Fox and Hounds Daily Says Goodbye

With this article, we end publication of Fox and Hounds Daily. It has been a satisfying 12½ year run. When we opened in May 2008, our site was designed to offer an opportunity to those who wished to engage in public debate on many issues, especially in politics and business, but found it difficult to get placed in newspaper op-ed pages. 

Co-publishers Tom Ross, Bryan Merica and I have kept F&H going over this time investing our own time, funding, and staff help. Last year at this time we considered closing the site, however with an election on the horizon we decided to keep F&H going through the election year. With the election come and gone, and with no sense of additional resources, we have decided to close the site down. 

Fox and Hounds will live on, at least, with my articles collected in the California State Library.

On a personal note, I have spent over 40 years in California policy and politics. There have been some incredible high moments and some difficult low points. It pains me that politics too often is a blood sport, frequently demonizing the motives of opponents and using the legal system as a weapon in public discourse. At Fox & Hounds, we tried to adhere to the practice of giving all a voice in the debate, yet keep the commentaries civil and avoided personal attacks.

F&H offered the opportunity to publish different perspectives (even ones that criticized my writings!).  We had success as indicated by the Washington Post twice citing Fox and Hounds Daily one of the best California political websites and many other positive affirmations and comments received over the years.

Tom, Bryan and I want to thank our many readers and writers for being part of our journey.  The publishers of Fox and Hounds Daily believe that we added value to California and its people. We hope you agree.

Make Your City Council Meetings Feel Like a Starbucks

Would your community be better off if your city council met at the local Starbucks?

The answer is almost certainly yes. Compared to people in other states, few Californians talk to their neighbors and work together with them to solve local problems. But the most natural forums to meet with neighbors on community challenges—local meetings of the city council or school boards—aren’t designed to encourage conversation among citizens.

Walk into a council chamber or school board meeting room in your town, and you’ll likely see rows of chairs facing some sort of raised dais or stage, where the council members or board members sit. (Check out images of city council meetings around L.A. County here.) The whole point of the setup is to have you look at the politicians, not your fellow citizens. Essentially, city council chambers are laid out like church, and, as in church, you’re not supposed to talk too much. So it’s not surprising that fewer and fewer Americans bother to go to city council meetings (or, for that matter, to church).

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Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin Raises Water Rates, Then Sues Taxpayers

Fresno residents could see their water rates double, and in the process, all Californians could see their petition powers diminished, if a state appellate court doesn’t act quickly on a lawsuit to stop strong-arm tactics by the city of Fresno.

The protracted battle began last August, when the city of Fresno approved a controversial plan pushed by Mayor Ashley Swearengin to raise the city’s water rates. The additional revenue would go towards a $410 million upgrade to the city’s aging water system.

Under Swearengin’s plan, most water users, which include city residents and some unincorporated parts of Fresno County, would see their average monthly bills rise to $48, double what they were last year. Unsurprisingly, that didn’t sit well with a group of taxpayers, led by former Fresno County Supervisor Doug Vagim, who mobilized a grassroots effort to overturn the rate hikes.

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City of Palo Alto Faces Strike – $139,907 Average Total Compensation Not Enough

“Although the city is recovering, we are and will continue to have difficulty attracting and retaining experienced and skilled employees if we don’t achieve a solution now.”
Palo Alto City Employee and SEIU Local 521 Chapter Chair, Palo Alto Online, January 14, 2014

This refrain has been heard for over 20 years. It plays out in every city and county in California, whereby unionized workforces claim that if their employers don’t pay as much as the neighboring city, all the good employees will leave, and nobody will want to work for them.

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As Days Go By: Why Jerry Brown Must Act THIS Year On CalSTRS

The #1 rule of defined benefit pension plan management is that plan sponsors should supply enough cash each year to fund the “annual required contribution” (ARC).  Failure to pay the ARC produces pension deficits.

The #1 violator of that rule is California.

In 2013, the California teachers pension fund (CalSTRS) received only 44% of its ARC. The skipped contribution — $3.5 billion — was the largest skipped ARC in the country.  California has been skipping ARC’s for so long that, on Valentine’s Day last year, CalSTRS asked Governor Jerry Brown and the State Legislature for a $240 billion cash injection over 30 years, starting with $4.5 billion this year.

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Northern California Threatened by Leadership Vote

If you are worried about the drought, growing traffic, the funding at your children’s schools, or a whole host of other issues and you live in Northern California, you should be very worried about upcoming elections in the state legislature for the next Assembly Speaker and Senate President Pro Tempore.  For 40 forty years there has been an unspoken – and unbroken – rule that Southern California splits leadership of the legislature with the Bay Area and greater Northern California.  This year, Southern California leaders could seize complete control of the state legislature, winning leadership of both the Senate and the Assembly.  We respect the importance of Southern California and often work closely with leaders there on key issues, but, for the good of California, we must continue to share leadership.

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Wage Inequality in California: Why the Conventional Wisdom is Wrong

(This brief essay on wage inequality in our state first appeared last Friday at Zocalo Public Square.)

The wage gap between rich and poor Californians is rising to the top of the political agenda in 2014. In December, the state legislature formed a caucus to end poverty and inequality in California that will be chaired by State Senator Mark DeSaulnier. City officials in San Francisco and Los Angeles have pledged to tackle the issue. Major private foundations and thinktanks cite wage inequality as among their major priorities in the new year.

Much of the activity on wage inequality has coalesced around the same narrative. Wage inequality, the story goes, has been growing in California since the Great Recession. If left unattended, it could threaten social stability and create an underclass in California. Government on all levels has ignored this inequality. It’s time in 2014 for government to act to correct it.

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