Commentary
Wakeup call: Housing construction drops
Although Gavin Newsom promised to jump-start housing construction in California, his first year as governor saw production decline.
No clear frontrunner for governor, but new poll names five with the best shot
A poll shows three Democrats and two Republicans have voter support percentages in the teens. The top two vote-getters in June will face off in November.
She spent six of her last years in arbitration with her HMO. Her husband’s still fighting the system
Arbitrators in medical disputes are supposed to be unbiased, but this couple suspected there is an incentive to favor HMO’s in arbitration.
A former political ally tests LA liberals’ allegiance to Mayor Karen Bass
Mayor Karen Bass isn't vulnerable on her right, but she may be on her left, as City Councilmember Nithya Raman, a Democratic Socialist and ex-supporter, runs against her.
California promised accountability for inmate deaths in jails. A year later, no results.
Lawmakers passed a law creating a state department to review inmate deaths, but it hasn’t completed a single death review in its first year.
Yousef Baig
California Voices Editor
Denise Amos
California Voices Deputy Editor
Dan Walters
Columnist
Jim Newton
Contributor
Pedro Rios
Contributor
Robert Greene
Contributor
Commentary
A simple solution for sheltering Californians who are homeless
Michael Rushford, Criminal Justice Legal Foundation: Building enough housing required to accommodate the 130,000 people living outside in California would be extremely expensive. But there are alternatives. Sacramento County taxpayers, for example, have paid $2.3 million over the past five years to maintain the vacant Boys Ranch sitting on 140 rural acres with 12 buildings. It could easily accommodate homeless people.
Commentary
With Gov. Newsom’s new budget, California seeks to help all regions rise
Kate Gordon and Lenny Mendonca, Office of Planning & Resource and GO-Biz: California is a high road economic development state. Our innovative spirit includes a responsibility to leave the world better than we found it. We are excited to see regions step forward with their own visions for this high road approach to regional economic development. Metro Bakersfield and Kern County is a great example.
Commentary
Newsom’s water framework is imperfect but necessary. The alternative is further deterioration of the Delta
Ellen Hanak and Jeffrey Mount, PPIC: Gov. Gavin Newsom has put forward a framework for managing water and habitat in the Delta and its watershed. The many Delta interests should try to make this agreement happen. This is an opportunity—the kind that comes along rarely—to shift from fighting about the Delta’s future to actually shaping it.
Commentary
Fraud infects disability system
Fraud is rampant in California's system of compensating workers for employment-related disabilities and its' concentrated in Southern California.
Commentary
Once again, San Francisco officials are limiting public access to the majestic Hetch Hetchy Valley
Spreck Rosekrans, Restore Hetch Hetchy: San Francisco’s Water Department has persuaded Congress to deny long-promised access to unreachable areas of Yosemite National Park. This power play ban environmentally benign boating on Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, and reverses the guarantees of access made by San Francisco in 1913.
Commentary
Has Newsom settled water wars?
Gov. Gavin Newsom has unveiled the "framework" of a long-sought compromise on divvying up water in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
Commentary
California’s water status quo isn’t working
Re: “Gov. Newsom: California must get past differences on water. Voluntary agreements are the path forward,” Gov. Gavin Newsom, Feb. 4, 2020. Our water status quo isn’t working. We’ve accepted a false choice that pits our environment against our farmers – and ultimately, it’s a false choice that serves to flood our courts with lawsuits […]
Reader Reactions
Desalination is a bad investment
Re: “Why desalination can help quench California’s water needs,” By Wendy Ridderbusch, Jan. 29, 2020. Wendy Ridderbusch shouldn’t confuse diversifying one’s portfolio, a good thing, with making bad investments. Those are not the same thing. Investing hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars in the most expensive, climate impacting and environmentally destructive local water […]
Commentary
For a reliable grid, California must capture and store wind and solar energy
Alex Morris, California Energy Storage Alliance: California’s future can be powered by both renewable and reliable energy, but we must have the foresight to make the right investments in storage capacity now.