Category: Politics

Public transit budget grab was illegal, court says


this poster should have
been illegal too

News & Review’s Cosmo Garvin blogs about Regional Transit’s EPIC WIN last week when the California 3rd District Court of Appeals ruled (in the case SHAW et al. v. THE PEOPLE ex rel. CHIANG, as Controller, etc., et al.) that a portion of the money taken from Public Transportation Account in the last 3 budget years must be repaid. Garvin points out that there is obviously no money in the state’s wallet to pay out, so it remains to be seen what will happen.

What should happen, to borrow a phrase, is the political heads of Gov. Schwarzenegger and many other elected officials on a platter. What would happen to a businessperson who shifted money around in order to pay his company’s bills and did something illegal?

I want to buy a gun today

The sale of firearms locally is on the rise because of the budget.

“People are coming in and saying, ‘I want to buy a gun today,'” Barrett said. “We’re specifically seeing people say, ‘I want it because I’m not going to be able to get the protection that I need from the sheriff’s department.'”

This can’t miss. Luckily, folks will not be able to conceal these weapons …

Faced with the potential loss of more than 200 deputies due to budget cuts, McGinness said earlier this month that he may consider issuing more concealed weapons permits.

So, we have this going for us. From the comments area:

People have to be able to protect themselves and their families!!! Yes, case studies are proven about when honest, law abiding citizens are armed and ready that crime does go down.

I wonder if case studies would also prove that if folks installed a soft serve ice cream machine in their kitchen obesity would go down.

City pools are practically closed

Glenn Hall Pool
Glenn Hall Pool, by Midtown Grid user Julia

The bathroom closure announcement is probably the most unfortunate and glaring change in the city’s gutted rec budget, but I’m really disappointed that almost all the pools will now only be open 3-5 PM. There will be no city pools open after 5pm, and several pools — including my beloved Glenn Hall pool — will be closed to recreational swimming entirely. The changes take effect Monday. Oh well, at least the kids can play in the sprinklers, right? Oh wait.

Continue reading “City pools are practically closed”

Most Californians …

Turns out, according to Maria Shriver, that most Californians want it all.

“Don’t close the parks, don’t cut from education, don’t cut from health care, don’t cut from anything,” said Shriver, amplifying what people tell her. “I say, ‘We have a $25 billion deficit: What would you do?'”

I told you! I spent it with my uncle in Alaska hunting wolverines!

Uh, er, sorry about that … she goes on to say:

…nearly everyone replies that they don’t want to pay higher taxes and don’t have any of their own ideas about what parts of government to cut.

Really? Nearly everyone, eh? No suggestions? Drawing a complete blank? I am sure that nearly everyone of the 10 to 15 people that read this here web log semi-regularly have an opinion or two on this topic.

What say you, Raggers?

Cost of keeping CA Senators riding in style? $100 mil

CA State Senate chamber
California_Senate_chamber
by Flickr user flap

After a legislative committee votes down a 5% salary reduction for state workers, Darrell Steinberg asks his colleagues in the Senate to take a 5% pay cut. A great factoid in that story is that the operating budget of the CA Senate is $100 million. That’s $2.5 million per member. For reference, that is exactly the same size as the Sacramento Fire Department’s budget. But that includes, you know, the pool … er I mean fighting fires and stuff. For a Senate, $100 million just gets you 40 people to show up — you want extras? That costs more.

Continue reading “Cost of keeping CA Senators riding in style? $100 mil”

Because of the budget …

Have you noticed how everyone’s favorite new crutch phrase is “because of the budget” to justify/explain away everything that is going wrong in our state? It only recently surpassed “due to the recent economic downturn” and totally leap-frogged “and the worst has yet to come” to reach the top spot.

The best example I’ve seen lately is from this article about the potential for public urination in our city and county parks with the closure of restrooms.

“We’re going to have heavy cuts to our park staff and our park maintenance and also to our recreation,” Combs said. “We’ll be closing community centers and pools and children’s programs. All the decisions are difficult. We regret this, but right now that’s what we’re forced to do because of the budget.”

In case you heard about this story and thought, hey, what the heck, I think I will relieve myself in the rose garden at McKinley Park, you better think again. The Sacramento police are on to you:

Sacramento police Sgt. Norm Leong said park visitors will simply have to plan ahead if the bathrooms are closed. Anyone caught going to the bathroom in parks may be cited, he added.

Right, as long as nothing happens to the number of police officers patrolling these areas we should be safe from public pee’rs.

About the City’s new water restrictions

I wanted to bring up a few points about the City’s new martial law declaration with respect to water use. First, you can be cited and fined for “leaky or faulty water lines, hoses, fixtures or other water using or distributing devices,” so make sure to maintain all your sprinklers. Second, the City itself is exempt from all the restrictions. And keep in mind these restrictions are in place now, when we’ve had unseasonable precipitation and mild temperatures; the City will enact even more stringent restrictions if we get to an actual water shortage situation.

Read the City’s ordinance (PDF)

(Hat tip to Chris Shannon of North Sac Beat)

“Vast and gloomy work camps”

ABC News describes the North Korean prison camps that journalists Euna Lee and Carmichael native Laura Ling have been condemned to. This is really scary stuff that makes Guantanamo look like Monte Carlo. My heart goes out to the families and I hope that Hilary Clinton or Bill Richardson or Al Gore can bust some balls and get these ladies freed, foreign policy chess match be damned.

Pencils & Crayons

Here’s an interesting article from the UK about California discontinuing the use of textbooks in the classroom in favor of digital media. You will quickly notice how we are viewed in other parts of the world after the third or fourth movie pun.

“Our kids get their information from the internet, downloaded onto their iPods, and in Twitter feeds to their cell phones … Basically. kids are feeling as comfortable with their electronic devices as I was with my pencils and crayons.”

I am sure this is true in many cases, but will the government require kids to have iPods, cell phones, and computers connected to the Internet to access these digital textbooks?

Mr Schwarzenegger has ruled out tax increases to make up the shortfall. He said in a statement that he would concentrate on getting better value for money for the state, reconsidering everyday purchases just as ordinary families were having to do during the recession.

What a unique idea. It sort of makes you want to do the Running Man, er, or go Commando, or, or have Twins …

In which CoolDMZ praises the government

waterSince I spend so much time on this here log of Web talking about government failure, I thought I’d share a recent government success story: Calling the City of Sacramento Department of Utilities.

The Cool household woke up Friday morning with weird-looking water. A call to the Utilities hotline (311) got an agent dispatched to our home within about an hour to take samples (luckily, the water had normalized by then). It was like an in-home field trip for the kids. And then I just got off the phone with another science-talking-guy from the Department, who went over all the results (no contaminants, trace remnants of iron and manganese which suggested an open fire hydrant around the time of “The Incident”).

All in all it was satisfying to have a quality encounter with the government. U-S-A!!! U-S-A!!!