Controversial movie director/initiative promoter Rob Reiner has resigned his long expired term as chairman AND member of the California Children and Families Commission (aka First 5). Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has appointed Para Los Ninos chief operating officer Hector Ramirez to replace him. Para Los Ninos is a very well-respected nonprofit family service organization in the Los Angeles area which receives funding from First 5.
I will update today and have the full story tomorrow morning. There is a story I’ve been holding back as the lead item this week as the immigration story played out.
UPDATE: Support for Reiner’s Preschool for All initiative, Proposition 82 on California’s June ballot, has spun downwards to barely more than 50 percent in new polling, a perilously low level of support for a complex fiscally-oriented ballot measure. The controversy over Reiner’s tenure at the California Children and Families Commission — created by Reiner’s earlier 1998 initiative, Proposition 10 — was not going to go away, I can assure you. There is simply too much material there.
Reiner, whose previous half-measure around the controversy was to take a leave of absence from his chairmanship, resigned in part to remove himself as the focus of controversy. This had been suggested to him earlier when he made the decision to take a leave as chairman, but he declined the suggestion. The role was important to him, and he hoped to return to it after winning his initiative campaign in June.
Prop 10 is funded by a 50 cent a pack tax on cigarettes. Prop 82 would be funded by an income tax surcharge on high-income Californians. In both cases, Reiner’s stewardship of taxpayer money is at issue.
UPDATE: Schwarzenegger may have created another controversy for himself with the appointment of Hector Ramirez as First 5 Chairman. Ramirez is a political associate of Reiner’s. The Proposition 82 campaign was launched at an event outside Para Los Ninos.
Ramirez served on the executive committee of the First 5 LA’s Preschool For All Initiative, which was, as I reported earlier, Reiner and First 5’s initial attempt to institute a publicly-funded universal preschool program and served as a model for Prop 82. After it was discovered that the Prop 10 tobacco tax money was inadequate for the task, Reiner’s thoughts turned to a new statewide initiative to fund Preschool For All at the state level. That initiative is now Prop 82.
Ramirez is also a leading member of the National Council of La Raza (”The Race”), an advocacy organization on a variety of issues, including immigration reform, in which it is frequently opposed to Schwarzenegger’s policy. In the context of Latino politics, “La Raza” can also mean “The People.” In some circles, it has a rather poetic and mystical connotation as “La Raza Cosmica,” in which, to quote Wikipedia, “traditional concepts of race and nationality can be transcended in the name of humanity’s common destiny.”
Ramirez, according to his bio, serves as co-chair of the California Region Education Committee for the National Council of La Raza. The Packard Foundation (based on the Hewlett-Packard Co. fortune), which has worked closely with Rob Reiner on the First 5 program in general and Preschool For All in particular, is a major funder of the National Council of La Raza.
UPDATE: Mark Fabiani called a little while ago. Fabiani has very recently come on board as public relations counsel to Rob Reiner. Fabiani has extensive high-level political and PR experience. He is perhaps best known for serving as special counsel to President Bill Clinton handling the Whitewater controversy. We will be talking throughout.
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Fly At Night » Blog Archive » Reiner resigns First 5 Commission:[…] Bill Bradley’s New West Notes also has this story. […]
Mar 29, 2006 - 11:07 am Kurt:Sacramento Bee Columnist Daniel Weintraub reports in his California Insider blog that Rob Reiner has resigned and that Hector Ramirez has been appointed his successor.
This won’t stop the audit of the millions spent on Prop 82 promotions by Reiner’s Commission.
Bill Bradley’s New West Notes also has this story.
69 DAYS UNTIL THE CALIFORNIA PRIMARY!
Mar 29, 2006 - 11:08 am Ann:Reiner Resigns
by Hugh Hewitt
March 29, 2006 10:51 AM PST
The LAWeekly’s Bill Bradley has the scoop, as he has from start-to-finish on the story.
Mar 29, 2006 - 11:30 am PrestoPundit » Blog Archive » Meathead Quits:[…] Rob Reiner is out as czar of California First5, the government board in charge of helping raise California’s infants and toddlers. […]
Mar 29, 2006 - 11:34 am Bill Bradley:There of course will continue to be more to this story over the coming days and weeks.
Mar 29, 2006 - 11:43 am Barbara:There is just not an audit being conducted …The Sac DA Office is looking at what transpired here. The DA is not doing an audit. They are only looking at whether a crime has been committed. That is a totally different process. In many ways the DA has an easier task.
Mar 29, 2006 - 12:30 pm Boi From Troy » Reiner Leaves First Five Post:[…] FLASH: Rob Reiner Out Of First 5 (With Updates) [New West Notes] Reiner quits [LA Observed] […]
Mar 29, 2006 - 1:38 pm John Thomas Flynn:So the new Chairman of First 5, Hector Ramirez head Para Los Ninos which receives almost $2 million a year from First 5. Who’s the genius that vetted this one? Susan Kennedy?
Mar 29, 2006 - 1:44 pm Whitey:Congratulations Bill! And I hope Hugh Hewitt is paying attention. You both had much to do with Meathead stepping down!
“The pen is mightier than the sword.”
Mar 29, 2006 - 2:08 pm Phil:Reiner’s stock just rose a teeny-tiny bit.
At least as a “friend” to Arnold…
Mar 29, 2006 - 2:23 pm Adam:Bill, can you fill us in on Fabiani’s role with Davis during the energy crisis?
Mar 29, 2006 - 3:56 pm No Right Turns:I know you’re not a fan of his partner Lehane and his actions during that time,
but what about Fabiani’s role?
Wow! I guess Bustamante was too busy running insurance commissioner to take over.
If you’re a conservative in this state, better burn your CRA card and join SAG instead if you hope to influence this governor.
Mar 29, 2006 - 4:00 pm Bill Bradley:That’s very funny about the SAG card. Not many of those in politics, though.
Mar 29, 2006 - 4:56 pm No Right Turns:Bono, Reagan, Schwarzenegger and “Bubba” Autry. And that’s just in California. Don’t forget the great Fred “Gopher” Grandy.
Who knows, Mike Murphy may have to get a card soon too.
Mar 29, 2006 - 6:02 pm Bill Bradley:OK, Adam, now I have a moment. Governor Davis hired Mark Fabiani and Chris Lehane — the “Masters of Disaster” for their role as damage control PR experts — to help him in the electric power crisis. They worked out of the Governor’s Office. Nevertheless, they also worked at the same time for Southern California Edison, the big LA-base utility looking for a state bail-out.
Finding this an odd arrangement, I called Lehane and asked about this seeming conflict of interest. His reply:” “There is no conflict because the Governor and Edison have the same energy policy.” Gray fired them shortly after that.
Mar 29, 2006 - 6:28 pm Adam:Thanks, Bill.
Mar 29, 2006 - 6:35 pm Bill Bradley:Well, since he knows something first hand about conflicts of interest, perhaps he’ll be of great help to Reiner! But what is going to try to do? Rehab Reiner’s image so he can once again entertain the idea of running for Guv some day?
I’m not sure, Adam.
No Right Turn, that is a great idea! Why ISN’T Arnold thinking BIG?
Bono is the perfect choice to be First 5 Chairman.
On SAG (Screen Actors Guild) cards. They actually are not easy to get. There are people who try to be actors for years in Hollywood without getting into SAG. It requires at least one speaking role in a SAG contract production. If you have two speaking roles, you have to join SAG.
If you can’t get cast, you can’t get the card. It’s also a bit of a Catch-22. If you aren’t in SAG, it’s harder to get cast. Lots of actors (the SAG term for male and female speaking performers) work as extras to try to accumulate a lot of credits that way to qualify if they can’t get cast in speaking parts. It’s also not cheap, about $1400 for the initiation fee and a regular fee every six months to keep the membership.
Mar 29, 2006 - 6:46 pm PrestoPundit » Blog Archive » Schwarzenegger Doesn’t Want My Vote:[…] It’s becoming clear that Schwarzenegger thinks he can be re-elected governor without my vote come this November — what else explains his decision to appoint a leading member of the racist “La Raza” organization to replace Rob Reiner as the new head of California First5? […]
Mar 29, 2006 - 9:52 pm Bill Bradley:There is more than one “La Raza” organization. This one, to my knowledge, does not happen to be racist.
Mar 29, 2006 - 10:08 pm AthlonGuy:You’d think that PR experts would come up with a better name for themselves than “Masters of Disaster”.
Mar 30, 2006 - 12:25 pm