Despite LA Assessor’s Problems, an Assessor Should be Elected
Cries that assessors should be appointed rather than elected have surfaced in Los Angeles because county assessor, John Noguez, is in trouble. It has been alleged that Norguez’s office reduced tax assessments on property for individuals who donated to the assessor’s campaign. The hue and cry over the situation has brought demands that the assessor […]
Yes on Proposition 28: A Sensible Reform
Proposition 28 is on that ballot and gives Californians a change to fix one of the many things that is wrong with state government. Sacramento is not working as it should. Californians agree and are frustrated by the lack of leadership and decision making in our state Capitol. How do we move past the status […]
What If Jerry Had a Secret Reform Plan After All?
Regular readers know that I find Gov. Jerry Brown’s approach to the budget crisis (aka “the Steinbergian problem”) and to California’s governance nightmare totally puzzling. Nothing he does seem to make any sense. But perhaps I’m wrong. So after much thinking and too much time in the afternoon San Gabriel Valley sun, this thought occurs: […]
What Will Come After LinkedIn and Monster?
In just the past five years, California has seen an explosion of internet job boards, internet job training sites, and internet job hunting blogs. The supersite job boards, Monster and CareerBuilder, have been joined by hundreds of smaller boards, as well as by the job aggregators, such as Indeed and SimplyHired. These boards also have […]
California Can’t Afford ‘Split Roll’ Tax
Crossposted on San Francisco Chronicle California small businesses failed in 2011 at rates 69 percent higher than the national average. Four of the top five metropolitan areas for small-business bankruptcies in 2011 were in California. We also struggle with the third-highest unemployment rate in the nation. Yet despite these dismal figures, Sacramento politicians think now […]