A July 8th bragging session by Assembly member Mike Duvall, Republican from Orange County, was recorded by a desk microphone that was "on." Duvall was one of the family values guys and this is another politician who is found to be engaging in extracurricular social action while in public office. He surely won't be the last, and we are just talking about the ones who are discovered. Well, he's resigned from this position.
Channel 9, KCAL's Dave Lopez tried to chase him down and did not get him to talk. The particular portions of the recording are printed on TPM's Muckraker section of the website, "GOP Lawmaker's Graphic Sex-Bragging Caught On Tape" http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/09/gop_lawmakers_graphic_sex-bragging_caught_on_tape.php , but the recorded audio part of the video is not so clear. The Lopez report referred to a "confidential source" and that's likely to be Jeff Miller, fellow Republican from Corona, the person sitting next to Duvall and to whom Duvall was talking to in the recording.
Miller says he was busy preparing for the session and did not pay attention to Duvall, but if he was the source, then you could hear him responding on the tape. Miller is on
The current status of the story has Duvall saying that his resignation is not an admission of guilt and that it was just talk. Lots of detailed activity to be "just talk." http://www.abc-7.com/Global/story.asp?S=11107369 "Disgraced California lawmaker denies affairs," Sept. 10, 2009, on the ABC-7 website.
Mlller is on the Ethics committee and since it looks like they are going investigate this matter, Miller was removed from this committee due to being involved in the conversation with Duvall. It's bad enough what people think about now without letting Miller have involvement with the investigation of the item. See L.A. Times today, 9-9-10, "Lawmaker who was listening to Mike Duvall is removed from Ethics Committee," http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/09/lawmaker-who-was-listening-to-duvall-is-removed-from-ethics-committee.html .
Here's what the problem is - corruption- That "girlfriend" was not just some random female he met, but a lobbyist paid by Sempra Utilities to lobby for them, and Duvall was a Vice-chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce so there's a real strong smell of corruption here. The suspected "other woman," Heidi DeJong, is a lawyer for Sempra in Sacramento. The call for investigation by the attorney general was carried in the 9-9-09 entry on TPM's blog,"Progressive Group Wants Duvall 'Sex-For-Votes' Probe," http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/09/gay_rights_group_wants_duvall_sex-for-votes_probe.php
Both Duvall and DeJong are married, and the violation, other than to their respective vows, is to the public. Karen Bass, Assembly Speaker, comment on the inappropriate language in the recording but misses the point that 1. Duvall had an influential role in a committee that was clearly related to issues important to a utility company like Sempra., and 2. DeJong was a lobbyist for Sempra and carrying on with an apparent sexual relationship with Duvall. It's a simple connection to make to see that the relationship crossed over the line in a number of ways, and none of them good. "Was Mike Duvall’s mistress the lobbyist Heidi DeJong Barsuglia?," from Orange Juice Blog, a political blog from Orange County,
http://orangejuiceblog.com/2009/09/was-mike-duvalls-mistress-the-lobbyist-heidi-dejong-barsuglia/ .
The bigger part of all this that no one mentions is that it looks like the relationship was known by lots of people and that no one said anything about it. Miller might be culpable in NOT reporting what he knew of and that's something to be seen as how the ethics investigation goes. The real thing that happens in Sacramento is that they have their own "code of silence" so they all can carry on as they want to and no one turns anyone else in.
So you wonder what else is going on. One ex-wife reported that the lobbyists are mostly female and very attractive there in Sacramento, speaking from the experience of her own. She said that you really are not going to find unattractive lobbyists among the woment there. That would be an interesting item to look into.
If you are in the medical field, you already see a lot of reps who are attractive women who work for companies that see pharmaceuticals and equipment to doctors. It probably does help to open doors for many.
Well, the conduct of politicians is not really new, but the fellow elected representatives should be obligated as a duty of their office and to the public to report the breaches at least where a lobbyist is involved.
All the affairs will just continue and you see these folks have too much free time and need to be made "part-time" legislators- get in to Sacramento, do real businss, and be done. No everyday per diem of about $130.00 each day the are there, above the salary they already get. No, they just make more trouble for everyone by being there full time.
Read the transcript if you like spicy sorts of reporting and the audio here is better From the CBS News website, "CRIMESIDER," you can see and hear another more audible version of the video, "Mike Duvall Video: Calif. Lawmaker 's Dirty Talk Goes Big on YouTube."
Try one of the links below to get to this video and transcript-the content changes and it may not be accessible:
http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/09/10/crimesider/entry5300372.shtml
http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/09/10/crimesider/entry5300285.shtml?tag=crimesidercarousel
DON'T FORGET OUR OWN CITY- AND DWP AMONG ALL OF IT.
And so there's another example of the need to keep a watch on politicians. There's lots of issues of corruption here in L.A. and if you see City of L.A. appointments to Commissions that pay well you will see this is a device that is used to payback for favors that I am not alone in mentioning. Lots of what's going on in DWP is completely absurd, with the city council allowing this to go on year after year, and the Mayor being smart enough to manipulate this agency for power and money to throw around, costing the rate-payers (residents) more and more with each billing cycle. And's it's not over.
DWP just tried a few meetings ago in City Council to remove the cap to let them raise billing under certain conditions- really letting them have a wide open field to do what they want. There was Measure B that failed at the last election which was a complete fraud on the public since the ones to benefit were not designed to be the public but the local IBEW union, and it included training new hires at public expense in the solar installation activities. Nice deal for the union, getting more members and ones who need not be already trained before getting hired.
So, be aware, all the DWP commotion is not over, especially expect the water main problems used to get more money from the rate-payers. (That should have been something with a priority to maintain BEFOREHAND, not when these things happen. But the money went elsewhere while the work was put off.)
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