Perea Resignation Makes the Case for Party Lists
In California, legislators dream of being lobbyists when they grow up. And who can blame them? They can make more money in government relations jobs than in government. The resignation of Democrat Henry Perea is just the latest example of the dynamic. The trouble with such resignations is the void that’s left. A district can […]
Welcome to California (Not!)
You can’t define an entire state by its borders. And that’s a good thing for California. We wouldn’t much like what our borders say about us. Take the California-Oregon border. When you drive over the Siskiyou Pass on Interstate 5 and cross from Oregon into California, you will not be greeted by any welcoming party, […]
Two Terrible Ideas, One Ballot Initiative
Many ballot initiatives are built around a big, bad idea. Bob Huff and George Runner have distinguished themselves by filing a ballot initiative with two big, bad ideas. Their innovation, and I use that term in a Hindenburg-esque way, is to combine those two bad ideas. Reversing the high-speed rail project that’s already under way, […]
Gavin vs. Kevin, and California Dysfunction
It’s not just a tempest in a teapot. It’s more telling than that. The back-and-forth over state Senate Pro Tem Kevin De Leon’s pulling back two employee positions from Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom has become a statewide story, with lots of speculation about what’s behind the move and what it may mean. Politically, I’d say […]
Should We Kill the Hanford-Visalia Station?
In a recent column for Zocalo, I wrote about the importance of designing stations that connect lots of people and institutions if California is going to make high-speed rail successful enough to be worth the massive investment. I wrote about Fresno and Bakersfield in the column, but there was one station I wanted to talk […]
Can the Sharing Economy Make Politicians More Responsive?
California-based companies like Uber and Airbnb claim to be remaking the world according to the values of sharing and the Silicon Valley magic of leveraging empowering networks. They even say they are transforming government and politics, by organizing their users and workers into a lobbying force. Oh, please. So far, this new force has confined […]
The Democrats Still Can’t Govern
They are the one party in a one-party state. And they still can’t govern. Governing means being able to control the purse strings of a state. And for many reasons – some of which are all their fault, others of which are all our fault – they don’t have control. The evidence is plain: Democratic […]
It’s Not Voter Fatigue, It’s Voter Ignorance
There’s an oft-repeated error in the recent rash of stories about what is shaping up as a very long slate of ballot initiatives for California voters in November 2016. The stories have quotes in which political consultants and others worry about “voter fatigue.” That’s the idea that with too many things on the ballot – […]
The GOP Candidate: Lose and Leave the State
California Republicans have a bad habit of making exaggerated claims about people leaving the state. Perhaps that’s because the subject cuts too close to home. Because prominent statewide Republican candidates keep getting out of the Golden State. The latest is Neel Kashkari, the 2014 GOP candidate for governor, who left for a very good job: […]
How About a Free Initiative Filing Alternative?
California’s initiative filing fees are going up to $2,000, by far the highest in the country. And a huge disincentive for regular folks to use the process. As Joel Fox and I have both pointed out on this site, there are other consequences too – less room for filing alternative measures that might be part […]