Prop 50 Matters Not
Are you immortal? If so, you might take some time to read and consider Prop 50. But if there’s a good chance you might die some day, don’t waste another precious second on this earth thinking about Prop 50, which appears on the June ballot here in California. Seriously, leave that part of the ballot […]
Why California Keeps Failing to Grade Its Schools
It’s a California educational reality worthy of Kafka. Our state’s leaders keep asking parents and communities to take bigger roles in making local schools better—even as those same leaders keep us in the dark about how our public schools are doing. In the 2013-14 school year, the state suspended the Academic Performance Index, or API, […]
Was That A Senate Debate Or An Attorney General’s Press Conference?
I’ve figured out why Kamala Harris is leading the race for U.S. Senate. She’s the only major candidate with a real job. That was the only takeaway of a poorly designed debate last week in San Diego. The public radio stations organizing it stuffed five candidates, four different journalist panelists, and a journalist host – […]
Could Dialogue Around Ballot Propositions Be as Easy as 123?
California’s ballot initiative process has many problems. A big one is that there are few neutral forums so that people can discuss and educate themselves on ballot measures. Other states do better than we do this on this. Oregon, for example, has a jury-like process for reviewing ballot initiatives that has been exported to other […]
We’re Not 40 Million Yet
California just had another flare-up of one of its chronic diseases: Population overestimation. I’ve written about this malady before. We’re constantly overestimating how fast our population is growing. For years, we were going to reach 50 million by 2020. Then it was 2025. Gov. Brown has talked about us as if we were about to […]
Wrong Turn at Wasco
I’m that rare California bird – the high-speed rail critic who has been converted to strong supporter (with a bunch of caveats—it has to be done right). Much of the rest of the state, and especially the political class, has been migrating in the opposite direction. Which is fine by me. When you’re swimming against […]
California Wants to Improve Its Golf Game
Your columnist is not an Olympic athlete. But last Friday I managed a serious athletic feat: playing 18 holes of golf in just 45 minutes, without using a cart or even lifting a golf club. And, no, this wasn’t miniature golf or a video game. My secret? I was playing FootGolf, which involves kicking a […]
On Money & Politics and the Top Two Primary
I find it impossible to take Bernie Sanders seriously when he decries all the money in politics. It’s bad enough that he’s talked incessantly about money being too powerful in politics—all while outraising and outspending the Clinton machine, which takes some doing. Now he’s come to California and is expressing vigorous support for one of […]
Memo to Justice Breyer on CA Death Penalty
To: Stephen Breyer, Associate Justice, U.S. Supreme Court From: Joe Mathews Re: Switch to decaf, dude Just read your dissent from a U.S. Supreme Court decision turning down a challenge to the death penalty in California. You alone among the eight justices wanted to hear the case. And after reading it, I’ve gotta give you […]
Only San Jose Can Stop the City by The Bay from Gaining Too Much Power and Money
Poor San Jose—so far from God, so close to San Francisco. San Jose is the 10th largest city in the United States, the third most populous in the state of California—and No. 1 in disrespect. With more than 1 million people, it’s Northern California’s biggest municipality—but it’s constantly outshined by those 860,000 San Franciscans to […]