Let California Pick the Next President
CORRECTION: This week’s Connecting California column by Joe Mathews incorrectly identified Salinas as the Central Coast’s most populous municipality. Oxnard, with a population of 203,000, is the most populous city in the six Central Coast counties. At the risk of sounding like Donald Trump, let me say it’s just stupid that California won’t play a […]
Will California Republicans Be Defined as Anti-Vaxx?
California Republicans want to bring back childhood diseases that killed millions. That’s not a wild opinion. It’s a fair allegation, based on the facts. And that’s a huge problem not only for public health but also for the party, which already has too many huge problems. The party has positioned itself firmly against legislation to […]
California’s Scenic Highway 68 Is a Microcosm of the State’s Growing Inequality
California Highway 68 is a very short road, running just 24 miles across Monterey County from the cities of Pacific Grove and Monterey on the ocean to the inland city of Salinas. In today’s California, the path between great wealth and poverty is rarely very long. Californians often talk about the inequality between our regions—between […]
Remember When Politicians Didn’t Brag About Their Billionaire Friends?
I’m just old enough to remember the days when a politician with a billionaire friend and backer wouldn’t brag about the relationship. When said politician might downplay it. Or avoid mentioning the billionaire. And if pressed, the politician would certainly explain that he or she would never dare shape their public policy work to fit […]
If You Care About California, Then You Should Care About Salinas
Do you worry about the future of California? Then you should worry about Salinas. Because if this Monterey County town of 155,000 can’t build itself a brighter future, it’s hard to imagine other struggling places doing the same. “Rich in Land. Rich in Values. Ripe With Opportunity,” reads the slogan on a city website, and […]
California, Don’t Get Suckered by the 2024 Olympics
After Boston dropped its bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics on Monday, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti quickly put out a statement expressing interest in the Games. Boston needs to be replaced as the American bid city for the games, and early speculation is that L.A. would be the replacement. San Francisco could be in […]
Stay and Run for U.S. Senate, Joe!
MEMO To: Joe Biden From: Joe Mathews Re: California, Here You Come You cut a happy, glad-handling swath through California last week and got great reviews. In this era dominated by cold, strategic and distant California politicians, genuine human warmth and hugs were refreshing. And you seemed to enjoy yourself too. So why don’t we […]
Why Californians Are Such Suckers For Superheroes
California faces a peculiar overpopulation problem: We have too many superheroes. Missed this news in The Daily Planet? Fear not—your ignorance is understandable. California is not as closely associated with superheroes as New York City (and its fictional doppelgangers), where Superman, Spiderman, and Batman all based operations. So it’s easy to miss the menace that […]
$2,000 vs. $10 million
Democrats in the legislature have reduced the size of their tax on political participation; they want to increase the filing fee for ballot initiative only from $200 to $2,000 – instead of $8,000. But as the Democrats reduce their price, I’m reconsidering the reasons for my opposition to the idea (as previously outlined here) though […]
Are We Golden or Brown?
We live in a California dominated by one party. We live in a California where there is no real significant divide on big issues. And we live in a California with a weak political and media culture. So the big battle right now may be about words. And colors. Are you going gold? Or brown? […]