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.
California’s Latino Voter Turnout: What Happened?
Has the “Sleeping Giant” gone back to sleep, and will the Giant wake up for in time for 2016? Since passage of the controversial anti-illegal immigrant Proposition 187 in 1994, Latino voter turnout in California has mushroomed and with it Latino political clout. That is, until 2014 when turnout took a dive and many Latinos suddenly lost interest in voting.
Much was written about the awakened “sleeping giant” of Latino voters rushing to the polls after 1994, and indeed they did. A major reason for the collapse of California’s once vibrant Republican Party was Latino anger over Proposition 187 that was championed by former GOP Gov. Pete Wilson. (more…)
The Empire is Back
I’m talking not about the new Star Wars movie but about Southern California’s Inland Empire. Of course, you shouldn’t hold your breath waiting for a statewide celebration of the remarkable economic comeback of the I.E.—which encompasses Riverside and San Bernardino counties and their 4.4 million inhabitants. When it comes to this huge section of the state—with a population greater than Oregon’s—if the good news isn’t being ignored, it’s being spun as bad.
The Inland Empire is by far California’s least fashionable region. That’s because it resembles the hotter, grittier, more working-class place the state is actually becoming, not the beautiful, wealthy place we aspire to be. When the I.E. is growing, such gains are dismissed as unwanted or unnatural sprawl; when the I.E. struggles, such pain is considered to be just rewards for an impudent dystopia. (more…)
Southern California Housing Figures to Get Tigher, Pricier
What kind of urban future is in the offing for Southern California? Well, if you look at both what planners want and current market trends, here’s the best forecast: congested, with higher prices and an ever more degraded quality of life. As the acerbic author of the “Dr. Housing Bubble” blog puts it, we are looking at becoming “los sardines” with a future marked by both relentless cramming and out-of-sight prices.
This can be seen in the recent surge of housing prices, particularly in the areas of the region dominated by single-family homes. You can get a house in San Francisco – a shack, really – for what it costs to buy a mansion outside Houston, or even a nice home in Irvine or Villa Park. Choice single-family locations like Irvine, Manhattan Beach and Santa Monica have also experienced soaring prices. (more…)
Hey Central Valley, Happy Bizarro-Earth Day!
In Superman comics, “Bizarro World” is a universe where wrong is right, and Superman’s clone is a villain. The parallel planet’s name is “Earth” spelled backwards – htraE.
But it’s not just in comic books that you encounter the specter of evil twins and vertigo-inducing inversions.
Today, as we mark Earth Day, 2015 – with California seared by drought – a downside-up federal regulatory regime stalks the San Joaquin Valley, inflicting pain on some of the very species that the federal government has sworn to protect. (more…)
Business Interests and Pension Reform
As the battle over public pension reform heats up as Calpensions Ed Mendel explained last week, the question for California’s business community is will it get involved?
A number of reasons have been offered to suggest business would stay on the sidelines if a pension reform initiative qualified for the ballot. The fear that such a measure would drive an unusual number of opponents to such a reform to the polls who will also vote for the tax increase measures that are expected to be on the ballot; or to vote in some closely contested races to put the Democrats in control of a supermajority of the legislature. (more…)
Which Low-Down Do You Prefer on Pensions?
And you thought it was just all the math and actuarial tables that make pension ballot measures confusing.
Now California faces the prospect of old-fashioned human confusion as San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed pursues another pension measure: key voices both for and against the measure have the same name.
Welcome to the David Low vs. Dave Low contest.
Dave Low is familiar to people who follow statewide politics. He’s executive director of the California School Employees Assn. He’s been a voice against various campaigns to limit retiree benefits – and on a host of other state issues. (more…)