New Studies on Vernon and California Warn of Business Woes
A study released today by Capitol Matrix Consulting headed by former State Finance Director Mike Genest and former Democratic and Republican legislative fiscal consultants, Brad Williams and Peter Schaafsma, claims if the City of Vernon is dissolved there will be a potential of 11,620 jobs lost with a loss in state and local revenue of more than $42 million.
Another study released by the United States Chamber of Commerce yesterday placed California in the lowest tier of states for business friendly environments.
The state takes a one-two punch from these studies on California’s business environment.
VERNON STUDY
Isn’t It Wonderful How Many Choices The Politicians Want to Give Us?
It warms my heart that so many politicians in California
want to give me a choice.
Gov. Jerry Brown wants to give me a choice of extending some
particular temporary tax increases for five years. He chose the temporary
taxes, but it’s so cool that it’s my choice.
And if I vote down those tax extensions, well, then, he’s
not going to give me different taxes but $25 billion in cuts. Of course, he
will choose those cuts for me. Which is awfully nice of him, since I hate cuts.
The Republicans don’t want to go along with this yet,
because – isn’t this great? – they don’t think one choice is enough. They will
only put Gov. Brown’s choice on a special election ballot if there’s another
measure on the same ballot – one that gives me the choice to cut taxes by the
same amount the tax extensions would keep them raised. How did they decide that
would be the tax cut?
Mermaid Bar Floats Rebuttal
Cross-posted at CalWatchdog.
The owners of the “Dive Bar,” also known as the Mermaid Bar in Sacramento, are apparently feeling a little testy about all of the criticism they are receiving because of the several million bucks in redevelopment subsidies they used to build the bar on the K Street Mall.
The big splash being made coincides with Governor Jerry Brown’s budget proposal to eliminate redevelopment agencies in the state — just as the 7,500 gallon fish tank bar was being completed, and mermaids were auditioning.
In Wednesday’s Sacramento Bee, a half-page paid advertisement appears along with a cartoon that ran last week, depicting the mermaid bar and pizza joint receiving $6.8 million in subsidies.
Appearing to be paid for by the owner of the Mermaid Bar, the ad states that the bar and restaurant did not receive $6.8 million in subsidies as the cartoon depicts, but only received $3.1 million “derived from the sale of the Sheraton” and “invested $2.8 million of our own money.”
The bar’s owner is San Francisco nightclub owner George Karpaty, who has owned and operated several dance clubs and bars in and around the San Francisco Bay area.
The State of Silicon Valley
Cross-posted at NewGeography.
Every year, the top officials, policy wonks, and business managers convene at the annual State of the Valley conference to discuss and debate the health of the region. Over a thousand attendees trekked to San Jose, Calif., on Feb. 18 for the release of this year’s report. Published since 1995 by Joint Venture Silicon Valley Network and distributed for free, the new 2011 Index of Silicon Valley reported bleak indicators and a gloomy outlook.
The event provided Valley insiders a moment to reflect on the economic storm, and the mood was darkly optimistic. A persistent phrase tossed out was the “new normal,” old Wall Street jargon describing a repressed economic environment. Growth is too slow to bring down the unemployment rate, and government intervenes to save a struggling private sector.
Tally of the Valley
Certainly Silicon Valley has had its share of troubles suffering from poor state finances and severe global competition. Unemployment has hit nearly 10 percent, higher than when the recession started. The region’s population of three million, comprised of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties, has continued to drop as talent leaves for opportunity in cheaper pastures. Foreign immigration, considered a critical factor in the region’s entrepreneurship, dropped by 40 percent to its lowest level in the last decade since 2009 and stayed flat through 2010.