Call to Action for Business: Keep Investing in OC

Orange County is an economic powerhouse.  With the recent release of the 2019-20 OC Community Indicators, the facts are in:  3% unemployment–well below state and national levels–5th most educated county in the US, 2nd largest workforce in California, and 4th largest international population in the nation.  Yet when the perception persists that we’re suburbia, note […]

Senate Bill 5 helps increase supply of workforce and affordable housing

Businesses and communities throughout the state are struggling to recruit companies and find qualified workers because of the pervasive shortage of housing. California must commit to funding and building more homes or the state’s economy could be imperiled. There is universal agreement that sky-high housing costs are largely the result of a lack of supply. […]

Grow the Economy, Vote No on Prop 6 

Economies don’t grow if goods and services can’t move. For years in California, governors and state legislatures deferred maintenance and repairs on the state’s bridges and roads. Predictably, California’s 400,000 miles of roads crumbled. Potholes proliferated. Bridges and overpasses up and down the state became unsafe. Public transit improvements lagged. Traffic became worse as highway […]

Who’s Really to Blame for OC’s Housing Affordability Crisis?

This past week, three separate media outlets sought my comment on Orange County’s housing affordability crisis and high-cost of living. The inquiries came on the heels of a host of news stories chronicling sky-high rents, the dismantling of homeless encampments in Anaheim, and the adequacy of wages paid by the county’s largest employers. These were […]

Approve ‘California WaterFix’ Project

Every day, I walk into the kitchen, turn on the faucet, and clean drinking water magically appears. It’s a miracle, really, and I’ll bet, like me, you don’t even think about it — the water always flows. Even in the years of drought we endured, good local water management and conservation got us through the […]

A Success on Roads Through Compromise

For the last two years, I had the honor to serve as facilitator for meetings toward settlement of the south Orange County toll road issues among members of the Transportation Corridor Agencies and executive leadership of the Save San Onofre Coalition. SSOC is comprised of 12 of the nation’s leading environmental advocates, including Surfrider Foundation, […]

Volunteers Needed to Test Mileage Fee System for Road Funding

I served this past year as chair of the California Transportation Commission, which is responsible for allocating funds for highway construction, passenger rail and transit improvements, active transportation such as walking and biking and a host of other mobility projects. A variety of financial indicators last month showed that the excise tax portion of the […]

Both Sides Are Right on Transportation. Let’s Find a Deal

To the outside, a deal may appear elusive on transportation funding this session. Republicans are intent on using existing funding and demand accountability reforms. Democrats want new funding while also agreeing that accountability reforms are necessary. Both sides are right. It’s time to make a deal. Before we consider new revenues, we must agree to […]

Don’t Mess With Ex-Im Success!

Question:  What 80-year old government entity helps U.S. businesses create jobs, compete globally, and make a profit for taxpayers? Answer:  “Ex-Im”—the biggest little competitive advantage you may have never heard of. “Ex-Im” stands for The Export-Import Bank of the United States.  It is the official export credit agency that assists in financing the export of […]