General

Yesterday’s Ventura County Star carried a skeptical Associated Press account of the bipartisan pension reform adopted overwhelmingly by the Legislature late last week.  It makes the case that “while (Governor Jerry) Brown and Democratic leaders hailed the deal as sweeping and substantial, the governor failed to get critical elements that he previously said were needed [...]

UPDATE: Governor Jerry Brown has held a press conference and issued a press release that is reviewed by the Sacto Bee here. But the actual bill has not yet been released — and will be voted on by Friday. The Democratic leaders in the State legislature have announced they will finally introduce bills for comprehensive [...]

Among the many distinctions that set Ventura apart is this undervalued one: we are the largest jurisdiction in Southern California that doesn’t import any water.  None.  At a time when the State government has just announced a plan to spend $23 billion on a massive pipeline “fix” to the intractable Sacramento River delta which supplies [...]

Earlier this month, the Ventura City Council unanimously endorsed a call for the California State Legislature to enact “meaningful pension reform now.”  It was immediately endorsed by an editorial in the Ventura County Star which called on “city councils in other cities in Ventura County to take the same action.” It’s hard to ignore the [...]