California farm worker union marching to the French Laundry after Newsom vetoes labor bill
KIM BOJÓRQUEZ and MELISSA MONTALVO, Fresno Bee: "Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday vetoed a bill that would have allowed farm workers to vote by mail in union elections, a change the United Farm Workers pressed for after the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year dealt a setback to its organizing practices.
Assembly Bill 616 would have allowed agricultural workers to select their collective bargaining representative through a ballot card election by voting at a physical location or mail or dropping off a ballot to the Agricultural Labor Relations Board office.
The UFW, which supported Newsom over the past several months has fought the campaign to recall him from office, had been a planning a 260-mile march this week from Tulare County to Sacramento to advocate for the bill. The march commemorates the 1968 march labor icon Cesar Chavez carried to highlight the plight of farm workers at that time."
Lawsuit seeks to block Scott Wiener's rezoning bill
The Chronicle, ALEXEI KOSEFF: "AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the Los Angeles nonprofit behind unsuccessful statewide rent-control ballot initiatives in the past two election cycles, sued Wednesday to block a new California law that could pave the way for more small apartment buildings.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the measure, SB10, last week as part of a package of “light density” legislation aimed at boosting housing production in the state. Starting in January, it will allow cities to rezone some parcels in urban areas, including those near public transit, for up to 10 units without going through a lengthy environmental review process.
AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which also advocates on housing issues, opposed the bill as it was moving through the legislative process because it did not include requirements for affordable or homeless units."
Column: Don’t be fooled: California’s new housing laws make significant changes to zoning
GEORGE SKELTON: "The word is out that major land zoning bills signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom don’t amount to much because they were so watered down by compromising legislators. Don’t believe it.
If my next-door neighbor can convert her single-family home into a fourplex, that amounts to a lot. Suddenly there are more cars parked on the street, more little kids screaming and more dogs leaving gifts on my lawn.
And she could do that under SB 9, the signature bill by Senate leader Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) from the recently concluded legislative session."
L.A. County records big drop in COVID-19 hospitalizations
LUKE MONEY and RONG-GONG LIN II, LA Times: "The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Los Angeles County has dropped below 1,000 for the first time in two months — underscoring the region’s slow but steady progress in turning the tide of the latest coronavirus surge.
On Tuesday, 991 coronavirus-positive patients were receiving hospital care countywide. That’s down about 40% from the start of September, state data show.
In mid-August — the height of the current Delta-variant-fueled wave — nearly 1,800 people countywide were hospitalized with COVID-19 on some days."
California woman wants hospital ordered to give ivermectin to her husband, a COVID-19 patient
BAY AREA NEWS GROUP: "A California woman has become the latest person to request that a judge order the use of ivermectin for COVID-19 treatment.
The Bakersfield woman on Friday filed a complaint in Kern County Superior Court asking that San Joaquin Community Hospital be forced to administer the antiparasitic medication to her 66-year-old husband, who has been in the intensive care unit since Aug. 23. He tested positive for COVID-19 on Aug. 20.
The “complaint for emergency medical declaratory relief” says that a doctor prescribed ivermectin for the man but that the prescriptions were not filled and the Bakersfield hospital’s chief medical officer said the drug was not part of the protocol."
Custodians at California's wealthiest companies to earn $20 an hour in new contract
Sac Bee, JEONG PARK: "More than 20,000 janitors across California ratified a new contract over the weekend that for many workers includes a $20 an hour minimum wage and an employers’ contribution to a union pension plan by 2023.
The statewide contract for janitors who clean professional office buildings in California — including spaces for companies such as Apple and Visa — comes after weeks of rallies and workers voting to authorize a potential strike. Workers had worked without a contract since the end of August.
“We won what all essential workers deserve, fair wages that acknowledge our sacrifices, benefits that allow us to care for our families, and the chance to retire when we get too old to work. We are so pleased that the membership ratified this contract, and we are ready to fight for more,” Anabella Aguirre, a Los Angeles janitor and a member of SEIU United Service Workers West’s bargaining committee, said in the union’s statement."
Oakland school board 1st in NorCal to require vaccination for students
The Chronicle, RICARDO CANO: "The Oakland Unified School District will require students to be vaccinated against COVID-19, the school board decided Wednesday night, making it the first in Northern California to impose a student mandate.
The measure, passed 5-1, with one abstention, mandates all students 12 and older be fully vaccinated, with exemptions for medical and “personal belief” reasons. It does not set a timeline for enforcement. The district superintendent told the board a requirement likely wouldn’t be implemented before January as the district works through the specifics in the interim.
Oakland’s board took up the issue after Los Angeles Unified, the state’s largest school district, recently set a similar student requirement. Oakland’s decision could preview the looming discussions Bay Area school boards might face as schools navigate in-person instruction with the delta variant of the coronavirus still spreading."
Scott Lay, chronicler of California politics with a must-read newsletter, dies at 48
SEEMA MEHTA, LA Times: "Scott Lay, an attorney by training, a fierce advocate for community colleges and the author of a must-read newsletter in the state Capitol, has died at 48.
His death prompted an outpouring of grief in Sacramento, from those who knew Lay as a lobbyist to subscribers of the Nooner, Lay’s daily email roundup of political news, legislative activity, job openings and policy, all laced with insider gossip and observations.
“He was so committed to his community, whether that was his neighborhood, whether that was the community college world, whether it was a political party,” said Lisa Ortega, Lay’s sister. “He was always trying to build bridges and make the world better.”
READ MORE on Scott Lay: Scott Lay, California newsletter pioneer and beloved 'tinkerer of tech,' dead at 48 -- MICHAEL McGOUGH, SacBee.
UCD nurses demand improved staffing, but management says it's part of union's playbook
Sac Bee, CATHIE ANDERSON: "Registered nurses at UC Davis Health demanded Wednesday that the Sacramento-based system address staffing shortages in a video conference call that hospital leaders described as “part of their usual bargaining playbook.”
The nurses union, the California Nurses Association, will begin contract negotiations with University of California leaders starting in 2022.
Registered nurse Jenny Managhebi said there are enough nurses in the region’s labor pool to staff the university hospital, but many of those professionals don’t want to work in current conditions."
SF property owners sue city over pandemic rent relief law
The Chronicle, MALLORY MOENCH: "Two organizations representing San Francisco property owners sued the city over a law that gives businesses an excuse to not pay back rent if they were fully shut down during the pandemic.
Legal experts had predicted the controversial measure, which tips the scales of rent negotiation in favor of tenants instead of landlords, would draw challenges. The first was filed in San Francisco Superior Court by the San Francisco Apartment Association and the Small Property Owners of San Francisco Institute on Tuesday.
The legislation under fire was proposed by Supervisor Dean Preston and passed unanimously by the Board of Supervisors in July. It’s based on a state law excusing a party from a contract because fulfilling it becomes impossible. The ordinance creates a presumption, which could be challenged in court, that the law applies to rent for small businesses during the time they were completely shut down during the pandemic, unless their leases specifically state otherwise. The law largely benefits hair salons, tattoo shops, entertainment venues and gyms."
SF supes approve contracts worth $200M to replace parking meters, Muni Metro trains
The Chronicle, RCIARDO CANO: "The agency made similar arguments for adding 30 trains to its Muni Metro fleet by 2029, saying the reduced costs for maintaining a newer fleet could instead go toward funding service operations. Though the agency can cancel the contract option by 2025 at no cost, it would have to pay an estimated $11 million “production restart fee” if the agency’s commitment came after June 2023.
The SFMTA began replacing its Muni Metro fleet in 2017 with newer light rail vehicles that have better lighting, different seat configurations from the older trains and are cheaper to maintain. The agency had 68 of its new light rail vehicles in service before the pandemic hit and began “Phase 2” of its Siemens contract last month: 151 more new light rail vehicles will be delivered by 2025, giving the agency 219 new trains in its rotation.
The contract option supervisors approved Tuesday permits the SFMTA to purchase 30 extra light rail vehicles — for a total of 249 — that would arrive between 2027 and 2029."
After Trump, Democrats move to restrict president's power over pardons, spending
Sac Bee, GILLIAN BRASSIL: "Top-ranking congressional Democrats who battled with former President Donald Trump throughout his term introduced a bill this week that would curb executive power, calling it a check on practices that allowed the Trump administration to slow-roll investigations and reward political allies facing criminal charges.
The bill packages several proposals Democrats raised during Trump’s presidency, such as providing penalties for administration officials who ignore congressional subpoenas, reinforcing Congress’ power to set spending priorities and giving lawmakers more oversight over pardons.
It comes as the House continues to investigate what led to the breaching of the Capitol on January 6, 2021, which led to Trump’s second impeachment."
Biden wants to phase out private prisons. GEO Group and a California city have other plans
Sac Bee, REBECCA FLEVIN: "Three California ACLU affiliates are calling on the White House to uphold President Joe Biden’s efforts to phase out the federal government’s reliance on private, for-profit detention centers by closing a privately run detention center in downtown San Diego and preventing The GEO Group from partnering with a small Kern : County city to operate the facility for the U.S. Marshals Service.
Leaders in the city of McFarland last month unanimously agreed to pursue an intergovernmental agreement with the federal marshals for the Western Region Detention Center; it would subcontract with GEO to run the 770-bed facility. The arrangement would net the small city of McFarland approximately $500,000 and help GEO and the Marshals Service keep the facility open, in light of a January executive order requiring the U.S. Attorney General to stop renewing Justice Department contracts with privately operated criminal detention centers.
On Tuesday, about a week before GEO’s contract with the federal marshals was slated to end on Sept. 30, the company announced it had inked a six-month contract extension with the Marshals Service for Western Region. While the temporary deal does not include McFarland, GEO, in a news release, said it has proposed “alternative contracting structures” to the Marshals Service to allow the detention center to “remain in operation in compliance with the Executive Order, beyond the six-month contract extension.”"
