CaliforniaCityNews.org

Guv Outlines $5 billion in Cuts

Governor Schwarzenegger outlined an additional $5 billion in cuts to help the state meet its budget shortfall this week.  The cuts range from health care and human services to education funding.  Of course, the $2 billion plan to borrow from cities is also hanging out there.  In the LAT write up of the Governor's proposal, the Times calls out the new SaveYourCity website, which now has 250+ videos of local officials insisting the state keep its hands off.

The League of Cities is meeting in San Diego this week.  Expect that number to grow as more mayors and council members weigh in on the proposed raids.

Davis Citied as 'Most Bike Friendly' City in US.

"If you love to bike, you’ll love Davis."  So begins a story in Wired this month on "What Makes a City Bike Friendly?"  The City initiated its bike friendly policies way back in 1967, and has since been looked at as a model for such programs... from the CA Dept of Transportation to the League of American Bicyclists. 

But are they the most bike friendly in the nation?  "“I don’t know about number one,” John Berg, Chair of the Davis Bicycle Advisory Committee, told Wired. “But we are a leader."

Read the full story here.

Modesto Grabs $18 million in Chemical Settlement

11 years of litigation have resulted in an $18 million settlement to help the City of Modesto clean up dry cleaning related chemicals from its groundwater.  Perchlorethylene (PCE) is a chemical commonly used in dry cleaning (unless you have a green dry cleaner) and causes cancer.  Surprise surprise. 

We wrote on the issue of PCE last month, read about this recent settlement from the AP. 

Temp Bans on Medical Marijuana in NorCal Cities?

Pondering how best to regulate the potential of medical marijuana dispensaries moving into town, the City of Vacaville is considering a moratorium on the outlets.  Nearby cities of Benicia and Fairfield have adopted similar, temporary bans... read more in the CoCo Times.

Sacramento City officials are also considering such a move.  The proliferation of the facilities is a concern in the Capitol city, where state budget related anxiety may have helped spur the number of dispensaries from 7 to 29 in recent months. 

Santa Rosa Halts River Dumping

After a 1985 incident that dumped 750 million gallons of "effluent" into the Russian River, the Santa Rosa city council passed a resolution that set the city on a course to halt all dumping into the river.  Santa Rosa has now gone an entire year while dumping 'niet' into the river.  It's the first year since the nineteenth century that has been the case, read more in the Press Democrat.

Save Your City

A new website has launched to combat state raids on local revenues.  SaveYourCity.net has over 200 videos from mayors, council members, city managers and other officials.  Check it out -- you can uplaod your own message telling legislators to keep their hands off local coffers. 

Aloha! Honolulu Becomes The First City In US To Hold All-Digital Elections

HONOLULU – Voting has ended in what is being touted as the nation's first all-digital election, and city officials say it has been a success.

Some 115,000 voters in Honolulu's neighborhood council election were able to pick winners entirely online or via telephone. The voting, which started May 6, ended Friday.

City officials say the experiment appears to have generated few problems; it has even saved the financially strapped city around $100,000. Read the AP story in Yahoo News

Big City Mayors Begin Rallying To The Cause Of Protecting Cities From The Budget Axe

The Mayors of Sacramento, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Santa Ana will all be arriving in the capitol on Tuesday morning to meet with legislative leaders, policy experts and the media to make the case against borrowing from city coffers. The meeting has already garnered local media coverage in some parts of the state. And, of course, gubernatorial politics has its hand in the process as well.

Close observers will note that Antonio Villaraigosa, an all but declared candidate for Governor is likely to be the headliner at the mayors confab. Not to be outdone, San Francisco Mayor and already declared candidate for Governor Gavin Newsom recently had some sharp words for the politicans in Sacramento that he hopes to work with as the chief executive in the coming months. Toughest quote from a big city mayor so far:

"The cheapest excuse for leadership - it is the cheapest excuse - is stealing money from your neighbor to solve your own budget problems." -  Mayor Gavin Newsom, warning Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger against raiding county funds to shore up the state budget We found this gem in the San Francisco Chronicle

Lets see if any other Mayors running for candidate can one-up Newsom Tuesday morning...that means current and former Jerry Brown! 

In the meantime, California City News suggests that all mayors and Council members - both Democrats and Republicans - hold your endorsements of the gubernatorial candidates (and all statewide offices for that matter) until they publicly oppose the taking of money from city governments. After all, once you give em yer name - ya can't complain.

Friday Funnies: Return of the Gadfly

It's been relatively quiet on the Gadfly front in 2009, but an "on again, off again homeless person" in Las Vegas brings it back with a vengeance.  He discusses everything from roller blades as alternative transportation to his Falafel consumption. 

Michael Lehrer addresses Las Vegas City Council - watch more funny videos

Countdown: 10 Most Liberal, Most Conservative California Cities

Fancy your city a bastion of conservative values... or a "people's republic"?  The SacBee has compiled a list of the 10 most ideological cities in the state, on either side of the aisle.  The paper took into account voter registration disparities for one party vs another. 

We won't steal the Bee's thunder and divulge the whole list, so here's links to view the top liberal and top conservative cities.

We will note that there is a clear North/South division to the ideological extremes in our state.  Though it's probably no surprise that the Bay Area and Orange County deserve their respective reputations...

There's even a map showing the divide:

View Red & Blue State in a larger map