Gavin vs. Kevin, and California Dysfunction
It’s not just a tempest in a teapot. It’s more telling than that. The back-and-forth over state Senate Pro Tem Kevin De Leon’s pulling back two employee positions from Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom has become a statewide story, with lots of speculation about what’s behind the move and what it may mean. Politically, I’d say […]
Friday’s California Job Numbers/”Eve of Destruction” Songwriter from the 1960s
Two events from last week are of note for our California workforce community and more general California public affairs community: the latest monthly job numbers, and the passing away of the P.F. Sloan a Southern California songwriter whose songs included the 1965 hit “Eve of Destruction”. Let’s briefly explain, including their loose connection. Last Friday’s […]
Picking the Wrong Number for LA City Pensions
During the last year’s budget hearings, Los Angeles City Council Members Paul Krekorian, the Chair of the Budget and Finance Committee, and Paul Koretz, the Chair of the Personnel Committee, were pushing to increase the investment rate assumption for the City’s two underfunded pension plans to 8%, up from the current level of 7.5%. This […]
Pepperdine Grad Students’ Head-On Collision With Local Govt. Officials
Why does it take 54 days, more than 30 emails, 25 phone calls, 3 faxes, and 2 trips to the city of West Covina to obtain records available to the public? The short answer is that some local government officials don’t believe they have to make the public records available to the public. A group […]