Yee to introduce Pension Reform for Higher Ed

Today down in sunny Mission Bay along SF’s less scenic waterfront (and only a few steps from my gym), Sen. Leland Yee announced his plan for pension reform.  Currently UC’s pension plan is governed solely by the UC Regents, with no input from workers. WTF?

So, Sen. Yee plans to require joint governance with other higher ed. pension plans.  Given that UC’s pension has dramatically underperformed, perhaps not a bad idea.  Check out the press release over the flip…

UC Conflicts of Interest Prompt Call for Pension Governance Reform

Senator Yee introduces legislation to give workers equal vote on pensions

SAN FRANCISCO – As a result of recent revelations regarding conflicts of interest on the University of California (UC) pension plan and the fact that the once top-performing plan is now significantly underperforming its peers, Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco/San Mateo) has introduced legislation (SCR 52) calling for joint governance of the UC employee’s pension plan.

“The UC Retirement Plan is the only state public pension plan that does not give a voice to the workers,” said Yee.  “As a result, we have seen complete mismanagement of their retirement plans and serious questions regarding financial conflicts of interest.  Now 200,000 UC workers are unfairly being asked to foot the bill.”

Both California State University and community college workers have pension plans with joint governance, with both employee and employer representation on their boards.  At UC, the Regents currently have unilateral control over all pension decisions.

“Having jointly governed pension plans improves pension security by preventing conflicts of interest and providing better oversight of pension investments and benefits changes – all of which is greatly needed at UC,” said Lakesha Harrison, President, AFSCME Local 3299.  “We believe that the time for band-aid solutions is over. UC workers want full access to information and an equal say on decisions about our pension. We demand joint governance of our pension.”

Under joint governance, what happens with any fund surplus is agreed upon by the employee and employer trustees.  UC would not be able to propose items such as supplemental benefits for executives, as it has done in the past, unless trustees elected by workers and retirees agreed.

It was recently reported that two members of an investment advisory committee for the UC appear to have previously undisclosed connections to firms who won contracts to invest pieces of the university’s $43.4 billion pension plan.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, one such member, John Hotchkis, retains a 1.1 percent interest in his former firm Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management, which was chosen in July 2004 to manage more than $430 million in UC equity funds.  In addition, in 2005 a firm headed by Hotchkis’s daughter was chosen to manage $311 million in non-US equity funds.  Another member of the investment committee, David Fisher, is the chair of the board of Capital Guardian Trust Co., a company chosen to manage $377 million in fund assets.

UC claims that these connections do not constitute a conflict and has a proposal to relax, rather than tighten, existing governance policies on conflict of interest.

Last week, the East Bay Express newspaper extensively detailed how a number of recent changes at the pension fund have cost the university billions of dollars.  Once one of the top performing pension plans in the country, it now ranks among the nation’s worst performers.  Although the fund is still over 100 percent funded, for the first time in seventeen years, employees are being asked to pay money into the pension fund, between 5 to 8 percent of their paychecks.

For the past several years, the Regents have increasingly contracted with a number of high-priced pension consultants and money management firms, rather than stick to the decades-long and highly successful practice of using professional university financial staff to trade stocks themselves.

“Workers at UC are already extremely underpaid and now the Regents are expecting them to sacrifice an additional 8 percent of their salaries as a result of this poor management,” said Yee.  “That is simply unconscionable.”

The Regents have made many of these decisions behind closed doors, although lawsuits have since required minutes of these meetings to be publicly released.  In the secret meetings, regents discussed how they could minimize the impact of disclosing fund figures as not to coincide with the 2002 election.  In fact, when the regents were told the figures would not be made public until after the election, regent Norman Pattiz said, “That’s good” and a regent consultant Bruce Lehmann said, “Thank God the doors are closed.”

A report provided by the University shows that under the management of UC staff, the retirement fund earned an average of 15.6 percent per year during the 1990s, compared to only 13.5 percent for comparable multibillion dollar portfolios.  Since UC has contracted out many fund management duties to outside consultants, 86 percent of large US investment trusts outperformed the UC pension fund, according to a report by State Street, UC’s custodial bank.  During the 1990s, the fund spent approximately $5.5 million a year to buy and sell bonds and almost nothing to trade stocks.  In comparison, last year alone the university paid more than $22 million in commissions and paid private fund managers $32 million to trade stocks that were previously handled by existing UC staff.

“Had the UC Retirement Plan even performed as well as half of the comparable funds in the past five years, it would have an addition $3.3 billion,” said Yee.  “Recent decisions have led to billions in lost profits, millions in unnecessary fees, and thousands of employees stuck with the invoice.  We need new governance and oversight of these dollars and workers deserve an equal vote on their pensions.”

“The Regents have a choice: change to joint governance of the retirement plan or we will go to the ballot and ask the voters to make this change for them,” said Yee.

In addition to SCR 52, Senator Yee has authored SB 190, which among a number of reforms, requires advisory groups similar to the investment advisory committee to meet in public.  In addition, SB 190 will require all executive compensation packages to be voted on in an open session of a subcommittee and the full board.  The bill will also require full disclosure of the compensation package with accompanying rationale and public comment on the specific action item.

CDP: Please Give Chevron Back Their Money

(also available in blue)

I am fairly surprised that more has not been made in the blogosphere of the unwelcome news that Chevron is doing everything it can to buy off the California Democratic Party and some of its top legislators.  Outside of this small item in The Oil Drum, pretty much nobody has said a word about the fact that the CDP accepted a $50,000 check from a company that is attempting to artificially depress capacity and manipulate the energy market in a way that is shockingly similar to how Enron made themselves a fortune during the 2000-2001 energy crisis.  You can read the details here.

As a delegate to this party, I feel personally tainted by this donation.  I feel like there is a concerted effort to buy my silence.  It will not work, and I want to outline why I am respectfully asking this party, of which I am a member and to which I pay dues, to return the money.

I don’t think I have to go into how Chevron controls the oil market in California by owning most of the refineries, and that in another era that would rightly be called a trust.  I don’t need to discuss their record profits or their expenditures of $44 million to defeat ballot propositions like Prop. 87 and Prop. 89 last year, or their consistently greedy profit-taking at a time of record gas prices throughout the state, or how they refuse to increase refining capacity to keep that profit artificially high.  And I don’t need to explain how corporations aren’t in the business of charity, and that every expenditure they make has a stated outcome, whether for public relations purposes or to engender favorable legislation or just to keep government off their backs while they continue to rake in billions.  What I can talk about is the poverty of imagination that leads the CDP to take a gift like this.

What bothers me most about taking a fat corporate donation like this, from the very interest group you fought tooth and nail against on Prop. 87 just 6 months ago, is how LAZY it is.  There are an unlimited amount of ways to raise $50,000 that not only show no appearance of impropriety or corporate favoritism, but bring people into the process and grow the party, which are the key metrics for politics in the 21st century.  If you really needed $50,000 in a state of 37 million people, how about this: ask 50,000 to give a dollar to specifically ensure that the CDP won’t be beholden to big corporate money.  You can hold dollar parties and write about how giving citizens a stake brings them closer to the party.  And in return for that dollar, you could give people prominent space on the CDP website to upload a minute of video about what problems facing California most affect them.  Then, once the money is collected, PUBLICLY REBUFF Chevron by telling them that their donation has been paid by the people.  Not only would you be seen as populist folk heroes, you would be investing in the party by allowing 50,000 Calfornians get a share and a stake.  That’s called people power.  The new metrics for the Presidential campaigns, for example, are not just money but numbers of donors, because that shows a broad base of support.  A party that gets rich off fat $50,000 checks is a mile wide and an inch deep.  We already have a party like that in California.  It’s called the Republican Party.  And I expect them and their leaders to take hundreds of thousands from the oil industry, as Arnold has.

If that corporate money were even drilled in to infrastructure and party building, that would be something.  But typically, it’s not.  And the party that continues on a traditional model of collecting big corporate checks and running big broadcast ads will be obsolete in a new media environment.  Stoller:

We need to figure out new metrics for receiving party support aside from money and polling.  Perhaps opt-in email addresses acquired?  Friends on MySpace?  Newly registered voters (I like this one)?  Chatter across blogs using sites such as Blogpulse?

I’m not sure, but the whole landscape of politics is shifting.  It’s like an entirely new grammar is emerging, but we’re not there yet.

A “dollar party” strategy, that could spread virally through social networking sites (is the CDP even on MySpace or Facebook?), that would bind more people to the party in a small way and set up a core of activists for GOTV, that would allow a press release that says “50,000 donors!” instead of hiding the fact that one polluting Big Oil ripoff artist gave you 50,000 dollars… would simply be a forward-thinking way to grow the party and gather attention.

I’m sure that there are a host of conciliators and “my-party-right-or-wrong” types that have a problem with me sharing even a scintilla of disagreement with the state party (there’s another guy that believes in the silencing of any alternative voices, he resides at 1600 Penn. Ave, Wash, DC, 20500).  First of all, I would have them take a look at the rise of DTS voters and the lack of success in joining the progressive wave in 2006 and ask them where all that brushing aside criticism has gotten them.  But the second thing I would ask them is, why are you a Democrat?  What do you believe, if anything?  And how do you square that belief with the fact that one of the companies most committed to stopping any progress on global warming or reducing dependence on foreign oil just handed you – you! – a wad of money in order to shut you up?

The Speaker’s Office claims that these donations won’t impact Democrats’ ability to take a hard look at what Chevron is attempting to do on refining capacity, and that “tough” legislation is forthcoming.  I would hope so.  I cannot impact what individual candidates receive in gifts; at least, not until election season.  I can have an impact when it’s my party.  I’m a delegate and a member in good standing.  I know for a fact that members of the Party leadership read this site.  I’m asking those in charge at the CDP, nicely, to give back the Chevron money.  I want to work on innovative fundraising solutions that can simultaneously fund the important work of the party and bring it closer to the people whom it serves.  But like any addiction, the first step is admitting you have a problem.

How About Some REAL Traffic Relief?

Just when you thought the fight over the toll road to Trestles was wrapping up, another shot is fired! Orange County Supervisor Pat Bates has now entered into the fray, and she has offered a truly bizarre reason for extending the 241 to Trestles in today’s “Orange Grove” column in The Register. You just have to see it to believe it:

The spectacular truck crash and fire that destroyed a freeway overpass leading from the Bay Bridge in San Francisco last month should be a wake-up call for Orange County. Today the Santa Ana (I-5) Freeway is the only major roadway in and out of south Orange County. The lack of alternate routes through this area has long been frustrating. But, as the East San Francisco Bay Area has learned, it can also be dangerous.

As reported recently in The Orange County Register, if a similar traffic accident were to occur at the El Toro “Y,” south county would be virtually cut off. Should a freeway accident occur further south, there are even fewer options. In San Juan Capistrano and San Clemente, roadway options are limited to the I-5 or city streets.

The Orange County toll road system is nearly complete, but the final 16-mile stretch of the Foothill (241) Toll Road, intended to connect with the I-5 Freeway just south of San Clemente, still needs to be built. This roadway would not only offer commuters an alternative to increasing daily traffic, but an escape route during emergencies.

HUH?! How the heck would a toll road to Trestles help South County in the event of an emergency? Follow me after the flip as I try to make sense of Pat Bates’ bizarre “logic”…

OK, so let’s go through all these points that Pat Bates is making. And let’s try to separate fact from fiction here:

Some opponents to this traffic relief alternative say we should just widen the I-5, but, as we saw in the Bay Area, no matter how wide the freeway is, if it ever is shut down, alternatives are needed.

The final section of the 241, known as Foothill South, has been on the county’s Master Plan of Arterial Highways since 1981. It has gone through two separate environmental impact studies and, when built, will be one of the most environmentally sensitive roadways in the state.

OK, I’m getting really sick of having to repeat myself here. I think most of us now want to see the 241 completed. I just don’t see why state law has to be violated in order to build a toll road through a state park. There are clearly better options for extending the 241. How about extending the 241 to the 5/73 Interchange in Laguna Niguel, which would actually take people to where they want to go? And while we’re at it, how about a more comprehensive solution for relieving Orange County traffic that includes more Metrolink and OCTA bus service?

But anyways, back to Pat Bates. Here’s more of what she has to say:

This roadway will have a state-of-the-art water-treatment system that will ensure all the initial water runoff, water that contains most typical roadway pollutants like brake-pad dust and motor oil, will be captured and treated. Once the road is built, the Transportation Corridor Agencies (TCA) has even agreed to treat the water runoff along a two-mile stretch of the I-5 Freeway near Trestles Beach. Today that water runs straight off the freeway and into the ocean untreated.

TCA also will build wildlife undercrossings so animals can travel throughout that region safely. Future native-habitat mitigation sites are planned and will be similar to the hundreds of acres of habitat throughout south county that TCA has already worked to restore. TCA’s natural-habitat restoration project has gone so well, that gnatcatchers are pairing in record numbers on TCA sites and various other native plants and animals are making a comeback.

Really? Is this why American Rivers named San Mateo Creek as THE MOST ENDANGERED WATERWAY IN AMERICA? Is this why environmental studies have reported that the habitats of the seven endangered species that call San Onofre home WOULD be threatened? Is that why Coastal Commission staffers are so worried about this toll road to Trestles? But I guess so long as Orange County politicians aren’t worried, every thing’s just A-OK.

But wait, Pat Bates’ “argument” gets even more unbelievable!

Orange County residents, businesses and elected officials all understand the importance of traffic relief and the need to connect the 241 to the I-5, but there are several politicians who have attempted to usurp our local decision-making ability. Last month, Assemblyman Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, introduced Assembly Bill 1457 to stop the building of Foothill South. Last week, Rep. Susan Davis, D-San Diego, introduced an amendment to a congressional defense bill, and a House committee approved it, that would give the state of California authority to stop the toll road, even though it is planned for federal, not state, property.

Since 1991, the TCA has been working with five federal government agencies and six state agencies in addition to local and regional organizations to obtain the many permits and approvals needed to build this final 16-mile connector road. Despite what some politicians think, more government is not the answer to completing our regional transportation network.

Ooh, Jared Huffman! We should be so scared. But really, his legislation can’t even make it through the Legislature, let along get a signature from Arnold. That won’t stop the toll road from being built. And all Susan Davis’ amendment to the federal defense authorization bill would do is require TCA to obey state law in extending the toll road. Now if TCA really were obeying the law on building this toll road, then they shouldn’t be worried about having to comply with the law.

So yes, traffic in South County is horrendous. That’s why we need a comprehensive plan to relieve traffic here, such as the one recently proposed by OCTA. We should enhance the 5, but we certainly shouldn’t stop there. Let’s also expand Metrolink service in the area, and let’s add some more express bus lines to make it easier for South County commuters to access train service. And oh yes, while we’re at it, why don’t we make new communities in South County “smart communities” that are designed for an easy commute to everywhere we need to go?

So yes, South County needs traffic relief… So why not something that actually DOES THAT? : )

Draft SFist Elaine for San Francisco Mayor

It has now been two weeks since this quote:

As for running against Newsom? “Not me,” [Chris] Daly said.

Not likely [former mayor Art] Agnos either, he added, but “hopefully we’ll have someone within the next couple of weeks.”

“Either that or there won’t be anyone,” Daly said, “because it will be just too late to mount a run.”

Since Chris Daly totally failed to find somebody by his own deadline (and is too chicken to do it himself), I nominate SFist Elaine of the dreaded CrackBerry Chronicles.

Why you ask? Why not?

Since there seems to be zero interest from elected officials and the campaign is likely to be a complete joke, let’s at least go with somebody who is funny. In 2007, vote fabulous!

SoCal Minority Battle Royalle: Homophobic Charges Flying

The upcoming special election to replace the late Congresswoman Juanita Millender-McDonald is getting nasty.  There are 19 people who have filed already, but there are just three front runners, State Assemblymember Laura Richardson, State Senator Jenny Oropeza and the daughter of the late Congresswoman Valerie McDonald.  Power-brokers down in SoCal are taking sides. Yesterday, Senator Sheila Kuehl blasted Richardson for being “homophobic” in a letter and started fundraising for Orepeza.

The charges stem from an incident ten years ago when Richardson ran and lost to openly lay Gerrie Schipske for a State Assembly seat in Long Beach.  Kuehl’s letter yesterday charged that Richardson’s campaign mailers during that race “were filled with homophobic hate speech so shocking that many of her biggest supporters withdrew their endorsements of her candidacy.” Capitol Weekly:

The mailer, sent by Richardson during her 1996 Assembly run against Gerrie Schipske, accused her opponent of being “committed to the radical gay agenda” and “strongly backed by ultra-liberal Santa Monica Assemblymember Sheila Kuehl, the Assembly’s only openly gay member.”

The mailer was so aggressive that it cost Richardson support, said Parke Skelton, a consultant to both Kuehl and Oropeza. “A number of [Richardson’s] major supporters saw that and withdrew their endorsements,” he said.

Though ten years have passed, but the wound still seethes for Kuehl.  Richardson’s team declined to respond, but Jasmyne Cannick, a well known out African American political activist “says Richardson’s positions has been distorted.”

“Richardson is not homophobic. Ten years ago was 10 years ago, and a lot can happen in that span of time, including education and new sense of right and wrong. Ten years ago, Richardson looked at things differently as it related to the gay community and in that 10 years, she’s changed,” Cannick said.

“So is she going to be labeled as homophobic forever? Not to mention the fact that gay and lesbian issues aren’t the end all in this race,” added Cannick, an aide to Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally, D-Compton.

They may not have been in this race before, but they are now.  And has she changed in the last 10 years?  MadProfessor over at dailykos took a look at her record.

As far as MadProfessahcan discern, Richardson is not a co-sponsor of any of the California LGBT community’s major legislative priorities in the State Legislature: Mark Leno’s AB 43 (Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act) or Kuehl’s SB 777 (Student Civil Rights Act) or John Laird’s AB 14 (Civil Rights Act of 2007). A lack of such sponsorship does not mean that she’s homophobic, but since most of the Democratic caucus is signed on to all or at least one of these pieces of legislation it is significant that Richardson’s name is nowhere to be seen, especially considering she represents a district which is putting on the third largest gay and lesbian pride celebration in the country this weekend.

Today, Cannick posted multiple pictures of Richardson appearing with Black LGBT activists as well as a picture of Kuehl herself appearing with Richardson from 2006. It appears as if Richardson AND Kuehl have some “splainin” to do. So far silent in the dispute is State Senator Jenny Oropeza, who may be waiting to see how the dispute between the African American and LGBT communities shakes out and hope that bolsters her candidacy.

If this story leaps beyond the insider CapWeekly, to the mainstream news Richardson will have to talk about her support for GLBT issues.  Kuehl is no shrinking violet and will not back down from this battle.  Thus far Kuehl has only raised $1,655 for Oropeza on ActBlue.  This campaign is only a few weeks old and it is already getting nasty.  I expect there will be way more to come.  An open Congressional seat doesn’t happen all that often.

Greenwashed: Arnold Tries to Kill California Public Transportation

Also posted at Daily Kos and Blue House Diaries

Around Earth Day, Newsweek ran a memorable cover of Arnold Schwarzenegger posing with a globe, to symbolize his supposedly environmentally aware political stance. It was an apt recognition of how Arnold had successfully “greenwashed” himself in 2006, glomming on at the last minute to a Democratic proposal to mandate cuts in greenhouse gases. In doing so Arnold sealed his reelection victory and had many Californians – even a lot of Democrats – convinced he really cared about the environment.

But underneath the green veneer, Arnold is still the same conservative Republican who seeks to destroy the environment. His recent budget includes $1.3 *billion* in cuts to California public transportation, from the high speed rail project to local bus and light rail services. Speaker Fabian Núñez aptly denounced these cuts:

There’s a bait and switch on transit funding here, too. You can’t pose for the cover of Newsweek as the savior of global warming one day and then turn around and slash funding for public transit the next. You can’t have a press conference urging commuters to take public transit after a highway collapses one day and then turn around and slash funding for public transit the next.

The link between widely available public transit and environmental health, and addressing climate change, should be obvious. As greenhouse gas emissions soar, Americans need to cut back on those emissions, and driving less is a core method of doing that.

It also has an added and obvious value in an age of soaring gas prices. Californians are bearing the brunt of the oil companies’ gouging, paying over $3.50 a gallon. As a result usage of public transportation in the state has SOARED over the last few months. California’s intercity trains, such as the Capitol Corridor and the Pacific Surfliner, are seeing record numbers of riders. The LACMTA’s Orange Line, a bus rapid transit system in the San Fernando Valley, hit its 2020 ridership projections…in 2007.

The combination of environmental awareness and soaring gas prices has led millions of Californians to turn to public transportation. Millions more want to make the change but aren’t yet served by the required frequency or capacity. An example:

Anyway, if we had decent, reliable, accessible public transportation to take, we’d sell every car but the toy car and take public transportation to work. We checked into it at one point. If [my partner] took the train, he’d have to shift his work hours to ridiculously early or ridiculously late. They designed the train schedule to suit those living in Santa Barbara (median cost of single family home $1.2M) and working in Ventura. Yeah, that makes sense. Because I know lots of people who want to live in one of the most expensive towns in the country so they can commute to where housing is about half that. And me? To get to my job, 9 miles away, I’d have to transfer three times, and it would take me almost two hours each way, vs. my current 15-20 minute commute. Hell no.

Our only realistic choice is to own cars and commute to work.

In addition, many local public transportation agencies are facing financial stresses of their own – added users are requiring more buses, more train cars, and more operators.

The main agencies facing this stress aren’t small suburban carriers, but instead at the major urban systems of the state – San Francisco MUNI and the LA County MTA. For them, Arnold’s cuts are truly devastating.

The LACMTA was already looking at having to raise fares to maintain and expand its services. Now Arnold plans to give them a $230 million cut:

“It’s just going to add to the misery,” said Roger Snoble [head of the LACMTA], whose agency would lose $230 million under Schwarzenegger’s plan. “It’s going to affect everybody who moves in Los Angeles County.”

In other words – less public transportation means more people driving, meaning more traffic on SoCal’s already congested roads.

San Francisco’s MUNI system includes dozens of bus lines and several light-rail lines. All of them are heavily traveled. So heavily traveled, in fact, that they don’t have enough buses and streetcars and drivers to meet demand. So what is Arnold going to do to help? Cut a further $146 million from their budget too.

Finally there is the matter of high speed rail. In other diaries I have explained the importance of this project – a fully planned and detailed system to build high speed rail lines to link the state’s major metro areas – the Bay Area, Sacramento, the San Joaquin Valley, LA, OC, the Inland Empire, and San Diego.

Arnold claims to support the plan, and has written op-eds professing to want to see it built. But behind the scenes he continues to do all he can to kill it. The California High Speed Rail Authority needs $130 million in funding to complete its work and move ahead with a scheduled vote in November 2008 on $10 billion in bonds to start building the system. Arnold plans to give them only $3 million in funding, and that funding is to come out of the Orange County Transportation Authority’s budget.

I have written several diaries about the high speed rail project. The plan is fully developed. It’s all ready to go. All we need is $10 billion in state bond money to seed the project and convince private investors to contribute to it as well. But Arnold wants to kill that too, despite the fact that it is a green and sustainable technology that will get Californians out of their cars, out of the planes, and provide for the state’s growing transportation needs.

What explains Arnold’s desire to destroy public transportation? It’s two interrelated factors. The first is that Arnold simply is not an environmentalist. He is fixated on the automobile as a form of transportation. He thinks more freeways are the solution, not more public transportation. The screaming demand of millions of Californians for public transit don’t register with him.

The second is that Arnold is in the pockets of Big Oil. They have donated well over a million dollars to his various funds since November, even though he isn’t eligible for re-election in 2010. As their gouging of Californians continues, the oil companies know that a backlash is coming. They want to prevent that at all costs, want to ensure that they hold the line in California lest they set a trend for the rest of the nation.

If Arnold destroys California’s public transit systems, Californians will not have any alternative but to pay the exorbitant costs at the pump. The middle class will sink further into financial ruin.

Arnold’s public transportation cuts are a catastrophic disaster for the state of California. Not only will they make global warming worse, not only will they make our environment more polluted, more prone to fire, and mired deeper in drought, but his cuts will ruin family budgets, eventually causing lost jobs and further destroying the state’s middle class.

California Democrats must reverse these cuts. They are unconscionable and unaffordable.

Mr. Freeze Ices High Speed Rail

(Love the down-payment angle as Arnold tries to sell off future revenue sources. – promoted by Lucas O’Connor)

I recently wrote to Governor Schwarzenegger regarding the California High Speed Rail(HSR) initiative that’s been in limbo for some years now and covered very well at Calitics. Scheduled to go before voters in November ’08, Arnold is slashing money for the high speed rail authority in his 2007 budget and asking California legistators to postpone indefinitely the $9.95-billion rail bond that is slated to appear next year.

Below is my letter and the canned response:

(Cross-posted at Eco|Centric.)

Dear Governor Schwarzenegger,
I’m writing in support of the high speed rail program, and in opposition to the reduction of its funds. I believe that HSR is a much more sound solution to California’s long term traffic congestion issues, both on the road and in the air. We don’t need more roads, or better roads. If we are to protect what makes California a beautiful and unique state, we need to pursue solutions that ensure the long term sustainability of it’s beauty and and health. High speed rail will do that.

Also, please consider other factors:

If you support the idea of high speed rail, it will never be cheaper to build than it is today. Putting it off only makes it more unlikely it will ever happen. If you decide to defund it, it is a clear sign, despite public pronouncements, that you DO NOT support the rail and what it represents to California.

HSR provides much greater security than planes, as no one can fly a train into a building with tons of jet fuel. HSR is a way to PROTECT californians from security risks.

It is more environmentally sound. It will significantly reduce global warming gases and reduce development in sensitive areas, which is inevitable with the extension of the roads and highways.

I am confident you will be a leader on this issue. High speed rail will be a testament to your governorship for many years to come.

From: “mailto:[email protected]
To: [email protected]
Sent: Wednesday, May 16, 2007 9:00:11 AM

Subject: Re: Show some love for high speed rail

Thank you for writing to Governor Schwarzenegger to share your thoughts and concerns about highspeed rail. The Governor appreciates hearing from people who care about the important issues facing our great state.

In November 2006, California voters approved one of the largest bond packages in the state’s history. This money represents a considerable down payment on repairing and building our infrastructure and boosting the public services necessary to preserve our quality of life. And, with the tremendous population growth expected for California over the next two decades, the Governor has put forward an even broader proposal that will include funding for flood control, schools, courts and the correctional system.

Because of the critical need for funding these other forms of vital infrastructure, California has a limited ability to borrow money for a full high-speed rail bond measure right now. Governor Schwarzenegger’s comprehensive Strategic Growth Plan, and its varying bond components, cannot happen simultaneously with the high-speed rail bond without putting the state into a position of spending General Fund dollars at too-high levels. This approach instead protects California’s credit rating and support for other important state programs.

But the Governor’s proposed budget does recognize that high-speed rail is a viable transit option worth exploring for the future, and so it includes $1.2 million for staff support of the High-Speed Rail Authority. He is also willing to consider other potential payment options for such a rail system, including private financing.

Again, thank you for taking the time to write and share your thoughts with Governor Schwarzenegger. He welcomes any comments that can help improve the future of California.

Sincerely,
Office of Constituent Affairs

AD 69: Solorio Stands Up for OC’s Streets

OK, maybe my Assembly Member is just preparing himself for a possible primary challenge. Or perhaps, he’s preparing for higher office. Or maybe, he’s just doing this because he really does care about Orange County, and about the quality of our life here. But whatever the motivation (personally, I’m just thinking he cares about us in OC), Jose Solorio is doing a good thing.

Check out what I saw from Solorio’s office on Orange Juice this morning:

At the May 1st meeting of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, Assemblyman Jose Solorio (D-Anaheim) requested that Orange County begin sharing Proposition 42 state transportation dollars with cities to help them rehabilitate local streets. The Board unanimously agreed and directed staff to come back within three months with recommendations on how the money would be allocated.

“This is an effort that I began while I was a Santa Ana City Councilmember. My goal has been to encourage county government to share some of its Prop. 42 transportation dollars with individual Orange County cities to improve the condition of their local streets. I estimate that cities, in total, would receive approximately $10 to $14 million per year. I am grateful the Board of Supervisors took leadership on this important issue,” said Assemblyman Solorio.The Board also voted to share $62 million state transportation bond funding (Proposition 1B) with Orange County Board of Supervisor districts.

But wait, it gets better! Follow me after the flip for more…

Here’s the rest of that press release from Solorio, courtesy of Orange Juice:

Assemblyman Solorio is also carrying a piece of state legislation, AB 823, which encourages revenue sharing by the County of Orange, but is putting this measure on hold since the County is now developing a revenue sharing plan. For example, the cities of Anaheim, Garden Grove and Santa Ana are experiencing a backlog of arterial and residential street projects that is estimated to cost more than $500 million. Proposition 42 dollars are required to be used for state and local transportation purposes.

Since the County is now only responsible for maintaining 358 unincorporated area street miles, given the various annexations over the past few decades, revenues will be available in 2008 that could be shared with cities within the County. If Orange County’s Proposition 42 dollars are not used for specified purposes within certain time periods, they would be given back to the state and be used in other counties. “The condition of streets in many Orange County communities is deplorable. I want to do everything I can to provide more money to all Orange County cities rather than give money back to other counties,” Solorio said.

Thank you, Assembly Member Solorio! It’s about time that someone actually does something about the deplorable state of our streets in Orange County, and especially communities in Central Orange County. Just looking outside my window, the street that I live on looks like a mess with all those cracks and potholes. However, I feel lucky when I compare the streets in my neighborhood to the streets farther north in Santa Ana. Some of those streets are so bad that it’s nearly impossible to drive them. My dad once got a flat tire just driving on Standard Street, just north of Edinger in Santa Ana.

Between this and the successful “citizen workshops” and sponsoring legislation to stop voter intimidation, Solorio really is making his mark on this community. And whether or not the primary rumors are true, Solorio probably won’t have to worry about it so long as he continues his excellent community service. I’m just glad to see that we have representatives in Sacramento who actually care about doing what’s best for Orange County. : )

Villaraigosa Gains Majority on School Board

Antonio Villaraigosa actually needed some good news in the wake of the May Day incident and court setbacks on his school board plan.  The voters gave it to him yesterday; OK, not ALL of the voters, but enough (about 6.5%) to elect Tamar Galatzan and Richard Vladovic, making the majority of the school board friendly to the Mayor.  Villaraigosa certainly paid for this privilege, to the tune of several million dollars in campaign funds.  It was telling that Neal Kleiner, who wasn’t endorsed by UTLA, did much better than incumbent Jon Lauritzen, the recipient of millions from the union.  Expect to see some sort of mayoral takeover of the schools in the next several months (though it needs to comply with the recent court ruling).

In addition, Felipe Fuentes just crossed the line and won election to the Assembly in the 39th District, getting 50.86% when 50% + 1 was needed.  Fuentes replaces Richard Alarcon, who was elected in November and almost immediately left to run for City Council. 

The takeaway here is that it does put another Democrat in the Assembly for the looming budget battle, whereas if it went to runoff that would not have been likely.

Let us not forget that Insurance Companies are always looking out for #1

I stumbled upon this LA Times article about patient dumping after a conversation with a friend who happens to work with uninsured patients at a hospital. Apparently, Kaiser is really, really sorry about dumping unstable (both mentally and physically) patients.

Kaiser Permanente has agreed to a first-of-its-kind settlement aimed at ending patient dumping that requires the HMO to establish new discharge rules, provide more training for employees and allow a well-known former U.S. attorney to monitor its progress, officials announced Tuesday.

The agreement by the nation’s largest HMO could resolve criminal charges and civil lawsuits filed against it last year by the Los Angeles city attorney’s office, alleging that it dumped on skid row a homeless woman who had been a patient.

Prosecutors, who are investigating more than 50 cases of dumping in downtown L.A. over the last two years, urged other hospitals to adopt the same rules that Kaiser has accepted for its 11 hospitals in the region. … Dr. Benjamin Chu, president of Kaiser Permanente’s Southern California region, apologized Tuesday for dumping the woman and said Kaiser is committed to changing. (LA Times 5.16.07)

Awww…we’re so so sorry, now pay up!  But in the end, you can’t really blame Kaiser or Blue Cross or or any of the inscos, they can’t bear the brunt of all of these costs.  The problem isn’t that the insurance companies are doing what’s in their best interest, it is that these kinds of things are in their best interest.  Or put more simply, it’s that there are insurance companies.  We give these companies incentives to get rid of the poor, and we expect them to act differently.

We need comprehensive health care reform, not just more subsidies for insurance companies.  We need more clinics to address daily health concerns, we need more spending on mental health facilities rather than dumping the mentally ill on the street. We need to take the long view, and get the  system to actually work rather than just applying another band-aid by giving the inscos another check.