Why California City Councils Should Be Bigger
Want a stronger California city? Don’t make your mayor more powerful. Make your city council bigger. Mayors Sam Liccardo of San Jose and Darrell Steinberg of Sacramento are seeking to become “strong mayors”—with broad executive authority over department heads, budgets and council legislation. “Strong mayors” are rare in California. More typically, California cities are run […]
Analysis: How renters, landlords and banks fared in the eviction compromise
California renters financially impacted by the coronavirus pandemic will be protected from eviction until at least next February, while small landlords will be offered some foreclosure protections, under a measure approved by lawmakers and signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom late Monday night. The deal was passed by supermajorities in both state legislative chambers, with both […]
Judge Gives Favorable Ruling for Coffee Roasters and Distributors in Proposition 65 Lawsuit
Coffee roasters, distributors and coffee lovers received a favorable ruling this week when Superior Court Judge Elihu M. Berle ended a decade-long lawsuit, ruling that the coffee industry had met their burden of showing that acrylamide, found in that of coffee following the roasting and brewing process, doesn’t cause cancer. Now, the Office of Environmental […]
Will San Diego County be the New Rhode Island?
When I first looked at the county rankings under Gov. Gavin Newsom’s four tier standards to open the economy safely, I had to wonder if in Southern California San Diego County would become the new Rhode Island. You will recall that Rhode Island put up barriers to travelers from other states that were labeled Covid-19 […]
A Few Words About Assembly Bill 3088 – The Tenant, Homeowner, and Small Landlord Relief and Stabilization Act of 2020
Just before the end of this year’s Legislative Session, the Governor’s office and several top state Legislators put together a proposal purportedly to assist both property owners and tenants. The piece of legislation is now known as Assembly Bill 3088 or the “The Tenant, Homeowner, and Small Landlord Relief and Stabilization Act of 2020.” This […]
Over 100 exemptions to AB 5 make the case for Prop 22
AB 5 is a hot mess. Mere months after it took effect, the same politicians who forced AB 5 on California’s workforce are adding more exemptions to the law—bringing the total number of exemptions to over 100. They are all listed below. There’s a reason they have to keep adding fixes to the shoddily crafted […]
It could be the Most Significant Election in the Nation’s History
What can you say about a party that has vanquished its own former leadership, thrown out the rules that guided it to glory in earlier years and has opted to pay reverence to an undisciplined, law-adverse showman who has spat on the policies and principles which have driven its success? Golden State connections abound but […]
Picasso Lawmaking: SB 820
The art of lawmaking would be better displayed than the example of SB 820, an omnibus education bill. This so-called budget trailer bill is like a Picasso painting with all weird shapes and sizes of legislation gathered together on one canvas. How can a lawmaker study the details and decide with a simply yes or […]
Blackouts And Fires: California’s Summer Attractions
In the soft warmth of spring the swallows famously return to Capistrano, but in recent years they are followed by what seems inevitable summer power outages and fires. This is not as pleasant an experience for Californians as the return of our favored feathered companions. Every summer, usually around this time of year, we get […]
When Approving a $7 Billion Bond Proposal, Did the LAUSD Board Violate the Brown Act?
As reported in the Beverly Press and elsewhere, the “the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education voted unanimously to place a $7 billion school construction bond issue on the November ballot which would allow the LAUSD to continue its multi-year effort to upgrade school facilities.” Writing for CityWatch on August 6, Jack Humphreville […]