PARTICIPATION GRADE: Assemblymember Brian Maienschein wants to be San Diego's next city attorney. But his attendance record on a state council has left him open to attacks from his competitor. The Republican-turned-Democrat has missed every meeting of the Judicial Council of California since he was appointed to the rule-making arm of California's court system in early 2023, meeting minutes show. And while Maienschein says he was told that showing up was “discretionary,” his opponent, Deputy City Attorney Heather Ferbert, is using the records to claim the termed-out lawmaker is detached from the legal field after decades of being a politician. “Either my opponent has no interest in the legal profession, or he agrees that he's not qualified to do the job," Ferbert told Playbook. Meeting minutes show other Judicial Council members attended 50 percent or more of regular council meetings during that period. Senate Judiciary Chair Tom Umberg, the other legislative appointee to the council, missed just one between March 2023 and July 2024. Ferbert’s not the only San Diego candidate using attendance records as a cudgel. A similar story is playing out in a tight race for a critical San Diego County Board of Supervisors seat, where former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, a Republican, is taking incumbent Democrat Terra Lawson-Remer to task for missing committee meetings of a homelessness task force. A spokesperson for Lawson-Remer told Voice of San Diego her "team attends almost every” task force meeting. Maienschein told Playbook that former Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, who appointed him to the position, said he was not required to attend Judicial Council meetings unless California Supreme Court Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero asked him to go. Guerrero was unavailable for comment. Rendon confirmed Maienschein’s account. “I told him he didn’t have to go unless the Chief Justice requested him,” he said. “I was very explicit about that.” “Your schedule is so packed as an assemblymember,” Rendon added. “I get the Judicial Council is important, but I wanted him to be an assemblymember first.” California’s Judicial Council is the chief policy body in the state court system and is responsible for ensuring the state’s judicial branch is “consistent, independent, impartial and accessible,” according to its website. The council’s membership consists of approximately 30 state judges and attorneys, including Guerrero and Supreme Court Justice Carol A. Corrigan. Ferbert’s campaign says Maienschein’s absences show the lawmaker has neglected his civic responsibilities. “It’s not surprising that Maienschein missed his court date,” said Dan Rottenstreich, campaign consultant for Ferbert. “Everyone else on the Judicial Council is a real attorney or a real judge. When he’s around them, he can’t fake it.” That’s been an ongoing attack line against the state lawmaker: Ferbert last year questioned whether Maienschein was eligible to run for city attorney, citing a prolonged period where his law license was inactive. Maienschein dismissed the controversy as a “frivolous political stunt,” and an independent analysis later found he was eligible to run. He’s writing off the attendance brouhaha, too. "In twelve years as an Assemblymember, I missed less than three weeks of work,” Maienschein said in a statement to Playbook. IT’S WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. This is California Playbook PM, a POLITICO newsletter that serves as an afternoon temperature check on California politics and a look at what our policy reporters are watching. Got tips or suggestions? Shoot an email to lholden@politico.com.
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