It’s a sign of desperation. When anyone in politics starts making wild claims less than a month before an election, you know something is amiss. So it is with the proponents of Proposition 15, the ...

When we’re not studying state finances we read financial reports issued by cities and school districts. Recently we took a look at the City and County of San Francisco where annual cash spending on ...

Shoplifting and stealing are becoming a bigger problem in California, which is why small businesses are showing interest in two statewide ballot measures that deal with crime and justice. Proposition ...

The wildfire crisis gripping California has touched every corner of the state. Beyond the loss of lives and destruction in communities, a grim cascade of harms has unfolded for people living in both ...

Once in a while, a ballot initiative suggests a new idea. Former Assemblymember Mike Gatto, an L.A. Democrat, has come up with one. He has filed an initiative that seeks a middle way to dealing with ...

The flair up over moving transportation funds from fixing road projects to alternative transportation modes to fight climate change has the distinct feel of a bait and switch on the public even though ...

Plebiscites are bad. Elected officials shouldn’t sponsor ballot initiatives. But there are advantages to the fact that so many California politicians have sponsored measures. At the very least, they ...

Imagine you are a donor to a non-profit organization whose board members receive gifts from employees to whom the board, without your consent, promises retirement benefits. Now the organization is ...

The old saying goes, “Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.” Are LA County voters going to be shamed by county officials by fooling them again when the county goes beyond the law that ...

It feels every election Californians are voting on another water bond—and passing them. This November Proposition 3 is on the ballot, placed there through the initiative process. The state has plenty ...

California households know it too well. State lawmakers – at least when asked – say it is. Academicians and pundits write about it all the time. Now, both Republican John Cox and Democrat Gavin Newsom ...