If Only the State Were More Like LA
Dan Walters is worried about LA. In a recent column, Walters identified L.A. County as a problem for the state: Los Angeles County’s bewildering mélange of overlapping, and sometimes competitive, local government entities has existed for many years, but in the last couple of decades another element has been introduced: its evolution into the nation’s […]
Can’t Anyone Free San Diego?
People in San Diego are treating the Bob Filner story as a Bob Filner problem. But the longer it goes on, the more it looks like a San Diego problem. Essentially, this is a hostage situation. The mayor has taken the city hostage. Nothing can get done. Major jobs around the city government sit vacant. […]
Forget The Governorship, GOP. Focus Down Ballot
Why are the Republicans even talking about winning back the governorship? It’s clear that they don’t have a candidate with a chance. And Gov. Jerry Brown has been so focused on locking austerity levels of spending in place that he’d stand a decent chance of winning a Republican primary. (Maybe Democrats should be asking who […]
I Know Who Can Save San Diego
Stay classy? That may be too much to ask of San Diego these days. “America’s Finest City” is in the middle of another one of its routine, self-destructive crises of local government. This one is an ugly fight over the fate of Mayor Bob Filner. He either has a nasty habit of intimidating women and […]
Should We Treat Ballot Initiatives Like Criminals?
Every person accused of a crime is entitled to a defense. And, according to California elites across the political spectrum, so does every ballot initiative. That’s the logic behind a veritable chorus of cries for some kind of law or initiative to fix what is widely seen in California as a problematic ruling by the […]
The New California Oath of office
In light of concerns about elected officials refusing to defend the people’s will and strangling reform, a new oath for California officeholders should be introduced. Here is a draft. “I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California against all […]
48-Hour Harris
When I’m up against a deadline, I want Kamala Harris on my side. California’s attorney general showed again she knows how to get things moving in a tough situation. After the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Prop 8, it appeared that there could be a 25-day wait for the Ninth Circuit to lift a stay […]
And Bring Everyone’s Phone and Email Records With You, Janet
I hope she starts by requiring TSA searches of any member of the legislature who steps on one of her campuses. The appointment of former Arizona Governor and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano as the new president of the University of California system is high-risk. A politician from three highly suspect worlds — Arizona, the […]
California Biz Hurt by NSA Story
California and its businesses have a problem. It’s called the National Security Agency. That may sound provincial. The debate over the massive NSA surveillance programs disclosed by Edward Snowden is a national and global matter, not just a California concern. But the disclosures—and the U.S. government’s reaction to them—hit at the heart of California’s economic […]
Should We Abolish Special Legislative Elections?
In the Ventura County Star, Timm Herdt offers a devastating takedown of California’s costly, low-turnout special elections to fill frequent openings in the legislature, as politicians play musical chairs. He writes that political shuffling has set up, so far this year, as many as 13 special legislative elections. They cost $800,000 or so each and […]