Enough Already! More Woe for the High-Speed Rail
Anyone who thinks the high-speed rail project will be completed within the cost figures projected by the rail authority, I’ve got a bridge to sell you. Of course, the promise to taxpayers on the cost of the rail was broken ages ago. Remember, voters were told if they supported a nearly $10-billion bond to help […]
Double Down on Smart Government
California Forward was launched a decade ago with significant support from major foundations to be a dynamic and compelling force in transforming government. I was honored to be invited to serve on the original Leadership Council by bi-partisan Co-Chairs Leon Panetta and Tom McKernan. Since then, thousands of California’s have participated in a variety of […]
John Chiang Real Favorite to Succeed Gov. Brown
With the presidential race over and Donald Trump’s inauguration looming, attention in California turns to who will be the top Democratic dog in next year’s election to succeed Gov. Jerry Brown. According to the Chronicle, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom sports “a total of $11.5 million cash on hand,” raising $2.6 million in the second half […]
Brown’s Tiny Projected Budget Deficit Doesn’t Matter
Gov. Brown projects a $1.6 billion budget deficit, and that’s being treated as news. It isn’t. That’s less than 1 percent of the overall state budget, which is volatile because of a broken governing system that Brown declines to fix, on the grounds that fixes are unreasonable. But the deficit is treated as though it […]
The Words of Martin Luther King, Jr.
(Editor’s Note: Traditionally on the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, we publish only one article to honor and remember Dr. King and what he stood for. Today we publish a series of quotes from the writings and speeches of Dr. King. However, on this day we also have a remembrance to former state librarian, Kevin […]
Kevin Starr, California’s Biographer
I blush at the undue praise in the inscription Kevin Starr wrote in my copy of his book, Coast of Dreams, California on the Edge 1990-2003. He inscribed the book to “an important interpreter of the complexities of the California experience.” Historian and former state librarian Kevin Starr was the great interpreter of California’s experience […]
Who Needs the NFL?
One of the few ways California governments are more reluctant to spend money than in other states is for professional sports stadiums. The state isn’t perfect. The new stadium for the Rams was granted a special CEQA exemption by the Legislature. And in 2015 the city of Sacramento floated $272 million in bonds for the […]
Brown’s Budget Underscores Need For Tax Reform
Gov. Jerry Brown released his budget Tuesday amid what the media called an “uncertainty” in Washington that will could an effect on the state’s finances. The fear is that the Republican White House and Congress will punish California for its political rejection of Donald Trump by holding back federal funds. But the more important story has nothing […]
When State Water Boards Clash on Lack of Science and Evidence
The California State Water Resources Board (SWRCB) was taken to the woodshed this week by the California Department of Water Resources (DWR), when Mark Holderman, the principal engineer at DWR’s South Delta Branch offered expert testimony that the Bay-Delta water plan was written “without evidence, incomplete scientific information, ill-suited for real-time operations, and unverified assumptions.” […]