Robert Myles Hertzberg is an American politician who previously served in the
California State Senate
The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature, the lower house being the California State Assembly. The State Senate convenes, along with the State Assembly, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento, Cal ...
. A
Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
he represented the
18th Senate District, which includes parts of the
San Fernando Valley
The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, California. Located to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it contains a large portion of the City of Los Angeles, as well as unincorporated ar ...
.
Prior to being elected to the State Senate in 2014, he served as the 64th
Speaker of the California State Assembly, representing the 40th Assembly District. He was Majority Leader from January 2019 to January 2022. He announced he would not seek re-election and instead announced his candidacy for the
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors (LACBOS) is the five-member governing body of Los Angeles County, California, United States.
History
On April 1, 1850 the citizens of Los Angeles elected a three-man Court of Sessions as their firs ...
. He lost the supervisor election to
Lindsey Horvath
Lindsey Patrice Horvath (born June 30, 1982) is an American politician, advertising executive, and activist who is a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for the 3rd District, which covers the San Fernando Valley, and is the Chai ...
.
Early life and education
Hertzberg was born the third of five sons in
Downtown Los Angeles
Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) contains the central business district of Los Angeles. In addition, it contains a diverse residential area of some 85,000 people, and covers . A 2013 study found that the district is home to over 500,000 jobs. It is ...
. His father, Harrison Hertzberg, was a
constitutional lawyer
Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as the basic rights of citizens and, in feder ...
. He grew up in
Benedict Canyon, Los Angeles
Benedict Canyon is an area in the Westside of the city of Los Angeles, California.
To the north of the Benedict Canyon neighborhood is the neighborhood of Sherman Oaks, to the west is the neighborhood of Beverly Glen, to the east are Beverly P ...
. The family later moved to
Palm Springs, California. He went to
Palm Springs High School
Palm Springs High School is a public high school for grades 9 through 12 located in Palm Springs, California as part of the Palm Springs Unified School District. It was built in 1938 in an effort led by city pioneer Nellie Coffman.
Athletics
Pal ...
then graduated ''magna cum laude'' from the
University of Redlands
The University of Redlands is a private university headquartered in Redlands, California. The university's main, residential campus is situated on 160 acres (65 ha) near downtown Redlands. An additional eight regional locations throughout Califo ...
in 1976 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history and English.
Hertzberg earned his Juris Doctor from
University of California, Hastings College of the Law
The University of California, Hastings College of the Law (UC Hastings) is a Public university, public Law school in the United States, law school in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1878 by Serranus Clinton Hastings, UC Hastings was the ...
in 1979.
Legal career
After graduating from law school, Hertzberg was an associate at the Beverly Hills law firm of Fulop, Rolston, Burns, & McKittrick. He and his father later formed the Hertzberg & Hertzberg law firm. The younger Hertzberg left in 1985 and sued his father over the firm's assets in 1986, seeking $1 million in punitive damages. After his father's passing in 1987, the case was settled as part of the estate.
After Hertzberg retired from the State Assembly in 2002,
Mickey Kantor
Michael Kantor (born August 7, 1939) is an American attorney who served as the United States Trade Representative from 1993 to 1996 and United States Secretary of Commerce in 1996 and 1997.
Early life and education
Born and raised in Nashville, ...
recruited him to full partnership at
Mayer Brown LLP
Mayer Brown is a global white-shoe law firm, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It has offices in 27 cities across the Americas, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, with its largest offices being in Chicago, Washington, D.C., New ...
, formerly Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw.
Hertzberg left Mayer Brown in 2014, after being sworn in as a State Senator. Shortly after being elected to the California State Senate in November 2014, Hertzberg was hired as a "
of counsel" government affairs attorney with the Los Angeles law firm Glaser Weil. Hana Callaghan, director of the
Markkula Center for Applied Ethics
The Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University promotes research and dialogue in ten major ethics focus areas: Bioethics, Business Ethics, Campus Ethics, Character Education, Government Ethics, Internet Ethics, Journalism and ...
, has raised concerns over potential conflict of interests, as the firm services many clients who are affected by state legislation. In December 2017, he and Glaser Weil mutually agreed to the suspension of their relationship, following sexual assault allegations against State Assemblyman
Matt Dababneh, whom is represented by Glaser Weil.
Politics
Hertzberg experience with politics begin at 19
as a driver for State Senator
Mervyn Dymally
Mervyn Malcolm Dymally (May 12, 1926 – October 7, 2012) was an American politician from California. He served in the California State Assembly (1963–66) and the California State Senate (1967–75) as the 41st Lieutenant Governor of Californ ...
, who ran in the
Lieutenant Governor of California race, in 1974. There he built his networks within the Latino political circles, including
Gloria Molina
Jesus Gloria Molina (born May 31, 1948) is an American politician and a former member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
Molina broke into politics in 1982 by going agai ...
,
Richard Alatorre
Richard Alatorre (born May 15, 1943) was a member of the California State Assembly from 1973 to 1985—"one of the most influential Latino politicians in the state"— and a Los Angeles, California, City Council member from 1985 to 1999, the sec ...
, and
Antonio Villaraigosa
Antonio Ramón Villaraigosa (; né Villar Jr.; born January 23, 1953) is an American politician who served as the 41st Mayor of Los Angeles from 2005 to 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, Villaraigosa was a national co-chairman of Hillary ...
.
Hertzberg did legal work for Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina. He was later appointed to the California State Board of Pharmacy.
California State Assembly
Campaigns
In 1994, Hertzberg contemplated running for the 40th Assembly District, which encompassed
North Hollywood
North Hollywood is a neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, located in the San Fernando Valley. The neighborhood contains the NoHo Arts District, the El Portal Theatre, several art galleries, and the Academy of TV Arts and Sciences. The North ...
to
Canoga Park
Canoga Park is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California. Before the Mexican–American War, the district was part of a rancho, and after the American victory it was converted into wheat farms and t ...
in the San Fernando Valley, but never announced his candidacy.
In 1996, Assemblywoman
Barbara Friedman
Barbara Friedman (born September 1, 1949) is an American politician who served in the California State Assembly
The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature, the upper house being the California Stat ...
of the 40th Assembly District
termed out. In the March Democratic primaries, Hertzberg ran against Francine Oschin, aide to
Los Angeles City Council
The Los Angeles City Council is the legislative body of the Los Angeles, City of Los Angeles in California.
The council is composed of 15 members elected from single-member districts for four-year terms. The President of the Los Angeles City Counc ...
man
Hal Bernson
Harold M. Bernson (November 19, 1930July 20, 2020) was a Los Angeles City Council member for 24 years, from 1979 until his retirement in 2003. A conservative Republican, he was a leading proponent of the San Fernando Valley seceding from the rest ...
. According to the California Political Almanac, Hertzberg "racked up a sheaf of endorsements and raised well over $200,000 for the primary." He won the primary with 72% of the vote. In the November general election, Hertzberg had a 59–31% victory over Republican Ron Culver.
[California Secretary of State: Statement of the Vote, November 1996 General Election. ]
In 1998 and 2000, Hertzberg was re-elected with 69% and 70% respectively.
[California Secretary of State: Statement of the Vote, November 2000 General Election]
Tenure
Term limits in the Assembly meant a large influx of new members with every new session. Hertzberg created the California Assembly Program for Innovative Training and Orientation for the Legislature (CAPITOL) Institute with Assemblyman
Bill Leonard in 2000 to educate first time legislators and their staff. They offered training on a variety of topics: including ethics, legislative deadlines, key personnel at the capital, voting procedures, restrictions, and committees.
After his tenure as Speaker ended, the succeeding Speaker
Herb Wesson
Herman J. "Herb" Wesson Jr. (born November 11, 1951) is an American politician who served as a City council, councilmember representing the Los Angeles City Council District 10, 10th District for three terms between July 1, 2005 and December 14, ...
named the Capitol Institute after Hertzberg.
["Hertzberg U," by Kathleen Les, ''California Journal'', June, 2000.] Hertzberg also created the Speaker's Office of International Relations and Protocol.
Speaker of the Assembly (2000–2002)
In November 1999, Antonio Villaraigosa announced his resignation as Speaker of the Assembly the following April to run for Los Angeles mayor in 2001 and immediately endorsed Hertzberg as his replacement. Assemblymen
Kevin Shelley
Kevin Francis Shelley (born November 16, 1955) is an American politician, who was the 28th California Secretary of State from January 6, 2003, until his resignation on March 4, 2005.
Early life
Shelley was raised in San Francisco, the only son ...
and
Carole Migden
Carole Migden (born August 14, 1948 in New York City) is an American politician from San Francisco who represented the California's 3rd State Senate district, third district of the California State Senate from 2004 to 2008 and the California's 1 ...
of San Francisco and
Tony Cárdenas
Antonio Cárdenas ( ; born March 31, 1963) is an American politician who has served as the United States representative for California's 29th congressional district since January 2013.
A member of the Democratic Party, Cárdenas was previously a ...
of Sylmar were seen as potential opponents for the position.
On April 13, 2000, Hertzberg was unanimously elected by a voice vote as the 64th Speaker of the California State Assembly. In 1996, when Hertzberg first ran for the Assembly, the Democrats had 38 of 80 seats. By November 2000, when Hertzberg was directing the Assembly Democratic campaigns, his party was up to 50 seats and he was the last Speaker to gain seats until the Obama landslide of 2008.
After the September 11, 2001 attacks, Hertzberg temporarily shut down the State Assembly and created the bipartisan Legislative Task Force on Terrorism to combat potential threats to California's food and water supplies.
2005 Los Angeles mayoral election
Background
A steady series of fundraising scandals, where members of Mayor James Hahn's Administration were investigated by a grand jury for allegedly awarding city contracts to campaign contributors,
and the general attitudes towards Hahn (some critics called him "Mayor Yawn" and a ''Los Angeles Times'' poll said that only 48% of voters considered Hahn honest) prompted many people to join the mayoral race in 2005.
Antonio Villaraigosa
Antonio Ramón Villaraigosa (; né Villar Jr.; born January 23, 1953) is an American politician who served as the 41st Mayor of Los Angeles from 2005 to 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, Villaraigosa was a national co-chairman of Hillary ...
, who lost to Hahn in 2001, had been elected to the Los Angeles City Council in 2003 while promising not to run for mayor, announced his candidacy. Other major candidates, including councilman
Bernard C. Parks
Bernard C. Parks (born December 7, 1943) is an American politician, who served as a member of the Los Angeles City Council, representing the 8th district in South Los Angeles from 2003 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, Parks served as C ...
and State Senator
Richard Alarcon
Richard Anthony Alarcon (born November 24, 1953) is an American politician who served as a member of the Los Angeles City Council from 1993 to 1998 and again from 2007 to 2013. A Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, he previously served i ...
, later joined the race.
Campaign
Hertzberg termed out of the California State Assembly in 2002 and transitioned back to private law practice.
He launched his mayoral campaign in June 2004 with an extensively produced website at ChangeLA.com. The website attacked Hahn's leadership and encouraged readers to donate and interact with Hertzberg. It has been likened to Vermont Governor
Howard Dean
Howard Brush Dean III (born November 17, 1948) is an American physician, author, lobbyist, and retired politician who served as the 79th governor of Vermont from 1991 to 2003 and chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) from 2005 to 200 ...
's digital campaign in the
2004 Democratic Party presidential primaries, which elevated Dean's name recognition from unknown governor to apparent frontrunner.
Hertzberg told the ''Los Angeles Times'' that he while he made more money doing business and conducting his law practice, he ran out of a sense of civic duty.
However, half of Los Angeles city voters did not know much about Hertzberg.
Hertzberg was the first to launch a TV campaign in the race, which featured a giant image of him towering over a city full of problems.
[Levey, Noam N. (June 29, 2004)]
"Hertzberg Launches Web Campaign Against Hahn"
'' Los Angeles Times''. Retrieved May 22, 2010. He was endorsed by Education Secretary, and former Los Angeles mayor,
Richard Riordan
Richard Joseph Riordan (born May 1, 1930) is an American investment banker, businessman, lawyer, and former Republican politician who was the 39th Mayor of Los Angeles, from 1993 to 2001. Born in New York City and raised in New Rochelle, New Y ...
.
[Gold, Matea; McGreevy, Patrick (February 26, 2005)]
"Hertzberg Gets a Lift From Gov"
''Los Angeles Times''. Retrieved May 22, 2010.
A second ''Los Angeles Times'' poll found the primary too close to call, with Hertzberg, Hahn, and Villaraigosa each with about 20% of the vote, with a very high likelihood for a
runoff election.
[Finnegan, Michael (March 1, 2005)]
"2 Rivals Eroding Hahn's Strengths"
''Los Angeles Times''. Retrieved May 22, 2010. Hahn's supporters ran negative mailers, linking Hertzberg and Villaraigosa to
Enron
Enron Corporation was an American energy, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. It was founded by Kenneth Lay in 1985 as a merger between Lay's Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth, both relatively small regional companies. ...
and drug dealer
Carlos Vignali during their time in the State Assembly. An analysis by the ''Los Angeles Times'' showed that Hertzberg was popular among Hahn's base, which included San Fernando Valley residents, conservatives, moderates, and Jewish voters. However, he struggled with young, black, and Latino voters, polling less than 5% per group and well behind his opponents.
Hertzberg also won twice as many precincts as Hahn but fell short when Hahn's negative ads decreased his support in the Valley. Hertzberg placed third in the primary election after Hahn and Villaraigosa, with the most votes of any candidates in the San Fernando Valley.
An editorial in the ''Los Angeles Times'' claimed a dull run-off debate between Hahn and Villaraigosa made them "miss Bob Hertzberg and his outsized ideas".
After missing the run-off election, Hertzberg endorsed Villaraigosa.
Villaraigosa would go on to defeat Hahn 59% vs 41%.
Platform
Hertzberg ran as a moderate Democrat.
His platform included the breaking up the
Los Angeles Unified School District,
calling the District's 50% dropout rate the biggest threat to the city's future, despite not having any control over the department as mayor.
Governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger did not endorse any candidates, despite his close working relationship with Hertzberg, probably due to souring attitudes towards him by the city's Democratic majority. However, he has expressed support for Hertzberg's plan to break up the Los Angeles Unified School District, although he did not specify which parts.
He opposed raising taxes for more police officers.
California State Senate
Campaigns
In May 2013, Hertzberg announced his candidacy for the Senate seat representing
California's 18th State Senate district. His announcement was followed up by a lieu of endorsements by state officials, including
Ted Lieu
Ted W. Lieu (; born March 29, 1969) is an American politician and Air Force Reserve Command colonel who has represented California's 33rd congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2015. The district includes much of wes ...
,
Raul Bocanegra
Raul Justo Bocanegra (born July 13, 1971) is an American politician, and a former member of the California State Assembly. He is a Democrat who represented the 39th Assembly District, encompassing northeastern San Fernando Valley.
Bocanegra w ...
,
Tony Cárdenas
Antonio Cárdenas ( ; born March 31, 1963) is an American politician who has served as the United States representative for California's 29th congressional district since January 2013.
A member of the Democratic Party, Cárdenas was previously a ...
, and
Alex Padilla
Alejandro Padilla ( ; born March 22, 1973) is an American politician serving as the junior United States senator from California since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, Padilla served as the 30th secretary of state of California from 2015 ...
, and local representatives, including
Felipe Fuentes
Felipe Fuentes (born May 25, 1971) is an American lobbyist and former Democratic politician and businessman from the San Fernando Valley in the U.S. state of California, formerly a member of the Los Angeles City Council from the 7th district. ...
and
Curren Price.
He credited his time co-founding the Think Long Committee with billionaire Nicholas Bergguen and successfully drafting legislation as motivation to re-enter the political scene.
He placed first in the June 2014 primary elections with 63.1%, with Republican candidate Ricardo Benitez placing second with 29.1%. Hertzberg won the general election in November 2014 with around 70%.
He defeated Republican challenger Rudy Melendez with 78.1% of the vote in the November 2018 election, the highest of any California Senate seat that year.
When asked about his legislative priorities in 2018, he listed tax reform,
economic Opportunity Zones An Opportunity Zone is a designation and investment program created by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 allowing for certain investments in lower income areas to have tax advantages. The purpose of this program is to put capital to work that would ...
, simplification of government forms, refining the bail reform law, and updating disaster related infrastructure.
He was sworn in for his second and final Senate term on December 3, 2018.
Tenure
In December 2018, Senate President Pro Tempore
Toni Atkins
Toni Gayle Atkins (born August 1, 1962) is an American politician serving as the 51st and current President pro tempore of the California State Senate since 2018. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served as the 69th Speaker of th ...
appointed Hertzberg Senate Majority Leader for the 2018–19 Legislative Session.
= Technology
=
In 2018, Hertzberg introduced a bill to identify automated social media accounts as bots with full disclosure. He has said that the bill was aimed at preventing
internet fraud
Internet fraud is a type of cybercrime fraud or deception which makes use of the Internet and could involve hiding of information or providing incorrect information for the purpose of tricking victims out of money, property, and inheritance. Int ...
, particularly in politics and advertising.
Early drafts of the bill would have required undisclosed bots to be removed and covered all bots, not just political and commercial ones. These provisions were later removed after backlash from the
Internet Association
The Internet Association (IA) was an American lobbying group based in Washington, D.C., which represented companies involved in the Internet. It was founded in 2012 by Michael Beckerman and several companies, including Google, Amazon, eBay, and F ...
and the
Electronic Frontier Foundation
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is an international non-profit digital rights group based in San Francisco, California. The foundation was formed on 10 July 1990 by John Gilmore, John Perry Barlow and Mitch Kapor to promote Internet ci ...
, whom were concerned about potential conflicts with the
1st amendment
The First Amendment (Amendment I) to the United States Constitution prevents the government from making laws that regulate an establishment of religion, or that prohibit the free exercise of religion, or abridge the freedom of speech, th ...
.
The Bolstering Online Transparency (BOT) Act was signed into law on October 1, 2018, by Governor
Jerry Brown
Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. (born April 7, 1938) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected Secretary of S ...
.
It went into effect on July 1, 2019, with violators facing fines related to
unfair competition
Unfair may refer to:
* Double Taz and Double LeBron James in multiverses ''fair''; unfairness or injustice
Injustice is a quality relating to unfairness or undeserved outcomes. The term may be applied in reference to a particular event or situ ...
.
In 2018, Hertzberg announced a bill that would allow the transfer of corporate share certificates through
blockchain.
The bill has yet to be passed.
= Judicial
=
During his first term in the State Senate, Hertzberg, with
Rob Bonta
Robert Andres Bonta (born September 22, 1972) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the attorney general of California since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as a member of the California State Assembly for ...
,
helped pass SB10, which would end
cash bail
Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required.
In some countrie ...
in California by allowing judges to determine if a defendant could be released before a trial. It received broad Democratic support and one Republican vote from
John Moorlach
Johannes Meindert Willem Moorlach (born December 21, 1955) is an American politician who served as a member of the California State Senate representing 37th Senate district, which includes portions of Orange County, from 2015 to 2020. He was de ...
.
The bill has received editorial endorsements from major newspapers across the state, including the ''Los Angeles Times'',
''
The Mercury News
''The Mercury News'' (formerly ''San Jose Mercury News'', often locally known as ''The Merc'') is a morning daily newspaper published in San Jose, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is published by the Bay Area News Group, a subsidiar ...
'', ''Sacramento Bee'', ''
The San Diego Union-Tribune
''The San Diego Union-Tribune'' is a metropolitan daily newspaper published in San Diego, California, that has run since 1868.
Its name derives from a 1992 merger between the two major daily newspapers at the time, ''The San Diego Union'' and ...
'', and ''
San Francisco Chronicle
The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The ...
''.
= Housing
=
Hertzberg opposed SB 10, a bill that would enable city and county governments to allow for denser housing near transit-rich areas, jobs-rich areas or urban infill sites. Hertzberg described the bill as "a way to destroy single-family neighborhoods." He was the sole member of his committee to oppose the bill.
= Environment
=
In August 2020, Hertzberg voted against the bill AB-345, which would have required a minimum setback distance of 2,500 between
oil well
An oil well is a drillhole boring in Earth that is designed to bring petroleum oil hydrocarbons to the surface. Usually some natural gas is released as associated petroleum gas along with the oil. A well that is designed to produce only gas may ...
s and public areas where children are present, in a 5–4 decision. The bill's author, State Assemblyman
Al Muratsuchi, has said that there was strong opposition from oil and gas industry trade unions, who the ''Los Angeles Times'' has noted are major supporters of Democratic candidates. Hertzberg said that he opposed the bill because it was redundant as Governor
Gavin Newsom
Gavin Christopher Newsom (born October 10, 1967) is an American politician and businessman who has been the 40th governor of California since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 49th lieutenant governor of California fr ...
had already signed another bill in 2019 with similar intentions of setting up buffer zones. This decision prompted the local chapter of the youth-led environmental activism group
Sunrise Movement to protest outside of his home in
Van Nuys.
Hertzberg was also a prominent critic of legislation that would have reduced
offshore drilling
Offshore drilling is a mechanical process where a wellbore is drilled below the seabed. It is typically carried out in order to explore for and subsequently extract petroleum that lies in rock formations beneath the seabed. Most commonly, the te ...
in California.
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
As of 2022, Hertzberg is running to represent the third district on the
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors (LACBOS) is the five-member governing body of Los Angeles County, California, United States.
History
On April 1, 1850 the citizens of Los Angeles elected a three-man Court of Sessions as their firs ...
. Hertzberg's son is running to fill his father's old seat.
Other work
Investment in renewable energy
Outside of his law practice, Hertzberg has been active in the alternative energy industry. In January 2008, ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' named Hertzberg as one of the "50 People Who Could Save the Planet" for his investments in solar energy. Hertzberg co-founded Solar Integrated Technology in 2003 in
south-central Los Angeles
South Los Angeles, also known as South Central Los Angeles or simply South Central, is a region in southwestern Los Angeles County, lying mostly within the city limits of Los Angeles, south of downtown.
It is "defined on Los Angeles city maps as ...
.
He sold his shares in the company to run in the 2005 Los Angeles mayoral race. It later debuted on
Alternative Investment Market
AIM (formerly the Alternative Investment Market) is a sub-market of the London Stock Exchange that was launched on 19 June 1995 as a replacement to the previous Unlisted Securities Market (USM) that had been in operation since 1980. It allows ...
of the London Stock Exchange in May 2004.
There was an increased interest and demand to invest in clean energy companies following the activation of the
Kyoto Protocol in 2005, with billions invested the following year in private and public markets.
Hertzberg co-founded the investment firm Renewable Capital
in 2006.
G24 Innovations
Hertzberg co-founded
Cardiff, Wales, based G24 Innovations (G24i) in 2006 with the intentions of selling lightweight
solar cell
A solar cell, or photovoltaic cell, is an electronic device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect, which is a physical and chemical phenomenon. s to the African market.
In February 2009, G24i had $100 million in venture funding.
The company's main focus was on silicon-less solar panels with technology rights they bought from Swiss scientist
Michael Grätzel
Michael Grätzel (born 11 May 1944, in Dorfchemnitz, Saxony, Germany) is a professor at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne where he directs the Laboratory of Photonics and Interfaces. He pioneered research on energy and electron tran ...
that allowed for light capture at lower rates but at any light level.
They moved into an abandoned
Acer factory and it opened August 2011 with help from the
Welsh Government
The Welsh Government ( cy, Llywodraeth Cymru) is the Welsh devolution, devolved government of Wales. The government consists of ministers and Minister (government), deputy ministers, and also of a Counsel General for Wales, counsel general. Minist ...
and UK Government.
The company has gone on to win several industry awards
and has transitioned, and found success, selling solar strips to power iPad keyboard cases.
G24i went into
administration
Administration may refer to:
Management of organizations
* Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal
** Administrative assistant, Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an admini ...
in December 2012 and was later acquired in 2013 by solar cell company G24 Power in
Newport, Wales
Newport ( cy, Casnewydd; ) is a city and Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county borough in Wales, situated on the River Usk close to its confluence with the Severn Estuary, northeast of Cardiff. With a population of 145,700 at the 2 ...
.
Public policy
From 2009 to 2012, Hertzberg chaired California Forward whose self-declared mission is "to work with Californians to help create a "smart" government – one that's small enough to listen, big enough to tackle real problems, smart enough to spend our money wisely in good times and bad, and honest enough to be held accountable for results."
In 2010, billionaire
Nicolas Berggruen
Nicolas Berggruen (; born 10 August 1961) is a US-based billionaire investor and philanthropist. Born in Paris, France, he is a dual American and German citizen.Jeremy Kahn (October 25, 2011)''Bloomberg'' He is the founder and president of Berggru ...
and Hertzberg founded the Think Long Committee for California.
The Committee describes its mission to "advocate a comprehensive approach to repairing California's broken system of governance while proposing policies and institutions vital for the state's long-term future."
Hertzberg chaired the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation, in 2004 and 2011.
Political advisory roles
After Arnold Schwarzenegger's election as California governor in the 2003 recall election, Hertzberg served as both a formal and informal advisor to Schwarzenegger. In 2003, Schwarzenegger appointed him to his Transition Committee and Hertzberg helped guide the passage of the new governor's "Economic Recovery Package" through the Legislature that allowed the state to weather the financial crisis of 2003–04. According to ''The People's Machine'' by Joe Matthews, Schwarzenegger then offered Hertzberg the position of Chief of Staff, nicknaming him "Hertzie."
[The People's Machine: Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Rise of Blockbuster Democracy by Joe Matthews] Hertzberg chose to stay in the private sector but did advise Schwarzegger to "build a thoroughly bipartisan government." Hertzberg wrote in the ''Los Angeles Daily News'' that his advice was: "Take the initiative to go and meet with members of the Legislature, Democrats and Republicans alike. Sit in their offices, meet with them as human beings, and learn to work with them."
After finishing a close third in the 2005 mayoral election, Hertzberg served as the chair of Mayor-elect Villaraigosa's Transition Team.
In 2009, Hertzberg also served as the co-chair of the Transition Team for newly elected Los Angeles City Attorney, Carmen Trutanich.
Public image
Hertzberg calls himself a "New Democrat" in the mold of Bill Clinton, who is both pro-business and pro-labor.
He is a proponent of
Regionalism (politics), regionalism,
open primaries
Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...
, and a non-partisan State government.
Hertzberg has been given the nicknames "Huggy" and "Hugsberg" for his habit of offering embraces to colleagues, employees, voters and even opponents. The journal ''Capitol Weekly'' has repeatedly named him one of the Top 100 influential people in Sacramento, writing in 2011: "Bob Hertzberg is one of those hyper-kinetic, Type-A personalities who love politics for its own sake. He's a former Assembly speaker, an L.A. lawyer and a go-to guy for his ideas on political reform. Amazingly, he was a sort of adviser to former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, and he continues to be an insider Democrat with his fingers in lots of pies."
Assemblyman Darrell Steinberg commented on Hertzberg's role as a link between Schwarzenegger and the State Legislature, saying that Hertzberg would report "what the Democratic legislative line was — where we couldn't go and where we were willing to go. And he had the trust of the principals on both sides, which helped quite a bit." In his autobiography ''Total Recall'', Arnold Schwarzenegger relates how he went to meet with Speaker Hertzberg in 2002 to seek support for his successful "After-school" initiative:"
Workplace misconduct accusations
Hertzberg came under public scrutiny for his lingering embraces as two female lawmakers and a former female legislator complained that the intimate embraces made them uncomfortable, according to an interview by the ''Sacramento Bee''.
Two of the women said that Hertzberg hugged them again even after they had asked him to stop.
Former California Assemblywoman
Linda Halderman said that after she told Hertzberg she wasn't a hugger, he grabbed her anyway.
"It was like dirty dancing. It was gross," she told the ''Sacramento Bee''.
"I was really just kind of horrified, because you don't do that. You just don't do that. It was so out of context and inappropriate."
The Assemblywoman also described Hertzberg's actions in one hug as "clearly a sexual thing, rather than a friendly thing." The Assemblywoman told Hertzberg: "Don't touch me." Hertzberg responded by grabbing the Assemblywoman, pinning her arms by her side and thrusting his groin against her pelvis. Hertzberg then restricted the Assemblywoman from moving away, forcing prolonged torso-to-torso contact despite her shouting at him to let her go.
The former California Assemblywoman declined to meet with lawyers hired by the California Senate to investigate her allegation concerning Hertzberg in stating that "I don't want any involvement with these people," and "I don't respect how they've handled it." While the California Senate ordered him to stop hugging co-workers after an investigation determined that his behavior made two female legislators and a male sergeant-at-arms uncomfortable, the summary report of the investigation released by outside lawyers concluded that Hertzberg's hugs were "not sexual in nature." According to the ''Los Angeles Times'' report detailing the conclusion of the investigation, the report found that Hertzberg likely hugged the Former Assemblywoman on one occasion, but it said "the record did not support her assertion that he hugged her on multiple occasions or that he did so after she asked him to stop." Hertzberg was reprimanded.
Repercussions
The issue came up in the media again when a man connected to the bail industry set up a "Victims Hotline" website and video in December aimed at collecting stories about the Senator – just days after the allegations surfaced.
A video circulating on Facebook was found to be produced by backers of California's bail industry; an industry Hertzberg is trying to reform. Adama Iwu, one of the founders of the
We Said Enough movement in the Sacramento Capitol, added that it appeared that the bail agent was taking advantage of the situation "for some kind of political gain."
Another California lawmaker, former state Senator Tony Mendoza, who had been suspended amid a sexual misconduct investigation sued the California Senate. The Latino lawmaker argued that race was playing a role in his treatment, noting that Hertzberg, who is Jewish, had not been asked to step aside despite allegations he inappropriately hugged people. The former California Assemblywoman who complained about Hertzberg's conduct also questioned why Hertzberg had been able to continue his work as a lawmaker during the investigation of his conduct when the other California lawmaker (who is Latino) was barred from showing up in the building as allegations against him were being investigated.
Personal life
Hertzberg has three sons.
He met
clinical psychologist Cynthia Telles
Cynthia Ann Telles is an American academic and psychologist who currently serves as the US Ambassador to Costa Rica. She is a clinical professor in the UCLA Department of Psychiatry at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and serves on t ...
while working for the
Jewish National Fund
Jewish National Fund ( he, קֶרֶן קַיֶּימֶת לְיִשְׂרָאֵל, ''Keren Kayemet LeYisrael'', previously , ''Ha Fund HaLeumi'') was founded in 1901 to buy and develop land in Ottoman Syria (later Mandatory Palestine, and subseq ...
.
They divorced in 2005.
While a student at the University of Redlands, he wrote a 400-page handbook titled, ''A Commonsense Approach to English''.
In 1983, he coauthored a manual on real estate law, ''California Lis Pendens Practice'', published by the University of California, with a second edition in 1994.
References
External links
* (2012
A Blueprint to Renew Californiaby Think Long Committee for California
Join California - Bob Hertzberg Senate Majority Leader Robert Hertzberg — California Senate District 18*
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hertzberg, Robert
1954 births
21st-century American politicians
California lawyers
Democratic Party California state senators
Living people
Palm Springs High School people
Speakers of the California State Assembly
Democratic Party members of the California State Assembly
University of California, Hastings College of the Law alumni
University of Redlands alumni
Candidates in the 2005 United States elections