Millions of acres of California forest have been blackened by wildfires this summer, leading to the usual angry denunciations from the usual quarters about climate change. But in 1999, the Associated Press reported that forestry experts had long agreed that “clearing undergrowth would save trees,” and that “years of aggressive firefighting have allowed brush to flourish that would have...
Lest anyone be tempted to suggest this analysis is written under a pretense of journalistic indifference, let’s make its ideological position clear: Affirmative action, preferential hiring or admissions, or legislatively enforced quotas of any kind – based on race, gender, religion, income, or anything else relating to an identifiable “group” – is counterproductive, if not...
While Covid-19 has a shelf life, “Woke-20” shows no sign of abating. With many schools across the country shuttered due to Covid-19, the woke zealots are in a bit of a snit. They can’t indoctrinate students with their one-sided radical views in the traditional classroom because, well, there is no classroom. Doing it online, you...
If you’re rich, there aren’t too many places on earth better than California to live. Sure, there are the perennial earthquakes and wildfires, but those are more than made up for by the Mediterranean climate and the scenic splendor; the Pacific Shore, the High Sierra. And apart from these natural disasters, nothing is wrong with...
As reported in the Beverly Press and elsewhere, the “the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education voted unanimously to place a $7 billion school construction bond issue on the November ballot which would allow the LAUSD to continue its multi-year effort to upgrade school facilities.” Writing for CityWatch on August 6, Jack Humphreville had this to say about this big new...
Can you imagine having to do an inventory and net worth calculation every year? Let alone potentially being audited and having to prove that values were not intentionally understated? It’s not only financial robbery, it’s time theft! – Senator John Moorlach, Moorlach Update, August 14, 2020 What Senator Moorlach is referring to is Assembly Bill 2088, which...
On Thursday the California Supreme Court issued its ruling in the case Alameda County Deputy Sheriff’s Association vs Alameda County Employees’ Retirement Association. In plain English, this was a case where attorneys representing government unions were challenging pension reforms enacted by California’s state legislature in 2013. The ruling, which had the potential to empower dramatic changes...
In April, with the pandemic shutdown sending California’s economy into free fall, Gavin Newsom convened a Zoom meeting with the four living California ex governors. He asked them to describe the biggest crisis they faced while in office. As reported by the New York Times, according to Pete Wilson, it was the 1994 Northridge earthquake. For Gray Davis,...
Until Gov. Gavin Newsom declared most California schools closed for the fall, he had left school re-openings to local officials. But before that declaration, Orange County Board of Education trustees had voted 4-1 to approve the reopening of schools in that county. California Policy Center helped draft an early version of those recommendations, and though the final...
With the economic shutdown devastating private sector employment in California, with small family-owned businesses the worst hit, how are California’s public employees doing? A recent report by NPR paints a grim picture, “Cities Have Never Seen A Downturn Like This, And Things Will Only Get Worse.” From the San Francisco Chronicle, “California cities warn of widespread...
***Watch a mini-documentary on the creation of OCCA HERE*** In barely one month, 360 elementary school students will begin attending a new charter school that offers a dramatic departure from the failed public education model in California. The Orange County Classical Academy (OCCA) will open its doors to kindergarten through 5th-grade students, and apart from the...
On July 1, 2020, the Placentia, California’s new Fire and Life Safety Department commenced operations, marking a revolution in California firefighting – and in municipal finance. As documented in the two previous installments of this report, Placentia’s new and independent department replaced the more expensive services (part one) that had been provided by the union-dominated Orange County...
On July 1 the City of Placentia will begin to operate a fire department independent of the Orange County Fire Authority. The motivation for the Placentia’s City Council to take this step was to provide equal or greater service at a lower cost. In this report, those cost savings will be summarized. The figures were...
In June 2019 the City of Placentia, in a 3-1 council vote, decided to leave the Orange County Fire Authority and build their own fire department. The reasons for this decision, and the means to accomplish it, will be explored in greater detail in a follow-up article. But the decision came down to this: a majority...