Tag "Chris Reed"
Back to homepage
San Diego mayor leery of subsidizing stadium, sees political risk
San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer’s call for another task force to consider how to build the Chargers a new stadium and keep the NFL team from fleeing to a newly plausible Los Angeles stadium prompted an are-you-kidding-me reaction from the
Read More
Top lawyer for controller benefits from much-criticized state perk
The state government’s practice of letting workers defy official state policy and pile up unused vacation days and cash them in upon retirement has been criticized on and off for years. California government watchdogs and journalists have outlined the budget
Read More
Some crucial context on Brown’s new energy policy and AB 32
Gov. Jerry Brown’s decision to seek to extend the state of California’s push against global warming to 2030 with a further embrace of costlier-but-cleaner energy got a positive response from many environmental groups and journalists. The idea that California would
Read More
Oxy CA energy spinoff has bumpy launch
When energy giant Occidental launched a spinoff to focus on California energy exploration on Dec. 1, the circumstances facing California Resources Corp. were daunting. The plunging price of oil made unconventional energy extraction methods, which cost more, less attractive. And
Read More
State in use-it-or-lose-it mode with $4B in bullet-train funds
The California bullet-train project — stalled for years by legal fights over land acquisition and the state’s business plan, uneven progress in planning and Gov. Jerry Brown’s abrupt downsizing of the scale of the project in 2013 — had its symbolic
Read More
New category of CA employees tries to sandbag pension fixes
When elected officials participate even very indirectly in a process that improves their compensation, the public goes wild. It’s powerful attack-ad fodder for candidates seeking to unseat such politicians. But when powerful bureaucrats engage in such in a maneuver —
Read More
Report may force CA media to admit Obama backs fracking safety
As Cal Watchdog has repeatedly noted over the past two years, the California print media — with the exception of the U-T San Diego editorial page (my edits) and a San Francisco Chronicle reporter — never note the Obama administration’s
Read More
Harsh impact of CalSTRS bailout begins to emerge
The deal struck in spring 2014 to bail out the underfunded California State Teachers’ Retirement System will lead school districts, the state and teachers to increase their annual contributions to CalSTRS from $5.9 billion in 2014 to at least $10.9
Read More
CA initiative reform: Lawmakers ignore the elephant in the room
The San Francisco Chronicle recently reported on initiative reforms that take effect today. After more than a century in California’s political spotlight, the state’s initiative process will be getting a major revise next year. Even more surprising, both Democrats and
Read More
CARB draws sharp fire on AB 32 — from the left
David Roberts — a Grist.org journalist who has an easy command of energy issues that makes his NRDC-style environmentalism easier to take — has written a sharp piece about AB 32. Roberts details what he calls an “avoidable mess” in the
Read More