Sick of all those ads flying back and forth between Meg Whitman and Jerry Brown? Now for something different. We give you Basil Marceaux:
Continue reading "A Different Kind of Governor...Tennessee-Style" »
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Sick of all those ads flying back and forth between Meg Whitman and Jerry Brown? Now for something different. We give you Basil Marceaux:
Continue reading "A Different Kind of Governor...Tennessee-Style" »
Posted by jbrown at 09:14 AM in Unusual | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
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“Local officials say they are eliminating entire classes for police academies, closing public parks, and increasing class sizes as teachers get laid off. The reductions come at a time when demands for social services are increasing because of the high unemployment rate. […] ‘It’s vital to the survival of cities and towns throughout this country,’ said James Mitchell, a city council member from Charlotte, N.C., and a vice president at the National League of Cities, in a telephone press briefing.”However, many experts believe that such legislation has little chance of passing in the Senate, as legislators are wary of bills that will add to the mounting deficit. But CSM points out that despite these concerns, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, an officer with the United States Conference of Mayors, stated, “I don’t care what the mood is in the Senate. I am more concerned about the mood of the people and they are [angry] that they don’t have a job.” Read more here.
Posted by jbrown at 03:05 PM in Economic Development, Public Safety, Rev & Tax, State Budget | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
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Posted by jbrown at 02:45 PM in Economic Development, Unusual | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
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In the ongoing shakedown of city officials in Bell, pay cuts, resignations, and investigations are flying left and right. Earlier this week and under tremendous pressure, Bell’s City Council voted to take a 90 percent pay decrease so that council members will only earn $673 a month. Four council members were reported to be earning salaries close to $100,000. The LA Times also reports that Mayor Oscar Hernandez and Vice Mayor Teresa Jacobo will finish their terms with no pay and Hernandez has indicated that he will not seek reelection. For many residents of Bell, however, the pay cuts are not enough, as they expected council members to resign.
Pedro Carrillo is serving as the city’s the interim chief administrative officer and he has asked State Controller John Chiang to conduct an independent audit of the city's finances to meet demands for more transparency. Also, it has been announced that a probe into allegations of conflicts of interest involving municipal business and voter fraud has been expanded by Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley. The Times reports:“Cooley also said investigators were looking at whether council members had received pay for meetings they did not attend or meetings that lasted only a few minutes. Most of the pay that Bell council members received came not from their City Council salaries, but as stipends for serving on the boards of city panels, such as the Public Financing, Surplus Property, and Solid Waste and Recycling authorities. City records indicate that those boards performed little work and that their business was routinely conducted during council meetings. In some cases, the board meetings would last no more than a minute, according to the records.”
Several elections are being reviewed, including possible issues with absentee ballots. For more on the pending investigations, read here.
(Photo: Don Bartletti, Los Angeles Times)
Posted by jbrown at 02:03 PM in Campaigns & Elections, Economic Development, Legal, Unusual | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
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It was announced Wednesday that effective this Sunday, furloughs are once again back on the table, less than one month after they were ended for 200,000 state workers. The governor’s latest executive order will require that employees take three unpaid days off per month. And to tie it into the budget battle, this furlough period is not set to end until lawmakers pass a budget. Notably, those who will be exempted from this latest furlough are those working for departments that collect revenue. Workers in the six unions that agreed to pension reform are also excluded. The Bee reports that Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear said of the order: “We have a fiscal crisis. We're doing what we have to do to conserve cash.” Read more here.
If you’re hoping to see Governor Schwarzenegger sign a budget anytime soon, then you might want to prepare for the fact that it could be his successor that actually approves a spending plan because Schwarzenegger is remaining steadfast about his claim that he will not sign anything unless it includes pension and budget reforms. The governor stated, “If I do not get all of the things that we need … I will not sign a budget, and it could actually drag out until the next governor gets into office.” So are Democratic leaders willing to wait it out? Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg countered that if the governor insists on having things only his way, then he's up for playing the waiting game.
In another budget update, the hearing date over when Controller John Chiang will have to issue minimum wage paychecks has been pushed back. What does that mean for state workers? They will not have to worry about receiving minimum wage until after September (and perhaps beyond). The Bee reports:“It's not clear when the court will hear infeasibility arguments. The case hinges on expert testimony and analysis, so the two sides will need time to compile their evidence and witnesses, exchange the information and then break down the opposition's arguments. ‘So by our understanding," Endean said, "we're looking at full wages at least through September, if not beyond.’ The caveat: If the budget fight drags on, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger could order more furloughs.”In his analysis of the budget stalemate that is approaching four weeks, KQED’s John Myers writes, “Meantime, legislative talks continue over how to end the stalemate but seem stuck on what's a fairly easy thing to understand -- neither Democrats nor Republicans are willing, for now, to sacrifice anything more than they've already given up.” Read more here.
Posted by jbrown at 01:30 PM in Economic Development, Pension Reform, Rev & Tax, State Budget | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
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Posted by jbrown at 12:14 PM in Campaigns & Elections, Economic Development, Public Safety, Rev & Tax | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
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Smoking cigarettes in undeniably bad for your health, and with higher taxes and prices for lighting up, it appears the health of the state’s economy has been affected by more people ultimately kicking their smoking habit. With the decline in smoking, the state has lost out on $74 million in tax revenues, which means that many health programs have had to find other sources for funds when revenue from cigarette taxes have proven less substantial in recent years. Currently, on average it costs over $5 for a pack, and the higher price has caused sales to plunge. Case in point, in 1980, 2.8 billion packs were sold in the state and last year the number sold was 972 million. Last year, cigarette sales were at their lowest level in a decade and the state Board of Equalization points out that “the 8.1 percent sales drop was the largest year-over-year decline since 2000.” The Bee reports:
“In all, the state collected $839 million in cigarette tax revenues during the just-completed fiscal year, compared with $913 million the year before. ‘It's definitely a bit of good news and bad news for us,’ said Diane Levin, chief deputy director of First 5 California, which gets most of its funding from state cigarette taxes to pay for anti-smoking education services and other programs that promote healthy living among Californians with young children. ‘Declining revenue isn't a new issue for us. We've been expecting it, and we've been planning for it,’ she said. ‘We're having to strategize to do more with less, to concentrate our focus in these tough times.’Since funding health services has been a point of contention in budget negotiations, the drop in tax revenue has made providing services more difficult during tough economic times. Reportedly only 13 percent of the state’s population smokes cigarettes. Read more here.
Posted by jbrown at 11:44 AM in Economic Development, Public Safety, Rev & Tax | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
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1. Monterey Park, CAThe list can be viewed here. Read more about the rankings and Akamai here.
2. Riverside, CA
3. Fairfield, CA
4. Capitol Heights, MD
5. Hayward, CA
6. Walnut Creek, CA
7. Staten Island, NY
8. Oakland, CA
9. San Mateo, CA
10. Olympia, WA
Posted by jbrown at 11:15 AM in Infrastructure, Unusual | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
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The city of Temecula’s Planning Commission has pushed back a hearing on a building plan for a 25,000-square-foot mosque that has created controversy and a scheduled protest from local Tea Partiers in Southwest Riverside County. The City Council noted that a traffic study would have to be completed so a commission reviewing the structure would probably not occur until November. The Islamic Center of Temecula Valley wants to build a new mosque to replace a 12-year-old facility with a larger facility. Even though the current mosque has been around for years, the creation of a new building has drawn criticism from some Tea Partiers in the region who are planning the protest for Friday. The Press-Enterprise reports that a web site for the Southwest Riverside County Tea Party was critical of Islam and urged protestors to bring Bibles, flags and dogs to the event. The LA Times reports that Hussam Ayloush, executive director of the Greater Los Angeles Area chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, stated the following of opposition to the mosque:
“Opposing the rights of certain Americans to freely practice religion is not only shameful and immoral, but unconstitutional. I am confident that our fellow Americans from all faith backgrounds will join us in rejecting such KKK tactics of intolerance, bigotry and intimidation.”
Some reports have circulated that the protest may be canceled now and leaders at the Islamic center have said that while they are disappointed by the reaction, they don’t want any counter-protesting, which may only escalate tensions. Some Tea Partiers in the region have called those orchestrating the protest a fringe faction. You can read more here and here.
(Photo: Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
Posted by jbrown at 10:48 AM in Housing & Land Use, Infrastructure | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)
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Does your city need even more coffee shops? You might think so if you love a cup of joe and live in one of the nation’s most caffeine-addicted cities. The Daily Beast has compiled a list of the country’s most caffeinated cities by crunching the data with a list of cities with the largest number of coffee shops, most caffeine consumption, and average monthly spending. Unsurprisingly, the Pacific Northwest came out on top, specifically the cities of Seattle and Portland. Residents of Seattle on average spend around $36 a month of coffee. However, out of the top 10, California has three cities that some of the most addicted to a morning jolt of coffee. The Daily Beast reports that “Coffee is a $60 billion global industry with outposts on nearly every urban block” and Americans take in 280 milligrams of caffeine each day. Here’s a list of the top 10 caffeinated cites:
1. Seattle, WashingtonFor the full list of the top 20, view here.
2. Portland, Oregon
3. San Jose, CA
4. Denver, CO
5. San Francisco, CA
6. Chicago, Illinois
7. Phoenix, AZ
8. Los Angeles, CA
9. New York, NY
10. Boston, MA
Posted by jbrown at 10:15 AM in Unusual | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
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