Posts Tagged: cities
Opinion
OPINION: Americans have grown accustomed to a parade of bad news on climate change coupled with a stream of federal policy shifts designed to promote fossil fuels. But outside of the Beltway, in cities and towns across the country, the move to 100% clean energy is becoming a reality.Dozens of cities and counties in California and elsewhere are already running on 100% clean electricity, and over 150 American cities and counties have set 100% clean energy goals.
News
Once again, the stage is being set for a multi-pronged battle in California between environmentalists and the Trump administration. On May 9, the federal government announced plans to open 725,500 acres of public lands on California’s Central Coast and the Bay Area to new oil and gas drilling.
News
Gov. Brown leaves office next week with a smaller cost-cutting pension reform than he wanted. But after he’s gone, union challenges to minor parts of his reform pending in the state Supreme Court may open the door to big changes. The main parts of Brown’s reform add several years to retirement ages and make some employees pay more for their pensions.
News
Two California counties profit from a loophole in the “sanctuary state” law, while most others have canceled their ICE contracts under public pressure or let them expire. When California’s sanctuary state law, Senate Bill 54, was approved, the public assumed that local law enforcement would be prevented from cooperating with ICE agents except when dealing with people “convicted of a serious or violent felony,” such as murder, rape, child abuse or battery.
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Monrovia’s city manager, Oliver Chi, told the city council the budget could absorb the CalPERS employer pension rate increases enacted in 2012, 2013, and 2014 — but a large fourth rate increase last December could push the city into insolvency.
Opinion
OPINION: Today, April 4, during National Victim Rights’ Week, nearly 500 hundred crime survivors were gathering in Sacramento to share our stories, honor our loved ones and call for new safety priorities. From mothers who have lost loved ones to young men experiencing violence in our communities, we are coming together to call for change.
Opinion
OPINION: Back in 2012, then Treasurer Bill Lockyer called for an early warning system that would give state officials time to proactively address local government fiscal emergencies before they wound up in bankruptcy court. We are now five years closer to the next recession and its attendant set of local government financial crises, but the state has made little progress toward implementing Lockyer’s proposed system.
News
FairWarning: More Americans are bicycling or walking to work these days, but with little government investment in safety measures, such as protected bike lanes and sidewalks, more cyclists and pedestrians are getting killed. In San Francisco, the hit-and-run deaths of two female bicyclists in a single day in late June spurred community outrage and a plan to add 15 miles of protected bikeways, more than doubling the city’s current total.
Opinion
OPINION: The California Environmental Quality Act has long been the punching bag of business interests and some policy makers. It has been blamed for everything from a dearth of affordable housing to a sluggish economy during financial downturns. Yet, until now, precious little objective research has been conducted to understand the costs and benefits associated with this 46-year-old law.
Opinion
Our transportation infrastructure is literally falling apart due to poor maintenance. Recently, because of deferred maintenance, a guard rail on an East Bay overpass fell onto I-880. The several tons of falling metal didn’t just hold up traffic, it also damaged cars and injured drivers. Our crumbling roads are more than just a nuisance. They’re dangerous.
Photovoltaic modules capture sunlight. (Photo: foxbat, via Shutterstock) 
