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Victoria Kolakowski

for Alameda County Superior Court Judge

A Judge for All of Us

Blog

March 24, 2008 12:15 AM

EQCA PAC endorsement

Great news!!! I received a report tonight that EQCA PAC has decided to endorse my candidacy.  The premiere LGBT rights PAC in California, they describe themselves as:

EQCA PAC is a sponsored committee of Equality California, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, grassroots-based, statewide advocacy organization whose mission is to achieve equality and civil rights of all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Californians. Equality California is one of the leading statewide LGBT organizations in the country. We can be contacted through our website at www.eqca.org/pac.

March 18, 2008 12:15 AM

First campaign finance reporting period ended

Today was the last day of the first campaign finance reporting period for my race, and reports will be due next Monday.  My rough estimate is that I raised just under $44,000 for this period, which is well on my way to my goal of $75,000 for the primary.  I estimate that I spent around $15,000, and so I should have in the $28-$29k range on hand for printing, mailing, and other expenses.
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March 17, 2008 11:30 PM

Kolakowski assigned to renewable transmission rulemaking proceeding

Today I was formally assigned to preside over a new CPUC proceeding to develop additional rules for reviewing transmission projects (power lines) to deliver additional renewable energy to urban areas while promoting demand reduction and minimizing environmental impacts of the construction.  A copy of the order initiating the proceeding is at: http://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/PUBLISHED/FINAL_DECISION/80268.htm.

I am already the assigned administrative law judge for several major transmission projects, including the lines to deliver wind energy from the Tehachapi wind farms to the Los Angeles basin (ftp://ftp.cpuc.ca.gov/gopher-data/environ/tehachapi_renewables/TRTP.htm) and to deliver energy from the proposed Lake Elsinore Advanced Pump Storage facility to the Los Angeles basin and to San Diego county (http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/Environment/info/aspen/nevadahydro/talega_escondido_valley_serrano.htm)

March 17, 2008 11:20 PM

CPUC Adopts Kolakowski decision refunding overcollections to ratepayers

Last Thursday, the California Public Utilities Commission unanimously adopted my decision ordering Southern California Edison to immediately refund to ratepayers $190 million in that it was holding in an interest-bearing account to be refunded next year.  SCE argued that rates should be frozen at last year's levels, rather than immediately refund the money to ratepayers, to prevent a "whipsaw" effect, since it anticipates rate increases for next year.  Ratepayer groups argued that the purpose of the delay in refunds was to make a rate increase next year more politically acceptable.  My proposed decision ordered an immediate refund to ratepayers, in part because of the impact of the refunds on the local economy.  An article on the decision is in the news articles section.
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March 15, 2008 6:55 PM

Transgender Leadership Summit

I am a board member of the Transgender Law Center, one of the organizers of the annual Transgender Leadership Summit.  I attended most of today's event and met with many old friends.  There is a lot of excitement in the transgender community about my candidacy, because of the historic nature of the race.  If elected, I will be the first openly transgender trial court judge in California, and probably the United States.

March 11, 2008 9:30 PM

Endorsements Listed

The endorsement page is now live, and it includes several key early endorsements: two city attorneys, two Berkeley councilmembers, a Hayward Unified School District Trustee, and several other leaders.  I am getting several endorsements a day, and so I expect more to come.

March 7, 2008 7:00 PM

The race is on!

The field is now set for the open Alameda County Superior Court Judge seat. It will be a challenging race, but there are some very positive factors working in my favor.

The candidates are:

• Victoria S. Kolakowski, Administrative Law Judge
• Dennis Hayashi, a Castro Valley public interest attorney who lost in a judicial election two years ago.  His wife, Mary, is a member of the Assembly
• Philip Daly, an Asst. District Attorney.
• Dennis S. Reid, a San Leandro solo criminal defense attorney.

I believe that my experience makes me the best candidate to be a fair judge for all of us.

 (Edited)