grudge for too long, and Robbie Hunter knows he’ll be more effective if he has a better working relationship with the governor.”
- Former Newsom spokesman Nathan Ballard, via Twitter, in response to a Los Angeles Times piece on the governor’s tense relationship with the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California.
Best of The Bee:
California GOP signs onto recall campaigns against Gavin Newsom to boost its fundraising by Bryan Anderson
California state workers who have been waiting on new raises since October won’t see the money by Christmas, according to state offices by Wes Venteicher
A union that represents California government attorneys and administrative judges is considering filing a lawsuit over delayed pay raises, according to a note from union leaders to members, by Wes Venteicher