Sen. Sam Blakeslee, a member of the GOP 5, will help determine future of Gov. Brown's budget
(NOTE: Blakeslee Bio at article conclusion)
By Karen de Sá kdesa@mercurynews.com
Posted: 03/11/2011 06:30:06 PM PST The San Jose Mercury News
Central Coast Sen. Sam Blakeslee's predicament is about as dicey as life in the capital gets.
As one of five GOP senators meeting in secret with Gov. Jerry Brown, his vote could make or break the Democratic governor's plan to rescue the deficit-plagued state budget.
As budget talks dragged on this week, many political analysts wondered: Is the 55-year-old Blakeslee a man of conscience wrestling with his next move or a politician toying with a needy governor?
"His statements are so vague that it's not clear to me whether he really is some sort of open-minded, let's-just-do-what's-best-for-the-state kind of politician," or if he's simply enjoying a fling with power, said Melissa Michelson, a political science professor at Menlo College. "And because it's behind closed doors, you have no idea what they're doing."
In the first one-on-one media interview with a member of the so-called GOP 5, Blakeslee on Friday said political calculations are far from his thoughts.
"My behaviors recently in working on these issues clearly are creating great political peril and likely problems in the future,'' Blakeslee said after emerging from 4½-hour budget talks. "They are not the actions one would take if his top priority was being in a position to win a 2012 campaign. Why should I worry about the electoral issues when this may be the last chance for me to fix California for the rest of my life?"
He described the ongoing talks as "grueling" and "intense" -- and far from over.
Brown's budget relies on deep cuts to social services and revenue increases from extending temporary sales and income taxes and car fees. He needs voter approval for the plan, but first he needs four Republican lawmakers to agree to place the tax extensions on the June ballot.
If Blakeslee signs on with the governor, he bucks his virulently anti-tax party. If he rejects the plan, he could alienate voters in his Democratic-leaning district spanning five counties from Santa Clara to Santa Barbara.
Under a package of electoral reforms unfolding this year, two key changes to California politics add more uncertainty to his future: Citizens are now able to vote in primaries across party lines, and district boundaries will be redrawn by an independent commission rather than by politicians seeking to protect their turf.
Blakeslee said he doesn't want to place tax measures on the ballot unless they're accompanied by fundamental reforms to the tax, pension and regulatory systems.
"If a special election is going to be called,'' he said, "the voters deserve something of more substance, something that ends our state's chronic dysfunction."
Blakeslee's personal and political story defies convention.
After a failed marriage to his high school sweetheart, the San Luis Obispo resident gained full custody of his young son, raising him as a single parent as he worked construction jobs while attending community college. Blakeslee went on to earn a doctorate in geophysics from UC Santa Barbara and later worked for oil giant Exxon, first as a research scientist and later as a strategic planner. He now lives with his two daughters, 7 and 15, and wife Kara, an attorney who is his partner in a family business that assists retirees with investments and insurance plans.
Blakeslee served in the Assembly from 2004 to 2010. Although he was viewed as a staunch conservative in 2009 as Assembly minority leader, Blakeslee is now considered a more moderate Republican.
He said his positions didn't change once he became speaker, but the nature of his leadership led "people to put horns on my head and a tail on my end." Last year, after winning a special election to replace Sen. Abel Maldonado, whom Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger tapped as lieutenant governor, he balked at signing a "no new taxes" pledge. And recently, he declined to join the newly formed Republican "Taxpayer Caucus."
As a senator, Blakeslee took the unusual step of hiring a Democrat to be his communications director, and he touts his green credentials.
The California League of Conservation Voters ranks Democrats with a 94 percent average in voting the league's positions on environmental issues, while Republicans average 7 percent.
At 25 percent, Blakeslee "probably has one of the best scores among Republicans," said the league's executive director, Warner Chabot.
Former GOP political consultant Allan Hoffenblum, who now edits the California Target Book, a political guide, said it's likely that Blakeslee is wooing the two votes Brown needs from Assembly Republicans for his already-behind-schedule budget plan.
The GOP 5 also includes senators Tom Berryhill of Fresno, Anthony Cannella of Ceres, Bill Emmerson of Riverside, and Tom Harman of Costa Mesa.
Sen. Tony Strickland, R-Santa Barbara, who heads the 30-member Republican taxpayer caucus, said Blakeslee seeks the same "reforms" his group seeks. But they disagree with any compromise with Brown that would let voters decide.
"We wouldn't put a measure on the ballot to say it's OK for kids to smoke at age 10 years old," Strickland said. "Why? Because we don't think it's OK."
With the state Republican Party convention just six days away, the GOP 5 are considered to be at great political risk. What's more, once new districts are drawn up by the independent commission, no one yet knows where the boundaries will fall. Blakeslee's district could become more Democratic or more Republican.
He persists, he said, despite "a move afoot in the state party to punish those of us who were even involved in these negotiations. What most of my colleagues are doing is avoiding these issues and moving to a safe place that doesn't require them to engage."
He said he plans on attending his party's convention -- he's on the rules committee -- and even chuckled over what his reception there might be like.
Bill Whalen, a speechwriter for former Gov. Pete Wilson who is now with Stanford's Hoover Institution, said Blakeslee actually has a rare opportunity in a state with a Democratic legislative majority and the first Democratic governor since 2003.
On straight party-line votes, Republicans lose, but Brown's budget plan requires a two-thirds majority.
"The reality is Senate Republicans are largely irrelevant to all matters in Sacramento," Whalen said, "with this one brief exception."
Sam Blakeslee
Age: 55
Age: 55
Profession: Republican state senator and president of investment firm Blakeslee & Blakeslee, a small business he co-owns with his wife to advise retirees on insurance, investment and health plans; previously worked for Exxon as a research scientist and strategic planner
Hometown: San Luis Obispo
Family: Wife Kara Blakeslee and three children, including a 33-year-old son he raised as a single father and two daughters, 15 and 7
Education: Attended Cuesta Community College, where his father, Earle Blakeslee, taught music; later earned both bachelor's and master's degrees in geophysics from UC Berkeley and a Ph.D from UC Santa Barbara
Political career: Served in Assembly from 2004-2010 and as Assembly minority leader in 2009; created the Assembly's Republican Task Force on Environment, Energy and Economy; elected to Senate in an August 2010 special election; appointed to lead the Senate Select Committee on Recovery, Reform and Realignment
Hobbies: Taking his daughters to soccer practice, community theater performances and family hikes
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