Jerry Brown—the Man Who Wasn’t There
When California Democrats held their convention in San Diego, there was a conspicuous absentee—Governor Jerry Brown. Not only wasn’t he physically present, he was barely mentioned from the speaker’s podium. The party’s activists and aspiring politicians were clearly ready to move on. Despite going into the home stretch of a highly successful run as Governor, […]
Which city—San Francisco or Los Angeles—do you love to hate more?
This is shaping up to be California’s question for 2018. Each of the top two contenders for governor is a former mayor of one those cities, and each embodies certain grievances about his hometown. And backers of both candidates are playing on those resentments. Gavin Newsom, like San Francisco, is derided as too wealthy, too […]
A Post-Janus Agenda for California’s Public Sector Unions
“If you do not prevail in this case, the unions will have less political influence; yes or no?” Kennedy asked. “Yes, they will have less political influence,” Frederick answered. – an excerpt from the Janus vs. AFSCME trial, quoted in the Washington Post, February 26, 2018 Earlier this week the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in the […]
Sunlight Peeks into Palo Alto
On February 26 the Palo Alto City Council voted 9–0 in favor of a proposal to uncloak negotiations with the city’s public employees. The next step is to meet and confer with public employee unions, which is required under current state law. (You read that right. As explained here, under current state law the taxpayers of […]