A town hall meeting in Claremont that focused on water issues. (Photo: City of Claremont.)A Southern California city has launched eminent domain proceedings to take over the private water agency that has served the community for more than 80 years – an unusual move, even in California, where fights over water are common.
The apparent suicide last week of Alfred Villalobos, who faced a bribery trial next month, is a sad end for a former CalPERS board member paid more than $50 million by firms seeking money from the big pension fund. Most of his fees came from private equity firms during the years leading up to the financial crisis in 2008. Some call the period private equity’s “golden years,” when leveraged buyouts of corporations yielded huge profits.
Richard M. Allen, director of the Berkeley Seismological Laboratory, points out the American Canyon Quake. (AP Photo/Alex Menendez)California is known as much for earthquakes as it is Hollywood or surfers, but relatively few homeowners have bothered to buy earthquake insurance. A little better than one in every 10 residential properties is covered throughout California. In Napa, where Sunday’s 6.0 magnitude quake caused an estimated $1 billion in damage, the coverage level is even lower than that – perhaps 5 percent, according to the California Earthquake Authority
It had a name, Secure Choice, and now an attempt to create the first state-run “automatic IRA” for workers with no retirement plan has its first donors, authorization to hire consultants and a favorable response from a wide range of groups asked for advice. The author of the program, Sen. Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, may become the next leader of the state Senate. So the plan being developed by a nine-member board could have a strong advocate when it comes back to the Legislature for approval.