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| November 2, 2016 PROPOSITIONS Jerry Brown overstates initiative’s impact in anti-Proposition 53 ad (Sacramento Bee) As the election nears, Gov. Jerry Brown is stepping up his involvement in the campaign to defeat Proposition 53. The initiative, which would require voter approval before California can issue more than $2 billion of revenue bonds for a state project, threatens high-speed rail and the proposed water conveyance tunnels under the Delta, two of Brown’s legacy projects. In addition to contributing millions of dollars, recording a robocall and enlisting his dog, Sutter, for the effort, Brown recently filmed an ad against Prop. 53 at the Governor’s Mansion in Sacramento that is now airing on television statewide. Statewide Prop. 54 finally brings transparency to our capitol (Modesto Bee) California cities, counties and state agencies must adhere to transparency rules to ensure the public’s right to know. Which is a very good thing for our democracy. So why then does our state legislature, the body that makes the laws all Californians must live under, get to avoid the same level of transparency? With passage of Proposition 54, this will no longer be the case. Now, the state legislature can introduce a new law about one subject then, at the last minute, change some or all of the language in the law – often to address a completely different subject matter – and push that proposed law through the approval process in a matter of hours. The public never has the opportunity to review it or provide input. When this happens, even legislators barely have time to read the proposed laws that are being approved. Statewide TRANSPORTATION / INFRASTRUCTURE Bay Area voters asked to support transportation fixes (San Francisco Chronicle) BART’s appeal to voters to boost their property taxes to rebuild the rail transit system has generated a lot of debate as Election Day approaches. But it’s not the only, or even the biggest, transportation tax measure Bay Area voters on Tuesday will be asked to decide. The largest is Measure B in Santa Clara County, which would raise $6.5 billion over 30 years for a variety of transportation needs, from a BART extension to road repairs. Measure B is among a handful of measures — in four counties — seeking a total of nearly $13 billion over the next three decades. Oakland, San Francisco, Cities in Alameda, Contra Costa and Santa Clara Counties SHORT-TERM RENTALS Council rejects proposed Airbnb ban (San Diego Union-Tribune) A proposal that would have outlawed short-term vacation rentals in most of San Diego’s single-family neighborhoods was rejected Tuesday by the City Council following a nearly seven-hour hearing that drew hundreds of individuals representing both sides of what has long been a contentious and much debated issue. While the council did direct its city staff to return in the next four months with a comprehensive ordinance that would regulate short-term rentals like those offered via online platforms such as Airbnb and HomeAway, there remain deep divisions on the council and among the public as to what should and should not be allowed. San Diego Federal judge blocks racial discrimination suit against airbnb (New York Times) Airbnb on Tuesday avoided a potential class-action lawsuit by customers who accused hosts of racial discrimination when a federal judge ruled that the company’s arbitration policy prohibited its users from suing. The case began this year when Gregory Selden, who is African-American, claimed that a host on Airbnb would not rent him a room because of his race. In May, Mr. Selden sued Airbnb, a short-term home rental company, for violating civil rights laws that forbid housing discrimination. But on Tuesday, a federal judge said Mr. Selden needed to adhere to Airbnb’s user agreement, which says that disputes must be settled in private arbitration and that users waive their right to trial by jury or to participate in class-action lawsuits. Statewide WATER / DROUGHT Bridge over troubled waters (Comstock Magazine) The Delta is a system of canals. In places, you can stand on a man-made levee with high water on one side and sunken land on the other. For 7,000 years, sediment accumulated to form deposits of organically-rich peat soil, but the last 170 years of farming have undone this natural process. About 2,300 dump trucks worth of soil is lost per day, oxidized as carbon dioxide and all told, about half of the Delta’s soil material is now gone, says Curt Schmutte, a civil engineer who specializes in Delta issues. We named plots of land in the Delta “islands,” but scientists refer to them — the majority below sea level — as “holes.” Cities in El Dorado, Placer and Sacramento Counties Folsom, Granite Bay among those called out for dramatic increase in water use (Sacramento Bee) Californians are continuing to use more water, state drought regulators said Tuesday, with residents of Folsom and Granite Bay among those who’ve ramped up their consumption the most. The State Water Resources Control Board announced that urban consumption grew by 8 percent in September compared with a year ago. It was the fourth straight month of higher consumption now that strict conservation mandates have been relaxed. Water districts used about 170 billion gallons of water, an increase of 13 billion gallons compared with September 2015, the agency said. Folsom, Granite Bay HOUSING A roundup of rent-control ballot measures in the bay area this election (East Bay Express) Nine Bay Area cities and counties have ballot measures that would enhance renter protections this year. In Richmond, Measure L would also establish a rent board, just like Measure M1 in Alameda, and would cap annual rent increases at the same level as the Consumer Price Index. Burlingame, East Palo Alto, Mountain View, Richmond, Cities in Alameda and San Mateo Counties HOMELESSNESS / POVERTY Laguna Beach raises hunger, homeless awareness for November (Laguna Beach Patch) Hunger and homelessness are something that everyone can help with, according to the Laguna Beach Housing and Human Services Committee. Various drives and educational meetings are in place for the month of November, including a toiletry drive, a food drive, a free film screening and a Thanksgiving potluck. Laguna Beach ‘Pit stop’ toilets for homeless cost $11 a flush. Is it worth it? (Sacramento Bee) About 90 people a day use a staffed, portable restroom set up in June near Sacramento’s largest homeless services center. The idea is to reduce outdoor human waste while giving homeless people a bit more dignity. But the restroom has cost the city about $1,000 a day, nearly 75 percent higher than the initial estimated cost for the project, according to a city staff report. Sacramento MARIJUANA San Jose City Council approves ban on recreational marijuana sales (Mercury News) With little discussion Tuesday, San Jose leaders approved a temporary ban on recreational marijuana sales — just one week before voters decide whether to legalize the drug. The Bay Area’s largest city joined a growing list of cities that have banned or adopted regulations on growing, processing and selling nonmedical pot ahead of Proposition 64, a state initiative on the Nov. 8 ballot that legalizes pot use for adults. San Jose leaders said the ban will help stop illegal pot shops from opening — if Prop. 64 passes, as polls suggest — and allows time for City Hall to come up with a regulatory scheme to oversee the new industry. San Jose was among the first cities two years ago to adopt rules for its medical marijuana collectives, whittling hundreds of scofflaw medical pot dispensaries to 16 sanctioned shops today. Campbell, Davis, Foster City, Hayward, Martinez, Palo Alto, San Jose Oakland adds roadblock for entrepreneurs seeking pot permits (San Francisco Chronicle) The clock is ticking for Oakland to recraft its marijuana laws, but officials are nowhere closer to resolving a policy dispute that has become a form of political gamesmanship in City Hall. And on Tuesday, the city added another roadblock for pot entrepreneurs who are desperate to get permits. The council was scheduled to vote on several proposals to amend the permitting system it passed in May, including a controversial plan to require every cannabis business to hand over 25 percent of its profits and at least one seat on its board of directors to the city in exchange for a permit to operate. Sponsored by council members Desley Brooks, Noel Gallo and Larry Reid, it would require the city to donate a third of the revenue to three community job-training programs run by politically connected people. Oakland Pot startups flying high with California poised to legalize marijuana (Mercury News) Startups are cropping up throughout the Bay Area that put a signature Valley spin on the age-old practice of selling marijuana, offering sleek on-demand delivery apps for users and high-tech software for growers and dispensaries. The business models are risky — marijuana is illegal under federal law and stigma around the drug prevents cannabis startups from scoring funding from many major investors. But with recent polls suggesting Californians are poised to expand marijuana consumption beyond medical use, experts expect cash to pour into the industry. Oakland, Palo Alto, San Francisco Billionaire activists like Sean Parker and George Soros are fueling the campaign to legalize pot (Los Angeles Times) Activist billionaires Sean Parker and George Soros and companies hoping to profit from legalizing marijuana in California have helped this year’s campaign for Proposition 64 raise close to $16 million, about four times the amount spent on a failed effort in 2010. With a week left before voters go to the polls, the campaign to legalize recreational marijuana use is leading in surveys and has a massive fundraising lead over the opposition, which has brought in a little more than $1.6 million. Statewide GOVERNANCE/TRANSPARENCY Jerry Brown touted his pension reforms as a game-changer. But they’ve done little to rein in costs (Los Angeles Times) A year after his 2010 election, Gov. Jerry Brown made a rare appearance at a legislative committee hearing to confront lawmakers about the steep cost of public employee pensions — and to demand that they pass his 12-point pension overhaul. Brown challenged fellow Democrats to drink political “castor oil” so public retirement costs would not overburden future generations. State lawmakers eventually passed many of Brown’s proposals, including a higher retirement age for new employees. But they rejected those with the biggest dollar savings — notably his plan for a hybrid retirement system combining smaller pensions with 401k-style savings plans. Statewide PUBLIC SAFETY Complaints of syringes and feces rise dramatically in SF (San Francisco Chronicle) Reports of improperly discarded syringes have jumped 41 percent since last fiscal year, according to a recent city controller’s report. Complaints about feces have increased by 39 percent, with every district seeing a rise in the calls. And, in a trend that must be disturbing to residents who don’t live near the Tenderloin or SoMa, long perceived as epicenters of filth, there were big increases in complaints about the outlying neighborhoods to the city’s 311 service portal for fiscal year 2015-16. San Francisco Sacramento police will learn how to approach mentally ill suspects without deadly force (Sacramento Bee) The Sacramento Police Department announced Tuesday that some staff will attend training to handle complex incidents, such as those involving mentally ill suspects, with less force. Next month, a “team of representatives” will attend a two-day course in New Orleans that “concentrates on giving police officers more options for responding to certain types of incidents that often end with a use of force but which might be resolved differently with de-escalation,” according to a release from the department. The training is being conducted by the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), a national think tank that has pushed law enforcement to reconsider policies on using deadly force in the wake of national unrest with police shootings. Sacramento JOBS Visa slashes hundreds of jobs as it digests European acquisition (San Francisco Business Times) Layoffs are roiling San Francisco-based Visa, with the card giant eliminating an undislosed number of positions around the globe as it digests its purchase of Visa Europe and adjusts to the rapidly shifting payments landscape that sparked a proliferation of fintech startups eager to eat Visa's lunch. Visa issued a statement Tuesday acknowledging "a variety" of job cuts, but offered no details on the size and scope. Several Visa employees and former employees tell the San Francisco Business Times that Visa recently cut 800 to 1,500 jobs, with the company's former headquarters campus in Foster City especially hard hit. Foster City, San Francisco CITY IN THE SPOTLIGHT Sacramento to host first stage of 2017 Amgen Tour of California (Sacramento Bee) Slovakian Peter Sagan, the reigning and two-time world champion, will compete in the Amgen Tour of California in 2017, event officials announced Tuesday while confirming the 12th annual bicycle race will begin in Sacramento. As anticipated, the weeklong men’s race, one day shorter than in recent years, is scheduled May 14-20. A corresponding four-day women’s race is also scheduled May 11-14, beginning in South Lake Tahoe and ending in Sacramento. Elk Grove, Modesto, Ontario, Pasadena, Sacramento, San Jose, San Mateo, South Lake Tahoe |
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