Kickstarting California’s infrastructure boom with asset recycling
Kickstarting California’s infrastructure boom with asset recycling
President Trump has been pushing for a $1 trillion investment in infrastructure and faces the struggle of how to best direct resources to useful projects. Meanwhile, California has proposed a list of $100 billion in infrastructure investment projects aimed at improving the transport network and water facilities. Clearly, there is a need for collaboration between...
By Nicholas Umashev
Elon Musk‘s Hyperloop makes Brown’s bullet train obsolete
Elon Musk‘s Hyperloop makes Brown’s bullet train obsolete
Twelve years before it’s supposed to be finished, the California High-Speed Rail (HSR) system is already outdated. While the state HSR Authority focuses on building infrastructure that dates back to the Kennedy era, the private sector has moved on. Elon Musk – who called High-Speed Rail “one of the most expensive per mile and one...
By Nicholas Umashev
Lawsuit demands California High-Speed Rail comply with voter intentions
Lawsuit demands California High-Speed Rail comply with voter intentions
Young people calling San Francisco “home” in the fall of 2008 tried to leave an enduring legacy for future generations. Enough of them signed a petition to qualify a November 2008 ballot measure that would have snidely named a new city sewage treatment plant after President George W. Bush. (The measure failed.) Much more costly...
By Kevin Dayton
Unelected Coastal Commission violates property rights while keeping California thirsty
Unelected Coastal Commission violates property rights while keeping California thirsty
The California Coastal Commission is interfering with efforts by two Encinitas homeowners to rebuild a seawall and stairs on their ocean property. The seawall and stairway had been in place for decades, but were severely damaged in a 2010 storm. Despite obtaining approval from the City of Encinitas to make the repairs, the Coastal Commission...
By Marc Joffe
Applying for New CEO of the California High-Speed Rail Authority: My Cover Letter
Applying for New CEO of the California High-Speed Rail Authority: My Cover Letter
Editor’s Note: Kevin Dayton asked if he could leave the California Policy Center to apply for an opening at the California High-Speed Rail Authority. We told him to give it a shot… April 28, 2017 California High-Speed Rail Authority Attn: Human Resources 770 L Street, Suite 620 MS 4 Sacramento, CA 95814 Re: Application for...
By Kevin Dayton
Bullet train myopia driving local transit boondoggles
Bullet train myopia driving local transit boondoggles
SACRAMENTO – Over the past six years, California legislators and the governor have increased overall general-fund spending by $36 billion but couldn’t find extra money to spend on road, freeway and other meat-and-potatoes transportation projects. But that doesn’t mean they weren’t spending money like drunken brakemen on myriad rail-related projects. Sacramento’s transportation focus has been...
By Steven Greenhut
Assembly committee rejects common sense high-speed rail oversight
Assembly committee rejects common sense high-speed rail oversight
On Monday, the Assembly Transportation Committee voted against a bill that would have increased high-speed rail’s financial transparency. The measure, AB 66, would have implemented recommendations from the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO), a non-partisan official body that analyzes budgets and proposed legislation. In its analysis of the High-Speed Rail Authority’s 2016 draft business plan, LAO...
By Marc Joffe
Is the California High-Speed Rail Authority Paying for Legendary Leadership?
Is the California High-Speed Rail Authority Paying for Legendary Leadership?
Editor’s Note, 4/21/2017 – High-Speed Rail Authority Executive Director Jeff Morales announced his resignation today. Kevin Dayton’s analysis, published by CPC ten days earlier, leads us to believe that Morales’ departure is good news for California taxpayers. Robert Moses was the legendary “Master Builder” of 20th Century New York City. William Mulholland was the legendary engineer...
By Kevin Dayton
Why High-Speed Rail Should Be Audited Before Caltrain Receives Federal Funds
Why High-Speed Rail Should Be Audited Before Caltrain Receives Federal Funds
California Democrats are up in arms because a $647 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to Caltrain for system electrification has yet to be provided. They blame the 14 California House Republicans in D.C. who all signed a letter January 24, 2017, saying simply this: no further money should be provided, until California...
By Mike Brady
Union-Owned Non-Profit Affordable Housing Development Active in San Diego County Politics
Union-Owned Non-Profit Affordable Housing Development Active in San Diego County Politics
A non-profit affordable housing complex located in National City, California has become a major political force in San Diego County. Since 2010, the “San Diego County Building Trades Council Family Housing Corporation dba National City Park Apartments” has donated about $800,000 directly to campaign committees, most of them based in San Diego County. It has been a top...
By Kevin Dayton
Unions Foiled in Plot to Evade Open Government Law
Unions Foiled in Plot to Evade Open Government Law
It’s rare to see a California local government rescind a vote. But on October 4, 2016, the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 to rescind a controversial and probably illegal vote taken three weeks earlier to satisfy the political demands of construction unions. Rescind Project Labor Agreement Vote – San Joaquin County Board of...
By Kevin Dayton
California Needs Infrastructure, and Unions Should be Helping
California Needs Infrastructure, and Unions Should be Helping
“Infrastructure” is a perennial topic that enters and leaves California’s public consciousness in the following manner: A politician says “we must rebuild our crumbling infrastructure,” journalists report it, almost nothing is done, and the infrastructure continues to crumble. The talking point is made. Check the box. Repeat. Decades pass. If you’ve driven west on Interstate...
By Edward Ring
High Speed Rail Is ‘On Track’ to Incur Billions in Overruns
High Speed Rail Is ‘On Track’ to Incur Billions in Overruns
Editor’s Note: This article by Jon Coupal provides an update on what has to be one of the biggest con jobs ever perpetrated on California’s voters – “High Speed Rail” that will never make a profit, will never move significant numbers of people, will not even be “high speed” in many sections of track, cannot...
By Jon Coupal
How Gov't Unions and Crony Capitalists Exploit Global Warming Concerns
How Gov't Unions and Crony Capitalists Exploit Global Warming Concerns
If anyone is looking for evidence that government unions use their immense influence to support the growth of an authoritarian state, look no further than their unequivocal support for global warming “mitigation,” and all attendant agencies and laws to support that goal. In 2006 California’s union-controlled legislature passed AB32, the “Global Warming Solutions Act,” a...
By Edward Ring