CaliforniaCityNews.org

Forbes Magazine Releases 10 Most Miserable Cities In America

Forbes magazine, famous for its annual list of the 400 richest people in the world, has announced its inaugural list of the ten most miserable cities in America. The "misery index" is based on a  number of criteria from commute times, weather,crime rates,unemploment statistics and environmental concerns.

Of the top 150 metropolitan areas - three California cities made the list of being among the most "miserable" places in America to live. Number two on the list - Stockton, Number seven - Los Angeles, and number eight - Modesto.

Click here to read : (Forbes) Worst places: Americas most miserable cities.

Foreclosure Bill Loses In The Senate By One Vote

As policymakers scramble to find a solution to the mortgage meltdown, special interests are gearing up to protect the status quo. Not that thats all bad - the first rule during a crisis should be "do no harm". And with Sacramento politicans thats a bit of advice rarely heeded.

The latest attempt to address the situation lost by one vote in committee in a classic Sacramento political brawl. The Los Angeles Times covers the play by play in this article. The story is also covered in The San Jose Mercury News.

So while the Nero's fiddle, Rome continues to burn. In fact, Bay Area foreclosure filings continued to double, triple and quadruple at the end of 2007 compared to a year ago, with one home in every 93 slipping away from its owners.

"This is not a phenomenon limited to a certain type of socioeconomic class and geography," said Rick Sharga, vice president of marketing for RealtyTrac. "There's no one area of the country, or the state for that matter, that's immune." Read about how the issue is affecting the bay area here.

Ventura OKs fee for 911 service

The City of Ventura's council gave the go ahead for a $1.49 monthly fee to be levied on all telephone users to pay for 911 emergency services.  This makes Ventura the first city in Southern California to implement such a charge, one that has been invalidated in several Northern California cities, most notably Stockton, as a "tax in disguise."

Ventura's case is singular, however, in that city residents could have the option of throwing caution to the wind and forgoing the fee -- given they agree to pay a $50 per-call charge in the event they do utilize the city's 911 services.  Read the full story in the Ventura Star.

Maybe Its In The Water?...Are Mayor Sex Scandals Happening With More Frequency?

ABC News posts an article about the increasing number (and public insensitivity to) mayoral sex scandals. The story references Gavin Newsom, Antonio Villaraigosa, and Kwame Kilpatrick as recent examples of Big City Mayors having their private lives hit the headlines and how public reaction has changed post-Clinton/Lewinsky.

"Sex scandals are as old as politics," said Hank Sheinkopf, a political consultant who has worked on campaigns in 46 states. "What's new is technology: cell phones, e-mail, the Internet, gossip magazines and cable news. We live now in a culture of gossip where things can spread at the drop of a dime, and there is no way to keep a secret," he said.

"There are no more secrets. For the first time, being in public life means your life is completely public," he said.

Where Are California Mayors In The Presidential Contest?

February 5th is "Super Duper Tuesday" and California is the motherlode of delegates for both major political parties. In all likelihood, the country will know - certainly have a better sense - of who the two candidates will be for President of the United States.

So where is your Mayor in this race? The Sacramento Bee asked just that question and found that the majority of Mayors found (especially those from big cities) have gone to Hillary Clinton. This may be due in large part to the fact that the Clinton campaign is the only one that posts its endorsements on their website - maybe the endorsement game just isnt what it used to be.

CCN also knows that Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle was an early and strong supporter of Rudy Giuliani - one of the many "Mayors for the Mayor" - but no word yet on whether he has joined Rudy in throwing his support to the emboldened John McCain.

So if you know where your Mayor is at (or if youre an elected official who wants to tell the world where you stand) drop us a note at CCN. We'll keep a tally.

Berkeley Sets A New Standard For Cutting Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Who would have guessed that Berkeley would raise the ante on cities calling themselves green? The city has announced an extraordinarily ambitous effort to reduce greenhouse gas emmissions by a whopping 80%. Read the details of this effort in this article in the Oakland Tribune..

Among other things

The plan aims to:

-Send no waste to landfills.

-Ensure the majority of residents' food is produced within a few hundred miles to cut down on shipping.

-Make public transit, walking and biking the primary means of transportation and get personal vehicles to run on alternative fuels or electricity.

The 65-page document is broken into five sections.

Judge Set to Rule on Oaklands Plastic Bag Ban

Cities around the country have their eyes on Oakland and the future of their plastic bag ban. An organization called "Coalition to support plastic bag recycling " has filed a lawsuit arguing that the banning of plastic bags at large shopping stores will actually have a LARGER adverse environmental impact. Full story here.

Certainly an interesting argument...lets see which holds more water with the judge...paper or plastic.

City Staff Members in Bay Area Cities Getting Nervous

If you work for the cities of San Francisco or Oakland there might be a heightened level of anxiety around the water cooler these days. At least at the water cooler where the department heads slake their thirst.

Mayor Gavin Newsom is coming under fire for raiding the muni budget to increase high level staff members salaries. Matier and Ross report in The San Francisco Chronicle today about SF's most recent dust-up.

Mayor Ron Dellums in Oakland has sent all department heads a letter suggesting some staff changes may be in the works. Story in the Contra Costa Times. "From the outset of my administration I made clear I intended to evaluate things a year in to see how well we were positioned for the work ahead and to determine if any policy or staffing adjustments are necessary," Dellums wrote.

Story developing...stay tuned for coming updates.

Did the State of the Union Address Local Issues?

The President led his final State of the Union last night, as expected with a discussion on the economy and his proposed economic stimulus package.  So did he, or the Democrats in their response, have anything to say that would affect cities and local government in particular?

Well, as we've all been following the mortgage meltdown and its prospective impacts on cities across the nation, discussion of addressing the housing crisis was certainly of interest.  President Bush did make mention of the HOPE NOW alliance, a cooperative effort between counselors, investors, and lenders working to stem foreclosures.  The President also called on congress to "reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, modernize the Federal Housing Administration, and allow State housing agencies to issue tax-free bonds to help homeowners refinance their mortgages."

Bush also addressed issues such as immigration reform and homeland security that certainly affect cities, though he did not mention specific programs or initatives that might help local governments address these challenges. 

Perhaps of more interest to us in Cityland was the Democrat's response to the President's speech, delivered by Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius and in which she highlighted Steve Hewitt, the city manager of Greensburg, Kansas -- which was leveled by a tornado last year.  "Thanks to Steve's efforts, and hundreds of others in our state, and across the country, Greensburg will recover," said Sebelius. "Folks rolled up their sleeves and got to work, and local, state and federal governments assisted in the effort."

Sebelius also made reference to city mayors committing their cities to green development -- and good for her for recognizing the good work done by local government, and recognizing its critical role in service to our nation. 

The full text of the President's speech can be found here.
The Democrat response to his speech is here.

San Francisco Video Surveillance Cameras Having A Tough Time Fighting Crime

Small suggestion: If you're going to invest in video surveilance cameras throughout your cities high crime areas, deal with the inevitable political fallout from civil liberties groups, and incur the wrath of financial critics for the on-going costs of maintaining video cameras - make sure they work!

The San Francisco Chronicle writes an article showing that "choppy" and "grainy" footage of actual crimes in progress is leaving law enforcement authorites without clear evidence to press charges.

Take a look at this link and see if you can find when the crime was committed in between the sequence of photographs taken.

Maybe the city by the bay needs more bandwidth.