What a difference a year can make.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger made headlines last year by killing legislation by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano with an acrostic veto message that started with "F" and ended with "you."
This year, all is forgiven.
Ammiano, D-San Francisco, proposed basically the same bill again, to make it easier to generate infrastructure financing in the Pier 70 area of the city's waterfront. This time, Schwarzenegger signed it -- with an acrostic signing message.
By reading the first letter of each word in the left-hand column of his signing message on Assembly Bill 1199, Schwarzenegger's veiled message to Ammiano becomes clear: "YOU ARE WELCOME."
Last year's acrostic epithet was believed to have stemmed from an incident in which Ammiano screamed "You lie!" at the governor during a public event. This year, apparently, ruffled feathers have been smoothed.
The governor's aides never officially acknowledged last year's acrostic epithet, characterizing it with a smile as a coincidence.
Quintin Mecke, Ammiano's spokesman, declined substantive comment on either last year's or this year's acrostic message. "We're more happy that he signed it rather than the message," Mecke said.
"Besides," he added, tongue in cheek, "it's just coincidence."
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