Former Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante is pursuing a contract with the city of Livingston, according to the Merced Sun-Star. The Livingston City Council is considering making Bustamante the city's lobbyist on a major area highway project.

This is the the Sun-Star's story on Bustamante: "Livingston officials want to widen Highway 99, the Winton Parkway and Hammatt Avenue onramps and offramps, and the bridges across the highway. At peak times, traffic backs up on the onramps, and the interchanges are almost at capacity, (Mayor Gurpal) Samra said. The improvements are expected to cost between $15 million and $20 million each, and neither is included on the state's project priority list."

Bustamante told the Sun-Star that Livingston would be his first consulting contract. He said he also is talking to other cities about representing them.

Bustamante lost a run for insurance commissioner in November, and is now out of elective office for the first time in a generation. He represented Fresno in the state Assembly before serving eight years as lieutenant governor.

Posted by Jim Boren at 8:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Republican businessman Steve Poizner, a candidate for insurance commissioner on Nov. 7, was endorsed Thursday by consumer advocate Harvey Rosenfield, author of Proposition 103. Rosenfield wrote the 1988 initiative that created the insurance commissioner's office and regulated the insurance industry in California. This is what Rosenfield said about Poizner:

"First, he has made a commitment to the public to fully and properly enforce Proposition 103. Second, he has promised to stop unfair insurance practices such as canceling or surcharging consumers just because they file a legitimate claim. And third, Mr. Poizner has refused to accept insurance industry campaign contributions and has pledged not to take industry money while commissioner; that means that he will be able to make decisions based on his view of what is best for Californians -- not what is best for the insurance industry."

This is what Rosenfield said about Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, the Democratic candidate for insurance commissioner:

"On these crucial principles, Mr. Poizner's opponent, Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, does not inspire confidence or trust. Ten years ago, as a member of the Legislature, then Assembly Member Bustamante aggressively advocated for legislation, sponsored by an insurance company, to repeal the good driver reform of Proposition 103 that is now taking effect. Mr. Bustamante has yet to offer a satisfactory explanation for his conduct, or how his advocacy of such anti-consumer legislation can be squared with the duties of the office he now seeks. Instead, Mr. Bustamante has made only the most general pronouncements with respect to the enforcement of Proposition 103 or any other public policy matter. . . In contrast to his public invisibility, however, Mr. Bustamante has found the time to meet privately with industry officials, aggressively soliciting and accepting at least $150,000 in industry donations for his candidacy, and returning them only after the donations became public and led to criticism. In my view, the people of California deserve better."

Posted by Jim Boren at 2:51 PM | Permalink