Political File: Reutter leaves Green Party

By: WYATT HAUPT - Staff Writer | Friday, June 10, 2005 10:57 PM PDT ∞

Former 66th Assembly District candidate Chuck Reutter said he has resigned from the Green Party of California, in part because of internal bickering and regional cliques he says exist within the group.

Reutter, the party's most recognizable figure in Southwest County, issued an e-mail statement this week announcing his resignation. While Reutter said that he "met a lot of wonderful, well-meaning people who were active in the party," he also indicated he was frustrated with its internal dynamics.

"A political party that dedicates most of its effort to internal politics cannot expand into other communities whose lives the party claims to improve," Reutter said in the e-mail. "The fact that state party elections are preordained in advance of the state meetings resulting in the rubber stamp election of state and regional party officials was very disheartening."

He later concluded, "I have worked hard on behalf of the party and what I believed was its agenda by supporting candidates, running for elected office and community outreach. So like that dog chasing its tail, I have become fatigued and decided to channel my efforts in more production areas."

Reutter was the party's candidate for the 66th Assembly seat in the November 2000 election. Now-state Sen. Dennis Hollingsworth, R-Murrieta, won that contest, easily outdistancing Democrat Bob Canfield by roughly 53,000 votes. Reutter was a distant third.

The 66th Assembly District takes in portions of San Diego County and Southwest County, including Lake Elsinore, Lakeland Village and most of Temecula and Murrieta.

Budget update

A state-mandated June 15 deadline to get a budget bill approved by the Legislature will likely come and go again this year, largely because there are no penalties for not meeting that date, political observers acknowledged this week.

The last time a state budget was adopted by July 1, or two weeks after the state constitution calls for the plan to be in place, was five years ago. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed a $115.7 billion budget for the 2005-06 fiscal year, which begins July 1.

Quote of the week

"There is no justice if the system is not balanced. Because our attorneys are overextended, resolution of many cases is unnecessarily delayed, which in turn affects justice. Justice delayed is justice denied."

Riverside County Public Defender Gary Windom during a budget workshop held this week by the five-member Board of Supervisors. Windom was pointing out why he felt the board needed to bring balance to the county's public safety portfolio by providing at least two deputy public defenders for every three deputy district attorneys.

He also said his office defends 78 percent of the people accused of committing felony crimes in the county.

The Sacramento Bee contributed to this report. Contact staff writer Wyatt Haupt at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2615, or whaupt@californian.com.