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Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has appointed former GOP Assemblywoman Sharon Runner of Lancaster to the Agricultural Labor Relations Board, which meets publicly twice a month, and pays $128,109 a year,” according to the Sacramento Bee.
I thought that Sharon, and her husband George, were supposed to be conservatives? This looks like personal pork!
And consider this – Sharon generally voted against the interest of farm workers when she was a legislator! She actually voted “against heat illness prevention regulations for farm workers.”
Moreover, she has “a rare lung disease, limited scleroderma, with no known cure. She is on a transplant list waiting for two new lungs. The condition caused her to miss many of the final weeks of the end of last year’s legislative session.”
And Runner has zero experience in this area. She “never served on either the labor or agriculture committees, according to those panels.”
What does Sharon’s husband George, who is a tough talking conservative state legislator, think about all this?
“Now is the time to live within ours means,” George Runner had said after Schwarzenegger’s State of the State speech last month. “We must adopt a spending limit, hold the taxations of our citizens to a minimum and allow government to provide only the most basic needs.”
Hypocrites!
UPDATE:
CA GOP Chairman Ron Nehring has weighed in on this matter, on Facebook. His message appears to be that waste is OK if you are wasting money on Republicans and not Democrats:
I’ve known Sharon Runner for years. She is incredibly bright, compassionate and brimming with common sense. She has a way of cutting through the clutter of complex issues and getting to the heart of the matter, and doing so in a way that often disarms her opponents. This probably explains why those who seek to use boards like the ALRB to drive an ideological agenda won’t find much comfort in Sharon Runner’s appointment.
We’re pleased the Governor appointed her, and look forward to her confirmation. Hopefully, the Senate will put partisan and ideological concerns aside in confirming this first class leader to this important post.
When are some people going to learn that this kind of female bashing will only help their cause to wither and die?
Terry,
The irony is that if she were a Democrat you would be the first one to pile on.
Why is it OK to bash Democrats for wasting our money – but not Republicans?
There is no excuse for these ridiculous overpaid commissions. And putting an anti Labor Republican on this commission is ridiculous.
George Runner was on all the radio shows during the budget showdown. He sounded very conservative – and now that his wife is wasting our money the cat has got his tongue.
If anything, stories like this will drive MORE folks out of the sinking ship that is the CA GOP…
I would like to see state commissioners get their pay slashed. 120,000 for 1 meeting a month is absurd. I would slash state commissioners pay before I decide to slash public employees first.
I think George Runner is going to be silent during the Prop 1A battle.
And how come Sharron Runner was not able to serve in the assembly during her illness, and she is able to serve in this commission now?
Matt,
Exactly! And I just got a note from Ron Nehring, on Facebook, where he waxed poetic about Sharon Runner. I am sure she is a nice lady, but these commissions are a joke! These folks are way overpaid. And she has zero experience in this area.
I think George will stay silent – further proving my point that he is a hypocrite.
Since anti-Labor is pro-California, that is the best place for a representative of the people. The Union bosses do not reflect their membership or common sense. Stop shilling for them too.
By the way, Sharon Runner is a wealthy business woman, owner of several private schools. She doesn’t need the money, like Maldonado…
I’m sure you know the lady is on the waiting list for a lung transplant. Good target to pick on. Low hanging fruit eh?
And no take backs…
Crowley,
If you read my post, you would know that I made reference to her lung issue. Further reason NOT to appoint her. She was too ill to function in the Legislature and she is too ill to function on this board.
The question is – why was she appointed? She is sick. She has no experience in agro. And she is anti-Labor. Altogether a terrible pick.