June 18, 1999
By Daniel H. Muñoz
Bonds: Parks, Transportation, Housing, Water
After years of neglect and cost cutting measures during the decade long economic slump, several bonds are now in the works to address areas of need such as parks, transporation and housing, and now that the State budget has passed both houses the legislators will be turning their attention to these areas of need.
Leading this group of bonds is AB 18, sponsored by Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa and Speaker Pro Tem Fred Keely. AB 18 is a $1.5 billion park bond that could go on either next March's or next November's ballot.
Since the voters approved the spending of nearly $2.6 billion in the 1980s no bonds have been approved since. These monies traditionally are spent on open space, recreation, urban parks, preservation and repair.
The bill requires a two-thirds vote of both houses and a signature from the governor to get placed on the ballot. A simple majority vote then will be needed.
Following the parks bond, Senate President Pro Tem John Burton is advocating a $16 billion state transportation bond measure. There is a $1.8 billion water bond and a $750 million housing bond also in the works.
Public Employee Unions and SB 402
When the time comes to negotiate a new contract, seeking better pay, working conditions, one of the major motivating factors for a settlement is the threat of a work stoppage or strike. For public employee unions, such as firefighters, police officers, sheriff's deputies and the like, they are barred by law from striking. In order to address this preceived unfairness Senate President Pro Tem John Burton and Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa have sponsored SB 402.
In cases of an impasse, where negotiations have come to a deadlock, SB 402 will take salary setting authority away from local governments/authorities, with each side naming an arbitrator and together then selecting a third arbitrator and then they would have the power to impose a settlement based.
Detractors of this bill state that SB 402 will take accountability away from local agencies -- cities, counties, special districts, handing over a portion of the public budget to an unkown arbitrator. Proponents state that SB 402 will foster labor peace among public employees.
The bill which passed the Senate last week, still needs approval in the Assembly and the governor's signature.
Pacheco and Padilla the newest L.A. city councilmembers
Some afterthoughts on the elections of Nick Pacheco and Alex Padilla to the Los Angeles City Council last Tuesday (6/8/99).
Pacheco and Padilla are being touted as the next generation of Latino leaders in Los Angeles. Both have degrees from prestigious universities, UC Berkley and MIT. Both are looked at as a breath of fresh air. Both touted strong community roots. And both credited the strong community ties for their victories.
Pacheco, a deputy district attorney, was the underdog, underfunded, and went a-gainst the power structure, including organized labor. But because of his close ties to the community he was able to beat Victor Griego. Padilla on the other hand had the support of organized labor, was flush with endorsements and money, still he emphazied his grassroot ties with the community and won, overwhelming, defeating Corinne Sanchez.
Building on the grassroots theme Pacheco said that he will use his office to organize resident, promote activism and create neighborhood councils. Padilla, the day after winning, went to his old grade school and said the first thing he was going to do once in office was to fix the traffic light in front of the school. A getting back to basic concept he called it.
Delegate Selection and Reapportionment
This weekend (6/19/99) the California Republicans will gather to decide how they are going devey-up party delegates. In years past it used to be that the winner of the California primary would receive all of the primary votes. But this year with the primary election in California moved up the March 7, the primary votes take on a new complexion.
It used to be that by the time the primary election got around to California the parties' choice had been decided and it was pretty much a formality with the California vote. As such it didn't much matter how the delegates were divided. But now with the early election primary, if the Republicans follow the old pattern of giving all the delegate votes to the winner it discourages all others, except for the frontrunner from visiting the state and instead concentrate on those states where they have a chance of winning delegate votes.
With New York, New Jersey, Ohio and several other states all holding their own primaries on the same day as California, state Republicans fear that they will be left with a one horse race.
The alternative proposal would be to award delegates on the basis of a candidate's winning each individual congressional district. The feeling being that it would encourage greater competition for the primary. Of course the people in the Bush campaign are discouraged by this development and will be in California to encourage the party to maintain the winner take-all format.
We will see how strong the George W. Bush support is in California with outcome of this issue.
The question of Reapportionment, though no-more than a passing note to most voters, can make or break a party for a decade and with the State controlled by a Democratic governor and legislation it is of upmost importance to the Republican Party. And the best way they can wrest control from the Democrats is at the ballot box through the passage of an initiative or referendum that will hand over the process to the judicial branch.
The biggest question is how will they draft a measure that takes control out of the Democrats hands and at the same time create interest amongest the voters so they will come out and vote. A tough proposition. We shall see what they come up with and this issue which will be another main topic of discussion with the Republicans this weekend.
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