| | | | |  | | By Jeremy B. White, Lara Korte, Sakura Cannestra and Owen Tucker-Smith | THE BUZZ: It wasn't so long ago that former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer — and his homelessness agenda — were expected to occupy the 2022 campaign spotlight. The moderate Republican will be on hand this morning when state Sen. Brian Jones unveils legislation to ban camping near schools and other sensitive areas. It's the first time in a while we've seen Faulconer out throwing his weight behind a political project. The event both echoes the growing political support across California for moving unhoused people off the streets, including among Democrats, and allows one to conjure an alternative political timeline for Faulconer. Cast your mind back to early 2020: the coronavirus had yet to engulf California, upending the political landscape and ultimately fueling an attempted recall of Gov. Gavin Newsom, and Faulconer was widely perceived as the Republican best positioned to deny Newsom reelection 2022. He was mayor of California's second-largest city and was floating a statewide ballot initiative to tackle the homelessness crisis. Neither of those things happened, of course. The Newsom recall frenzy ended up drawing Faulconer into a statewide run a year earlier than expected, and he placed a distant third among would-be successors after conservative talk show host Larry Elder enthralled the Republican base. Faulconer then bowed out of 2022, lamenting that the recall "circus" had demolished his chances — although GOP donor exhaustion and Faulconer's anemic showing undoubtedly played a role too. Homelessness was a critical component of Faulconer's planned ascent. He was able to boast a rare year-over-year drop during his San Diego stewardship. Faulconer both bolstered shelter and service offerings and got more aggressive on enforcement and sweeps. While critics argued Faulconer only acted meaningfully after a Hepatitis A outbreak and accused him of merely shuffling the problem around, widespread voter dissatisfaction on the issue created an opening to take on Newsom. Now Newsom is expected to cruise to a win over Republican state Sen. Brian Dahle. That's not to say Faulconer would have had an easy path in profoundly Democratic California. But voter frustration with homelessness continues to burn hot and to drive the agenda, including in Los Angeles — a city whose contentious camping ban offered a model for Jones' legislation. Faulconer's successor, Democratic Mayor Todd Gloria, has penalized unhoused people who don't accept available beds. You can envision how those dynamics may have colored a different gubernatorial matchup. BUENOS DÍAS, good Friday morning. California's task force examining reparations for slavery is holding full-day meetings in Los Angeles today and tomorrow. You can get more details here. Got a tip or story idea for California Playbook? Hit us up: jwhite@politico.com and lkorte@politico.com or follow us on Twitter @JeremyBWhite and @Lara_Korte. QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I think if we are going to have a woman governor of California, that she shouldn't be coy in her ambitions. I have found my first four years as lieutenant governor to be a very good training ground for the bigger job." Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis makes clear to CalMatters she's interested in the top job. TWEET OF THE DAY
|  Today's Tweet of the Day | Twitter | WHERE'S GAVIN? Back in California and back to signing bills — at least for now. He'll be in Texas tomorrow to speak at TribFest.
| | | | SUBSCRIBE TO POWER SWITCH: The energy landscape is profoundly transforming. Power Switch is a daily newsletter that unlocks the most important stories driving the energy sector and the political forces shaping critical decisions about your energy future, from production to storage, distribution to consumption. Don't miss out on Power Switch, your guide to the politics of energy transformation in America and around the world. SUBSCRIBE TODAY. | | | | | |  | TOP TALKERS | | — "Inside California's pot legalization failures: Corporate influence, ignored warnings," by the Los Angeles Times' Patrick McGreevy: "Architects of the effort to legalize pot in California made big promises to voters. But six years later, California's legal weed industry is in disarray with flawed policies, legal loopholes and stiff regulations hampering longtime growers and sellers." MADAM SPEAKER? — "House Democrats Ask Who Will Lead Them After the Election ," by the Wall Street Journal's Natalie Andrews: "Mrs. Pelosi, 82 years old, has brushed off questions about her future and has said she would declare her intentions after the election. 'First we win, then we decide,' she told reporters last week."
| | CAMPAIGN MODE | | COVERING A CONTRIBUTION — "Tom Girardi gave millions to Democratic politicians. Was the money stolen from clients?" by the Los Angeles Times' Harriet Ryan and Matt Hamilton: " How did a deeply indebted lawyer obtain money to shower on candidates and campaigns? No ready explanation has surfaced. But a Times review of contributions and law firm financial records raises questions about whether Girardi used clients' funds to make the donations." — "Did Incumbent Democrat Schaefer give $30K to buy Republican support? " by SactoPolitico's Jeff Burdick: "SactoPolitico has newly revealed Schaefer last month gave $30,000 to a San Diego-area GOP-aligned group in an apparent move to assist in his re-election over a fellow Democrat. But so far the Democratic Party has been cryptic at best about whether this might cross any line for them." — " What's next for Eleni Kounalakis as California lieutenant governor?" by CalMatters' Alexei Koseff: "the second-highest office in the state can also be a powerful launching pad for Californians with greater aspirations. Two of the last four governors served immediately prior as lieutenant governor, including current Gov. Gavin Newsom."
| | CALIFORNIA AND THE CAPITOL CORRIDOR | | — "Judge OKs controversial search warrant LA Sheriff deputies served on elected official," by Courthouse News Service's Hillel Aron: "A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge ruled Thursday that the process by which LA Sheriff's deputies obtained a warrant to search the homes of two government officials was above board and 'did not deviate from established processes.'" KEEP YOUR PENCILS DOWN — "State delays public release of English, math and science test score results to later this year ," by EdSource's John Fensterwald and Thomas Peele: "In a significant departure, the California Department of Education is withholding the release of the results of the Smarter Balanced tests that students took last spring until an undetermined date later this year." — " Californians who own electric cars should make this major change, new research shows," by the San Francisco Chronicle's Dustin Gardiner: "The team of researchers at Stanford's Precourt Institute for Energy found that daytime charging is preferable to nighttime residential charging for one major reason: solar panels." HERE WE GO AGAIN — " Ready for another heat wave? Triple-digit temperatures on tap for Southern California," by the Los Angeles Times' Hayley Smith: "In the Los Angeles area, the mercury will start to climb Friday, with up to 100 degrees possible in valley areas and 95 degrees in the mountains and deserts, according to the National Weather Service." — " Wildfire Smoke Is Erasing Progress on Clean Air," by the New York Times' Mira Rojanasaku: "Smoke from wildfires has worsened over the past decade, potentially reversing decades of improvements in Western air quality made under the Clean Air Act, according to research published Thursday from Stanford University." — " Fresno DA and Sheriff-Elect Could Serve An Extra Two Years," by GV Wire's David Taub: "Passed by the state Assembly and Senate, AB 759 would move the election for the DA and sheriff in all counties from the year of gubernatorial elections to the same year as presidential elections." — " As Sacramento schools try to address the mental health crisis, vulnerable students suffer," by Cap Radio's Srishti Prabha: "The COVID-19 pandemic surfaced a youth mental health crisis that was surging throughout California. In Sacramento County, the Department of Public Health says it worked with almost 12,000 kids with mental health-related concerns between 2021 and 2022." — "Should California take more time on reparations? Advocates want Newsom to veto extension," by the Sacramento Bee's Marcus D. Smith: "Advocates for reparations want to sustain their momentum by urging Newsom to veto a bill that would give the committee more time to finish its mandate to evaluate how the state should compensate Black people for decades of discrimination. — "Mayor Breed Accuses Her Reform-Minded Police Commission Appointee of Dishonesty," by the San Francisco Standard's Michael Barba: "The tipping point between the mayor and her appointee came last Wednesday when [Max] Carter-Oberstone cast the swing vote in a decision that largely stripped Breed of her power over the future of police oversight in San Francisco."
| | | | DON'T MISS - MILKEN INSTITUTE ASIA SUMMIT : Go inside the 9th annual Milken Institute Asia Summit, taking place from September 28-30, with a special edition of POLITICO's Global Insider newsletter, featuring exclusive coverage and insights from this important gathering. Stay up to speed with daily updates from the summit, which brings together more than 1,200 of the world's most influential leaders from business, government, finance, technology, and academia. Don't miss out, subscribe today. | | | | | | | SILICON VALLEYLAND | | THE META-TEXT — Top Meta exec Clegg to decide whether to reinstate Trump on Facebook, by POLITICO's Rebecca Kern: "It's not a capricious decision," [Meta's top policy executive Nick] Clegg said. "We will look at the signals related to real-world harm to make a decision whether at the two-year point — which is early January next year — whether Trump gets reinstated to the platform." TOO REMOTE? — "Tech workers flooded Hawaii in the pandemic. With remote work on the decline, what now? " by the San Francisco Chronicle's Chase DiFeliciantonio: "There aren't hard data sets of how many people came to the islands specifically to work remotely, according to Hawaii's economics and tourism authorities. But it doesn't take a spreadsheet of every remote worker who visited or moved to the islands during the pandemic to see the lasting impact they've left."
| | CANNABIS COUNTRY | | — "Lawsuit claims SMUD illegally gave user data to police, enabling discriminatory pot enforcement," by the Sacramento Bee's Sawsan Morrar: "Most of the names listed in the SMUD data are 'discernibly Asian,' according to the lawsuit. And the targeted zip codes have high Asian populations, including the south Sacramento area."
| | MIXTAPE | | — "Should Zeus the puppy be put to death? Judge issues stay after owner sues Elk Grove," by the Sacramento Bee's Sam Stanton and Darrell Smith. — "Santa Clara County residents will pay less for meds," by the San Jose Spotlight's Tran Nguyen. — " An S.F. icon got scammed out of his life savings. He's speaking out now as a warning to others," by the San Francisco Chronicle's Heather Knight. BREAKING WAVES — " The 2022 World Surfing Games Are Underway In Huntington Beach. Here's How To Watch Like A Pro," by LAist's Jill Replogle. — "Wanna Try Roller-Skating in San Francisco? Better Head to Church," by KQED's Amanda Font.
| | IN MEMORIAM | | — "Ruth Gottstein, champion of Coit Tower depicted in one of its famous murals, dies at 100," by the San Francisco Chronicle's Sam Whiting.
| | BIRTHDAYS | | Nicole Mata of Rep. Ro Khanna's (D-Calif.) office … Meta's Gabriella Schwarz … Naomi Seligman CALIFORNIA POLICY IS ALWAYS CHANGING: Know your next move. From Sacramento to Silicon Valley, POLITICO California Pro provides policy professionals with the in-depth reporting and tools they need to get ahead of policy trends and political developments shaping the Golden State. To learn more about the exclusive insight and analysis this subscriber-only service offers, click here. Want to make an impact? POLITICO California has a variety of solutions available for partners looking to reach and activate the most influential people in the Golden State. Have a petition you want signed? A cause you're promoting? Seeking to increase brand awareness amongst this key audience? Share your message with our influential readers to foster engagement and drive action. Contact Jesse Shapiro to find out how: jshapiro@politico.com. | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Ottawa Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
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