New California Republicans
San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer called for a “New California Republican Party” during his speech at the Commonwealth Club last week. He said, “It’s time to offer California a GOP with broad appeal again – because a vibrant, competitive Republican Party is good for our state.” Meanwhile, Assembly Minority leader Chad Mayes, holding off a […]
Chiang’s Pay-to-Play Troubles Remind Us: California Has Too Many Statewide Elected Officials
Given his reputation for fiscal probity, a Sacramento Bee report showing that John Chiang has a pay-to-play approach to this job – steering tax breaks to his political donors – might seem surprising. It isn’t. Statewide elected posts like the two Chiang has held – controller and treasurer – have long been used for pay-to-play […]
Pension and Other Retirement Costs Are Crowding Out SF School Teachers
School starts today in San Francisco but according to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle not all classrooms may have teachers because of “a rash of departures over the summer.” Perhaps the departed teachers observed this depressing mismatch in spending priorities over the past five years: Sources: First Interim Reports, San Francisco Unified School District, FY2012 […]
Could uptick in California crime make it a political issue again?
In the main, issues that dominate any session of the California Legislature reflect what the public and news media consider at the time to be the most burning. That’s why, for instance, the state’s acute housing shortage will receive much attention during the final month of this year’s session. During Jerry Brown’s first governorship four […]