Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata must have done something to make Santa mad this year ’cause carjackers in Oakland pointed a gun at the legislator’s head and stole his state-issued, cherry red Dodge Charger with 22 inch rims. (Click here to see the Contra Costa Times story.)

Police found the Charger but now Perata says he needs a less visible car that won’t attract armed thieves. Good idea.

But Perata doesn’t have much time to car shop. He’s busy trying to figure out how to deal with a big state budget deficit and the governor is breathing down his neck on health care reform.

So, I, with a far less demanding schedule, went on-line car shopping for Don this morning and I found the perfect automobile: A 1972 Dodge Dart for $5,250.

It’s cheap (Think of the taxpayers, Don) and my dad gave me this exact model on my 18th birthday and nobody ever tried to steal it.

But I’m open to other ideas on Don’s next form of transportation. Perhaps Schwarzenegger has an extra Hummer he could spare. I mean, really, would someone carjack a Hummer? Probably not unless it’s biodiesel, gas prices being so high and all.

Do you have a suggestion on what Don should drive in 2008? Send it on over.

PHOTO NOTES: Top photo is of Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata at a 2007 press conference with Gov. Arnold Schwarzengger announcing the passage of a bill creating a new water transit authority. Photo appears at dist09.casen.govoffice.com/index.asp?Type=GALLERY&SEC={2BD6256C-7DD9-4A47-8C9A-A4F296187840}

Second photo is from azcarsantrucks.com, http://www.azcarsandtrucks.com/classicdodge.html

Chevron is reportedly polling Richmond residents on their attitudes about its expansion plans and the company’s fight with Contra Costa County over its property tax assessments.

An email to Assessor Gus Kramer from Richmond resident Don Gosney (I’ve pasted it below) outlines one Richmond resident’s take on the questions and the tone of the poll. It contains some interesting observations.

Here’s the email of Dec. 27 addressed to Assessor Gus Kramer:

Gus,

For the record, I’m for the expansion as long as Chevron meets certain reasonable conditions and I’m very supportive of our County Assessor and his efforts to make the refineries (all of them—in spite of what this pollster was claiming) pay property taxes that are based on reality.

Don Gosney

If you’re curious about which of the presidential candidates’ views most closely resembles those of your own, check out the new nonpartisan website Glassbooth.org.

Answer a series of online questions about your views on hot-button issues such as global warming, abortion, immigration, health care and the site will tell you which of the presidential hopefuls has similar positions.

I did it and I was surprised at the results. (And no, I’m not going to share my results!)

To receive a sample ballot in the mail, voters must register on or by Jan. 7, according to the Contra Costa County Elections Department.

Pick up voter registration forms at city and county offices, Department of Motor Vehicles, libraries, fire stations, post offices and some schools and colleges. Registration forms must be postmarked by Jan. 7 or returned to the Election Department by 5 p.m. in order to trigger the mailing of a sample ballot.

The Election Department is located at 555 Escobar St. in Martinez and its hours are 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Election officials will also send applications to vote by mail with the sample ballot. Voters who wish to vote by mail may fill out the application.

If voters wish to vote by mail prior to receiving their sample ballot, they must submit a letter to the Elections Office requesting that a ballot be mailed to them. Each voter must include the address at which he or she is registered and a signature. Ballots cannot be requested over the phone nor may voters request ballots for others including spouses or family members. Send written requests to the Elections Department, PO Box 271, Martinez, CA 94553 or fax to 925-335-7838.

Voters may also download a vote-by-mail application at the county’s web site, www.cocovote.us.

The final day to request a mail ballot is Jan. 29.

Voters who have registered as permanent mail voters will automatically receive their ballots in the mail starting the week of Jan. 7. If you wish to become a permanent mail voter, call the Elections Department at 925-335-7800 and request an application.

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the nine-county organization that holds the purse strings on regional transit and highway money, wants to know what you think about Bay Area transportation, climate change, land use and other issues. To participate, log on through Jan. 18 to www.mtc.ca.gov/T2035.

Here’s what MTC has to say about its poll via a press release:

Every four years, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) updates its regional transportation plan, the region’s blueprint for spending federal, state and regional transportation dollars over the next 25 years. In order to hear your opinions on a variety of issues relating to the Transportation 2035 plan, MTC is hosting a Web survey through January 18.

The online survey asks participants questions about greenhouse gas emissions and global warming, housing, improving traffic congestion, and planning and transportation funding priorities in the region. Participants also may compare their personal answers with the results of a telephone poll of 1,800 Bay Area residents conducted by MTC. The survey is also available in Spanish and Chinese.

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to help create a shared vision for the region’s transportation network that will help protect the environment, preserve our quality of life and improve mobility over the next 25 years.

MTC is the transportation planning, coordinating and financing agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area.

The United States must take a “tough love” approach in Pakistan in the wake of today’s assassination of Benazir Bhutto, the country’s candidate for prime minister who espoused secular democracy, said Rep. Ellen Tauscher, chairwoman of a House Armed Services Committee panel with oversight of strategic nuclear security.

Pakistan has been a key player in U.S. efforts to stabilize and reconstruct neighboring Afghanistan and its status as a nuclear power significantly heightens international concern that internal political upheaval could jeopardize security over its weapons arsenal.

“This is very, very bad,” Tauscher said from her Alamo home by telephone this morning. “This is a time for tough love. We must be significantly engaged with our allies to ensure that the vulnerability of the Pakistani people isn’t leveraged by others, whether they are outside terrorists or other people inside the country who don’t share the same goals of democracy and freedom.”

Tauscher she contacted Pentagon officials shortly after hearing of the assassination and sought repeated reassurance that the Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has retained the “full care, custody and control of its nuclear weapons and that the people in charge of the program are apolitical and above reproach.”

But the congresswoman expressed deep concern about continued U.S. reliance on Musharraf in the fight against terrorism and the security of Pakistan’s nuclear complex.

She called Musharraf a U.S. ally born out of geographic convenience after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks but who took power in a military coup and seeks to remain in power indefinitely.

It was Musharraf, she said, who pardoned Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of the Pakistani bomb who turned around and sold nuclear technology to Iran, North Korea and others. Pakistan’s failure to prosecute Khan precluded a full investigation and disclosure of the details of the massive security breach, Tauscher said.

“We cannot continually find ourselves associated by convenience with people like Musharraf,” Tauscher said. “He was someone we had chosen to embrace because of the geography (neighbor to Afghanistan) and he chose to embrace us, but to a certain extent, it was a relationship of convenience to expedite the recovery of Afghanistan.

“We have to make clear that Musharraf’s quest of limitless power is not in the best interests of the Pakistani people and that his means of doing it is degrading the stability of the country and the region.”

On a related item, those of you on-line with an interest in what’s happening in Pakistan may be interested in a story on the Poynter Institute website about how to find bloggers inside the country. (Poynter is an organization that provides professional training and assistance to journalists.) Most of the news accounts about the assassination and the reaction in the Pakistan is coming from outside the country because of restrictions on journalists, writes Poynter blogger Amy Gahran.

NOTE: Photo is of Rep. Ellen Tauscher as it appears on her web site at http://www.house.gov/tauscher/about.shtml

UPDATE 1/2/07: The Pinole Chamber of Commerce is not and never was a sponsor of this event. It was mistakenly listed when someone used as a template a prior version of an invitation to an event in which the chamber was a sponsor but failed to take its name off the new letter. As many of you know, the chamber’s former executive director, Yvette Ricco, is a candidate for the vacant seat on the Pinole council.

I have revised the blog entry below to reflect the accurate list of sponsors.

A debate and candidates’ forum on the contentious Pinole recall election has been set for 6-9 p.m. on Jan. 10 at the city’s senior center.

Sponsored by the Contra Costa Times, Common Cause and the West Contra Costa chapter of the League of Women Voters, the event is a chance for the city’s 9,000 registered voters to hear from all sides prior to making their decision on Feb. 5.

I will moderate both the debate and the candidates’ forum.

The public may attend the event in person at the Pinole Senior Center at 2500 Charles Ave., Pinole, or watch it later on television. The event will be taped and aired on Channel 26, Pinole’s government access station. (Check the station’s web site for times and dates.)

Here’s how it will work.

In the first hour, sponsored by the Times and Common Cause, Pinole Councilwoman Maria Alegria and Mayor Pro Tem Stephen Tilton, the targets of the recall, have been invited to debate recall proponents Jeff Rubin and Cindy Trego.

The participants will deliver opening statements. I will follow with a series of questions that both sides will have the opportunity to answer and rebut. (Neither side will see the questions in advance.) The debate will conclude with closing statements from each participant.

Tilton, Trego and Rubin have all accepted the invitation to participate. Alegria, in an interview late Friday, said she is considering it.

During the candidates’ forum segment from 7-9 p.m., the Times and the League will invite Alegria, Tilton, the candidates who seek to replace them and two people running for a vacant seat to participate in a moderated discussion about citywide issues.

Running for Alegria’s seat, if she is recalled, are Roy Swearingen and Steve Denlis. John Bender withdrew but he took action too late for election officials to remove his name from the ballot. Running for Tilton’s post, if he should be recalled, is Virginia Fujita.

The candidates running for the vacant seat are Debbie Long and Ivette Ricco. (The seat opened earlier this year after David Cole resigned in order to serve in the U.S. Army.)

The participants will be asked to deliver opening statements. I will follow with a series of questions designed to illuminate the candidates’ views on various citywide issues. (No one will be provided with the questions in advance.) The audience will also be permitted to submit questions in writing during the forum. The evening will conclude with closing statements from the targeted elected officials and the candidates.

The league is in the process of sending invitations, so it’s unknown at this time who will agree to participate.

But I am hopeful that Alegria, Tilton and all the candidates will show up and make their cases to the voters. It has been a hotly contested campaign that will only escalate in the coming weeks before the election and the voters deserve to hear directly from the opponents and the proponents.

On a related note, some of you will have noticed that the recall debate and the candidates’ forum have a common moderator but different sponsors.

This came about because the good volunteers of the West Contra Costa chapter League of Women of Voters feared becoming involved with a too-controversial ballot question, given the high level of passion associated with the campaign on both sides. I can’t say as I agree with their decision — the more contentious, the more we need voter education — but it was their decision to make.

Fortunately, Common Cause stepped forward and will co-sponsor the recall debate segment and provide voters with the opportunity to see and hear both sides in a moderated discussion.

Speaking of heightened emotions, folks who plan to attend on Jan. 10 should be aware that this is a voter education event and not a political rally. That means no banners. No buttons. No T-shirts declaring support or opposition for any candidate. No catcalls or booing or otherwise disruptive behavior will be permitted.

Note: Photos are of Pinole Mayor Maria Alegria and Mayor Pro-Tem Stephen Tilton as they appear on the City of Pinole’s website, http://www.ci.pinole.ca.us/admin/meet_reps.html

If you just can’t bear another trip to that crowded mall and your family and friends already have more stuff than they need, consider the gift of a water buffalo.

Seriously.

A friend of mine received a stellar present today in her name from Heifer International, a Little Rock, Arkansas-based organization with a barnyard of holiday gift-giving options that don’t involve driving anywhere or require you to search the house for that last roll of tape.

Buy a water buffalo for $250 and Heifer will give it to a needy family. Best of all, your loved one will never have to clean up after it.

“A water buffalo can lead a hungry family out of poverty and give them a chance for a bright future filled with hope and free from hunger,” Heifer’s site says. “In poor Filipino villages, water buffalo from Heifer provide draft power for planting rice and potatoes, milk for protein and manure for fertilizer and fuel. A farmer can plant four times more rice with a buffalo than by hand.”

What a great idea!

Not crazy about buffaloes? A goat is $150 and a Heifer Hope Basket with goats and chickens is $50. They have ducks and geese and rabbits, too.

Note to self: Return that set of golf clubs I bought for my husband and buy him a water buffalo.

Note: The water buffalo picture came from Heifer International’s web site at http://www.heifer.org/site/c.edJRKQNiFiG/b.204586/k.9430/Gift_Catalog.htm?msource=kw1844

United Farm Worker co-founder Dolores Huerta will visit Richmond on Saturday night as a part of a seven-city, two-day campaign appeal to win Latino voters for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.

While Latinos have gained in population in California, their voting rates have not kept pace with their numbers. Local, state and national candidates are increasingly seeking ways to attract the Latino vote. (California Federal of Teachers political director Kenneth Burt, also a historian, has written a very good book on Latino politics called “The Search for a Civic Voice: California Latino Politics.” Click here for a link to Burt’s web site.)

This weekend’s “Holiday Party for Hillary” calls for guests to bring an unwrapped toy for donation to local charity and go to work calling prospective voters or going door-to-door. On Saturday, Huerta will visit Fresno, Sacramento, Richmond and San Francisco. Her Sunday schedule includes San Diego, Santa Ana and Los Angeles.

In Richmond, a handful of local officials will join Huerta including Contra Costa Supervisor John Gioia, Pinole Councilman Stephen Tilton, Berkeley Councilman Kriss Worthington, Oakland Councilmember Jean Quan and San Leandro Mayor Anthony Santos.

Residents who wish to attend the Richmond party between 5-7 p.m. Saturday should send an e-mail reservation request to socalhrc@hillaryclinton.com.

Huerta’s appearance on behalf of Clinton is not an unusual campaign move. Presidential candidates commonly use proxies as a means to extend their presence or influence. The list of acceptable stand-ins can include their spouses or children, movie stars and even talk-show hosts, such as Democratic president candidate Barack Obama’s alliance with Oprah Winfrey.

And with most of the presidential hopefuls furiously campaigning in Iowa and New Hampshire, where voters will select their choices on Jan. 3 and Jan. 8 respectively, there’s little chance that Californians will see the actual candidates for several weeks. (For a complete presidential primary calendar, my favorite site is the New York Time’s election guide.)

NOTE: The photo features United Farm Worker co-founder Dolores Huerta speaking at the University of Texas at Austin in 2007. Photo originally appeared at the following link: www.utexas.edu/cee/dec/spotlight/

The California Department of Finance released its annual county population report today, revealing a modest statewide growth of 1.17 percent, or 438,000 people, from July 1, 2006 to July 1, 2007. The rate has remained relatively consistent during the past several years.

The figure represents the natural increase, or births minus deaths, as well as those who have moved into California from other countries or elsewhere in the nation.

Two-thirds of the state’s growth, or 327,000 people, was from natural increase. Net migration accounted for the remaining 25 percent or 111,000 people. This includes foreign immigrants and migrants from other states.

In Contra Costa and Alameda counties, the growth rates of 1.11 and 1.28 percent respectively rose slightly over the prior year.

Contra Costa gained 13,189 new residents with about half the result of natural increase. The county had a net immigration of 4,168 people and a net domestic migration increase of 2,273 new residents.

Alameda County saw 16,761 new residents with 68 percent, or 11,522 people, the result of natural increase. Unlike Contra Costa County, Alameda actually lost 4,794 residents to the rest of the nation but posted an increase of 10,033 new immigrants for a net migration of 5,239 people.

Number junkies who experience unadulterated joy in spreadsheets will find these details and much, much more at the California Department of Finance’s demographic reports web site, which features downloadable Excel files of annual population data for every county in the state.