CaliforniaCityNews.org

Water Talks Stalled

Assembly Republicans, unimpressed with plans to create a Coastal Commission-esque oversight body for the Delta, have introduced their own water legislation.  If that doesn't say this going nowhere fast, nothing does. 

The LA Times has a good rundown of the current status and atmosphere in the Capitol surrounding this issue, but Dan Walters has another good piece on what's really at stake -- the future of land use and development in California. 

"In a semi-arid state such as California, whether land remains undeveloped, is cultivated for agriculture, or is covered with houses and shopping centers depends almost entirely on the availability of water.  That was true when Los Angeles' civic and political gentry, eager for profitable land development in the San Fernando Valley, stealthily grabbed water from the Owens Valley a century ago. It's even truer today."

Bonds for Gold Scheme Nets Mayor 800 Years in Jail

That's not a typo in the headline.  Birmingham, Alabama Mayor Larry Langford has been convicted on 60 counts of federal bribery charges for steering over $7 million in county bond business to an associate who gave Langford money and jewelry.  The jury took less than two hours to convict Langford, and when sentencing takes place he could receive over 800 years. 

The Birmingham Weekly has the best write up we've seen.

Safest US Cities?

Forbes, great giver of city rankings (and blog fodder) is out with a list of safest US metro areas, judged by crime rates and incidences of workplace deaths and other hazards.  The list has its share of California cities, but we should preface our report with a caveat that metro-area rankings are notoriously suspect, in that the areas they cover are so diverse as to be a bit misleading. 

Case in point... while Minneapolis is so surprise as the nation's safest city, placed like Detroit (12th) and LA (19th) are a bit suspicious.  How could notoriously crime rich LA perform so well?  Well, to their credit LA has made terrific strides in lowering its murder and violent crime rates, throwing Orange County into its stats doesn't exactly hurt your stats.

Other California highlights, on top is San Jose/Silicon Valley (#7), San Diego (#13) and Sacramento and San Francisco/Oakland (#23 & #24 respectively). 

Get the full list here.

City of LA "Goes Google"

The Los Angeles City Council  voted unanimously to approve a $7.2 million deal to replace the city's existing Microsoft oriented e-mail system with Google Apps.  A bit of an interesting note here, the firm that had run LA's IT, Novell, is where Google CEO Eric Schmidt used to work.

The Google's bid appears to have triumphed as Google Apps has oriented itself towards government organizations. Google said in September that it is developing a "private cloud" to accommodate the security and policy issues faced by government entities.

Read more here.

Fun with Census Data

The US Census Bureau is beginning to unveil its information bounty, and one of the great newe features is data searchable and sliceable by city. The SacBee's Capitol Alert picked up on a few California city trends, notably that San Jose topped the U.S. in not only the diversity of its residents, but prices of its homes.

"San Jose tops the nation in median home value at $739,700, the only metropolitan region over $700,000, but all seven metro areas over $600,000 are in California, others being Santa Cruz, San Francisco, Salinas, Napa, Santa Barbara and Oxnard."  Interesting that OC and mush of the Bay Area and LA are absent that list.  Hmmm.

Anyway, take a look at the numbers yourself... here.

Prelude to a Canal?

The influential Westlands Water District and Metropolitan Water District of Southern California are getting behind the latest iteration of a a legislative water compromise in part "because they believe it brings the Peripheral Canal closer to reality," according to reports from the Capitol Weekly.

Ready to put their money where their mouth is, the "agencies themselves say they would pay for the huge project, using the money from the rate increases paid by their customers."  But hold on, just a minute here, say the enviros, for whom the idea of sanctioning a "Peripheral Canal" is tantamount to summoning the Prince of Darkness himself to our fair state. 

"The bill does not authorize a canal," a leading environmental negotiator was quoted, plainly. 

The water negotiations continued in the Capitol Monday, though Assembly Speaker Karen Bass is beginning to bristle that they are mostly being held in the confidence of the "Big 5," rather than on the floor. 

Read more on the early week progress in the Capitol Weekly.

Courts Supporting Cities' Local Control Rights on Cell Towers

The LA Times has a look at how cities are largely getting the backing of the courts when it comes to rejecting cell towers on aesthetic grounds.  This is actually pretty significant news, as utilities are notoriously fierce litigators.  

The Times' story focuses on a case in ritzy Ralos Verdes Estates, which raises some questions about varying standards among wealthy communities, but the legal issues hold for any city.  Read more.

Time Magazine: Why California Dream Still Lives

A must read is this week's Time Magazine cover article... "Despite Its Woes, California's Dream Still Lives."  The author interviews everyone from Governor Schwarzenegger to Kogi Taco Truck owner Roy Choi to discuss why the widespread reports of our state's demise may be premature.  Our favorite passage:

"Ignore the California whinery. It's still a dream state. In fact, the pioneering megastate that gave us microchips, freeways, blue jeans, tax revolts, extreme sports, energy efficiency, health clubs, Google searches, Craigslist, iPhones and the Hollywood vision of success is still the cutting edge of the American future — economically, environmentally, demographically, culturally and maybe politically. It's the greenest and most diverse state, the most globalized in general and most Asia-oriented in particular at a time when the world is heading in all those directions. It's also an unparalleled engine of innovation, the mecca of high tech, biotech and now clean tech. In 2008, California's wipeout economy attracted more venture capital than the rest of the nation combined. Somehow its supposedly hostile business climate has nurtured Google, Apple, Hewlett-Packard, Facebook, Twitter, Disney, Cisco, Intel, eBay, YouTube, MySpace, the Gap and countless other companies that drive the way we live."

Amen!  Read more.

Former Santa Cruz Mayor Wormhoudt Succumbs to Cancer

Local government has lost one of its fiercest leaders this week.  Former Santa Cruz Mayor and County Supervisor Mardi Worhhoundt has lost her battle against cancer.  She was 72. 

As written in the San Jose Merc, Wormhoundt "was known as a committed political fighter who inspired both fierce loyalties and strong opposition and who left a legacy of slow-growth development and women's and civil rights as a city councilmember and for 12 years as the Third District county supervisor." 

Wormhoundt led the City of Santa Cruz through the 1989 Loma Prieta quake and its recovery, and made her mark as a County Supe fighting development in coastal and rural areas, and leading several high profile fights to acquire land for purposes of conservation and oppose oil industry efforts in and around Santa Cruz County.  This won her a share of friends and enemies, but she was also highly respected.  Colleagues are quoted this week as calling her "principled," "courageous" and "effective," not a bad epitaph. 

Read more in the Merc and/or the Santa Cruz Sentinel. 

Free Webinar Updates Public Agencies on Health Care Reform

Keenan & Associates is providing a free webinar Tuesday to update public agencies on health care reform efforts moving in Washington.  The session will take place at 10:00 a.m., and is designed for employee benefits and human resources management, financial management, and executive management in California public agencies, hospitals and health care organizations.  Sounds like it will be a good update for anyone following this heated issue, among the topics covered will be:

    * Status of legislation
    * Benefit design and fiscal aspects of proposed legislation
    * Potential effects on employer-provided medical benefits
    * Implications for taxation of employee health benefits
    * Prospects for passage

The session is free, and you plug in live from your computer to attend.  You must RSVP, click here for more info or to register.