Background: Misuse of Assessments and Fees Brought on Prop 218, which Took Down the Tiered Water Fee Plan
San Juan Capistrano’s water fee usage plan ran afoul of Proposition 218’s taxpayer shield to protect taxpayers from being charged taxes disguised as fees and assessments. The goal of the tiered water plan was designed as a financial punishment for those who use excessive amounts of water. However, the method the city chose violated Proposition […]
So Many Ways to Vote. So Few Reasons.
The Goo Goo Dolls are on the march, and they want to make it easier for you vote. I’m not talking about the band, but about the good government community and its allies in state government. The miserable low turnout in California elections has inspired a wide variety of plans to make it easier to […]
‘High Flying, Adored’: What Happens to California Politicians Who Succeed Young
Last week, Michael Dolgushkin and Shelby Kendrick of the California State Library and I were going through a collection of papers from the 1980s. Unexpectedly, we found issues of the journal, Golden State Report (GSR), for the two year period, 1987-1988. GSR has been out of business for many years. But in the 1980s, led […]
California Assembly Democrats Seem Determined to Completely Eliminate Minor Party Candidates
On April 15, the Assembly Elections Committee passed AB 372, a bill which seems motivated by a desire to completely rid the November ballot of minor party candidates. Even though the bill has a Republican sponsor, it received no votes from either Republican member of the committee. But it passed because 4 of the 5 […]
The Drought: California Is So Over
California has met the future, and it really doesn’t work. As the mounting panic surrounding the drought suggests, the Golden State, once renowned for meeting human and geographic challenges, is losing its ability to cope with crises. As a result, the great American land of opportunity is devolving into something that resembles feudalism, a society […]