Nearly two dozen California lawmakers are at a conference in Hawaii this week, courtesy of The Independent Voter Project and dozens of corporate sponsors. While ethics groups fume, participants say the schmoozing makes for a better working relationship among legislators – and that they actually learn something. Good long read from Alexei Koseff at the Sacramento Bee:
“’It strains common sense to think that a special interest would fund a lawmaker’s trip to Hawaii and the lawmaker wouldn’t feel some modicum of gratitude,’ said [Loyola Law School professor Jessica Levinson], who is president of the Los Angeles Ethics Commission.
“Legislators vehemently reject such a characterization.
“’Especially on the left, whenever someone loses, they want to say it’s because the whole system is corrupt,’ said [Rod Wright], who resigned from the Legislature last year after being convicted of eight felonies for lying about where he lived when he was elected. Now retired, he was attending the conference as a friend of [the organizer]. ‘Maybe I just thought your idea was bull–.’
“Sen. Anthony Cannella, R-Ceres, said he is constantly meeting advocates with conflicting perspectives and the notion that ‘we’re going to be swayed by the sponsors here is naive.’”
CalPERS voted to slowly lower its estimate of future investment returns from 7.5% per year to 6.5%, prompting a negative response from Governor Brown who had urged the Board to adopt the lower rate more quickly. The move puts taxpayers on the hook for billions of dollars to make up the difference. Melody Petersen, LA Times:
“The new policy also requires CalPERS to gradually move more of its $300-billion fund to safer investments such as bonds, which earn lower returns. The staff hopes to avoid a repeat of the 28% plunge it suffered in 2008 during the financial crisis.
"’Risk levels will increase in the future if we don't take action,’ Alan Milligan, CalPERS chief actuary, warned at a board committee meeting this week.
“So far this year, CalPERS investments have lost nearly 5%, adding to its $117-billion debt for pensions already owed to workers.
“The pension fund's average return over the last decade was 5.2%.”
The Department of Motor Vehicles hopes to have regulations for self-driving cars – the world’s first - ready for release by the end of this year. Allen Young, Sacramento Business Journal:
“The agency has faced a big challenge in crafting regulations for a technology that is just emerging and involves many complex issues. Jessica Gonzalez, a DMV spokeswoman, said the regulations could be released at any time – barring an unexpected hitch.
“’There are so many things in these regulations that are really complicated,’ Gonzalez said. ‘That it has taken a long time.’”
And that's the perfect lead into our next story: some see California as the next hub of the automotive industry. With cars becoming more dependent on computers and software, Silicon Valley could be the future of the auto industry. Jerry Hirsch, Los Angeles Times:
"’We have the best software engineers in the country, and the most of them, and a good university system,’ said Pasquale Romano, chief executive of ChargePoint Inc., the Campbell, Calif., company building a large network of electric car charging stations. ‘It's all the components necessary to make California the next Detroit.’
“That's driving growth of high-paying jobs. Auto company and supplier employment in California has jumped nearly 26% since 2011 to almost 47,000 jobs this year, according to Employment Development Department data.”
To balance out yesterday’s optimistic take on the coming El Niño, Kit Batten and Mark Lubell are here to rain on the parade. Or, the exact opposite… You know what we mean. From Capitol Weekly:
“El Niño is not the cavalry, and we need to resist the tendency of human beings and political systems to overweight short-term events.
“A number of recent policies require continued investment and perhaps acceleration even if it rains like crazy this year:
“Mandatory urban conservation measures have been successful in many communities at reducing water consumption. These new levels of urban water efficiency should become a baseline, rather than something that can be relaxed in response to El Niño.”
And finally, a strange story about a San Francisco children’s show star who just wouldn’t stay dead.
“For more than 24 hours after Pat McCormick’s son let the press know that his father had died, there was an outpouring of grief and tributes to the former children’s show host who worked at KGO and KTVU from the 1960s to 1990s.
“…But by Tuesday morning, a man claiming to be McCormick was on the phone, stating that he was very much alive.
“’This is a very embarrassing family situation and I regret it,’ he said. ‘I’ll take full responsibility for it.’
“He declined to elaborate, stating that providing more details would open up even more wounds. McCormick did confirm, however, that he is in fact being treated for melanoma.
“Steve McCormick, the entertainer’s son from a previous marriage, currently lives in Los Angeles. Called by The Chronicle and informed that McCormick is alive, he sounded stunned….
“In addition to being the voice behind ‘Charley and Humphrey,’ McCormick was also a weatherman and longtime host of ‘Dialing for Dollars’ on KTVU. He moved to Oregon shortly after he retired in 1995 and had little contact with the media…
“McCormick on Tuesday said that he was aware of the outpouring of memories from fans who thought he was gone. In a statement to KTVU, he offered another apology, and referenced his beloved puppets.
“’This is a personal situation and my family wants privacy at this time,’ he said. ‘Thank you for your concern. Charley and Humphrey send their love to everybody.’”
All things considered, we think he’d rather be in Philadelphia.
