California Policy & Politics This Morning
Billions in no-bid contracts mismanaged, state auditor says -- It didn’t take long for the cost of a technology contract in California’s unemployment office to increase twelvefold. Two changes to the contract – added without bidding – swelled the deal to $8 million within a year. Then, the Employment Development Department submitted a request to add another $2 million worth of work to the arrangement without soliciting new bids from other companies. Adam Ashton in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 6/21/17-
Audit: Low-income phone program grew to $84 million from $36 million because of poor oversight -- State officials are not regulating the procurement of goods and services by departments across the California government, allowing some vendors to extend contracts worth millions of dollars for years without competitive bidding, a new audit concludes. Jeff McDonald in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 6/21/17
Overhaul of California's state tax board plagued by confusion, members say -- State tax board members on Tuesday said there remain a lot of unanswered questions about how their agency will transfer many of its duties to two new offices, a reorganization approved last week by the state Legislature in response to problems with the panel. Patrick McGreevy in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/21/17
Poll: Californians fear losing insurance if AHCA passes -- More than half of Californians worry that they or a family member could lose their health insurance if the Affordable Care Act is repealed and replaced, according to a poll released Tuesday. Jeff Horseman in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 6/21/17
New super PAC targets seven California Republicans -- Former Northern California Rep. Ellen Tauscher has launched a new super PAC targeting seven vulnerable Republicans in the state’s congressional delegation, hoping to aid the Democratic effort to win control of the House of Representatives in 2018. Phil Willon in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/21/17
State tax board pays a pretty penny for Fresno office space -- It’s hard to miss the State Board of Equalization’s Fresno field office, ensconced in a gleaming glass building at Palm and Nees avenues in one of the trendiest office-commercial areas of the city. Tim Sheehan in the Fresno Bee -- 6/21/17
L.A. Fire Department could soon seek federal permission to fly drones -- The Los Angeles Fire Department could soon seek federal permission to fly drones, a tool that officials say could help them track down missing hikers, gauge the risks in burning buildings and search confined spaces. Emily Alpert Reyes in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/21/17
Why rising temperatures don’t make solar power rise -- Sunny skies sound like a positive for energy production, but this week’s heat wave in California isn’t a boon for solar power. That’s because solar panels actually become less efficient as the mercury rises. Isha Salian in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 6/21/17
Report details death, panic in Oakland warehouse fire -- Voices screamed out, “Fire!” Suddenly, the lights went out and it got harder to breathe. Many of the 36 people killed in the Ghost Ship warehouse fire in Oakland huddled together in the dark, and that’s where they died of smoke inhalation. Some of the young partygoers’ bodies were found wrapped together in rugs. Jocelyn Gecker Associated Press -- 6/21/17
Prompted by San Bernardino shooting, House passes bill to require reports to Congress after terrorist attacks -- Intelligence agencies would have to make recommendations to Congress on how to stop the next domestic terrorist attack under a bill inspired by the 2015 San Bernardino shooting. Sarah D. Wire in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/21/17
San Bernardino: Out of bankruptcy but not out of the woods -- The city of San Bernardino announced Monday that after four years, it has officially exited bankruptcy and will have to start paying its creditors, but the economically-troubled city is not out of the woods yet. Ben Bergman KPCC -- 6/21/17
San Francisco Supervisors OK ban on sale of flavored tobacco -- The San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a citywide ban on the sale of flavored tobacco products Tuesday, saying the candy tinctures and bright-colored wrapping help lure children into a life of addiction. Rachel Swan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 6/21/17
Homeless
Supervisors Approve Plan To Tackle Homelessness In San Diego -- The Board of Supervisors Tuesday unanimously approved a series of steps designed to address homelessness and the lack of affordable housing in San Diego County. The county plans include the creation of a $25 million affordable housing investment pool. KPBS -- 6/21/17
Economy, Employers, Jobs, Unions, Pensions
Uber chief Travis Kalanick resigns under pressure from investors -- Travis Kalanick, co-founder and chief executive of ride-hailing company Uber, resigned Tuesday, just a week into a leave of absence meant to quell concerns about his management style. Tracey Lien and Paresh Dave in the Los Angeles Times$ Mike Isaac in the San Francisco Chronicle$ George Kelly and Marisa Kendall in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 6/21/17
Former restaurant owners hit with $6.1 million restitution, prison sentence in massive wage theft case -- The former operators of a Bay Area buffet restaurant chain that allegedly stole millions from low-wage workers were served with a whopping $6.1 million bill and sentenced to prison Friday. Nate Gartrell in the East Bay Times -- 6/21/17
Alice Waters wants Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to change the food world -- In an era when single Tweets announce shifts in the country’s foreign policy, it’s not surprising that Alice Waters took to Twitter to respond to the June 16 news of Amazon’s proposed purchase of Whole Foods, nor that her statement, posted Saturday, made national news in itself. Jonathan Kauffman in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 6/21/17
Huge economic benefit projected for Oakland from new A’s stadium -- A new A’s stadium, no matter whether it’s built downtown or next to the existing Coliseum, would be a big boon for Oakland, bringing thousands of construction jobs and money to a town that is losing both the Raiders and Warriors. David DeBolt, John Hickey in the East Bay Times -- 6/21/17
SDSU pondering stadium alternatives as SoccerCity remains alive -- San Diego State University was regrouping Tuesday on how and where to build a new Aztec football stadium, following City Council action to delay a vote on SoccerCity until November 2018. Roger Showley in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 6/21/17
The DWP's biggest union is in line to get six raises by 2021 -- Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, who campaigned four years ago as someone who would stand up for Department of Water and Power ratepayers, is pushing a proposal to give six raises within five years to more than 9,000 workers at the utility. David Zahniser and Dakota Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/21/17
Water
Bill aims to help California save water for a not-so-rainy day -- McClintock’s bill would streamline the process for building dams and reservoirs by having the federal Bureau of Reclamation serve as a “one stop shop,” coordinating between federal agencies that oversee water storage projects to speed up the process. Anshu Siripurapu McClatchy DC -- 6/21/17
Widlfire
Mandatory evacuations lifted near Big Bear Lake as wildfire grows to 1,200 acres amid California heat wave -- Firefighters continued battling a wildfire Tuesday in the San Bernardino Mountains as flames spread into the rugged terrain amid a sweltering heat wave. Joseph Serna in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/21/17
Education
L.A. Unified approves more spending and layoffs -- Faced with mounting costs and declining enrollment, the Los Angeles Unified School District board approved a $7.5-billion budget Tuesday that will increase spending and lay off more than 100 library aides, clerks and other support staff next school year. Howard Blume and Anna M. Phillips in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/21/17
California colleges transform remedial courses to raise graduation rates -- Such combination classes – known as co-requisites, bridges or hybrids – are seen as a crucial tool to help hundreds of thousands of CSU students climb out of the remedial education hole in which some feel trapped. Larry Gordon EdSource -- 6/21/17
Oakland charters more likely to enroll higher-performing students than district schools -- Oakland’s charter schools enroll students who are more academically prepared than students who attend district-run schools, giving city charter schools an edge on the question of which kind of school excels at educating its students, according to a new analysis of the city's public school landscape. Mikhail ZinshteynEdSource -- 6/21/17
How the 2017-18 funding increase for California education will be spent -- Use EdSource's interactive budget map to see where new education funds are being allocated in California's 2017-18 budget. Justin Allen, Daniel J. Willis and John Fensterwald EdSource.
Cannabis
Legal Weed: It Really is Coming Soon to a Store Near You -- Seven months after Californians voted to legalize and tax recreational marijuana, state leaders are moving full speed ahead with a system to oversee the cultivation, distribution and sales of cannabis — rules that have to be in place, under law, by January. Marisa Lagos KQED -- 6/21/17
Fresno voters backed recreational pot. Their leaders are rushing to ban it -- Marijuana could remain a clandestine and illegal industry in the largest city in the central San Joaquin Valley. Rory Appleton in the Fresno Bee -- 6/21/17
Immigration / Border
Fresno won’t chip in to defend undocumented immigrants -- The city of Fresno will not contribute public funds to help establish a legal defense fund for undocumented immigrants facing possible deportation by the Trump administration. Tim Sheehan in the Fresno Bee -- 6/21/17
L.A. County supervisors OK $3 million to aid legal efforts for immigrants facing deportation -- Disappointing some immigrant advocates, Los Angeles County officials voted Tuesday to authorize $3 million for legal assistance for immigrants facing deportation but to bar those who have violent criminal pasts. Nina Agrawal and Dakota Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/21/17
BART considers shielding immigrants without calling it sanctuary -- BART directors will consider a policy Thursday that seeks to protect people from immigration raids while riding the transit system or while trying to get a job with it. But the proposal doesn’t use the word “sanctuary” or advocate ignoring federal law. Michael Cabanatuan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 6/21/17
Environment
Mountain lions fear humans, run away from recorded voices -- Like great white sharks and grizzly bears, mountain lions are one of the most fearsome wild animals for many Americans. But new research shows that the lions may be more afraid of us than we are of them. Paul Rogers in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 6/21/17
Also . . .
Court upholds firing of Richmond police clerk for antigay behavior -- A federal appeals court has upheld the Richmond Police Department’s firing of a longtime employee who claimed the department discriminated against her because of her religious disapproval of homosexuality. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 6/21/17
A daycare center fronting for a major cocaine dealer? -- The man who allegedly ran drugs out of a Highland Park home that doubled as an unlicensed daycare center likely was a big time drug dealer with connections south of the border, a law enforcement official said Tuesday. Frank Stoltze KPCC -- 6/21/17
POTUS 45
Trump seeks sharp cuts to housing aid, except for program that brings him millions -- President Trump’s budget calls for sharply reducing funding for programs that shelter the poor and combat homelessness — with a notable exception: It leaves intact a type of federal housing subsidy that is paid directly to private landlords. One of those landlords is Trump himself, who earns millions of dollars each year as a part-owner of Starrett City, the nation’s largest subsidized housing complex. Shawn Boburg in the Washington Post$ -- 6/21/17
Beltway
Ossoff chose civility and it didn’t work. How do Democrats beat Trump? -- Jeff Jacobson epitomizes the liberal conundrum: Deep down he wanted to back a warrior, but he found himself working for a high priest preaching civil resistance. The 65-year-old recent retiree from the local Treasury Department office had not been much of a political volunteer, but this year was different. “It was Trump initially,” Jacobson, 65, said outside the field office for Democrat Jon Ossoff. Paul Kane in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 6/21/17
Despite Concerns About Blackmail, Flynn Heard C.I.A. Secrets -- Senior officials across the government became convinced in January that the incoming national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn, had become vulnerable to Russian blackmail. At the F.B.I., the C.I.A., the Justice Department and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence — agencies responsible for keeping American secrets safe from foreign spies — career officials agreed that Mr. Flynn represented an urgent problem. Matt Apuzzo, Matthew Rosenberg and Adam Goldman in the New York Times -- 6/21/17
-- Tuesday Updates
California's Clean Air Act waiver should be yanked, Trump's former environmental advisor says -- The head of President Trump's Environmental Protection Agency may not be prepared to battle California over air regulations, but the man who led Trump's transition team for the department is ready. Chris Megerian in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/20/17
Criminal investigation targets California tax board leaders -- Investigators from the California Attorney General’s Office are interviewing civil servants in a probe that may lead to civil or criminal penalties against public officials at a state tax agency that is being disbanded this month. Adam Ashton in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 6/20/17
Striking LA, Long Beach port truckers picket for 2nd day -- About 50 strikers returned to the picket lines Tuesday morning, protesting trucking companies’ policies in front of four container terminals at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Neither port reported a major disruption in service, and cargo continues to flow. The strikers represent only a sliver of the 16,000-plus trucks serving the port. Rachel Uranga in the LA Daily News$ -- 6/20/17
Bodyguard for well-known alt-right figure stabbed several times in Santa Monica -- A man who works as a bodyguard for a nationally known figure popular among the alt-right was stabbed multiple times in Santa Monica on Saturday night following a dispute in a parking lot, police said. James Queally and Matt Pearce in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/20/17
Californians urged to reduce power consumption as heat wave triggers the first statewide flex alert of 2017 -- With excessive heat forecast throughout the state Tuesday, operators of California’s electrical grid issued their first flex alert of the year and urged energy consumers to scale back power consumption over the next two days or risk outages. Joseph Serna in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/20/17
LAUSD layoffs proposed as part of $7.5 billion budget -- In its budget for the upcoming fiscal year, the Los Angeles Unified School District is proposing layoffs for 114 employees, reassignments for another 180 and “separations” for seven others. Antonie Boessenkool in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 6/20/17
District yanks Oakland K-8 school’s charter -- Close to 200 kids in Oakland will have to find a new school in the fall after the district yanked their school’s charter due to poor performance by the students and incompetence by administrators, officials said Tuesday. Evan Sernoffsky in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 6/20/17
CA120: Buckle up, California — redistricting looms -- We are just getting used to the current districts, but once again redistricting is about to rear its decennial head. Paul Mitchell Capitol Weekly -- 6/20/17
This earthquake fault in northeast L.A. and Pasadena isn't well known, but experts say it poses dangers -- California officials have mapped a new stretch of an earthquake fault through northeast Los Angeles — a fault that could cause major damage in the heart of the metro area. Rong-Gong Lin II in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/20/17
Foreign entrepreneurs keep coming to Silicon Valley — for now -- Despite the frustrations entrepreneurs like Kravtsov face, his company is part of a historically large class of founders from abroad going through 500 Startups, a highly competitive tech incubator. Another well-known startup finishing school, Y Combinator, has been hosting more foreigners than since it started keeping records about its founders’ nationality. Trisha Thadani in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 6/20/17
Why Californians are to thank for the most expensive House race in history -- Voting Tuesday in the bitterly fought Georgia election to fill a House seat vacated by Tom Price, President Trump’s secretary of Health and Human Services, is taking place more than 2,000 miles from California. Evan Halper in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/20/17
California budget could expand tax credit for working poor -- The number of Californians eligible for the state's earned income tax credit is expected to surpass one million under changes to the credit in this coming year's budget. Rina Palta KPCC -- 6/20/17
Smith: Kimberly Ellis, the most powerful, unelected person in California Democratic politics -- Long before she was “unbought and unbossed” – or “unhinged” as I’ve heard a few backers of the California Democratic Party mutter – Kimberly Ellis was a military brat attending elementary school in the Presidio. Erika D. Smith in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 6/20/17
Bay Area Airbnb hosts open arms, homes to refugees -- As the worldwide refugee crisis intensifies and families displaced by violence continue to land in the Bay Area, more than 160 Airbnb landlords are waiting to welcome them and provide a smooth transition to life in the U.S., according to new data released by the home-sharing company. Marisa Kendall in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 6/20/17
Los Gatos open space district bought $1 million home – and now will demolish it -- A house that a Bay Area open space district spent $1 million in 2005 to purchase and renovate as a home for one if its rangers — sparking public criticism and a debate within the agency — is about to meet a new fate: the wrecking ball. Paul Rogers in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 6/20/17
This South L.A. church is a gang hangout, city says. Now it's the center of a lawsuit -- Pastor Kenneth Little knew the family renting out the church’s property across the street long before the violence began. Leila Miller in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/20/17
Kamala Harris celebrates Warriors win with beer she won in a bet from an Ohio senator -- Begrudgingly wearing Steph Curry's No. 30 jersey, and trash talking throughout, Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio delivered Ohio beer to Sen. Kamala Harris on Tuesday. Sarah D. Wire in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 6/20/17