Four score and some years ago, CalTrans and the state of California thought finishing the 710 freeway would relieve congestion and bring economic prosperity to the west San Gabriel Valley.

They didn’t count on the people of South Pasadena who have organized and spent millions of dollars fighting this idea.

Now, State Senator Gil Cedillo has proposed a tunnel to connect the freeway. Read about it here. We’ll see if he solved the problem…. in another forty years.… Read More

In 1994 I lived in the top floor of a hundred year old Victorian in the Little Italy neighborhood of downtown San Diego. I paid $325 a month for two bedrooms, a balcony, and formal living and dining room. Within a few blocks were a handful of restaurants, a couple of bars, and a coffee shop that had just opened. Also within a few blocks were various drug dens and the very real danger of getting mugged. And while I didn’t have a lawn, I did get to sweep needles off my front alcove every couple days. If I wanted to go downtown proper to the Gaslamp I could almost always park for free within a block east of the main drag, 5th. A couple more blocks to the east of Gaslamp was a no-man’s zone of cheap bars, prostitution, homelessness, and crime. On 5th and 4th there were a few dozen bars and restaurants.

Skip forward eleven years. I’m looking out my downtown office window at a dozen new highrises, almost all residential. What’s more the abandoned old high rises are now thriving hotels or condos. Little Italy is virtually crime… Read More

There will be no new commentary today (though I have enough comments in SF Chron story that leads the FR today that I feel like that IS my commentary!).

Did you miss any Commentaries this week:

Monday: LA Times supports Prop. 75?? Prop. 73 is your most important YES vote! Tuesday: Redistricting, Congressional Romance, and is the Administration behind Prosper? Wednesday: Do tell – Who IS Bill Mundell? Thursday: Boxer’s Book – Bush CA Trip Friday: GOP AG Primary? Pooch v.… Read More

Looking for an out of work sewage administrator? Until yesterday, Blake Anderson was the top dog at the Orange County Sanitation District. Blake resigned amid a scandal that is so bizarre, it is worth repeating here. We are used to the most ‘traditional’ scandals that can take down an administrator — cooking the books, hiring friends, or saying something embarrassing in the newspaper come to mind. How about this one: Hiring a ‘spiritual-based’ consulting firm to work on employee relations at the sanitation district – Dharma Consulting.

The LA Times says this about the firm: "Founded in 1989 by yoga priest Eric Klein, the firm uses Eastern philosophy to approach business. Leaders must "renew" themselves and take four journeys — of self, contribution, craft and community, according to the… Read More

Months ago, the House Financial Services Committee reported a bill to reform Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSE’s), specifically FannieMae and FreddieMac, which specialize in providing affordable housing.

Reporting errors in these publicly traded GSE’s in the millions and billions raised the threat of another Enron and Congress responded with reforms to create an independent regulator.

The Republican chairman, Mike Oxley of Ohio, and the ranking member, Barney Frank of Massachusetts , agreed on a provision that mandates that Fannie and Freddie give 5% of their after tax profits to affordable housing advocates such as ACORN. The total figure is somewhere in the neighborhood of $1 billion – that’s with a B, billion.

The problem here in addition to the obviously offensive idea of forcing a publicly traded company, or any company for that matter, to give their after tax profits to anyone is that ACORN engages in political… Read More

The race for the GOP nomination for Attorney General is taking on a high profile for not having really started yet. Chuck Poochigian, who has spent many years working for Republican candidate and causes, worked as a senior-level appointee to Governor Wilson, served in the Assembly and currently in the State Senate, has really seen his years of hard work pay off in the form of many endorsements. Of course, this is also CALIFORNIA where the GOP has a big challenge winning statewide office. So with someone as able as Poochigian willing to run, and run hard, its no wonder he has raised big bucks, and really cemented early status as a virtual nominee. Back on October 5, my commentary centered around a San Francisco Chronicle Story that Richard Pierre Prosper, a… Read More

George Bush and Arnold Schwarzenegger are both fighting political wars on many, many fronts. So of course it makes all the sense in the world for them to start firing on each other.

At one level, the dispute over the President’s fundraiser is the silliest political story of the week. On another level, it’s a reminder of the geographic, cultural and political distance between Washington and California. Washington politicians of both parties tend to be pretty tone deaf when it comes to California politics. There’s a case to be made that the White House and Republican National Committee ought to be looking for ways to support fundraising efforts for a GOP governor’s top political priorities.

On the other hand, the governor’s people should put this in some perspective as well. The special election is the most important thing in our world, but it’s only one of many, many things in Bush-land. The fact that it should be more important to the White House than it is may be a legitimate cause for frustration, but there’s no need for political spitballs.… Read More

GOP Itching For Another Dem Mayor’s Seat

SAN BERNARDINO — Republicans are looking to take care of business in the City of San Bernardino. That is, despite the fact that the local business community is largely favoring a Democrat Superior Court judge for Mayor on November 8, while fire, law enforcement and other unions are supporting a long-serving, controversial elected city attorney with no current party affiliation. The county party is targeting the Mayor’s race hoping to nudge an underdog Republican Councilman into a February runoff and add to its track record of success in local, "non-partisan" elections.

Chas Kelley, 36, is a Councilman representing the city’s affluent Fifth Ward. An electronics technician married with four children, he’s been a Republican Party activist since he was old enough to vote (he still barely looks old enough to vote). Kelley unseated an incumbent two years ago in a grassroots campaign. Despite the fact that he’ll… Read More