The heat is coming.
The fallout from the reports of the disgracefully high-paid Bell city employees is mounting.
Reporters
are digging. They want to know every detail of every dollar and any
crooked numbers will be exposed. They’re looking for corruption.
I got an email today. I’m quite "Internet popular" so I get lots of them. Some of the emails are informative. Some of the e-mails are funny. This
one was trying to sell me on some sham. It came from the Marin
Institute. (Luckily, I made their list. It’s funny, how did they know
I was from Marin?)
The subject line: "Thumbs-up on the local Charge for Harm alcohol fee!"
Thumbs up? When did a tax on alcohol become good cause for a celebratory motion of not one, but two of my thumbs?
Fools, you’ve let your city down.
Oakland police and Oakland city officials failed to reach a deal and 80 police officers have been laid off, effective Tuesday. The two sides could not come to terms on the portion of salary that officers would contribute towards their pensions. The
final offer from the city was that officers pay 4% of their pension
this fiscal year and an additional 3% next year. Officers had
previously agreed to pay 2% of their pension this year and an
additional 3% next year.
In addition, the police union was seeking a three-year guarantee of no layoffs but the city only offered one year.
The uprising is growing.
Voters
in California have made it clear that fair competition and the
betterment of local communities is more important than guaranteeing
work to unions, regardless of value or quality.
Voters in Oceanside and Chula Vista are the most recent cities to place bans on project labor agreements (PLAs).
I have a confession … I drink alcohol.
I enjoy soda, too. Potato chips? Love ‘em.
So why are politicians posing as moral leaders and digging into my wallet over these simple pleasures? Well, simply because their vision is just as simple. City,
state and federal government officials have locked into the mindless
notion that these "sin taxes" are either morally or economically
logical. They couldn’t be more wrong.
Cross-posted at PublicCEO
In the latest edition of, “I can’t believe an educated person would actually think this is a good idea,” we once again welcome a proposed ordinance from the desk of San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom.
Newsom has proposed an ordinance that all cell phones sold in his city be given a warning label similar to those placed on cigarettes.
Based on concerns that cell phones cause brain cancer, the proposal would require a label with the level of radio frequency emissions and specific absorption rate of the phone.
The problem: It’s just another example of Newsom’s feel-good, grandstanding types of ordinances that lack any actual substance or intelligent reason.
The ordinance would provide warning of a safety risk that remains scientifically unproven. Both the National Cancer Institute and the World Health Organization have opposed labeling because of beliefs that research does not support the need.
PublicCEO.com, a new Web site dedicated to local politics throughout California, launched this week. Like Fox and Hounds, the new site is a must-read for California’s many public administrators and those who follow local government.
At PublicCEO, local governments share information with one another, thus helping public executives to administer their own city/county/special district. PublicCEO.com provides public executives the needed information to excel in their public service and foster cohesion among governments.
The new Web site seeks to facilitate the occupational demands of City Managers, County Administrators, public executives and elected officials by providing relevant information and timely news about California’s local governments.
A quick grab gag of how different California cities are gearing up for a possible stimulus boost:
Through the federal economic stimulus package, Santa Cruz County will be given nearly $540,000 in grants to hire and retain law enforcement officers.
The Department of Public Health of San Francisco is hoping to receive $67 million for a number of health care upgrades.
Local officials in San Berardino are hoping that stimulus funds will go towards a high-speed rail system with possible stops in their city.