Monterey Park, mayors and massacres

From: POLITICO California Playbook - Wednesday Apr 05,2023 01:11 pm

Apr 05, 2023

By Jeremy B. White, Lara Korte, Ramon Castanos and Matthew Brown

THE BUZZ: Monterey Park. Half Moon Bay. San Jose. Gilroy. Thousand Oaks. San Bernardino.

All of those California cities have experienced the horror of mass shootings in recent years, their names now doubling as references to distinct tragedies. A familiar cycle follows the first spasms of violence: the mounting death toll, the sudden burst of media attention, the hunt for a motive, the reactions from state and national politicians — and through it all, mayors trying to lead.

Local leaders take office knowing they may have to confront tragedy. In an era of pervasive gun violence — America has already seen more than 100 mass shootings in 2023 — the threat of a massacre has become part of the job. When the cameras and the higher elected officials leave, mayors and city council members remain to navigate the aftermath.

Monterey Park Mayor Henry Lo knows that process too well. The Southern California city suffered the worst shooting of the year (so far) when a gunman burst into a ballroom on Lunar New Year. Lo would become his city’s public face as it grappled with grief and trauma, hosting Gov. Gavin Newsom, traveling to the White House, and submitting to scores of interviews.

He wasn’t alone. Lo processed Monterey Park’s nightmare in conversation with other mayors, and he would reach out to the leader of Half Moon Bay when the small coastal community was convulsed by a shooting just days after Monterey Park. Its leaders are now included in what Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, who led his city through the Pulse nightclub shooting, called the “club that nobody wants to be a member of.”

Some of those mayors feel abandoned by state and federal policymakers, arguing they are forcing cities to endure waves of violence by failing to enact tougher gun restrictions. California’s nation-leading laws were not enough to prevent the bloodshed in Monterey Park. Newsom and other Democratic officials faulted congressional inaction. The Legislature is looking to fortify its laws with bills to limit concealed carry, tax gun sales and more.

Many mayors have reacted to shootings by advocating for stronger gun laws, seeking to break the cycle and shield other towns from tragedy. But those efforts haven’t dispelled the aura of inevitability that now attends the threat of gun violence, compelling mayors to prepare for the worst. POLITICO’s Alexander Nieves and Lara Korte talked to Monterey Park’s Lo and others about that reality.

BUENOS DÍAS, good Wednesday morning. Happy Passover to all who celebrate, including California campaigners who are going from collecting bread to swearing off of it. Speaking of which: Read on to see how much dough ambitious House Democrats collected.

Got a tip or story idea for California Playbook? Hit us up at jwhite@politico.com and lkorte@politico.com or follow us on Twitter @JeremyBWhite and @Lara_Korte.

WHERE’S GAVIN? Touring red states.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Last time people were rooting for Donald Trump, he ended up president of the United States. We’ve seen this story before.” Rep. Ro Khanna on being careful what you wish for, via POLITICO.

TWEET OF THE DAY:

Twitter

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TOP TALKERS

— California schools lose students — again, by POLITICO’s Blake Jones: “The figures extend a yearslong streak of enrollment losses coinciding with population declines in the state, driven by slowing migration into California, accelerating migration out of it and falling birth rates.”

— “Hundreds of 'undercover' LAPD officers take step to sue city over release of photos,” by the Los Angeles Times’ Libor Jany and Richard Winton: That release of photos, lawyers for the officers say, not only threatened the lives of the officers, some of whom are in deep cover with assumed identities as part of task forces in other states, but also endangered their families.

CAMPAIGN MODE

LEE LUCRE — Rep. Barbara Lee announced she raised $1.4 million in the first quarter for her Senate run. That’s about a third of Rep. Katie Porter’s take, though Porter launched first. The Lee campaign said in a statement that Lee “doesn’t need as much money as her opponents. She just needs enough money to get through the Top Two primary.”

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: RO MONEY — Rep. Ro Khanna isn’t running for Senate, but he raised a substantial Q1 sum while flirting with a potential campaign: The Silicon Valley Democrat pulled in $2.6 million from January to the end of March, when he formally passed on California’s Senate race — $1.1 million above his previous record. Khanna won’t need that cash to defend his safe House seat, but it signals his fundraising ability and builds a pile he could direct to other campaigns.

“S.J. police union gave to law-and-order causes in S.F., CA as exec allegedly ran fentanyl ring - Mission Local,” by the Mission Local’s Joe Eskenazi: “In an image she purportedly sent to drug-dealing associates, which was obtained by the feds, Segovia carelessly had her business card visible in a snapshot of a receipt on her computer screen.”

— “Cindy Chavez could land top San Diego County admin role, a major upheaval in South Bay politics,” by The Mercury News’ Gabriel Greschler: “If Chavez is chosen for the position down south, the political ramifications would be immense in the South Bay. As a former San Jose councilmember and head of the South Bay Labor Council, Chavez has championed progressive politics in Santa Clara County since the 1990s.”

CALIFORNIA AND THE CAPITOL CORRIDOR

— “Silicon Valley legislators sic state auditors on their own districts,” by The San Francisco Standard’s Josh Koehn: “Berman’s request for an audit into VTA, which manages bus lines and a light rail system for Santa Clara County, also has been met with tepid support from its subject.”

— “Federal government needs to step up and fund California high-speed rail,” opines Ray LaHood for CalMatters: “In recent decades, America invested trillions to maintain and expand highways and air travel, while European and Asian nations invested heavily in high-speed trains. Between 1949 and 2017, the federal government invested only $10 billion in high-speed rail with $4 billion of that dedicated to the California project, compared to investments of $777 billion in aviation and over $2 trillion in highways.”

— “Hidden expulsions? Schools are removing students, but vague data can mask the reason,” by the Los Angeles Times’ Tara Garcia Mathewson: “One reason expulsions have come under attack in California and nationwide is because of the disruption they cause in students’ lives and academic trajectories. California has one of the lowest expulsion rates in the country.”

— “Nathan Fletcher's personal security cost San Diego taxpayers $1.9 million,” by KUSI News: “But what many San Diegans didn’t know is that Nathan Fletcher had a taxpayer funded security detail. Fletcher’s security detail came at his request, as he felt unsafe around the very people he was elected to represent.”

BIDEN, HARRIS AND THE HILL

— House GOP's Biden investigations sputter out of the gate, by POLITICO’s Jordain Carney: “According to interviews with more than a dozen House Republicans, a sizable chunk of the conference is focused on preventing a banking crisis and a looming debt fight instead of on Biden family oversight or a politicized government panel. At the same time, the party base is chafing at the lack of big bombshells and concrete steps against administration officials to back up all of lawmakers’ talk.”

— “Biden’s hot air about spy balloons,” opines the Editorial Board of The Wall Street Journal: “Americans were supposed to believe that China would go through the trouble of building a global balloon flotilla, spotted all over Europe and Asia, for no spying benefit.”

— “Former President Donald Trump pleads not guilty to 34 felony counts,” by The Washington Post’s Dylan Wells, David Nakamura and Jacqueline Alemany: “The 16-page indictment alleges Trump improperly falsified business records to conceal $130,000 in reimbursement payments to his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, who had paid off the adult-film actress Stephanie Clifford, known professionally as Stormy Daniels.”

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SILICON VALLEYLAND

— “Is Twitter all a joke to Elon Musk?,” by Salon’s Alison Stine: “From confusion about blue checks, to ever-conflicting payment schemes, to the crypto dog (which indicates a personal vendetta), Musk is staging Twitter, a site with an estimated 450 million monthly users, as a revenge battleground.”

MIXTAPE

— Classical music is driving unhoused people from a L.A. Metro station, by the Los Angeles Times’ Jessica Gelt

— “A whole new ballgame: Monkey business baseball heads to San Jose,” by The Mercury News’ Jason Mastrodonato

TRANSITIONS

— Mason Burrows has been promoted from press assistant to press secretary for Rep. David Valadao.

— Paul Iskajyan is now press secretary for Rep. Scott Peters. He was deputy comms director for then-Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.).

BIRTHDAYS

Heather Hopkins of Amazon Web Services … former FCC Chair Tom Wheeler … Andrew Noyes … PayPal’s Howard Wachtel … Teri Galvez … Aleca Hughes McPherson … Wilson Shirley

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