Vague Promises Not Enough for Convention Plan
Maybe if someone could figure out how to turn a profit on political reform, it would have a better chance of making the ballot.
Backers of the effort to call a new state constitutional convention to update California’s creaky government machinery waved the white flag last week, admitting they couldn’t raise the cash to put their measures on the ballot.
“The money basically ran out,” said Jim Wunderman of the Bay Area Council, who came up with the convention plan. “I’m very sorry we had to call it quits.”
Wunderman and other convention backers remain convinced there’s a groundswell of support for wholesale reform of the state’s political system, but you couldn’t prove it by the campaign’s bank balance.
Bravo! The Assembly’s Marvelous Move on Maldonado
Once in a great while, the California legislature does something so brilliant, so wonderful, so exquisite that the only proper thing to do is stand back and applaud the majesty of their handiwork.
We saw one of these perfect legislative moments in the Assembly vote on Abel Maldonado’s confirmation as lieutenant governor.
What, you say? Didn’t the Assembly, by failing to provide 41 votes for or against Maldonado, fail to render a verdict, creating confusion over whether Maldonado was lieutenant governor? Well, as a technical yes, they failed to render a verdict, but in so doing, they rendered a verdict. And it was the right verdict.
Confirming or rejecting Maldonado would have been easy. But to appear to confirm and reject him at the same time was itself a choice. It was a reminder that heaven and hell aren’t the only choices. Purgatory is a possibility too, and it was the right home for this nomination.
Public Plea for Privatization
When I go to the Hollywood & Highland Center, I park in the basement garage. It’s clean and secure, and if you get your ticket stamped by a merchant, it costs $2 to park for four hours. What a deal.
But the city of Los Angeles, which owns the garage, reportedly lost $989,000 running it during its 2008-09 fiscal year. For taxpayers, that’s a crummy deal.
This is one example of why it’s a great idea for the city to privatize that garage and nine others like it. The city has figured it could get $100 million or more by selling long-term leases on those garages, which would help it escape its financial crisis, at least for a while.
There are advantages beyond the up-front money. The city could step out of the debt service on those garages (which is a reason Hollywood & Highland lost money), it wouldn’t have to bother with operating and upgrading them, and – not insignificantly – it would put assets in the local private sector where businesses could grow and wealth could be created.