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CA 2014 fire season: A test of government competence
The two worst wildfires in recorded state history struck San Diego County in 2003 and 2007, as I wrote about in today’s U-T San Diego. “In October 2003, the Cedar Fire … broke out in the Cleveland National Forest, started accidentally by
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Brown’s CalSTRS fix hammers districts, protects teachers
Contrary to the impression given by some of the current coverage of Sacramento’s attempts to shore up the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, the underfunding problem hasn’t been completely ignored for all these years. Here’s what I wrote about the
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Mass transit for poor frowned on in Bay Area
There’s plenty of research that shows that bus rapid transit is far the most cost-effective type of mass transit, with a flexibility that’s particularly helpful to the less affluent. This is from a Reason Foundation study released in January about
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CA cities gain tool to chop retirement benefits
A cliche in government circles is that there is no “magic bullet” available to address many big, difficult problems. But thanks to a recent action by the California Supreme Court, many local governments now do have a “magic bullet” to
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Taxpayers win Fresno rate hike court ruling
A group of taxpayers battling the City of Fresno has won a critical legal victory in their fight to get a referendum of the city’s water rate increases on the November ballot. On April 28, Superior Court Judge M. Bruce
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CA governments can open meetings with prayer
In one of those weird rulings, today the U.S. Supreme Court decided that it’s OK for local governments to open meetings with prayer. It’s weird because the Court itself opens with the prayer, “God save the United States and this Honorable
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Longevity breakthroughs make gov pensions even more of a gold mine
On Sunday the Drudge Report sent Twitter abuzz with the report of a hugely significant breakthrough on aging and longevity: “It may seem the stuff of gothic horror novels, but transfusions of young blood could reverse the ageing process and
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Gov. Brown’s 3D chess game leads to timid politics
If you believe Jerry Brown is a governing genius, then forgive me for laughing until I injure myself. What I think is that he’s scary shrewd at managing the narrative, at keeping people in the dark about what he’s really
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