The California Report - News Of The Good

We spend an inordinate amount of time on the bad of California politics here on the site. And with a system this dysfunctional, there's a lot of bad to go around. But as the budget hostage crisis continues, and state workers don't know if they'll be able to afford their bills come Monday, I wanted to at least recognize some of the positive developments around the city and state:

• The Governor signed a bill today banning trans fats in all state restaurants and bakeries by 2011. Combined with the law signed earlier this week to crack down on the sale of downer cattle in US groceries, and the LA City Council moving forward on a one-year moratorium on new fast-food restaurants in South Los Angeles, this is a good week for food safety, nutrition and public health.

• As mentioned by Shayera, the Los Angeles City Council voted to ban plastic bags by 2010, if the state does not mandate a $0.25 charge for every bag by then. Additionally on the environmental front, there's also the statewide green building code adopted by the California Building Standards Commission, and another passage for the third year in a row, of a port container fee which would be invested in fighting pollution (Hopefully this time the Governor will sign it). This too is good.

• Leland Wong was convicted yesterday on 14 counts of public corruption and bribery while he was LA City Commissioner. Accountability is good.

• In Orange County, the Laguna Beach City Council, which is majority Republican, became one of the first to publicly oppose Prop. 8, the hate amendment. Saying no to hate is good.

• Unfortunately, not everything is good. Foreclosure rates are skyrocketing nationwide, more than doubling in the second quarter. In one incredible example, almost 1 in 20 homes in Merced have been lost to foreclosure, the highest rate in America. Wow. Not good.

The California Report

Here are a few links for you.

• It's two days until the kickoff of Netroots Nation, and among the many luminaries attending will be Gavin Newsom, who is introducing green jobs expert Van Jones at the Sunday morning keynote. The fact that he's running for Governor has nothing to do with this, I'm sure.

• The final numbers on the June election were miserable, with a record low (for a regular election) 28.2% turnout. A ridiculous amount of voters cast ballots by mail - 58.7%, also a record. VBM is far stronger in Northern California than in the Los Angeles area, and not surprisingly turnout is higher up there as well. This is really changing how elections ought to be conducted, as we move to a VBM state. Campaign operatives need to understand this quickly.

• Hey, we had a bank run at IndyMac yesterday. Fun! The FDIC insures up to $100,000, so consumers should be fine for the most part, but what you're going to see is eroding confidence in regional banks as the financial crisis widens.

• Another leader at the LA Times is out, this time publisher David Hiller. I'm sure Sam Zell and his team can make loads of money on the paper if they just fire everybody and go to robot reporters.

• AB 97 cleared the legislature yesterday, which would ban trans fats at California restaurants and bakeries. It now goes to the governor. He did sign a ban on trans fats in school cafeterias last year.

A Short California Report

A couple quick California-centric things:

• You've all seen the thing where the OC Supervisor candidate badly Photoshopped himself into a photo with Ahnuld so it could look like he and the governor were best buddies, right? The guy's a modern-day Zelig!

• Dan Walters of the Sacramento Bee chronicles the lies and misstatements in the governor's budget. Simply put, saying "we're fully on budget!" is a fantasy.

• The "ban trans fats" craze comes to Los Angeles. I'm OK with it, as long as I can still eat at Fred 62 (hippest greasy spoon in town).

• I'll probably have a longer post tomorrow about this LAT story:

Three decades of tough-on-crime lawmaking has sent California's prison system into a "tailspin," creating the most pressing crisis facing the state, the government's own watchdog panel declared Thursday.

In a blistering 84-page report, the nonpartisan Little Hoover Commission linked the problems plaguing the correctional system to political cowardice among governors and lawmakers fearful of being labeled soft on crime.

Not to toot m'own horn, but I think I said EXACTLY the same thing a couple weeks ago.

G'night.