A new poll released
Wednesday has good news and bad news for Gov. Jerry Brown.

The good news is that
his public approval ratings have rebounded slightly since March, according to
this survey by the Public Policy Institute of California. About 40 percent of
adults now view him favorably, compared to 34 percent a month earlier.

More good news: a
majority of Californians still like the idea of a special election to vote on
the budget, and they say they like Brown’s plan to balance the budget with a
mix of cuts and taxes.

Then there is the bad
news, for Brown.

The voters don’t like
some of the taxes in the package he is advocating, even if they are tied
explicitly to maintaining funding for the schools.

After several months of encouraging news on the
housing front, California housing prices are in the midst of another downturn,
if not yet a fall.

Housing prices have been steadily dropping since last
spring, after a year of recovery, according to a California composite of the
S&P Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index. More ominous,
year-over-year home prices have been dropping since the beginning of the year,
signaling a return to the persistent price stickiness California has
experienced since the bursting of the mid-decade housing bubble.

OK, I may be catching royal wedding fever, but this damn
question keeps sneaking into my mind.

Would
California be better off with its own king or queen?

Crazy to
ask, but I can’t stop thinking about it, perhaps because the nuptials of
William and Kate are already the number one story on the LA local news.

Sure, it
ain’t going to happen, but would it be so bad?

One big problem that underlies many
of our California maladies is that we have no sense of our own history. Californians
and their leaders move fast. They come and go. And yes, once in a while, they
return (see Brown, Jerry). But for the most part, we govern, and mis-govern
ourselves. The big decisions in California have had little to do with memorable
individuals or leaders-and everything to do with decisions on constitutional
amendments or initiatives that we ourselves made. Which may be one reason why
we forget the damage we ourselves have done, almost as soon as we have done.

Last week, Governor Brown’s statewide budget tour stopped
in my hometown of Santa Clarita.  While a visit from the Governor would
naturally be a big deal in our community, last Thursday’s visit became the
focus of statewide attention as I was the first Republican legislator to accept
his invitation to attend the forum.  My decision to join Governor Brown at
Hart High School was based on my belief that having such a forum afforded me
the opportunity to hear first-hand the Governor’s proposal, as well as how it
would be received by my constituents.   

I also want to thank the Governor for his willingness to
have a frank, honest, discussion about the very real crisis we face in
California His understanding that fundamental, long-term changes are also
necessary for the stability of our great state is a viewpoint I share. 

Based on the reports of previous hearings, I was
skeptical about who would participate and I expected most of them to be
supportive of the Governor’s tax increases. So, once I decided to attend,
we worked with the Governor’s office to ensure invitations went out to people
who truly represented a cross-section of the community.  Although the meeting focused on education and
law enforcement, representatives from the Chamber of Commerce, Association of
Realtors, Building Industry Association, and several small business owners also
chose to attend.

Governor Jerry Brown promised to present any tax increases
to the voters. Now members and allies of his party along with some columnists are
pressuring him to renege on that pledge and attempt to pass taxes by
legislative action. I don’t think Brown will budge.

Despite headlines that seem to indicate voters would pass a
tax increase that the governor advocates, that is no sure thing and the public
unions and Democrats know it. The recent USC Dornsife/LA Times poll had the
governor’s plan passing by a small majority. Yet, on a call with reporters, the
pollsters and poll sponsors all admitted after looking at all the data that
passing the taxes would not be easy.

Yet, in the poll, voters clearly said they want an
opportunity to vote on taxes.

Brown will not want to go against those wishes, especially
since he is aware that highly visible promises that are compromised can
undercut a politician’s credibility.

Despite
all the complaining California
Republicans are doing about the latest Los Angeles Times/USC poll on
taxes and the state budget, they might want to take a look at a small question
near the end of the survey to see where their real problem lies.

That’s
the part where 40 percent of the Latino voters surveyed identify themselves as
conservatives. You know, the same political identification that dominates the
state GOP.

Yet
a March
survey done by a GOP pollster and a Republican consultant found that only
26 percent of Latinos surveyed had a favorable opinion of the Republican Party,
compared to 62 percent who thought the Democrats were just swell.

I have a request of the people of California. Show up for
one of Gov. Jerry Brown’s budget town halls – and say something that isn’t the
same old nonsense.

Brown’s latest, at a high school in the Santa Clarity
Valley, was a pointless and predictable affair. Each speaker rose to say
something utterly predictable that sought to shift the blame – to whomever they
don’t like.

There was the teachers’ union guy, hitting all the talking
points about the cuts that have come, and demanding that the legislature take action
on school funding, even though the union’s own formula helps tie the
legislature’s hand on school funding.

The angry student stood up and demanded to know why legislators’
salaries and benefits haven’t been cut, when they already have been.

The City of Vernon, located just south of Downtown Los Angeles, has less than 100 full-time residents and its motto is “Exclusively Industrial.” That motto took hold in the early 1920s when stockyards and meat packing plants were the backbone of the city. Later, major companies such as U.S. Steel, Alcoa Inc., General Mills, and the Studebaker Assembly Plant defined Vernon, until recent years when BCBG Max Azria, Farmer John, Tapatio Hot Sauce, True Religion Apparel Inc. and Papa Cantella’s Sausage became the modern face of this jobs Mecca.

Vernon offers a unique mix of benefits for industry. Its city-owned utility provides water and power rates below those of neighboring cities. Its zoning code allows for industrial operations that other local cities do not offer. Red tape is virtually non-existent and businesses have access to first-rate police and fire services. In total, Vernon is home to 50,000 jobs and a cumulative $4.5 billion annual payroll.

Discussion about changing California’s property tax system
is never far from the surface when talking taxes in this state. But, in other
parts of the country there are some moves to change the traditional property
tax system that may be surprising even to California’s would-be property tax
reformers. In Boston, Massachusetts the city is asking for a set amount of
volunteer property taxes from non-profit landholders such as universities and
hospitals. And, in North Dakota, initiative signatures have been filed to
abolish the property tax all together.

Boston is rich in non-profit organizations that, along with
federal and state government facilities, occupy 52-percent of the land in the
city.  To deal with its budget shortfall,
the city sent a letter to 40 top non-profit organizations asking them to commit
to paying property taxes for the next five years equivalent to 25-percent of
what they would owe if their property were not tax exempt.

According
to the Boston Globe, the 25-percent figure was arrived at because that is
roughly the portion of the city budget that pays for basic city services like
public safety, emergency medical treatment and snow removal.