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Halderman is latest Valley lawmaker sent to DoghouseJan 21, 2012 (The Fresno Bee - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- The state Capitol's most notorious piece of legislative real estate is now home to Fresno's Linda Halderman. Over the holidays, the Republican Assembly member was assigned the Capitol's smallest office, a 391-square-foot hovel nicknamed the "Doghouse" because being sent there often is viewed as a punishment for some political sin against party leadership. The thing is, Halderman has no idea if and how she ran afoul of Assembly leadership -- and nobody in the hierarchy is giving any rationale for the move. This much is certain: Halderman now looks to be part of a trend. She is the third Valley legislator in the past six years to be assigned the shoebox-sized digs or, in the case of former Assembly Member Nicole Parra, completely booted out of the Capitol. "I guess it could be sheer coincidence, but that is unlikely," said former Assembly Member Juan Arambula, a Fresno Democrat who in 2006 was sent to the Doghouse by then-Speaker Fabian Nunez. Arambula's and Parra's transgressions were well-documented. Arambula refused to vote yes on several public works bonds because the package did not include water for dams, a long-time wish of Valley farmers. "The expectation was that I would fall into line," Arambula said, "and I think it was also intended as a signal to other members not to stray too far from the party line." In 2008, Parra was exiled to a legislative office building across the street from the Capitol -- where no other lawmakers had offices -- after the Hanford Democrat vowed to not vote for the state budget unless lawmakers also agreed to put a water bond on the ballot. With Halderman now in the Doghouse, the past three Assembly speakers -- Nunez, Karen Bass and current Speaker John A. Perez, all from Los Angeles -- each have sent a Valley member to a rotten office. Political analyst Tony Quinn, a former Republican legislative staffer, said the trend is likely to continue because the Valley is the only part of the state that produces moderates. "Arambula and Parra certainly did not go along with the liberal Southern California agenda," he said. At the same time, he said, many Valley Republicans aren't as far right as a majority of their GOP colleagues. Two recent examples are former Clovis Assembly Member Mike Villines and former Modesto state Sen. Dave Cogdill. Those two GOP delegation leaders -- who negotiated a budget deal that temporarily raised taxes -- lost their jobs. Cogdill was ousted the night of the budget vote. Villines stepped down later. "Regardless of who represents us from the area, I think the odds are higher that a Valley representative is going to get in trouble with their leadership -- at least if they are doing their job right," Arambula said. Halderman is making the best of the situation -- even though she's sharing the office with three staffers and sometimes a fourth one, an intern, desks, filing cabinets and chairs. She noted that she spent time in American Samoa, where she shared her living quarters with centipedes and dengue-fever-carrying mosquitoes. "This is a step up," she said of the cramped space, which is about half the size of the average office. "I have a pretty view. I have carpet under my desk. I can't imagine why I'd whine about it." Asked why she was moved, Halderman said: "I have no idea. I just hope they stop playing games with these offices -- if that's what this is -- because it costs taxpayer money [to move people]." Still, the speculation is flying in Sacramento because the office move came one year into Halderman's first term in the Assembly. She replaced Assembly Member Beth Gaines, a Republican from Roseville, in the Doghouse. Quinn, the political analyst, noted that before being elected to the Assembly, Halderman was a Republican legislative staffer in the state Senate. Maybe, Quinn speculated, she angered somebody during that stint. Or, others said, maybe the move was because Halderman was reportedly part of a failed effort a year ago to oust current Assembly Republican Leader Connie Conway of Tulare. But Conway spokeswoman Sabrina Lockhart said the Assembly Speaker decides office assignments -- not Conway -- and Halderman herself dismissed any possibility that her own party threw her under the bus. "We're Valley girls," she said of her and Conway. "We've known each other since well before the election." Responding to the coup rumors, Halderman added that caucuses have lots of grumbling, infighting and squabbling -- but that "is not the same thing as a leadership overthrow." Perez spokesman John Vigna said Gaines -- the Roseville Republican who previously was in the office -- was only placed there "temporarily following her election as it was the only one available." Gaines was "subsequently reassigned to a different office, and Dr. Halderman was assigned to her present office. These moves typically happen over the [break between legislative sessions]." So was it punishment? Vigna said office assignments are made by the Assembly Rules Committee in conjunction with several officials, including Speaker Perez, Conway and the Rules Committee chair, which is currently Berkeley Democrat Nancy Skinner. "I am not privy to those discussions," he said, "so cannot comment on them." The reporter can be reached at [email protected] or (559) 441-6320. ___ (c)2012 The Fresno Bee (Fresno, Calif.) Visit The Fresno Bee (Fresno, Calif.) at www.fresnobee.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |