Craig Huey’s #2 Showing In CD36 … Not an Upset or a Surprise.
How did little-known Republican Craig Huey outpoll
Democratic Secretary of State Debra Bowen in last week’s Special Election in
CD36?
Sixteen candidates qualified for that special election
ballot: five Democrats, six Republicans and five affiliated with another party
or no party at all.
The district, stretching from Venice to the Los Angeles
Harbor community of San Pedro, is safely Democratic, with Democrats outnumbering
Republicans 45% – 27%, with 22% being independent.
Two heavyweight Democrats entered the race: Los Angeles
Councilmember Janice Hahn of San Pedro, and Secretary of State Debra Bowen, of
Venice, who had previously represented much of the district as a state senator
and assemblymember.
With 2.1 Million Californians Out of Work, a Property Tax Increase Is the Last Thing We Need
As we approach the 33rd anniversary of the
voters’ approval of Proposition 13, efforts to undo the initiative’s property
tax protections are getting more attention.
The biggest threat is AB 448, by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano,
who announced last year that he would like to "nuke" Proposition 13 in its
entirety. His legislation would take a big step toward this goal by repealing
Proposition 13 protections for employers, even as the state struggles with a 12
percent unemployment rate.
Under Proposition 13, property is assessed based on the
acquisition value, and this value cannot increase more than 2 percent in any
given year, unless there is new construction or a change in ownership. When
property changes ownership, it is reassessed based on the purchase price.
Don’t Outlaw My Penis, San Francisco. Tax It.
In case you missed it, a group of San Franciscans has
qualified a ballot initiative to outlaw the circumcision of infants in that
city. They say that infants are being coerced into participating in a procedure
that carries health risks and is akin to female genital mutilation in Africa.
With activists in Santa Monica poised to follow suit, one can safely presume
that a local ban is just a first step in a campaign for a statewide
prohibition.
Now you can pinch yourself. Yes, you’re not dreaming.
Although I sometimes make jokes and use techniques of fiction in this space,
the San Francisco anti-circumcision initiative is real and is headed to the
ballot.
So where does one come down on this topic? Please pardon me
if I don’t get into an in-depth discussion of the health debates. I’m not a
doctor, nurse or health expert. And I’m no religious scholar, so I can’t
comment with any authority on religious objections to a circumcision ban.
Costa Mesa takes a stand on the costs of a public workforce
Cross-posted at CityJournal.
The results of California’s 2010 midterm elections were tremendously discouraging for voters eager to rein in the influence of the state’s public-employee unions. While other states, like Wisconsin, elected political leaders willing to confront union power aggressively, Californians could only look on in frustration as pro-union politicians prevailed across the Golden State. But there is at least one beacon of hope in California: the Orange County city of Costa Mesa, which has charged ahead to address budget deficits by making massive cuts to its municipal workforce.
In March, Costa Mesa’s city council voted 4–1 to issue layoff notices to nearly half of the city’s workforce—more than 200 workers—and to outsource many city services, including street sweeping, payroll, printing, information technology, animal control, park maintenance, and some fire protection. These are eminently reasonable steps, given the city’s fiscal challenges. Costa Mesa faces a $3.3 million budget deficit in the 2011–12 fiscal year, pared down from a projected $5.1 million, and some of its leaders, including city councilman Jim Righeimer, worry that the budget situation could grow far worse in the future without immediate reforms. Righeimer, who campaigned on pension reform in 2010, says that while it’s unclear exactly how much money outsourcing will save the city, “it will be substantial.”