CaliforniaCityNews.org

Central Valley Cities Dot MarketWatch's Bottom 10 For Business

Bad news for Central Valley cities, or as they call them on the East Coast, "Eastern California."  In a survey of 101 US Cities, the Wall St Journal's MarketWatch ranked the "Best Cities for Business" and found Bakersfield, Stockton and Fresno in the Bottom 10.  Sacramento also edged out of the Bottom 10, as did LA, but only because Riverside and Ontario were removed form its metro area for the purposes of the study.

Read more from WSJ.

NLC Encourages Congress, White House to Look to Cities for Job Creation

Believe it or not, the health care debate in Washington may finally be winding down.  Whatever the end product, there's about zero doubt that the next focus of the White House and congressional leaders of both parties will be squarely on job creation.  Current proposals include a balance of tax cuts and re-purposing of 'TARP' money towards small businesses and infrastructure projects. 

The National League of Cities (NLC) is telling Washington to look towards cities for that job creation.   The following statement is from NLC  President Ron Loveridge, a former League of CA Cities President and the mayor of Riverside:

“We applaud President Obama’s proposals to create jobs and lay a foundation for long-term benefits in local communities.  The support for small businesses, prioritizing infrastructure spending and expansion of unemployment benefits are good first steps towards alleviating a deepening local fiscal crisis that could hamper our nation’s economic recovery. In addition, as the President proposes, a jobs package should prioritize an expansion of existing programs to get money into job creation quickly.   

“At the same time, the Administration and Congress should provide direct assistance to local governments to help save public sector jobs and ensure a climate ripe for recovery and private sector job creation.  

“City leaders continue to confront the economic downturn, making very difficult decisions regarding much needed city services, while attempting to jump-start their local economies.  Inaction at the federal level could worsen the already difficult situation facing cities.”  

Yesterday, in letters to President Obama and Congressional leadership, NLC outlined key strategies for advancing economic prosperity which called for the federal government to do more to create jobs quickly and stabilize local government budgets.  See the letters here.

Santa Clara Ponders Critical Step Towards 49er Stadium

With the proposed NFL stadiums being considered in both the cities of Industry and Santa Clara, 2010 could be an intriguing year for stadium development in California.  These projects would no doubt please NFL fans (though not everyone in the Bay Area is thrilled with Niners moving an hour south), and perhaps more importantly, generate thousands of jobs. 

The Santa Clara council is set to take the final steps this week towards placing a measure before its voters next June in what the San Jose Merc calls a win-or-forget-it vote.  Most watchers are saying the council will do its part, the city residents, of course, are another story -- though support is believed to be there for the project.

Read more here.

Downey Looks to Attract Electric Car Plant

Auto manufacturing is on a long hiatus from Southern California, well, you might say California in general.  Downey is looking to change that.  From the LA Times: "The (Downey) council agreed to a memorandum of understanding with Industrial Realty Group, the manager of an 80-acre parcel where Tesla Motors Inc. is considering building an electric-car plant." 

The city is offering up to $9 million in incentives in the hopes that a plant could generate over 1,200 jobs.  "There is only upside to this deal," Councilman Roger C. Brossmer said in the Long Beach Press Telegram.

Read more in the LA Times and or the Press Telegram. 

Costa Mesa Opposing Sale of OC Fairgrounds

Costa Mesa, home to the Orange County Fairgrounds, isn't so keen on the Governor's idea of selling that property, and has made a formal request to halt the sale. The council is also considering a ballot measure to require the property remain a fairgrounds -- regardless of ownership.

The OC Register wasn't to keen on that idea, but does wonder aloud why the OC Fair remains the only state asset left on the auction block.  Other properties, such as the LA Coliseum and San Quentin Prison, were discussed for auction, but found their way off the list. 

Now residents, and by extension the council, are getting antsy about the idea of the fairgrounds becoming condos or Costcos.

Read more from KPCC.

CSU Admission Cuts Could Cripple College Town Economies

California State University, overwhelmed by high demand and dwindling resources, is set to reduce its overall enrollment by nearly 10 percent.  As bad as that is for the state's high school students, and its future, the loss of up to 50,000 students in cities across the state could have profound, immediate impacts on the local governments supported by those institutions.

Consider the case of Chico, where a 17,000 student population significantly bolsters the city population of 60,000.  Chico Mayor Ann Schwab penned a letter ot the Chancelor of the State University system imploring an exemption for CSU Chico: "I strongly appeal to you to consider the uniqueness of Chico's limited industry base, our dependence on the higher-education economy and the emerging economic partnerships between CSU, Chico and the City of Chico."

Read more about Chico in the Enterprise Record, and about the statewide issue of dimished capacity at CSU here.

LAO Issues Report on Bond Debt, Urges "Prioritization" of Future Proposals

As water talks progress (sorta) through the Capitol, one committee chair (Assm. Anna Caballero) decided to ask the State Legislative Analyst (LAO) to provide a report on the state's projected General Fund debt service obligations and the state’s currently authorized, but unissued, general obligation (GO) bonds.

That report is out, and the LAO reports that the state has over $130 Billion of outstanding bonds and authorized,but as yet unissued bonds.  They also project that payments on already issued bonds are likely to peak in the next decade, leading them to conclude that "Debt Service Is One of the State Budget’s Fastest-Growing Obligations." 

The LAO writes that the General Fund soon may have annual debt-service payment obligations that total about 9 percent of its revenues, and that the State Treasurer has forecasted that these payments eventually will exceed 10 percent of revenues for much of the next decade.

As such, the LAO dryly remarks that "Increasing Prioritization of Future Bond Issuance May Be Necessary."  Hint hint. 

Read the full report 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.

Two California Cities Top List of U.S. Travel Destinations

San Francisco has claimed top honors in Conde Nest Traveler's readers' survey of the top cities to visit in the United States.  The tiny coastal city of Carmel, home to Pebble Beach and former mayor Clint Eastwood, took 8th on that list. 

Even more impressive, San Francisco was second only to Sydney, Australia in the worldwide survey.  Sydney has evidently sat atop that list for 8 years running, but SF has been steadily gaining!

Get the full lists here.

"Protectionist" Cities and Counties?

Usually the term "protectionist" is thrown around Capitol Hill and international trade summits... not your local council or supervisorial meetings.  As the recession lurches along, many local governments are trying to prop up local businesses by directing government projects their way. 

This is not without its risks, however.  the SacBee has really good look at this trend across the state, and notes that  "In 2004, the Federal Highway Administration withheld $700,000 from a road project in Cleveland on the grounds that the Ohio city's local-hiring law, similar to Stockton's, was illegal. A federal appeals court upheld the highway administration's decision."

Read more here.