“Get Off My Porch”
Los Angeles District Attorney Jackie Lacey’s husband should not have brandished a gun at Black Lives Matter protestors approaching the couple’s house in the early morning hours the day before election. But his cry of “Get off my porch” may come to symbolize for many exasperated voters’ pushback against the growing incivility in this election […]
Super Tuesday Flop; California’s Primary was Too Early
A lot of Californians have reason to want to tar and feather California politicians after Tuesday’s vote. They are the 1.2 million Democratic voters who cast a ballot for one of the 11 Democratic candidates who have dropped out, or like Sen. Elizabeth Warren, are no longer viable. They wasted their votes because the primary […]
California’s legislature passed a far-reaching labor bill. It could make you collateral damage
The California Supreme Court’s 2018 decision in Dynamex Operations West v. Superior Court involved one trucking company that sought to turn its employees into independent contractors. The court said the trucking company, Dynamex, broke labor laws, but the precedent created an entirely new standard for determining worker classification in this state. The decision was momentous, […]
Embrace the uncertainty: Waiting for results during California’s “election month”
As you read this article, Proposition 13, the $15 billion school construction bond either failed by a historically wide margin, or it didn’t. Likewise, Bernie Sanders bulldozed the competition, beating out California’s second place Democratic finisher, Joe Biden, by hundreds of thousands of votes. Or he didn’t. And turnout might have been historically high — […]
As This is Written…Quick Hits on the Election the Morning After
Any observations on the results of the California primary early the morning after Election Day must carry the phrase “as this is written” because the election process, as it has evolved in California, means final results are not certain because of late arriving ballots. Proposition 13 School Bond The biggest surprise so far is that […]
Ghost Candidates Show the Wisdom of a Second Ballot
In California, it should be legal to vote twice. But only the second ballot should be counted. Unfortunately, you can’t vote twice—a problem exposed by the “ghost candidates” who showed up on Democratic presidential primary ballots in California. Ballots are put together months in advance, and nine candidates on the ballot had dropped out of […]
How Much Does California Actually Spend on K-12 Students?
“It’s not enough. We’re still 41st in the nation in per pupil funding. Something needs to change. We need to have an honest conversation about how we fund our schools at a state and local level,” – California Governor Gavin Newsom, State of the State Address, February 12, 2020 It should come as no surprise that […]
Today’s Big Stories and the November Election
Today two big stories dominate the news and both could have a great influence on California ballot measures that will be tested in the November General Election—the California presidential primary election and the spread of coronavirus Today is election day, or should we say, the key day for what amounts to election months in California. Voters […]
Why Further Compromise on SB 50 is a Bad Idea
California lawmakers are good at cutting deals on legislation. They’re famous (or infamous) for it. Especially when there is a lot of pressure on them. They happen to be under that kind of pressure now. State legislators deserve to be under pressure. For 30 years California has failed to produce enough housing – to keep […]