Our timing is impeccable

Those of you who live in the Bakersfield area may have noticed the guest column in Friday's Opinion section written by Rosario Marin, head of the State and Consumer Services Agency. Her column focuses on SB 15, the Roy Ashburn-authored law that gives Californians a $10,000 tax credit for buying a new-construction home.

Talk about timing! Marin has resigned under a cloud of controversy. Can I pick 'em or what?

The L.A. Times explains: "A member of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's cabinet resigned Thursday after questions about income she received for giving speeches to private companies, including some that were doing business with her agency.

"In a letter to the governor resigning her $175,000 a year position, Rosario Marin, head of the State and Consumer Services Agency, said she had "decided to pursue other opportunities."

"The resignation came after The Times inquired about her outside income, which included thousands of dollars in fees for speeches to pharmaceutical companies within months of her agency's push last year to reduce oversight of prescription drugs.

"State law bars officials from accepting speaking fees except in certain situations, such as when the income is related to the speaker's "bona fide" business, trade or profession.

"Among the fees Marin took was $15,000 from Pfizer Inc. for a speech in 2007 at a time when the company was lobbying the Board of Pharmacy, a regulatory panel Marin oversaw. Bristol-Myers Squibb paid $13,500 for Marin's speaking services last year within weeks of lobbying her agency."

For my next act, I will be commissioning Rod Blagojevich to write a guest column about hair care.