BASEBALL: Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw wins Cy Young Award, first Dodgers starter since Orel Hershiser in 1988 and first by a Dodgers lefty since Fernando Valenzuela in 1981....

* MLB.com:  "Kershaw is the winner of NL Cy Young Award" - "Dodgers lefty wins 21, pitching Triple Crown in third full season" - From MLB.com:

   The first time Joe Torre saw Clayton Kershaw pitch, he compared him to Sandy Koufax. On Thursday, the talented young left-hander took his biggest step yet toward proving that comparison apt by winning the 2011 National League Cy Young Award.

   The 23-year-old Texan received 27 of a possible 32 first-place votes and a points total of 207 in balloting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Phillies teammates Roy Halladay (133) and Cliff Lee (90) were second and third, with Halladay picking up four first-place votes. The D-backs' Ian Kennedy, who appeared first on one ballot, placed fourth in the voting.

   Kershaw's Cy Young is the 10th won by a Dodgers pitcher, the first since reliever Eric Gagne in 2003, the first by a Dodgers starter since Orel Hershiser in 1988 and first by a Dodgers lefty since Fernando Valenzuela in his 1981 rookie season.

   The Cy Young caps a remarkable breakout season for Kershaw. . . . . . . . .

    ****

   Kershaw, who earned $500,000 in 2011, is eligible for salary arbitration for the first time. The Dodgers are not likely to lock him up long-term because they control him for another three years and it would make financial sense to the club only if it were to buy up several years of his free agency. But with that would come the risk of making a long-term deal for a pitcher.

***ALSO, Los Angeles Times:  "Clayton Kershaw wins N.L. Cy Young Award"

POLITICS: New York City Comptroller John C. Liu, fundraiser for Liu arrested on charges of illegally funneling contributions to Liu's campaign account, arrest is follow-up to undercover FBI recording of meetings with the fundraiser....

***As noted here earlier, there is somewhat of commotion under way in New York City political circles regarding possible fundraising improprieties surrounding City Comptroller John C. Liu, particularly as to the source of various donations and whether contributors had given their own money. New York Times today reports that well-known New York area businessman has been arrested and accused of recruiting straw donors and funneling money to Liu's campaign....

* New York Times:  "Fund-Raiser for Liu is Accused of Role in Illegal Donations" - From the NYT:

   A fund-raiser for the New York City comptroller, John C. Liu, whose campaign finances are under federal investigation, was arrested on Wednesday morning on charges that he helped illegally funnel thousands of dollars into Mr. Liu’s campaign account, according to court papers and people briefed on the case.

   A criminal complaint unsealed on Wednesday says an undercover agent from the Federal Bureau of Investigation posed as a businessman seeking to donate $16,000 to an unidentified candidate for citywide office in New York. That candidate, the people briefed on the case said, was Mr. Liu. The complaint details how the fund-raiser, Xing Wu Pan, in a series of meetings secretly recorded by the F.B.I., helped the purported businessman circumvent the city-imposed limit of $4,950 for individual donors by recruiting 20 fictitious, or straw, donors.

   The arrest represents the latest political blow for Mr. Liu, a popular Democrat from Flushing, Queens, who has been reeling from questions about whether he relied on straw donors as part of his aggressive fund-raising machine.

   It is unclear from the charges whether Mr. Liu knew of the scheme.

   ****

   The comptroller, who has in the past said he personally maintained strict controls on his fund-raising operation, has been struggling to address questions after a report last month in The New York Times found that some people listed as his donors in campaign documents said they had never given money to Mr. Liu.

   The Times also found that Mr. Liu had failed to comply with a city requirement that he disclose the names of so-called bundlers — well-connected individuals, like Mr. Pan, who collect contributions for a candidate from friends, relatives, business associates and others. After initially pledging to disclose the identities of those bundlers, Mr. Liu has declined to do so.

   The complaint and subpoenas issued last week by federal prosecutors suggest that the investigation is examining whether there is a broader pattern in which donors seeking to contribute sums larger than the legal limit are funneling the money to the campaign using straw donors.....................

L.A. CITY HALL: Proposal to extend three-year tax holiday for new businesses, also to exempt mutual fund managers from city business tax....

* Daily News:  "Council calls for extending tax holiday" - From the DN:

   Taking two small steps to reverse the city's image of being unfriendly to business, the City Council on Wednesday called for extending the three-year tax holiday for new businesses and exempting mutual fund managers from the tax. The current business tax holiday ends in 2012. The proposal would extend it through 2015.

   ****

   However, Councilman Bernard Parks asked for information on how effective the existing tax holiday has been in drawing new business to the city. "I would think we would want some facts to look at with this," Parks said. "How many new businesses came to the city? How much in business tax was waived? How much money was generated in other fees and taxes?"

   Councilman Paul Koretz said he agreed with Parks. "We all want to be business friendly and send a good message to the business community, but we are assuming this is the one factor that keeps a business from moving to Los Angeles," Koretz said. "I think there are thousands of people out there who would love to come to the city."

   Councilman Richard Alarcón said extending the business tax holiday and exempting mutual fund managers from the tax were the first steps toward larger business reform.

   ****

   The exemption of mutual fund managers from taxes would be phased in over three years, and will cost the city a total of $7.5 million in taxes once it is fully implemented. Last week, the mayor and Councilmen Garcetti and Mitch Englander proposed exempting auto dealers from paying the business tax.

   ****

   Councilman Bill Rosendahl, who ended up voting for the proposal, raised concerns on whether the tax break is needed. "I'm not sure this has been a disincentive," Rosendahl said. "How can we get assurances that the money we are losing will come back to us?"

   Koretz also complained there had not been enough analysis done on the proposal. "I know, intuitively, it seems like a good idea, but I would like to see some data that backs this up," Koretz said.........

SACRAMENTO: Sacramento lobbying, first nine months of this year, record $130 million spent on lobbyists and/or lobbying firms by clients with interests before state government....

* Capitol Weekly:  "Economy off, jobs scarce, but lobbying booms" - From Capitol Weekly:

   Despite rumblings about California’s slow-moving economic recovery, payments to lobbyists from powerful special interests have never been better. Clients with interests before state government have spent roughly $14.4 million per month during the first nine months of the year, which works out to about $482,000 a day, according to state financial disclosure records. Some political observers say the amount may even be higher.

   Nearly 350 individual lobbyists and lobbying firms pulled in a record $130 million during the first three quarters of 2011. And 2012, a major election year in California, promises even higher stakes.

   ****

   Some of the top-lobbying firms include Nielsen, Merksamer, Parrinello, Gross and Leoni, LLP (At $4.96 Million, No. 1 in the ranking), followed by KP Public Affairs ($4.63 million), which has long served as the top firm in the state. Next was Lang, Hansen, O’Malley and Miller Governmental Relations ($4.5 million). Platinum Advisers, a major power player for years at the capitol, ranked 7th in billing ($2.87 million).

   The highest-paying clients included Cisco Systems, Inc. at $329,491; Blue Shield of California at $278,496, and the California Charter School Association, at $160,000. In contrast, a widely-recognized human advocacy group, Equality California, reported expenditures totaling $80,457 during the same legislative session.

   The lobbying totals, when broken down, reflect the depth of the spending: They work out to about $20,062 per hour or $334.36 per minute, or about $5.57 per second...................

SACRAMENTO: Editorial, redevelopment agencies, "borrowing binge"....

***A report in the Sacramento Bee earlier this week detailed what the paper described as a "bond blitz" by redevelopment agencies by way of the taking on a cumulative $1.2 billion in new bonded indebtedness secured by property tax growth. Today the Bee editorializes on this issue....

* Sacramento Bee (editorial):  "Redevelopment borrowing binge is reckless folly" - From the Bee:

   Leaders at California's redevelopment agencies may sincerely believe they are helping local residents. Some of their projects may actually be worth protecting. Still, the agencies' borrowing binge while on the chopping block is financially risky at best, downright irresponsible at worst.

   The survival instinct kicked in this year after Gov. Jerry Brown targeted them for elimination to claw back $1.7 billion a year in revenue. The agencies took on an unprecedented $1.2 billion in new debt this year – all backed by local property taxes. In part because so many bond issues went to market, redevelopment agencies had to promise unusually high rates of return to investors.

   Two-thirds of the record 80 bond issues this year carried interest rates of more than 7 percent, the highest in two decades, according to a Bee analysis of records kept by the state treasurer. The more costly debt repayments will end up on local residents' tab, as The Bee's Loretta Kalb and Phillip Reese reported Sunday.

    ****

   No matter the ultimate fate of redevelopment agencies, these new bonds will have to be repaid. State Treasurer Bill Lockyer says taxpayers could be hurt by what he describes as a "modern-day gold rush" by a panicked redevelopment industry.

   These agencies are lightning rods for criticism largely because they have been too quick to spend on too many projects of questionable merit. . . . . . . . .

   Also in Sunday's Bee, there was a Los Angeles Times article laying out how Europe's debt crisis wasn't just caused by national governments, but by free-spending local and regional governments as well. Municipalities have been going into hock to pay for big infrastructure projects and generous social programs, creating what the story described as "ticking time bombs" for countries like Spain, Portugal and France. While not on the same scale, it's not too much of a stretch to see some parallels with California's redevelopment agencies.