California Voices

Jerry Brown has never been interested in management of the state bureaucracy and as he prepares to retire from the governorship he probably will leave behind a managerial debacle in the state Department of Motor Vehicles.

What is the hardest, dirtiest job you’ve ever had? This is a question that we need to be asking all of our elected and prospective elected leaders, as it is an important lens for how they experience blue-collar Californians.

Four measures on the November ballot purport to address California's housing crisis, but they are minimalist at best, and one would make it worse.

California's recycling rate has dropped from 50 percent to 44 percent. The carpet recycling rate is one bright spot. The 2017 carpet recycling output rate increased by 27 percent over 2016 and is up 100 percent since the third quarter of 2015. Those increases show the program is working. CalRecycle should let the program continue to expand.

A collection of commentaries by Dan Walters over the past week.

When we discuss long-term care for seniors, we are not discussing placing people in nursing homes when they need help taking care of themselves. Long-term care is so much more than that. A larger portion of the long-term care discussion involves in-home care services that enable seniors to age in place with dignity and independence.

Two ballot propositions dealing with union-management conflicts in medical services indicate that it's two easy to place measures before voters. Raising the signature threshold could discourage misuse.

Communities across California have given ratepayers not-for-profit alternatives to corporate utility companies, allowing them to choose cleaner power that directly benefits their cities and towns. However, the California Public Utilities Commission could derail the expansion of local clean energy programs with a proposal that would limit choices and lead to higher prices for ratepayers.

The sensational confirmation battle over Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh will have political fallout this year, but what is still unknown.

Proposition 12: Pro-Proposition 12 would strengthen California law and ensure that meat and eggs produced and sold here come from cage-free conditions. Con-Proposition 12 is a poorly written initiative that will result in supply disruptions, price spikes and a shortage of eggs, and turn food inspectors into meat police.