Don’t Dismiss Stockton
Here’s a new maxim for Californians to live by, courtesy of this election: Don’t dismiss apocalyptic warnings from Stockton. If you’re a Californian with a television or a mailbox, you’re encountering a barrage of ill-advised Stockton dismissals. Specifically, Gov. Jerry Brown, labor unions and Sacramento building and infrastructure lobbies are trying to defeat a November […]
The Single-Subject Rule Is Dead
It may surprise you to know that ballot initiatives in California are supposed to be governed by a single-subject rule. Put simply, they only deal with one subject. But that rule is effectively dead. Many of the 17 statewide initiatives dance on its grave. And California’s judges, who are as deeply infected by the California […]
Are the San Francisco and San Diego Elections Rigged?
Maybe Donald Trump would be right in a different context. How can anyone accept the results of this November’s elections in San Francisco and San Diego? The California ballot is so long, with various offices and 17 statewide measures, to raise serious questions about democratic legitimacy. How much credit can we give to results when […]
The Cannabis Cartel California Needs
If California is going to transition successfully to full legalization of cannabis, our state is going to need its own cartel. For the record (and to reassure my friends in federal law enforcement), I am not smoking anything. And I am not suggesting that California encourage a criminal syndicate like the Zetas or the Sinaloa […]
In California, Taxes Are Almost Always Temporary
It’s the talking point that won’t die: that California’s temporary taxes aren’t really temporary. It’s an argument usually offered by the anti-tax crowd when they’re opposing some tax hike proposals. You just can’t trust those “temporary” tax proposals, they say, because no taxes are ever temporary. That is nonsense. In California, the opposite is true. […]
Anne Gust Brown for Attorney General
Gov. Jerry Brown’s best choice for attorney general – an appointment he must make after Kamala Harris’ election to the U.S. Senate — is obvious: his wife, Anne Gust Brown. Call it nepotism if you want. But Anne Gust Brown is highly qualified. She not only had a distinguished career as a lawyer. But she […]
Oracle’s Marriott
Checking in on my grandmother early one morning last week in San Mateo, I picked up the local paper to read the news: Oracle had bought the local Marriott hotel. If you spend time on Bay Area roads, you’ve driven by it, near the intersection of the 101 and the 92. Ho-hum news, until a […]
Prop 67 Should Be Prop 51
The long statewide ballot, with 17 different measures, demonstrates many things wrong with California-style direct democracy. Here’s another one: we put referenda last, when they should be first. The terms referendum and initiative are often used interchangeably, especially by out-of-state media (yes, I’m looking at you, Washington Post). But they are different. A referendum is […]
Californians Want Much More From Our Neighborhoods
California is a state of large things: A 1,100-mile coastline and giant mountain ranges and big roads, bigger cities, and the biggest vistas. In such a sprawling place, with so much disconnection, how much could people care about their own little neighborhoods? Answer: An awful lot. This is a state of neighborhoods. And Californians are […]
“No Organized Opposition” Is A Bad Argument for a Ballot Initiative
Prop 52’s TV ads push the fact that there’s no organized opposition to the measure (which locks in a hospital fee and Medi-Cal funding) as a virtue. Backers of Prop 54 (a legislative “reform” measure) and Prop 55 have made a version of the same argument. It’s another example of how rotten our system of […]