The Road Ahead for the California GOP
California’s AG resisted any temptation to join those of 18 sister states led by the Texas AG seeking to have the Supreme Court overturn President-Elect Joe Biden’s irreversible victory. Not that the vast majority of California voters favored the idea which turned out to be a giant waste of time as the high court delivered […]
Housing Laws that Allow the Theft of Community Wealth
You’ve heard the story about frogs who don’t leap out of a kettle of water that is slowly brought to a boil. The story illustrates how people, like frogs, will succumb to slow changes without taking action. The story is a myth, but the principle holds true for California’s single-family homeowners, neighborhoods and communities. Having […]
Looking to 2021 and Our Recovery
The holidays are here, which means 2020 is coming to an end. Under normal circumstances, a new year would represent new beginnings and new opportunities, but as we prepare to welcome the new year, the hard truth is that many of the issues and challenges we have faced throughout 2020 will remain with us in […]
Midway through plagued first term, Newsom’s career hits make-or-break point
Speaking to the camera from his home office during the final days of a family quarantine, Gov. Gavin Newsom seemed at times to be giving himself a pep talk, as much as encouraging 40 million Californians to hunker down amid a coronavirus spike threatening to overwhelm hospitals. “We will get through this,” the governor said […]
California Office Pool 2021
This is the 12th annual edition of the California Office Pool. It was inspired by the late, great New York Times columnist William Safire, who made a habit of writing an annual column he called Office Pool. In it, Safire offered, multiple-choice style, a series of possible news events that could take place in the […]
Blue State, Red Tape — California is Shedding Residents and Businesses
A Sacramento Bee headline from late October, “How liberal politics, COVID-19 and a high cost of living are fueling a new California exodus,” could have been written, without the virus reference, a year ago. Or ten years ago. The flight from California kicked off long before this year’s pandemic. Eight years ago, an Investor’s Business […]
Let’s Unite to Draw Distressed Coastal Residents
Thousands of people on the coasts are pleading for help getting out of the urban enclaves from which they once looked down their noses at us, out in Flyover Country. How should we respond? By taking advantage of an economic-development opportunity for the ages. The reports by now have become too numerous to dispute: People […]
On Lockdowns, At Least One County LA Supervisor Gets It
Two Los Angeles County Supervisors represent the San Fernando Valley area. One of them understands the challenges of business operators. The other doesn’t seem to get it. That became clear recently when the supervisors voted 3-2 to allow the shutdown of outdoor dining for at least three weeks at Los Angeles County restaurants in response […]
California Tops Nation Least Affordable Housing
Nearly all of the nation’s top 20 least affordable housing markets are in California. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and Wells Fargo Bank report that 18 of the country’s most unaffordable regions are in the Golden State, including all of the top 10. As usual, San Francisco and its peninsula communities led the […]
Look to Orange County for How to Turn California Purple
For decades, Orange County was a reliable incubator of conservative politics, and, in the era of Nixon, Goldwater and Reagan, a fairly powerful force in the state and on the national level. More recently, the area has been widely seen as tilting blue, particularly during the Trump era, with the media celebrating the end of […]