California
Voters overwhelmingly approved a $28 million bond to pay for a new senior center and other projects. The mail-in ballots were due Tuesday. The bond measure passed with 75.7 percent of the vote; it needed two-thirds voter approval to pass.
The Sacramento City Attorney’s office released a report on Tuesday that raises several issues about the legality of Mayor Kevin Johnson’s strong mayor initiative. The report, signed by City Attorney Eileen Teichert, goes so far as to suggest that the initiative might not hold up in court. It states, “A judicial challenge would likely either strike down the Strong Mayor Initiative in its entirety or delay its implementation until a judicial ruling is finalized.”
While Wal-Mart has submitted new plans to renovate and move into a shuttered Kmart in Ventura, opponents have vowed to intensify promotion of a November ballot measure to block the proposal. This is the third time Wal-Mart has submitted conceptual drawings to replace the former Kmart on Victoria Avenue, and each proposal has progressively gotten smaller. The latest plan shows a 98,000-square-foot store with food sales, which would comply with new city rules that restrict stores along the busy Victoria corridor to no more than 100,000 square feet.
California Assembly Bill 6 requires petition firms that pay petition circulators to register with the Secretary of State’s Office, pay a fee, and train their circulators on relevant laws. The intention is to “decrease fraudulent or illegal practices in signature gathering.” To me, this bill makes no sense.
An unlikely coalition of developers, architects, environmentalists, affordable housing supporters, and social justice advocates thronged the front steps of Santa Barbara City Hall to denounce Measure B, the proposed ballot initiative that would reduce the maximum allowable building height to 40 feet downtown and 45 feet elsewhere throughout the city. Current law allows a maximum building height of 60 feet downtown. “Thirty-five percent of our most treasured buildings are over 40 feet,” objected Mickey Flacks of progressive group SBCAN.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, after months of budget battles with the Legislature, met Wednesday with a reform group calling for a part-time state Legislature in a sign of his interest in efforts to reshape Sacramento’s political landscape. The governor sat down for the first time with Gabriella Holt, who heads Citizens for California Reform, a nonpartisan public interest group that describes itself as “committed to advancing more limited and more transparent government.”
After three attempts to get an initiative on the ballot in Chula Vista that would ban union agreements on city-subsidized projects, a local contractors group has received notice its measure qualifies for the June ballot. The Associated Builders and Contractors has collected more than 50,000 signatures in three separate attempts to get its measure before Chula Vista voters. The first two campaigns were rejected on technical errors.
For years, cities dissatisfied with Pacific Gas and Electric Co. have tried to break away from the utility company, either by joining another or going into the power business for themselves. They have rarely succeeded in breaking free. Now PG&E is backing a statewide ballot measure that would make it even harder for cities and counties to leave. Under the measure, local governments that plan to start selling electricity would first need a two-thirds vote of approval from their residents if the plans required public financing.
Nearly twice as many efforts to recall public officials are underway this year than last, according to Citizens in Charge Foundation President Paul Jacob. In his daily Common Sense commentary, Paul points out several of the recall efforts from around the country, many of which have been mentioned on this site.
Here at Citizens in Charge Foundation we are very happy that our recently departed Communications Director Bettina Inclan has started a great new endeavor in California. While we were sad to see her go, she will be doing great work on the West Coast. Check out a few news articles on her new adventure here, here and
Activist Jane Lea is pushing a potential ballot measure that, if passed, would drastically slash the salaries of city department heads and managers. Lea, who was behind several other citywide ballot initiatives in recent years, filed papers Monday at Lodi City Hall declaring her intent to gather signatures to qualify for the 2010 statewide primary election. City leaders are overcompensated, and their salaries should be shaved at a time when city offices are closed once a month, parks are maintained less and employees have been laid off, Lea said.
The city of Cupertino is calling upon its residents to bring an existing tax into the 21st century. Cupertino is asking residents to extend the tax paid on telephones to cell phones. City leaders say Cupertino could lose about $600,000 in revenues it receives each year through the utility user tax on telecommunications if the ordinance is not updated to continue to include cell phones.
A strong mayor initiative goes before the Sacramento City Council on Thursday night. The council will decide when the measure will go in front of voters. Supporters gathered enough signatures to qualify the measure for the ballot. Mayor Kevin Johnson wants to see it on the June 8, 2010 election ballot.
Coachella voters will be asked on Nov. 3 to support a new tax that city officials say will help maintain city services, such as public safety, street maintenance and parks. The Coachella City Council had a special meeting Tuesday, and with a 5-0 vote, approved calling a special election about a 5 percent Utility Users Tax. If approved, the tax would be assessed on utilities such as electricity, gas, water, sewer, cable TV and refuse hauling. It would generate roughly $1.2 million a year.
Rival mall owners have spent nearly a half-million dollars combined in support of ballot measures that could decide the fate of a Neiman Marcus store in downtown Walnut Creek. Walnut Creek has been rocked over the past several months by a proposed 92,000-square-foot Neiman Marcus at the corner of Mt. Diablo Boulevard and South Main Street. Mall giants Macerich Co., which owns Broadway Plaza and Taubman Centers, owners of Sunvalley mall in Concord each spent more than $200,000 since January, according to campaign finance documents filed with the city.