The ‘Great State’ of San Francisco
The public stock offering by Twitter reflects not only the current bubble in social media stocks, but also the continuing shift in both economic and political power away from Southern California to the San Francisco Bay Area, home to less than one in five state residents. Not since the late 19th century, when San Francisco […]
Losses and Wins for Small Business
It’s too early to assess all the bills of concern or hope for the business community given the last minute flurry of action as the legislature closed down for the year. With bills whipping through the legislature in the closing day of session, small businesses are always on edge but there were minuses and some […]
Should the Governor and Lt Governor Run as a Ticket?
(Editor’s Note: Recently, I posted an article that revisited the California Constitution Revision Commission’s recommendation that the Governor and Lt. Governor run as a ticket. Garry South, then Chief of Staff to Lt. Governor Gray Davis, testified in front of the commission raising questions about that notion in December 1995. His commission testimony is re-printed […]
Time is Running Out on Meaningful CEQA Reform
With three weeks left in the 2013 legislative session, California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) reform is waiting on the sidelines while the list of public and private projects being stalled under the allegation of CEQA violations continues to grow. The most recent ruse is a CEQA challenge to a new downtown high-rise housing project in […]
House of Origin Onslaught Shows Slightest Glimmer of Hope, If GOP Will Only Seize the Opportunity
I started thinking about this column on Friday, when I was at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library to hear a speech by United States Senator Rand Paul. I was reminded of one of President Reagan’s favorite stories… I can picture my hero — ever the optimist and a horseman through and through – smiling as […]
Compromise Can Be Smart Politics
When Bill Clinton was talking about the virtues of political compromise at the Democratic National Convention Wednesday night, it would be nice to think someone in Sacramento was listening. I wouldn’t put a whole lot of money on that, though. There were plenty of legislators in the California delegation in Charlotte, so they might be […]
Legislators Lose Chance to Slip One By
The hasty plan to revise the state’s long-standing environmental quality law died a quick death in Sacramento Thursday and that’s good news for California. Not that the California Environmental Quality Act might not be ripe for an update, or at least a public, no-holds-barred discussion of how the law is being used and whether it’s […]
Oregon GOP Has a Lesson for California
Republican Chris Dudley, who barely lost the 2010 Oregon governor’s race, is packing up to leave the state – and likely politics – and there’s a lesson here for California’s GOP. If you want to build a political team, you’ve got to give the folks on your bench something to hope for. Or they won’t […]
The Expanding Wealth Of Washington
Crossposted on New Geography Throughout the brutal and agonizingly long recession, only one large metropolitan area escaped largely unscathed: Washington, D.C. The city that wreaked economic disasters under two administrations last year grew faster in population than any major region in the country, up a remarkable 2.7 percent. The continued steady growth of the Texas cities, […]
Don’t Let the Water Crisis Get Bad Enough
Yesterday on this site, Senator Dave Cogdill argued that it is “absolutely essential … that we pass a comprehensive water bond now.” In response, Jon Fleischman on his popular FlashReport website argued that the cost of the bond will be too high if it comes out of the legislature with an environmental agenda from a “Sierra Club wish list.” Instead of acting on a legislative measure now, Jon proposes we wait until the situation gets “bad enough” and then put forth by initiative a cheaper, more directed bond measure dealing exclusively with water storage and conveyance.
It is hard to argue with Jon’s analysis of how money has been ill spent in Sacramento. Government officials have been irresponsible in not adequately funding infrastructure to serve the water needs of the people. But I have problems with his conclusion that we allow the situation to get “bad enough” in hopes that the people will pass a leaner bond measure sometime in the indeterminate future.
While some would argue it is a principled stand to vote against a water bond that doesn’t exclusively provide for more water storage, watching principle crash into reality will not solve the pending water crisis.