ALPERN AT LARGE-Voting this Tuesday--if you didn't already do so by mail--will be critical, but the decisions this state will then have to make (regardless of whether it has the courage and maturity to do so) will be even more critical.
Two weeks ago, when I asked a group of female nurses and medical staff (some the primary family breadwinner) I was lecturing to whether they felt the economy was improving, the answer was a resounding "NO!" This is generally the response when it comes up with my patients, as well. Things aren't in free-fall, but they're not "improving" or in a "recovery" mode, according to the average Joe/Jane I speak to.
It's easy to oversimplify things, but while most of us would obviously want the economy to improve, the reality is that too many are hanging on by their fingertips, and without the good jobs and benefits that come with fulfilling careers and caring employers. So how should we vote, and what do we do afterwards?
This Tuesday's vote is long and tedious, filled with politicians' names, judges and propositions--most of whom we've never heard of, and aren't sure we want to know. It's anybody's guess as to how the ho-hum political races will end up, but if they're so confusing that people vote by party (by default), then we'll see a Democratic slate win again...unless the GOP and independents who choose to vote conservative unleash a surprise.
Probably the big issues are the propositions: in short, my own recommendations (as worthy or irrelevant as they might be to you, the reader) are: YES on 1 and 2, and NO on all the others (45, 46, 47, 48 and P).
--Propositions 1 and 2 are imperfect but bipartisan, and that should mean something: it moves us farther down the path to setting up a rainy-day fund, paying down our debts, and ensuring that the most basic of requirements of civilized society--water--will be ensured for Californians.
--Propositions 45 and 46 have bipartisan opposition, for the most part, because they do too much too fast, and would hurt our attempts to keep health care costs down and keep misbehaving doctors in check.
--Proposition 47 has the opposition of law enforcement (which for some reason has been ignored), and Proposition 48 eliminates the requirement of keeping Indian casinos on Indian land (we might as well just be like Nevada, otherwise).
--Measure P, a county parcel tax for parks and the like is so vague in what it would fund that--despite a populace that normally favors more funding for parks--it appears to have little organized support.
It's not hard to look up how the polls suggest these measures will either pass or fail, but vote for what you believe is right...because these propositions are probably the main issues to deal with on November 4th.
But what then? What happens on November 5th?
Well, the funding issues for pensions, the high-speed rail, education, transportation and everything else won't go away, and if anything they'll be more challenging than ever.
Although the pension issue makes many of us roll our eyes heavenward because--after all--aren't we just sick of hearing about this problem?
Pension, shmension, from the eighth dimension. Blah, blah, blah. Whatever...whatevs...what-what-what? Sick of it!
Oh, and sick of hearing about those teachers unions, and police unions, and governmental unions...part of California life. And speaking of life, maybe those complaining about the pensions and unions ought to "get a life", right?
Bankrupt Stockton managed to get away with keeping its pension obligations and CalPERS contributions alive and well, and the evil bank creditors got hit in the shorts much worse--so it's cause for celebration unless that city ever wants to go back to asking banks for underwriting its future debts and bonds.
But the questions about Stockton remain, and the issues surrounding its employees' pensions are by far from over. That city, and the City of Los Angeles, and all Californian cities, remain in "a world of hurt" as to how they will survive on a year-to-year basis.
And although California will likely choose rainy-day funding and paying down its debts (Proposition 2), the problem is that even with THIS year being a "good" year, Controller John Chiang's report notes that the gap between assets and liabilities for current and future pensions has exploded from $6.3 billion in 2003 to $198.2 billion in 2013.
Chiang's's numbers assume that the asset earnings will see 7.5 percent each year, despite the more likely reality that they will be below 7 percent for the next decade, thereby making the pension issue even more of a numerical problem.
So while many Californians will stick to the "pension, shmension" approach to this problem, they will likely have a harder time ignoring why there is no money to pay for roads, for infrastructure, for new colleges, etc. And maaaaybe a few will connect the dots and note that instead of water bonds we'd ideally be paying for our water needs from our annual general budget.
In other words, we're bonding our legitimate water needs, and our high-speed rail (whether you love that idea or hate it) and a lot of other vital priorities instead of paying for them as we go--which is what most reasonable taxpayers would expect.
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And if 2015 is a down year on Wall Street? What happens to our pension obligations, which for the most part are paid for by Wall Street earnings, if that happens?
But that's "nerd-talk", and really boring "nerd-talk" at that.
Unless we're asked to raise our taxes yet again, and still find that we still can't get our basic road, water, infrastructure and governmental services/needs met with what we're paying right now.
So VOTE, if you've not already done so...but just don't be too shocked if the really tough decisions have yet to be made, either in Sacramento or on the streets of your own California neighborhood.
(Ken Alpern is a Westside Village Zone Director and Board member of the Mar Vista Community Council (MVCC), previously co-chaired its Planning and Outreach Committees, and currently is Co-Chair of its MVCC Transportation/Infrastructure Committee. He is co-chair of the CD11Transportation Advisory Committee and chairs the nonprofit Transit Coalition, and can be reached at [email protected]. He also does regular commentary on the MarkIsler Radio Show on AM 870, and co-chairs the grassroots Friends of the Green Line at www.fogl.us. The views expressed in this article are solely those of Mr. Alpern.)
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 12 Issue 89
Pub: Nov 4, 2014
