Hertzberg is Back Hoping to Push Major Reforms as an Insider
Bob Hertzberg, former Speaker of the California Assembly, never really left the California political scene after he left office. Despite his venture into the business world, most notably helping to create a solar energy company, he spent plenty of time volunteering for groups attempting to reform the way California works. He also ran for mayor […]
Adapting to the New Normal in California Employment
(A version of this article first appeared last week in Zocalo Public Square as “Five Ways to Get a Job in California”). We’ve reached a New Normal in California Employment. It is characterized by (i) intense competition for almost any job; (ii) full time employment replaced by part time employment, contingent employment and independent contracting; […]
The Proposition 65 Game Changer
For years I have said that anyone who looks at the private settlements related to Proposition 65 (The Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986) or the 60-Day Notice Section on the Attorney General’s website would definitely come to the conclusion that there is a clear abuse of this initiative. The problem is that […]
“Dante” Ravitch’s Abhorrent Attack on Ben Austin
I’ve been friendly with Diane Ravitch for a long time. Encountering her historical work 20 years ago, I was struck by her hard-hitting, erudite analyses. She invited me to deliver my first featured talk (at Brookings, on my then-forthcoming Spinning Wheels book). When I was leaving UVA’s Curry School of Education, she was one of the handful […]
Southern California Economy Not Keeping Up
One of Orange County’s top executives asked me over lunch recently why Southern California has not seen anything like the kind of tech boom now sweeping large parts of the San Francisco Bay Area. In many ways, it is just one indication of how this region – once seen as the cutting edge of American […]