Justice Reform Movement’s Self-Inflicted Wound
The progressive movement for criminal justice reform was wounded in the California primary and one of those wounds was self-inflicted. Major efforts by liberal groups to back District Attorney candidates who generally supported an overhaul of the bail system, reduced incarcerations, and tougher stands against police misconduct mostly faltered. At the same time, the recall […]
Millennials Prefer Suburban Living
To most builders, housing demand is meaningless unless it’s in their backyard or in some nearby community. That is, most homebuilders don’t stray too far from the markets they know. What we recently learned from the U.S. Bureau of the Census will be well received by those builders: thanks to the interest millennials are taking in […]
Welcome to Joeville, California
Recently a startup founder in San Jose asked me a question: What would you do if you were starting a California city? My first answer: Get my head examined. For 40 years, the state government and California voters have steadily reduced the revenues and limited the discretion of municipal governments; anyone who starts a new […]
A Catalog of California’s Anti-Janus Legislation
No state in America is as firmly in the grip of public sector unions as California. For nearly twenty years, they have exercised nearly absolute power in the State Legislature. Over the past few years, as they have slipped in and out of having a two-thirds majority, and often with the help of a few […]
Prison Guards Score Again
Governor Jerry Brown is negotiating yet another salary increase for state prison employees, the fourth in seven years. Salaries for California’s prison employees already exceed $5 billion per year, 2.5x the revenues of the country’s largest private prison corporation. Pension and other benefits raise total compensation to $8 billion per year, nearly $1 billion more than governor […]