Capitol Alert: Jerry Brown finds frustrated crowd at budget talk

SANTA CLARITA -- Gov. Jerry Brown, joined on his budget tour this afternoon for the first time by a Republican lawmaker, put the assemblyman on a stage in his hometown and flanked him with administration and public safety officials supportive of Brown's tax plan.

But the rhetoric was ratcheted down on both sides, and not even a panelist's mispronunciation of Assemblyman Cameron Smyth's name could provoke him.

"Smyth," the legislator said after he was introduced at his alma mater, pronouncing the Y like the I in "rice." "It's just my old high school, but that's cool."

The Democratic governor, who's on the road promoting his plan to extend higher taxes on income, vehicles and sales, once again enjoyed a largely friendly audience. But in the crowd of about 150 people at Hart High School, there was an undercurrent of frustration on both sides that a deal has not yet been reached.

"It's sad that we're even having this thing," Scott Wilk, a member of the College of the Canyons board of trustees, told Brown. "You guys need to be adult and go do the right thing."

Wilk accused Brown of not bending far enough to Republican demands in budget talks for pension, regulatory and other government changes.

"You have your Nixon going to China moment," he said. "Sir, I just, I hope that you seize it, and you will do the right thing and put these other reforms on the ballot with the tax extension."

Brown said he is open to such changes but that many of those proposed by Republicans will not solve California's immediate budget deficit, now estimated to be $15.4 billion.

"We can't say unless we solve everything we're paralyzed and can't move forward," Brown said.

Brian Breslin, a business teacher at the school and a negotiator for his union, applauded Smyth for attending, but he encouraged him to "do what's best," saying the people of Santa Clarita would "be there for you come Election Day."

"Why are we not in the middle trying to work this out?" he said. "My students want to know, why aren't you in the middle together?"

Brown, who is seeking two Republican votes in each house to put his tax plan on a ballot, is visiting cities statewide to pressure Republicans from within their own districts. He toured a chemistry classroom before speaking today, accompanied by administration officials and Smyth, who opposes Brown's tax plan.

"We've got to talk about the chemistry of the Legislature," Brown told the students. He motioned to Smyth, saying, "This is the key man."

Later, Brown told reporters that his budget forums could soften the partisan divide in Sacramento.

"There is this sort of new chemistry and mood that is created," he said.

Brown's three budget forums have been by invitation only, and Republicans have criticized him for insulating himself. In a written statement, California Republican Party Chairman Tom Del Beccaro characterized Brown's appearances as a means to "preach to the converted."

But this afternoon, Brown asked specifically for opponents to speak.

Hart High School is a relatively wealthy and high achieving school, a contrast to the struggling elementary schools Brown visited in Riverside and Stockton.

Brown wore a small bandage on his nose. His wife and special counsel, Anne Gust Brown, said the governor "got a little thing taken off" for a test but that it is not cancerous.

Brown attended a private fundraiser this morning for President Barack Obama at the St. Regis Hotel in San Francisco. Last night, the governor attended a private banquet for the California State Sheriffs' Association in the Bay Area city.