More people are leaving California than are coming in, saying farewell to high housing costs and a sputtering economy. The exiting Californians include blue-collar workers, long the underpinning of the Golden State's economy.
From the LA Times' Gale Holland and Sam Quinones: "The proportion of Californians who had moved here from out of state reached a 100-year low of about 20% in 2010, and the decade measured by the most recent census was the first in a century in which the majority of Californians were native-born."
"The demographics of California today more closely resemble those of 1900 than of 1950: It is a mostly home-grown population, whose future depends on the children of immigrants and their children, said William Frey, a demographer and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution."
"We used to say California, here we come," said Frey. "That now has flipped."
"Experts point to various causes of the turnaround, most of them rooted in a flagging economy. But exorbitant housing prices — too high for many struggling Californians despite a burst housing bubble — still play a role."
Speaking of California, the state's bullet-train project is pressing forward despite mounting criticism and economic uncertainty, in contrast to public works projects around the country that are getting pared back or shelved.
From the NY Times' Adam Nagourney: "With a brashness and ambition that evoke a California of a generation ago, state leaders — starting with Gov.Jerry Brown — have rallied around a plan to build a 520-mile high-speed rail line from Los Angeles to San Francisco, cutting the trip from a six-hour drive to a train ride of two hours and 38 minutes. And they are doing it in the face of what might seem like insurmountable political and fiscal obstacles."
"The pro-train constituency has not been derailed by a state report this month that found the cost of the bullet train tripling to $98 billion for a project that would not be finished until 2033, by news that Republicans in Congress are close to eliminating federal high-speed rail financing this year, by opposition from California farmers and landowners upset about tracks tearing through their communities or by questions about how much the state or private businesses will be able to contribute."
"The project has been mocked by editorial boards across the country — “Somebody please stop this train,” The Washington Post wrote — while Republicans here have denounced it as a waste. In an unfortunate turn of timing, state officials announced this month that revenues this year were so far behind projections that California was likely to have to impose $2 billion in cuts in January."
Rep. Darrell Issa, the conservative Republican from north San Diego County -- there are a lot of them down there -- again tops the list of Congress' wealthiest members, according to a ranking by the Center for Responsive Politics.
From the Riverside Press-Enterprise: "Issa, R-Vista, whose invention of the Viper car alarm helped him amass a fortune, is worth at least $195 million and possibly more than $700 million, according to a report released this month by the Center for Responsive Politics."
"It is difficult to tell the exact worth of lawmakers, since they are not required to provide exact information about the value of personal assets and holdings."
"Rather, they can report each asset’s worth at more or less than certain amounts. Thus, the final rankings issued by the Center —a nonpartisan group that tracks money in politics — represents the “average estimated worth” of each member of Congress."
"Issa, who represents Temecula, Lake Elsinore and Perris, has been a fixture at or near the top of every list of wealthy lawmakers compiled in recent years."
A state Supreme Court ruling may make it more difficult for strapped cities and counties to cut the health benefits of public pensioners, a move that could have profound consequences on local budgets.
From CalPensions' Ed Mendel: "In a widely watched Orange County case, the court said when local elected officials approve a health care benefit for retirees, a lifetime right to the benefit can be created even if the ordinance or resolution does not specifically say so."
"The court unanimously said the approval can create an “implied” vested right, fully protected by contract law, if it can be shown that was clearly the “intent” of the action by the elected officials."
"The League of California Cities and the California State Association of Counties filed briefs in support of Orange County’s contention that a county and its employees cannot form an implied contract."
"The court said the local government groups “raise legitimate concerns” that retiree health insurance benefits, unlike pensions, are usually not funded in advance during working years and that costs have “skyrocketed in recent years.”
Assemblywoman Mary Hayashi, a Bay Area Democrat who was arrested recently on shoplifting charges at SF's Nieman Marcus, may have been on the store's security radar from an earlier incident that involved the loss of a dress.
From the Chronicle's Matier and Ross: "According to sources close to the case, a week before the Neiman bust, a store saleswoman noticed that a dress was missing after a woman matching Hayashi's description tried it on."
"The saleswoman did not know who Hayashi was, but when the Castro Valley Democrat showed up Oct. 25, the clerk alerted store security and they began tracking her with surveillance cameras."
"The surveillance tape, now in prosecutors' hands, shows nothing conclusive. But at one point Hayashi took several items into a dressing room - out of the cameras' view - then left 18 minutes later carrying a shopping bag."
"When she checked out at the register, she allegedly didn't produce the leather pants, a skirt and a blouse in the bag. Security guards stopped her outside."
