Fox and Hounds Daily Says Goodbye
With this article, we end publication of Fox and Hounds Daily. It has been a satisfying 12½ year run. When we opened in May 2008, our site was designed to offer an opportunity to those who wished to engage in public debate on many issues, especially in politics and business, but found it difficult to get placed in newspaper op-ed pages.
Co-publishers Tom Ross, Bryan Merica and I have kept F&H going over this time investing our own time, funding, and staff help. Last year at this time we considered closing the site, however with an election on the horizon we decided to keep F&H going through the election year. With the election come and gone, and with no sense of additional resources, we have decided to close the site down.
Fox and Hounds will live on, at least, with my articles collected in the California State Library.
On a personal note, I have spent over 40 years in California policy and politics. There have been some incredible high moments and some difficult low points. It pains me that politics too often is a blood sport, frequently demonizing the motives of opponents and using the legal system as a weapon in public discourse. At Fox & Hounds, we tried to adhere to the practice of giving all a voice in the debate, yet keep the commentaries civil and avoided personal attacks.
F&H offered the opportunity to publish different perspectives (even ones that criticized my writings!). We had success as indicated by the Washington Post twice citing Fox and Hounds Daily one of the best California political websites and many other positive affirmations and comments received over the years.
Tom, Bryan and I want to thank our many readers and writers for being part of our journey. The publishers of Fox and Hounds Daily believe that we added value to California and its people. We hope you agree.
Veteran Lawmakers Embrace New Committee Assignments
As the new class of state lawmakers settles in to their jobs, Sacramento’s old hands are getting a jump start on the 2015-16 legislative session.
Each session brings a biennial reshuffling of committee assignments. But some lawmakers aren’t waiting to get acquainted with their new perches.
New committee chairs have already introduced legislative proposals to increase privacy rights, change the way transportation projects are funded and dramatically alter the state’s tax structure.
Gatto tapped for new privacy committee (more…)
The U.S. Cities Where Hispanics Are Doing The Best Economically
Since 1980, the percentage of Americans who claim Hispanic heritage has grown from 6% to 17%. By 2040, Latinos will constitute roughly 24% of the population.
Many Democrats no doubt see President Obama’s executive actions on immigration as a step not only to address legitimate human needs, but their own political future. But perhaps a more important question is how these new Americans will fare economically.
We decided to look into which of America’s 52 largest metropolitan areas present Hispanics with the best opportunities. We weighed these metropolitan statistical areas by three factors — homeownership, entrepreneurship, as measured by the self-employment rate, and median household income — that we believe are indicators of middle-class success. Data for those is from 2013. In addition, we factored in the change in the Hispanic population from 2000 to 2013 in these metro areas, to judge how the community is “voting with its feet.” Each factor was given equal weight. Our findings parallel our recent study of the economic fortunes of African-Americans, but with some important differences. (more…)
A Party for Citizens and Customers
A recent rainy morning in San Carlos, I’m back to doing something I love: training public sector officials (on this day, 25 of them) in how to better engage their residents in policy-making. While losing a statewide political campaign is uniquely painful, I was most gratified to see that a set of policy issues I’ve spent most of the last eight years working on around the state, not only translated well into a political context, they resonated with Californians who told me on numerous occasions that I would be the first Republican they’d ever voted for.
At my Institute, we’ve trained over 1,000 government officials in the last five years, and in San Carlos I saw again what may be fundamental to this changing relationship between government and the rest of us. In post-training surveys for the “Public Engagement: The Vital Leadership Skill” seminar that I co-lead with my colleague and longtime city manager, Ed Everett, the concept that (by far) gets the most positive response is when we outline the biggest challenge to doing effective public engagement. (more…)
Fighting to Keep Gas Prices Low
Who hasn’t driven away from the neighborhood gas station lately with a smile on their face? We are all experiencing a sensation felt by drivers in states like Texas and Nevada for years, low gas prices. If gas prices remain low this year, Moody’s Analytics says it could put $100 billon cash in people’s pockets nationwide. But let’s talk about the thing that runs through our mind when we drive away from the station smiling: These prices won’t last forever. Let’s call it “gas price insecurity.”
Yes, it feels good to pay $2.45 a gallon to fill our thirsty gas tanks, but industry experts and our own gut feelings are telling us this honeymoon won’t last forever. One Shell oil executive is predicting the cost of a barrel will hit the $100 a barrel mark late this year or in early 2016. Other experts say prices will start going back up in a few weeks when gas prices catch up with the drop in crude oil prices. Add to that the upcoming switch to California’s famous “summer blend” and we’re back to a steady increase in gas prices. (more…)
Team Educate’s Disadvantage in the California Budget Battle
Last week on this blog, Joe Matthews compared the California’s annual battle for state budget dollars to a game between two teams: Team Educate and Team Medicate.
He was correct in saying, “…you have to like the long-term prospects of Team Medicate.” Despite repeated cuts to social services, rising Medicaid costs and the Affordable Care Act are ensuring that healthcare’s share of the budget will continue to grow – and grow rapidly. And education funding has been either declining or growing slower than the rest of the budget in recent years.
I would, however, disagree with Matthews’s assessment that “…this budget, so far, looks like a rout for Team Educate.” The state legislature has limited discretion with respect to both education and health spending, and the two areas’ competitiveness is related. (more…)
Rick Orlov Covered L.A. Politics
I remember doing an interview for a magazine working on a feature about Los Angeles Daily News political reporter Rick Orlov years ago. Rick was an institution then, a steady presence at Los Angeles City Hall and an outstanding journalist. I can’t recall much of the long ago magazine story expect that Rick , in breaking in a new Los Angeles Daily News reporter at a bar, changed the drink order the reporter made to a double because Rick was about to reveal the newspaper business to this beginner.
Rick often mentored new reporters. His gentle style served him well both with young reporters and grizzled politicians.
The truth was Rick loved the newspaper business and he was good at it. He covered Los Angeles politics for decades, with multiple sources in city hall, which he called on for his many news reports and brief snippets in his Daily News political columns, the Tip-Off and the Sausage Factory. (more…)