For those of you who think the battle over private property rights and access to public lands in the California desert came to an end in 1994 with the passage of Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s Desert Protection Act, I’ve got news for you.

I wrote this op-ed, which is featured in today’s San Bernardino County Sun, to emphasize the importance of balancing California’s need for resources such as water and electricity with the potential impact that developing such resources could have on California’s desert lands.

Now with the majority of politicos worshipping at the altar of Climate Change and pushing the new imperative of Renewable Energy, nothing else – not even pristine desert ecosystems that 15 years ago were of such great concern to urbanites who elect Senators like Feinstein and Barbara Boxer – seems to matter anymore.

Environmentalists are now split between those willing to sacrifice the desert to more than 100 currently proposed land-devouring solar and wind farms and those – like the radicals who don’t care about the economy – who aren’t.… Read More

I would appreciate any thoughts you may have (potentially for attribution) on the following, for a possible follow-up piece on the issue. See the questions at the end…. California law is pretty clear. Public funds can’t be used for political campaign purposes. So, yesterday’s article in the Union-Trib, "Activists fault two cities over sales-tax brochures," again raises an interesting and ongoing issue of debate – the use of public funds in advance of a potential ballot measure to educate and solicit public opinion, although technically not for campaign purposes.

As a former La Mesa City Councilmember and current San Diego County Taxpayers Association (SDCTA) board member, my interest is heightened due to my city’s situation as noted in the article, yet my purpose in querying you the reader goes beyond my past and current involvement with the two entities.

Although some public agencies have no doubt exceeded a "gray area" threshold by using public funds for campaign purposes, let’s… Read More

This afternoon the Associated Press reported that Proposition 8’s ballot description has been changed—and traditional marriage supporters should be up in arms over this political ploy. Initially, Prop. 8 was described as limiting marriage to a man and a woman. Readers will be shocked to learn that Prop. 8 is now officially described as “a constitutional change to eliminate the right of same sex couples to marry.” According to Secretary of State Debra Bowen’s office, the description change came as the result of the recent California Supreme Court ruling overturning Proposition 22.

This flimsy excuse for so blatantly siding with Prop. 8 opposition is ludicrous. The so-called “right” of same-sex couples to marry was created by the California Supreme Court just two months ago and voters have yet to decide whether they will participate in this judicial charade. This biased description of Prop. 8 demonstrates the challenge supporters will face this election—not just in the campaign, but from a supposedly-unbiased… Read More

In 2003, Oakland Unified School District went into state receivership. In other words, it went bankrupt, and the state had to bail it out. Today, the school district is still under state control and, incredibly, continues to experience financial problems. Given Oakland Unified School District’s history of scandals and fiscal mismanagement, it comes as no surprise it is still in financial chaos. Unfortunately, taxpayers have been footing the bill for the district’s incompetence and ill-advised financial moves. According to the Oakland Tribune (July 7, 2008), “Five years after the state assumed control of the nearly bankrupt Oakland school system, the district’s finances remain on shaky ground, an investigation by the Alameda County Civil Grand Jury has concluded.” The article continues, “The brief report…… Read More

The buzz on cable news and national talk shows this week is the tragic murder of San Franciscan Tony Bologna and his two young sons at the hands of an illegal alien. The brutal and senseless slaying occurred June 22 when El Salvadoran Edwin Ramos (allegedly) shot the three men after their car accidentally blocked his car’s path at an intersection. Such a crime would normally be chalked up as another big-city-violence statistic except that the perpetrator is an illegal alien with a long criminal record.

It’s probably no coincidence that Ramos was hiding in the Bay Area; San Francisco is a sanctuary city, refusing to cooperate in deporting those who have broken the law to enter our nation. That means San Francisco’s government publicly and proudly defies its very purpose for existence: to protect its citizens from criminals. Outside of this fundamental purpose, government should play a very limited role in citizens’ lives. But instead of protecting its residents from savages like Edwin Ramos, the city has actually… Read More

Sometimes they’re easy. A bill comes to the floor and you just instinctively know how you will vote. Either it’s something you’ve always supported or always opposed or the bill is just clear-cut.

Such was not the case this week with the Housing Bill (H.R. 3221). This bill has been cooking all year and there were lots of moving pieces. In the end, it was over 700 pages long and was a grab bag of housing, regulatory and tax provisions. Some of these provisions I supported. Others I opposed viscerally. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do. So, I broke out the major provisions of the bill into the categories of things I hated, things I was okay with and things that could go either way. Here is how I saw those things:

Provisions I can’t stand:

The bill requires that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac contribute 4.2 basis points of each new mortgage they make to an "affordable housing trust fund." This is a nearly $1 billion per year "slush fund" that would go primarily to organizations and community development agencies to promote low-income housing. This is just a huge handout to a small number of … Read More

Barack Hussein Obama may have supported the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reforms in the U.S. Senate, but his decisionto reject "public financing," which gives him a significant financial edge in the Fall election, is surely not in keeping with his prior statements of support for campaign finance reform.

Regardless of his flip-flop, I don’t blame him, as I think public financing of Presidential campaigns is amisuse of taxpayers funds and I can understand a candidate wanting to build every edge they can in their campaign. I’m glad the requirement is optional. However, the "opt-out" is a loop-hole that BHO is taking advantage of, and because of McCain’s association with campaign finance reform, it is a loop-holeMcCain can’t use himself.

But the biggest loop-hole for BHO, (or "BO" for those who think using "Hussein" is too alarming) isn’t opting out of public financing. Rather, it is the Federal Election Commission’s regulation, known as the "News Story Exemption," that is giving Obama a very big media edge at the moment, and it is… Read More

Last night over 400 of us attended a party celebrating the retirement of long time Riverside County executive officer Larry Parrish. It was a well done affair; a fitting tribute to one of the real classy guys. Part and parcel to his class act, Larry is an incredible manager of people, a stickler for high ethical standardsin government,and a master of implementing vision.

Larry Parrish is the Hank Aaron of executives. Hank was below the radar of baseball recognition for most of his career. He had simply been going to work and hitting a lot of home runs, but not talking very much about it. One day, somebody says, "Hey, Hank Aaron is going to break Babe Ruth’s home run record!" And he did.

Larry is stylishly low key, deflects praise back on his Board of Supervisors, and just goes to work every day. Riverside County will recognize his accomplishments for years to come.

My family has been around Larry for 28 years, since he was the chief executive officer in Orange County while my dad was a county supervisor in the 80’s. He managed a county on the crest of hyper growth, just as Riverside is now. My dad says Larry is… Read More