Capitol Weekly columnist says state senator's health issues were "no secret."

Here's an interesting read:

Malcolm Maclachlan, a staff reporter for Capitol Weekly, said in a column today that this week's decision by state Sen. Pat Wiggins not to seek re-election took few in Sacramento by surprise. He says her health issues were "no secret." He uses the column to take a well-deserved shot at the Capitol's code of silence on issues like this.

"Around the Capitol, the Wiggins announcement was greeted with a sense of inevitability. Wiggins' health was one of the issues in the Capitol that was informally off limits," Maclachlan writes. "It's no accident that the story that preceded her eventual announcement was not written by a Capitol beat reporter but, rather, by a reporter based in Santa Rosa."
(Here he gives credit to The Press Democrat story on Friday by Derek Moore.)

"The details of Wiggins' deteriorating health is just the latest example of this Capitol code of conduct that is, depending on one's point of view, either a deceitful reminder of the cliquishness of the Capitol community or an example of one of the last personal boundaries to exist in the current media age."

He writes, "Wiggins is the latest in a series of lawmakers who, suffering illness or debilitation, have been protected by their staffs."

He also noted the case of former state Sen. Carole Migden whose behavior " had become increasingly erratic, ultimately culminating in a May 2007 reckless driving incident that ended in an accident causing two injuries and ultimately cost the state a $335,000 settlement. Midgen blamed the events on medication from an undisclosed case of leukemia. Despite all these problems, Senate Democrats circled the wagons around Midgen . . ."

To read his column in full, click here.

- Paul Gullixson