A chief administrative law judge issued a blockbuster decision against ride-sharing service Uber, calling for the service to be suspended in California and levying a $7.3 million fine against the company. Uber will appeal the decision. Laura J. Nelson, Andrea Chang and Paresh Dave, Los Angeles Times:
“In her decision, chief administrative law judge Karen V. Clopton of the California Public Utilities Commission contended that Uber has not complied with state laws designed to ensure that drivers are doling out rides fairly to all passengers, regardless of where they live or who they are. She said Uber's months-long refusal to provide such data is in violation of the 2013 law that legalized ride-hailing firms.
“Uber said it would appeal. Whether the fine and suspension are enforced will depend on the appeals process, which could take several months.
“’They had a year to comply with these regulations, and didn't do it,’ CPUC spokeswoman Constance Gordon said.”
In other sharing economy news, the Labor Department has issued new directives to help companies know who is an employee vs. who is an independent contractor. From AP:
“The department's directive emphasizes that a worker who is ‘economically dependent’ on the employer should be treated as an employee. By contrast, a worker must be in business for themselves to be an independent contractor.
“The guidance could make it harder for companies to use contractors, labor law experts say. It comes amid a wave of lawsuits against companies such as FedEx, ride-hailing service Lyft and online cleaning service provider Handy, brought by workers who say they should have been treated as employees rather than contractors.”
Despite the high-profile calls for dismantling the “Sanctuary” law that shields undocumented immigrants, change is unlikely to come in San Francisco. Emily Green in the San Francisco Chronicle:
“Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said the city ‘made a mistake’ by not turning suspected shooter Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez over to immigration officials. And U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein has called on the city to join a new federal program aimed at deporting ‘dangerous criminal aliens.’
“But not a single member of the Board of Supervisors has come out for changing the city’s laws, and most privately say they want to stay far away from the issue.
“’I think it’s terrible what happened to Kathryn,’ said Supervisor Malia Cohen, who added that she and other supervisors have received death threats since the shooting. ‘But I am not going to let one extremely unfortunate situation frame the policy. Sanctuary city is a good policy.’”
The California Water Commission passed new rules Wednesday strictly limiting the amount of lawn being planted around new commercial construction and homes. Kurtis Alexander and Hamed Aleaziz at SFGate:
“State officials, who are already urging people to let their grass yards wither during the drought, passed new rules Wednesday essentially banning them from being planted around new commercial buildings, while limiting grass to about 25 percent of the landscaping at new homes.
“The regulations, adopted by the California Water Commission, come at the direction of Gov. Jerry Brown, who in April called for the state’s construction guidelines to better promote water conservation after four historically dry years.
“’This establishes a new direction for landscaping in California — toward lower water use,’ said Peter Brostrom, water use efficiency program manager for the California Department of Water Resources, who helped craft the rules. ‘It’ll push people away from strictly planting lawns and to look for other options.’”
Well, California may be losing its lawns, but we’re not short of green: the State Controllers Office announced that the state took in nearly $7 billion more than projected last year.
Governor Brown signed a variety of bills yesterday, including a measure extending labor protections to cheerleaders, a bill to allow people to pay traffic fines on the installment plan and a bill allowing beer-tasting at farmers markets.
San Jose Inside reports that the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) is reviewing allegations that congressman Mike Honda (D-Santa Clara) has inappropriately used congressional staff for campaign work. Josh Koehn:
“Honda’s office acknowledged on Tuesday that a review has been taking place.
“’The congressman and his staff continue to cooperate fully with the OCE’s review of the matter,’ said Lauren Smith, a spokesperson in Honda’s office. ‘Out of respect for the process, we cannot confirm specifics or discuss any details at this time.’
“In September 2014, San Jose Inside reported emails that showed Honda’s longtime chief of staff, Jennifer Van der Heide, and other House employees coordinated with Honda’s re-election campaign on invitations to an official State Department event. The goal, according to the emails, was to target influential South Asian donors for campaign contributions.
“In an email to Honda’s then-campaign manager, Lamar Heystek, as well as House district director Meri Maben, Van der Heide wrote: ‘Great lists—how are we doing outreach to them for $?’”
No matter how bad some of our California politicians get, there’s always some over-achiever back east who shows them what a really corrupt politician can do. Case in point: former Harrisburg, PA Mayor Stephen Reed, accused of 499 criminal charges.
“If your mayor says he or she wants to open a big museum and starts buying all this stuff to display in it, and you're like, ‘Where are they getting all this money to buy this,’ the answer might be that he used your tax dollars. Illegally.
“That's what the former mayor of Harrisburg, Pa., Stephen Reed (D), was accused of doing Tuesday. Reed, who served as mayor from 1981 to 2010, is facing 499 (!) criminal charges and is accused of using public money allotted for things like a incinerator renovation and schools to buy old guns and antiques.
“According to public records, ‘Reed improperly retained possession of a massive collection of city property at the expense of the city’ and sought to ‘build a city which was a monument to him and not administered for the common good.’”
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