Adding Sympathetic Decision Makers is an Old, but Unwise Idea
Reading that Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León wants to add three commissioners to the South Coast Air Quality Management District board so as to tip the board to a more favorable perspective from his point of view reminds one of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s plan to pack the U.S. Supreme Court in hopes of getting […]
Is Fresno California’s Taco Capital?
Can tacos save Fresno? Greater Fresno, with 1.1 million people and growing, is in the process of becoming California’s next big metropolitan area (it’s already fifth—after L.A., the Bay Area, San Diego, and greater Sacramento). But, perhaps because of its poverty, it still has the low civic self-esteem of the smaller town it used to […]
New GOP leader wants to give ‘a hand up’
A month after taking over as the California Assembly’s Republican leader, Chad Mayes brought his caucus to a shelter for homeless mothers. The lawmakers listened as women shared stories of drug abuse and recovery. They poked their heads into rooms crowded with bunk beds. They greeted children bouncing balls on the playground. “It’s important to […]
Coast Not Entirely Clear at Ports
Some good news came out of the ports last week. During an on-stage meeting in Long Beach, the president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union – representing labor – and the president of the Pacific Maritime Association – representing shipping lines and terminal operators and, therefore, management – surprised the crowd when both expressed […]