A meeting of the minds

State Dems talk flood project, strategy during summit at Silverado

By DAVID RYAN
Register Staff Writer

State Assembly Democrats wrapped up their four-day summit at Napa’s Silverado Resort Thursday, providing lawmakers an opportunity to sample some Napa delicacies and take a gander at the Napa flood control project from chartered buses.

It was all according to plan for Assemblywoman Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa, and her bid to give Napa more exposure to lawmakers.

“As we drove over the river last night I brought it up to the members how they gave $10 million to flood project,” she said. “It was great for the members to have an opportunity to see the projects they have funded. That’s really why I brought them to Napa. I’ve talked to them about the (Veterans Home of California at Yountville), the foster care group VOICES and the flood project.”

Evans is chairwoman of the Assembly Democratic Caucus, a post that gives her the privilege of helping to select the location of the annual Assembly Democratic Summit each year. Past summits have been in other high-profile locales like Monterey and Newport Beach.

The Napa summit saw lawmakers chowing down at Copia, finding little time to sample the world-class golf course or spa amenities of the Silverado Resort.

“We worked really hard,” Evans said. “We started with a 7:30 a.m. breakfast in the morning, worked through lunch and had presentations all the way through dinner.”

Evans said despite the work, there was no consensus on exactly what to do with some of the biggest issues facing California — health care, prison reform, water supply issues and tribal gaming — but good information for Democratic leaders to take to governor Arnold Schwarzenegger when the time comes to negotiate over the state budget.

“We spent a lot of time on the budget,” Evans said, adding that Democrats would oppose Schwarzenegger’s proposed cuts to the state welfare to work program. She said Democrats talked about what cuts they could live with, but declined to be more specific. The event was mostly off-limits to the press.

Breaking from tradition, the Democrats this year did not rely on corporations to pay the tab directly for the event, which began Monday and ended Thursday. Instead, the bill will be split between taxpayers — the normal per diem allowed to lawmakers — and the political action committee of Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-Los Angeles.

Nunez said media scrutiny in past years distracted from the policy work that goes on behind closed doors.

“I don’t mind if I get bad press; I don’t want my members to get bad press,” Nunez told reporters Tuesday, standing inside the restored 19th-century mansion that serves as the Silverado Resort’s conference center. “We want the media coverage on this to highlight the great things that we’re doing.”

California taxpayers will pay for about 50 hotel rooms at a cost of $143 a night per room, or more than $21,000 for the three-night stay.

Nunez’s political action committee, which last November received a $4 million check from the California Democratic Party, is paying for lawmakers’ meals. That includes breakfast on a covered deck of the Silverado Resort overlooking a golf course and dinners at some of Napa’s finest restaurants, including the Culinary Institute of America.

Republicans, meanwhile, held their annual policy retreat in more modest accommodations in a former Sierra Gold Rush town in Calaveras County. The Murphys Suites charges $95 a night and boasts a coin-operated laundry and a microwave in every room.

Lawmakers are given a per diem to cover daily expenses when they are on state business, on top of their $113,097-a-year salary.

Republican caucus spokesman Morgan Crinklaw said meals and expenses for the Assembly Republican retreat were paid by private funds, although he would not provide details.

Evans said lawmakers’ spirits were high, coming off of last year’s successes for the Democratic legislature.

“Last year we had the most productive session in recent memory,” she said. “We will continue to build on the success we had last year. With the governor talking about issues important to us such as health care and the environment, I would say we will have as productive a session as last year.”

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

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