How Unions Undermined the Rights of California's Charter Cities

By Kevin Dayton
03/28/2016
In recognition that the municipal needs of people in the City of Needles might be different than the needs of people in the City of San Francisco, the California Constitution gives cities the right to control their own municipal affairs through a charter. These charters – approved by voters – are mini-constitutions that allow “home-rule.” Matters...

TAGS: Are Charter Cities Taking Advantage of State Mandated Construction Wage Rate ("Prevailing Wage") Exemptions?, Senate Bill 7 (2013)

Unions “Using Political Leverage to Punish Those Exercising Rights” in California Constitution

By Kevin Dayton
10/29/2013
On October 13, 2013, California Governor Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 7, which cuts off state funds designated for construction to any California city that exercises its right under the California Constitution to establish its own policies concerning government-mandated wage rates (so-called “prevailing wages”) on contracts. This was a major victory for the State Building...

TAGS: California Constitution, Charter Cities, Jerry Brown, League of California Cities, Prevailing Wage, Senate Bill 7 (2013), Senate Bill 829 (2012), Senate Bill 922 (2011), State Building and Construction Trades Council of California

Something is Bothering California Union Leaders and Lobbyists

By Kevin Dayton
08/27/2013
Something is bothering union leaders and lobbyists in California. A few unreconstructed troglodytes in the hinterlands still haven’t received the memo explaining how unions will lead the state in its evolution to a more Progressive society, under the firm but benevolent hand of government authority. The typical political, business, and community leader in California today...

TAGS: Associated Builders and Contractors, Charter Cities, Senate Bill 7 (2013), State Building and Construction Trades Council of California

Are Unions Behind California Assembly Bill 76 to Hinder Public Records Access?

By Kevin Dayton
06/18/2013
What special interest group would have such disregard for the tenor of the times that it would now push for a law to hinder the public’s ability to obtain records from local governments? And what special interest group would have the chutzpah to get that law enacted through a supplemental trailer to an annual budget,...

TAGS: California Public Records Act, Coalition for Fair Employment in Construction, Senate Bill 7 (2013), Senate Bill 829 (2012), Senate Bill 922 (2011)

Union Influence in the California Democratic Party’s 2013 Convention Resolutions

By Kevin Dayton
04/16/2013
Can you guess which special interest group influenced many of the resolutions approved at the California Democratic Party convention on April 14, 2013? That’s right, unions. Here’s my annotated collection of the 2013 resolutions and the clean version of the resolutions on the California Democratic Party web site. (As the party web site says, “Click...

TAGS: California Construction Industry Labor-Management Cooperative Trust, California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), California Federation of Teachers, California Teachers Association, Charter Cities, Democrats for Education Reform, Gloria Romero, Greenmail, Michelle Rhee, Prevailing Wage, Project Labor Agreements, Senate Bill 7 (2013), State Building and Construction Trades Council of California, StudentsFirst

With Senate Bill 7, California Unions Advance Plot to Neuter City Charters

By Kevin Dayton
02/28/2013
More than 30 California cities are likely to defy top union officials by asking their citizens in 2014 to vote on enacting a “home rule” charter for local control. Cities want to free their purely municipal affairs from costly union-backed state mandates, for reasons revealed in these recent articles: Unions Rise to Defense of “Prevailing Wage” Rates Jeopardizing...

TAGS: Are Charter Cities Taking Advantage of State Mandated Construction Wage Rate ("Prevailing Wage") Exemptions?, Charter Cities, City of Costa Mesa - Measure V, Darrell Steinberg, League of California Cities, Prevailing Wage, Senate Bill 7 (2013), Senate Bill 829 (2012), Senate Bill 922 (2011), Smart Cities Prevail