who is stephen rush?

RUSH FOR GOVERNOR

My message of hope reaches to the core of the California dream: a vibrant economy for cities and communities all across the state.  Every city has been hurting under California’s budget crisis, and that is why I will provide relief for the financially-strapped homeowner, jobs for the unemployed skilled worker, and aid for public education.

My comprehensive economic plan provides answers that directly translates into a reasonably immediate budget surplus, aid for schools and community emergency services like firefighters and police, monies to fix crumbling infrastructure and transportation, careful planning to promote sensible economic development while conserving water needs, as well as reduction of pollution, the homeless, and gang related crime that is even pushing out into smaller communities.  These measures will help to make the downward trend more shallow, to keep the economy from “crashing” (See Economics 101).  So, I am ’Rushing’ to the aid of Californians with my plan for the Economy, Environment, and Education.  I have affectionately called this plan the “Big-E.”

Phil Trounstine and Jerry Roberts nail it

Without Newsom, new faces, same old thing

One year before the 2010 election, Gavin Newsom’s abrupt withdrawal from the governor’s race leaves the campaign without a candidate conveying the message most aligned with California’s zeitgeist of the moment: a call for sweeping reform.

With Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown the lone (if still formally undeclared) Democratic candidate, and a Republican field of former EBay Chief Executive Meg Whitman, ex-Rep. Tom Campbell and Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, the race now presents two fundamental, thematic choices:

Brown and Campbell argue, in slightly different ways, that fixing California is a matter of making government work better; Whitman and Poizner essentially contend that fixing California means getting government out of the way.

At a time when Californians have record-low regard for state government, none of the four has mounted a challenge to the status quo as strongly as did Newsom. A flawed messenger lacking focus and the discipline to raise the vast sums needed, he nonetheless came closest to seizing the mantle of change.

november redux: is tom steyer the right man to run for governor?

When CCWC states,

“We need competence to fix Sacramento. We would like a candidate with a background and experience that meets the moment. We need an inspiring voice, a compelling message that reengages the people with their state government. Our candidate will draw on the people to change California together.”

we are not limiting our search to the political class.  There are business and community leaders in our party, like Tom Steyer, that CCWC is interested in hearing from, in addition to the professional politicians making the rounds.  

Tom’s pragmatic point of view is substantive and resonates nationally regarding the banking crisis.  His bona fides as a democratic fundraiser and supporter are unrivaled in California.  His mastery of the crisis and finance are especially compelling given the current state of California’s economy.

As far as CCWC knows, Mr. Steyer has not indicated he is interested in changing his day job; should we consider a petition to persuade him to run for California’s highest office?  To work together to change Sacramento once and for all?

sf mayor newsom talks change talk in new you tube commercial

CCWC twitter talk with sf mayor gavin newsom

1. Noozhawk RT @GavinNewsom: We need give more fiscal control and responsibility (realignment) to local governments.#ttnewsom11 minutes ago from TweetDeck
2. johnholz @stevenefowler Thanks for that, nice job#ttnewsom11 minutes ago from web
3. GavinNewsom Thanks everyone – this was great. Looking forward the next one. Time to go the hospital! @ccwc#ttnewsom19 minutes ago from web
4. stevenefowler thank you to everyone for meeting up. we will post the feed in our blog and get into the thoughtful questions. #ttnewsom21 minutes ago from TweetDeck
5. agurbash What are the mayor’s views on the Armenian Genocide? #ttnewsom21 minutes ago from web
6. stevenefowler mayor, thank you for taking the time, to be continued. we look forward to seeing you on the trail. love to your wife and montana. #ttnewsom24 minutes ago from TweetDeck
7. mellaughsalot @GavinNewsom How do you feel about education budget and teaching to the test? #ttnewsom24 minutes ago from web
8. stevenefowler @kholleran we look forward changeing CA and fixing Sacramento. #ttnewsom #FIXCA25 minutes ago from TweetDeck
9. ndgc12dx Duh, considering Cali is almost bankrupt. RT@GavinNewsom: We need give more fiscal control and responsibility to local govts. #ttnewsom25 minutes ago from UberTwitter
10. GavinNewsom @johnholz No bigger champion for HSR. Top priority. Essential to state’s environ & econ future. Benefits vastly outweigh costs. #ttnewsom25 minutes ago from web

sf mayor in orange county. CCWC R: mayor keep engaging the people of CA.

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CCWC invites candidates running for governor of california to lunch

CCWC is opening its Tuesday lunch twitter talks (#TT) to all candidates running for governor of California.  We welcome the opportunity to get to know the candidate’s followers and to share ideas on the way forward in Sacramento.  If you are running for governor and would like to lunch with CCWC, please let us know which Tuesday you are available and we will spread the word to our members, readers and followers as to the when and the where.  

an oldie but goody from the la times

Here’s a great piece from the LA Times in 2003. Sure, keeping property taxes low can help businesses but the disparity in the market place is staggering!

Firms’ Prop. 13 Savings Are Coveted

SACRAMENTO — It’s no wonder Disneyland’s owners call their amusement park the “happiest place on Earth.” For much of its land, Disney pays only a nickel per square foot in property taxes.

In Hollywood, Capitol Records pays a dime per square foot in taxes on the land beneath its famous tower, which resembles a stack of records on a hi-fi. In downtown Los Angeles, owners of the Wells Fargo Center pay about $1.77 a square foot.

Read Full Post Here

dkos’ dday joins chorus for a constitutional convention to fix sacramento

Why California Needs A Constitutional Convention

Then there’s our failed experiment with direct democracy, which brought about many of the constrictions under which current government now labors, such as the crazy 2/3 requirements, which allow the majority to say that the minority blocks their wishes while allowing the minority to claim that they have no power because they’re in the minority.

What do I think a Constitutional convention needs to include?

• ending the 2/3 requirements and restoring democracy to the fiscal process over the tyranny of the minority, and returning decisions for spending and taxation to elected representatives 
• two-year budget cycles and performance-based budgeting to try and engender a long-term approach 
• indirect democracy, where the legislature can either work out the item on the ballot with proponents and pass it through their chamber, or amend items that reach the ballot.  In addition, we need a higher barrier for Constitutional amendments and changes to the process of signature gathering. 
• any ballot-box budgeting must include a dedicated funding source – “paygo for initiatives” 
• smaller legislative districts, either by expanding the Assembly or moving to a unicameral legislature with 150 or more members. 
• elimination of the current term limits, the tighest in the nation, with more of a happy medium 
• instant runoff voting for state legislative vacancies to speed the process of filling them 
• local government gets the local resources they collect without them routing through Sacramento

Those are a few of the things I’d like to see addressed, and I’m sure people have additional ones.  The crisis we currently have in California presents an opportunity for new thinking about government and how to manage the largest state in the union and one of the largest economies in the world.  Despite the doom and gloom, California retains its vibrancy, its diversity, its abundance.  Only the structure under with it governs itself has failed, and that failure has seeped into everyday life.  Lifting that structure will be like lifting a heavy weight off the backs of the citizenry.  We can lead a path to a better future.

Read Full Post Here.

see the 2/3 rule in action

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WSJ on the fiasco, CCWC R: are oil and tobacco the keys to fixing what’s broken?

California Budget Woes to Persist

The budget mess is already taking center stage in the race to succeed Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who must leave office after the November 2010 election because of term limits. “It’s the issue that transcends all other issues,” San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, a Democratic candidate, said in an interview Thursday. “You can’t talk about issues in health care, education and infrastructure improvement until you focus on the issue of these structural imbalances in the budget.” Mr. Newsom blasted the spending plan for taking $4.7 billion from local governments, saying the governor should have been open to new taxes on tobacco and oil extraction instead.

Read Full Article Here:

66% is not democracy

LAT on villaraigosa conference call. CCWC R: thanks mayor

Villaraigosa says ‘cynical’ state budget cuts will ‘kneecap’ Obama’s stimulus package

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said this morning that the “gimmicks, accounting tricks and backdoor borrowing’’ in the proposed state budget deal would cost the city $260 million this year, while derailing state transit projects and putting thousands of criminals back on the streets.

The mayor vowed to join lawsuits being filed by local governments across California to block the Legislature from taking away billions of dollars in gas tax revenue, property tax dollars and redevelopment funds that were destined for counties and cities.

“This is a cynical money grab that will kneecap President Obama’s stimulus package and severely stint our economic recovery efforts,’’ Villaraigosa said at a morning news conference joined by leaders of the Los Angeles Police Department and the city police union.

First Assistant Chief Jim McDonnell said the proposal to reduce the state prison population by 27,000 inmates would have a definite “impact on our community.

LA Mayor Villaraigosa fills the democratic leadership vacuum and vows legal challenges to the gimmicks going on in Sacramento. Where are the other candidates?  Should Villaraigosa reconsider his decision to forgo the race for governor?  We are encouraged by the mayor’s leadership on the budget fiasco.  We are puzzled by those sitting on the sidelines.  Californians looking for leadership are with you Mayor Villaraigosa, “GIVE EM HELL!”

AFSCME to sacramento, “we can do better”

wa post’s harold meyerson on the un-democratic 2/3 rule

GOP: Going Over the Precipice

Because of a quirk in California’s Constitution, the minority Republicans have managed to push through a budget that makes the state sicker and dumber. Where is the Democrats’ white knight?

The most basic principle of any democracy is that of majority rule, with minority rights running a clear but close second. Simple though this precept may be, California seems to have gotten it backward. The budget deal that emerged from Sacramento on Monday was the result of minority rule — the consequence of a state Constitution that vests more power in the minority party than the constitution of just about any other state. 

Under normal circumstances, this constitutional anomaly doesn’t result in minority rule. But during the budget impasse of the last several months, it did.

The 2/3 rule is un-democratic plain and simple.  When will a democrat stand up and make this THE issue?  Any meaningful campaign for 2010 must confront this head on. It is an outrage that a majority party throws up its hands and claims we are helpless.

The Republicans’ California isn’t a state that most Californians want to live in. Given a choice between creating an extraction tax on oil companies (a tax that every other state with oil already has, but which the Sacramento Republicans rejected) and decimating the state’s universities, I think Californians would opt to tax Exxon rather than reduce the number of science students. But how do we stop the downward spiral before Republicans reduce the state to the status of an Oklahoma or Alabama or the other GOP garden spots? 

First, Democrats in the Legislature should consider calling the GOP’s bluff and voting against the budget deal — but they can’t make their case absent a public spokesman. It’s time for Jerry Brown and Gavin Newsom to rise to the challenge that Clinton did when he stood down Gingrich. And second, Californians need to amend their state Constitution, in convention if need be, to end the practice of minority rule. Democracy — not to mention the future of the state — depends on it.  

AMEN!  Candidates who want to lead our state should start leading today.  There is no tomorrow.

Read Full Editorial Here.

meet nori…then take back california

www.meetnori.com

mighty mike, “their not doing the cuts that they need to do” “maybe they will say no” CCWC rhetorical Q: do you agree with mighty mike?

join us tomorrow at noon PST @ #TTnewsom to discuss the candidacy of sf mayor newsom

Join us tomorrow for a lunchtime “twtter talk” on the candidacy of SF Mayor Gavin Newsom.  We will meet from noon PST – ? @ #TTnewsom.  We look forward to hearing from all sides and learning more about the mayor’s plan to fix Sacramento.  If you have any questions, please post them here and we will get back to you promptly.

To Mayor Newsom, we have a few prepared questions our members would like to ask you directly.  Hope to see you there.

here is the capture from our first “twitter talk”, #TTprop13. please join us next tuesday at noon PST for our discussion on sf mayor newsom at: #TTnewsom.

Real-time results for #TTprop13

1. msghens @CCWC #TTprop13 That 50K house has not changed one bit. The value was cause by runaway property inflation.about 7 hours ago from twhirl  
2. msghens @CCWC #TTprop13 Why do you support the theft of family homestead through taxes?about 8 hours ago from twhirl
3. msghens @CCWC The irony of Property, a house in S. CA when I was growing up worth less than $50k is now worth $900K #TTprop13about 8 hours ago from twhirl
4. CCWC @CobyRudolph will let you know. next week’s tues noon topic: TTnewsom. see you there and maybe he will show up. #TTprop131 day ago from TweetDeck
5. CCWC thanks for showing up. if you know of any groups or links that might be helpful to getting this issue into the campaign, share. #TTprop131 day ago from TweetDeck
6. CobyRudolph @bishport I know @GavinNewsom has townhalls this week in San Fernando Valley San Diego. Will anyone be there to ask him about #TTprop13 ?1 day ago from twhirl
7. bishport @colinwords when you have to compete as a start up with a business that doesn’t pay equitable rates, you can’t.#TTprop131 day ago from web
8. bishport @colinwords i agree. #TTprop13 is ant-growth. it gives an unfair advantage to long term land owners, corporations.1 day ago from web

sf gate’s pender responds to reader tim zuffi

Property owners save big thanks to propositions

Under Prop. 13, real property in California is reassessed only when it is sold or transferred. Between sales, the assessed value can be raised by no more than 2 percent a year plus the value of improvements.

In the wake of Prop. 13, California voters approved two propositions that exclude from reassessment transfers of certain real property between parents and children and – in limited circumstances – from grandparents to grandchildren. (Transfers between spouses were already exempt from reassessment.)

Read Full Article Here

mike malloy on prop 13 and ca budget crisis

sf tax assessor phil ting on prop 13

new america foundation’s joe mathews on challenging the legality of prop 13

A Drive By Shot at Prop 13

Your blogger is all for overturning Prop 13, particularly the piece that required a two-thirds vote of the legislature to raise taxes. But Prop 13 is sturdy, both legally and politically. Overturning it will require sustained public education and organizing. It’s a waste of time to try out discredited legal theories to defeat it. But that’s what former UCLA Chancellor Charles Young did last week by suing under the theory that, 31 years after it passed, Prop 13 was an unconstitutional revision to the constitution, rather than amendment. Call it a drive-by shot. That’s now how you kill the king.

Young’s argument is the same theory that didn’t work when it was used to challenge Prop 8, the ban on same-sex marriage. In fact, it’s a theory that hasn’t worked because the California constitution and the judiciary have always been reluctant to overrule a vote of the people.  If you read the state constitution — particularly the second article — you’ll see why. The people really are sovereign in California.

What’s more, as former Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn president Joel Fox points out correctly in this post, Prop 13 already survived a challenge under this same legal theory.

LAT’s michael hiltzik on prop 13 today, “…that 31-year-old wolf in sheep’s clothing…”

It’s time to close a big tax loophole for businesses

Of all the ways in which California residents have slit their fiscal throats over the last 30 years, surely the most inexplicable is the bestowal of a gaping tax loophole on commercial and industrial property owners.

The culprit, no surprise, is that 31-year-old wolf in sheep’s clothing, Proposition 13, which prohibits the reassessment of any property except at the time of a change in ownership.

Read Full Article Here

NPR: ca in crisis

California In Crisis: On The Verge of A Cash Collapse

California’s economy is roughly the size of Italy’s, but the state is broke, and there are no easy fixes — just painful cuts ahead. In a multipart series, NPR examines the factors that have brought the state to the brink of ruin. Will the federal government ultimately be forced to come to the rescue? And if not, will California drag down the national economy?

FOLLOW HERE

only citizen engagement will fix our crisis of leadership…get involved in the conversation on Twitter at #cafail