SB 51: the California politics thread

Here's a response to the la times lassen county trump diner article:

1/ I’m normally a big fan of the LA Times rural CA dispatches but no one really paints an accurate picture of how rural California votes. “overwhelmingly” misses a lot, without even counting the also rural North Coast the whole region…https://t.co/xQmJm3BSaI

— Travis Legault (@travisl_97) September 18, 2021

hehe

Orange County results in CA Governor elections:

2003: R+47
2006: R+44
2010: R+20
2014: R+11
2018: D+0.3
2021: D+3

— Ryan Matsumoto (@ryanmatsumoto1) September 23, 2021

lovely stuff

GOP in CA hurting from party’s own conspiracy theories. Voters have bought into “my vote doesn’t count in California, so therefore I’m not going to vote,” said Fred Whitaker, chairman of the Orange County GOP.
Via ⁦@LATSeema⁩ https://t.co/oMbOeSXrOZ

— Stuart Leavenworth (@sleavenworth) September 26, 2021

Typically a boisterous gathering, the three-day meeting in San Diego was among the grimmest in recent memory.

That was a joy to read.

another

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/09/27/california-republicans-gop-514337

For years, Republicans in California ran candidates for marquee statewide races, lost and regrouped, certain that the next time might be different. That thinking has changed following their drubbing in the recall.

As the convention unfolded in half-empty meeting rooms at a waterfront hotel, there was no feting of Larry Elder, the conservative radio show host who excited the party’s rank-and-file in the recall — and who discovered that was nowhere near enough to unseat an incumbent Democratic governor. Elder himself was on the opposite coast, tweeting that he was “recovering from the campaign in Key West, Florida.”

Nor was Kevin Faulconer, once widely considered the future of the state party, on the convention program. The former San Diego mayor, who did even worse than Elder in the recall election, took private meetings on the patio of a restaurant several blocks from the convention hotel, avoiding any confrontation with party activists who disdain his moderate politics.

apparently he's a democrat?

Newsom signs AB 43 - greater flexibility on setting speed limits - and AB 917 - allowing camera enforcement of bus lanes/stops. Vetos legislation on "safe stopping" for bicyclists and banning enforcement of "jaywalking."https://t.co/QYJg2GSfe8

— Streetsblog CA (@StreetsblogCal) October 9, 2021

big Friday night!

BREAKING: @GavinNewsom vetoed #AB1456, arguably the most significant expansion of state financial aid in a generation and one that would have made about 150,000 more students, including 110,000 at community colleges, eligible for the Cal Grant. Context: https://t.co/bfxqjwIUKI

— Mikhail Zinshteyn (@mzinshteyn) October 9, 2021

Where would we ever get the money for that?

Seriously though, the surplus is needed so bad. We are looking at huge school budget cuts here in SF. Hopefully this will help.

Yeah SFUSD this year for us is looking great because the reality of the enrollment drop hasn't kicked in. Still, we've lost some great support staff at the nearby elementary school. Here's hoping this surplus + new board members (in my view) can keep it ok.

But as we like to point out in this thread, the coffers are filled overwhelmingly from the tech industry, and some day that might come back to haunt us again if we dont diversify...

Love it that even The Economist is shitting on SF these days. Hey assholes, I remember when Capp St was a red light district and people regularly got shot in the Mission. Fuck this right wing propoganda.

I remember when Capp St was a red light district and people regularly got shot in the Mission.

ah sigh, the good old days ...

I remember when I could walk down 16th street and buy a 16oz beer for $1, table-score leftover burrito at Pancho Villa, emerge to find a guy with his eyeball hanging out of its socket and blood everywhere in the Mexican bar next to Pancho Villa, then get propositioned by a guy outside the same bar. and that was just the block between Mission and Valencia! lol

Hey man I did all that in the Mission earlier this morning. By all that meaning I went to a bank, got some cash and went home.

I remember doing a performance art piece at the L@b that involved cleaning a toilet I got from the San Pablo Flea Market (R.I.P. demolished for condos I think) and then left it around the corner of 16th and Capp, and it apparently got used fairly extensively before it got hauled away by the City as trash

!

lmao but also D:

this was 2000 and there was regularly deposits of human excrement on the sidewalk in that spot, so I knew that people did have a tendency to "go there"

it was not a case of "if you build it they will come"

more like "if you build it they will shit"

welp

BREAKING: The mayor of Oroville, CA declared the city a "Constitutional Republic" in an effort to get around vaxx and mask laws.

THIS YEAR Oroville used federal funds to fight fires AND rebuild their damn. If they were independent, they would be both on fire and underwater.

— Steve Hofstetter (@SteveHofstetter) November 26, 2021

The most ridiculous part is the idea they'd be able to be independent from Butte County.

The county is the largest employer in the city. Over 15% of the entire population works for Butte. Though the 2nd largest employer is the hospital - which will probably need more staff.

— Steve Hofstetter (@SteveHofstetter) November 26, 2021

Clarification - the vice mayor requested it and the city council voted for it.

Well, good luck on your independence, Oroville. I'm sure you will be sending back all the federal and state money shortly.

— Steve Hofstetter (@SteveHofstetter) November 26, 2021

Oroville always been the shittiest of the towns and small cities in that area.

Christ

Looking like the local control over housing ballot initiative is getting to the point where they'll have enough money to qualify for next year's ballot https://t.co/H0qPgS6Kbj

— Liam Dillon (@dillonliam) November 28, 2021

Alameda is a weird place.

Any thoughts on the proposed PUC rules to stop allowing net usage metering for solar and charge solar customers for the PRIVILEGE of having installed solar panels? As someone who just installed solar, plus a battery, it smacks of utility rent-seeking. Plus, they are doing this pathetic woke-washing where they claim if they don't get this money, it will hurt minority communities, since they won't be able to use all that money to build desert solar installations.

nothing to add beyond OTM

That sounds like immense bullshit

disincentivizing installing solar *should* be a non-starter

as opposed to the massive tax credits the Federal Government gives for installing solar?

It all smacks of entitlement and regulatory capture. The utilities would like to just keep getting the same amount of money from every Californian forever, and that's probably how they've done all their budgeting. And I guess the PUC thinks this is a convincing argument to charge people for using their solar panels.

tbf this has a similar tone to Republican home owners and landlords complaining about paying extra property taxes for services that don't benefit them personally

otoh, at least one client of the org I work for had the city want to charge them affordable housing impact fees for legalizing units that are currently affordable housing in order to preserve affordable housing ...

xp otm

"woke-washing" seems like a tell tbh

tbf this has a similar tone to Republican home owners and landlords complaining about paying extra property taxes for services that don't benefit them personally

If utilities aren't getting enough in usage fees, I'm fine with paying, say, taxes, or a fixed fee, to fund power, a centralized service that we all need. Charging people to use solar, though, is stupid.

home solar is not the future. i don't think it makes sense to charge people to do it, and the more people that do it the better, but i'd rather spend the money we currently spend subsidizing it on mass solar.

xp

Exactly! Take over the utility and collect higher taxes to rich people fund solar projects.

And call it what you want (sorry I used "woke" in a negative way), but PG&E crying about the poor people who won't be able to afford solar is pretty rich. Solar is finally becoming affordable, and now they want to snatch away the incentives and add a monthly charge.

I don't know if I agree, caek. A decentralized power grid would be great! Why keep funneling money into monopolies who don't give a shit how fast we transition to solar?

nationalize the monopolies too obviously

PG&E crying about the poor people who won't be able to afford solar is pretty rich. Solar is finally becoming affordable

I'm confused, how are poor people, many of whom live in rental housing, going to install solar? Like, owner-occupied single family homes are the easiest market, but it seems like the real effort and greater benefit will be having it for commercial buildings and multi-unit developments. Thus, some "mass solar" project makes sense to me.

How much is this fee anyway?

i'd rather spend the money we currently spend subsidizing it on mass solar.

yeah fair

How much is this fee anyway?

also a good question, maybe this is being blown out of proportion.

They are talking about fees in the $40-50/month range, which would, I think, negate any savings I'm getting from installing the panels.

https://abc7.com/solar-home-panels-california-public-utilities-commission-panel-cost/11344016/

Although it will be phased in, so I'm not sure if it will actually impact me. This just seems like the wrong way to go about rolling out solar as fast as possible.

the tax credit is like 30% of the expenses to install it ... compared to say, the tax credit for child care so that parents can work, which often (at least in the bay area) ends up being sometimes 10% of what was spent ... and some families' child care costs are up there with the cost of installing solar panels ... and that is per year.

our childcare expenses for two kids in regular daycare is more than our mortgage (and we bought our house recently, it's not a small mortgage!)

we got a bid for solar ($10k before $3k of federal credits) that was 1/4 the cost of a year's daycare.

And I think the other thing that puts it in perspective *for me* is that there are other environmentally friendly improvements that can be made to homes that you don't get big tax credits for ... including choice of building materials, etc.

xxp

sarahell - I can't track your last post - are you saying that the solar surcharge is $40-40/year, or that childcare is a recurring expense?

My building has 'solar' panels on the roof, but they don't generate electricity - they preheat the water before it gets to the boiler & water heater

That's great! Less natural gas usage.