Chutzpah, with Change Left Over
The slick Mr. Murray has emerged, the last several years in particular, as a latter-day ding-dong dandy from Dollarville. Next time he is strolling Culver Boulevard, I will be disappointed if he is not packing a black derby at a stylish slant, a gold-speckled cane that doubles as an I-pod, immaculate spats and shoes shined so sharply I can part my hair from my office inside the Culver Hotel. We could talk about Mr. Murray tirelessly riding the hobby horse of term limits, lengthening the time of his life when he can legally dip into your pockets, with or without your permission. We can talk about Mr. Murrays shenanigans with Assembly Bill 2015, which shined a once again embarrassing spotlight on the cozy relationship between Mr. Murray and Bill Burke, the very, very well-connected husband of the very long time and very well-connected County Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke. Ms. Burke, I believe, was first elected during Teddy Roosevelts administration. Mr. Murray, as chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, manipulated 2015 so slickly he must have slipped and fallen a couple of times en route to successfully staving off an attempt to add a Westside or South Bay member to the Air Quality Management Districts governing board. According to Hermosa Beach City Councilman Michael Keegan, Mr. Murray, at the behest of his pal Mr. Burke, blocked a vote on adding one new member. It was a pretty big deal. Interest groups spent more than $600,000 to prevent a $40,000 seat from being filled. Nevertheless, the comatose voters of Greater Culver City will send the grubby Mr. Murray back to Sacramento for as long as he can keep fooling them.
Give Me All of Your Money
For sheer cheap-shot, knife-in-the-back chutzpah,however, Mr. Murrays Senate Bill 145 may be untoppable. Veteran legislators are known for going to extremes to shield their votes on sensitive issues. Not Mr. Murray. He is supremely confident that he is bullet-proof, that he can openly, out in the sunlight, push through a bill that would fatten his wallet without fearing any payback from the automatic voters back home. S.B. 145 would allow elected officials to accept campaign contributions when their campaigning days are over, when they no longer are running for any office. That is flashing enough brassiness to form a 40-piece jazz band. I submit this slimy piece of world-class Kevin Murray arrogance as my candidate for junk-thinking of the year. Last time I heard about the perspicacious Mr. Murray, he was crawling through back channels just before last weeks recess, perspiring three buckets of bloody sweat, desperately trying to push this larcenous legislation through. Deservedly, Mr. Murray failed. The bill said he could have collected up to $100,000 in any calendar year. Greedy as he is, dont believe he would have stopped at $99,000.
