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Even though it may be No. 1 on the list of initiatives in California, Prop. 1 doesn't seem likely to stir up a lot of excitement amongst voters this November.

But be careful to not offer than bit of conjecture to former state lawmaker and retired superior court Judge Quentin L. Kopp who is chairman of the state's High Speed Rail Authority and Prop. 1's most vocal cheerleader.

Kopp got five minutes or so this morning on KTVU Channel 2 and was interviewed on the measure by veteran anchor Ross McGowan.

Attorney Dennis Morris is turning to the California State Constitution in his bid to be added to the ballot as a Democratic opponent to State Sen. Abel Maldonado (R-Santa Maria).

Morris, of Pismo Beach, cites Article II, Section 5(b) of the state constitution, which states that a party that participates in a primary election should not be denied the opportunity to place on the general ballot the party member who received the most votes in that primary.

For Morris, that would mean he could qualify for the ballot even though he apparently will fall short of the 3,689 votes needed as a primary write-in candidate to make the general election ballot.

The president of the San Joaquin-Calaveras Central Labor Council has sent an urgent letter to California Attorney General Jerry Brown asking him to open an investigation into the findings of a Grand Jury report that alleges wrongdoing on the part of local college district board and a prominent development company who has extensive business dealings with 11th District GOP challenger Dean Andal.

A copy of the letter written by labor council Presiden Joe Coy was provided to the campaign staff of incumbent Congressman Jerry McNerney, D-Stockton, who in turn forwarded a copy to PolitickerCA.com.

A campaign fund controlled by Assembly Speaker Emeritus Fabian Nunez (D-Los Angeles) received a donation of over $600,000 last week from a voter registration fund.

Nunez, who is termed out at the end of the year, controls the Committee to Protect California's Future, which was the primary campaign fund for the failed term-limits reform measure Proposition 93 earlier this year.

The money came from Voter Registration 2008, a fund controlled typically by the Assembly Speaker, in this case Karen Bass of Los Angeles, who replaced Nunez earlier this year.

Former U.S. Rep. Tom Campbell: University of California BerkeleyTwo former California politicians thought to be done with elective office are eyeing statewide races in 2010.

The San Jose Mercury News is reporting that Republican Tom Campbell, a former San Jose congressman and most recently business school dean at the University of California, Berkeley, has formed an exploratory committee to run for governor in two years.

And the Sacramento Bee reported Monday afternoon that Joe Canciamilla, a former Democratic assemblyman from the East Bay, has taken out papers to run for attorney general in 2010.

Embattled former Oakland City Administrator Deborah Edgerly denied that she interfered with a police gang sweep involving her nephew and said that her dismissal by Mayor Ron Dellums was not fair and unwarranted.

In an exclusive interview on KTVU Channel 2's Randy Shandobil, Edgerly broke her two week-plus silence Monday, saying that reports of her interfering on behalf of a nephew during a June 7 gang sweep in West Oakland were just flatly inaccurate.

"I did not intervene (in the gang sweep). I did not provide any information (to my nephew)," Edgerly said. "Not only did I not, I would not."

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom announced Monday that he is directing staff to step up its efforts to dentify and help retrofit so-called "soft-story" buildings that could collapse during the next significant earthquake to hit the region.

The directive and municipal legislation will expedite development of retrofit guidelines for soft-story, wood-frame buildings and the processing and review of permits for seismic retrofit upgrades of these buildings.

"Although there is no such thing as an earthquake-proof building, engineers agree that proper seismic retrofitting can give buildings a fighting chance against a sizeable earthquake," Newsom said in a statement. "We must take the same measures to insure the safety of our homes and workplaces as we do our families and selves."

Kevin Johnson is beginning his runoff campaign to be Sacramento's mayor with a kick-off fund-raiser later this month.

Johnson, a former NBA star and Sacramento native, will have a $75 per-person event on July 22 at the Sacramento home of a supporter.

Assembly Speaker Karen Bass: Campaign photoTwo Northern California members of the state Assembly were tapped for key committee chairmanships Monday by Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles.

Assembly members Cathleen Galgiani, D-Livingston, and Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, will chair the Assembly's Agriculture and Water, Parks and Wildlife committees, respectively, Bass said.

The speaker also named Assembly member Julia Brownley, D-Santa Monica, as chair of the body's education committee.

Insurance Commissioner Steve PoiznerA leading conservative blog and news aggregator says Steve Poizner has met with a top political consultant about making a run for California governor in 2010.

In a posting last week by FlashReport Publisher John Fleischman, Poizner was said to have had ongoing discussions with Mike Murphy, a Los Angeles-based strategist who helped engineer Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's victory in the 2003 recall election of then-Gov. Gray Davis.