Governor’s Race: Thin Field for Reps in 2014, Full Field for Dems … in 2018

A post on Capitol Public Radio’s website asking What GOP’s Governor’s Race? reflects the attitude of a number of political observers that the Republican effort to prevent a fourth term for Governor Jerry Brown is not building much momentum. Brown has effectively implemented his philosophy of rowing his political canoe a little on the left […]

If Lead Holds, Vidak Win would be a Big Deal

For the wounded California Republican Party a win by farmer Andy Vidak in the 16th Senate District would be a shot of adrenaline.  As of this writing, Vidak holds a 54% to 46% lead over Democrat Leticia Perez, or a little less than 6000 votes. However, there are many absentee and provisional votes that have […]

L.A. Business Dissected in Roundtable/Urban League Study

As I reported here last month, the California Business Roundtable and the Los Angeles Urban League have teamed up to study the effect of regulations on business development in local communities, in particular focusing on job creation. The organizations hosted a second review of data prepared by UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs last Friday […]

Former Governors Support of Gov. Brown on Prisons a Double-edged Sword

There is good news and bad news for Governor Jerry Brown in accepting support of California’s former governors challenging the federal court panel’s order to release prisoners from the state’s prisons. All former California governors supported Gov. Brown with a brief to the Supreme Court asking the court to stay any prisoner release ordered by […]

Media is Part of the Story

When a television station promotes ‘continuous coverage of the protest violence’ generated by the George Zimmerman verdict –this at 11 am Tuesday after some protests got out of hand on Monday but before any Tuesday protests — media has become part of this story. While Los Angeles area community leaders were encouraging a stop to […]

The Napolitano Selection and the Quest for Revenues

Among the many insights offered about the choice of Janet Napolitano as the new president of the University of California is the suggestion that she would be a person who could help increase revenue for the university system. The Los Angeles Times news report on the selection of Napolitano stated that she “may be able […]

Dem v Dem for Constitutional Offices in 2014?

With the top two primary in place and the rise in power of the state Democratic Party over the last election (or is it the loss in power for the Republican Party), is there a chance we will see two Democrats squaring off in November 2014 for some of the state’s constitutional offices? I put […]

Independence Day, Democracy and the Two-Thirds Vote

On Independence Day, George Skeleton’s Los Angeles Times column argued for lowering the vote for local government infrastructure bonds from two-thirds to 55%. He linked such a move to American democracy and majority rule while declaring it a major change to Proposition 13. I disagree on all points. The two-thirds vote for local general obligation […]

Good Times are Rolling … but Watch Out

I noted with interest some comments that Standard & Poor’s made this week about California’s fiscal situation. They amount to a check on the euphoria that comes with the increasing revenue filling California’s coffers. While the rating agency praised California for pulling out of a financial hole, there were warnings about possible future financial difficulties […]

Empower Initiative Proponents

Expect an effort to give more power to initiative proponents to protect measures passed by the voters. This effort will not split the political community along ideological lines as many issues often do. All sides appear concerned by the possibility of elected officials essentially vetoing an initiative they do not like by not defending it […]