"Written by ..." the Doctor of Darkness of the California GOP

Those curious about the murky backdrop of Kevin Johnson’s “strong mayor” ballot initiative may finally get a look at who pulls its strings during a January 15^th hearing on the measure’s legality. Named in the lawsuit is the author of the proposed power grab: one Thomas Hiltachk, who serves as a direct link between the campaign and right-wing California politics.

Hiltachk isn’t exactly a household name, but he may be the most subversive man in Golden State politics.

In 2007 The New Yorker dubbed him “Snidely Whiplash” for his lead role in a particularly dastardly and shadowy statewide ballot initiative that sought to coerce presidential electors into the GOP column through a change in the electoral vote. Hiltachk also is a lawyer for the California Republican Party and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s personal election-law attorney. He gained that post after helping to engineer Rescue California, the group that launched the successful recall of Gov. Gray Davis and paved the way for the ascension of Schwarzenegger to the governor’s office. He’s also represented such stellar characters as disgraced former Republican State Insurance Commissioner Chuck Quackenbush. Quite a roster.

One local government observer said Hiltachk probably is connected to just about every conservative-backed initiative in the state, either as the author, a contributor, or applying substantial behind-the-scenes pressure.

Oddly, Johnson’s own spin doctor, Steve Maviglio, has expressed disdain for Hiltachk’s other work. Hiltachk is the author of an initiative currently proposed for the 2010 ballot that seeks to make the state Legislature part-time.

Here’s what Maviglio wrote about that part-time initiative and its creator, just last month on the Calbuzz blog: “Here in California, the initiative is Exhibit A for what’s wrong with our state’s initiative process. It’s the brainchild of the right-wing initiative factory propped up by an AstroTurf ‘citizens group.’ Its author is conservative Sacramento lawyer Tom Hiltachk, whose last failed effort was an attempt to divide California’s electoral votes.”

Even more ironically, Maviglio blasts the part-time effort because it would weaken the legislature and hamper their crucial oversight, allowing the governor “to drive the public policy agenda without accountability.”

Hmmm. Doesn’t that sound awfully similar to the boss mayor position envisioned in Sacramento?

This week’s hearing might, if only briefly, flush Hiltachk, the Doctor Darkness of the California GOP, into the open -- a rare stab at “transparency” forced upon a mayoral administration that loves to use the word but avoids its practice at all costs.