STOCKTON, Calif. — A California city that has the second-highest foreclosure rate in the nation is preparing for a possible bankruptcy filing if officials are unable to broker a deal with the city's creditors.
Stockton would become the nation's largest city ever to file for bankruptcy. City Council members late Tuesday granted the city manager authority to seek Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection in three weeks if a deal isn't made.
The council's 6-1 vote after 4½ hours of urgent pleas, recriminations over past decisions and dire warnings comes as the river port city of 290,000 continues to negotiate to restructure hundreds of millions of dollars of debt under a new state law designed to help municipalities avoid bankruptcy.
Source: www.deseretnews.com
California primary: First step toward recasting American politics? - The Christian Science Monitor
California's pioneering attempt to produce more moderate candidates by tinkering with its primary system appears to have had some success Tuesday.
Skip to next paragraphTuesday's primary marked the state's first open, nonpartisan primary for statewide and congressional offices. All voters of could vote for any candidate, regardless of the political party of the voter or candidate, and the top-two vote-getters advanced to the general election, again regardless of party.
The hope is that this system would recast the primary process, which typically forces candidates to move to the left or right in order to win voters.
Historically low turnout of 15 percent – the lowest ever in the state for a presidential primary – makes it hard to draw definitive conclusions from the Tuesday vote. But one survey of the results suggests the system shows promise.
“The new, top two ballot used in California’s primary election appears to give moderate candidates in state races a 6-7 percent boost compared to the traditional, more restricted ballot,” concludes the report by the Institute of Governmental Studies (IGS) at the University of California, Berkeley.
“It looks like voters want to vote for more moderate candidates and will do so if the ballot provides the opportunity,” said Gabriel Lenz, a UC Berkeley political scientist who led the survey for IGS.
Other analysts are more enthusiastic.
“This election is a turning point,” says David McCuan, a political scientist at Sonoma State University. “This is a portent of things to come nationally."
He says that it will take a few election cycles for the evidence of moderation to prove true – and for voters to get used to the new, longer ballots. But he and others agree that the new system points in the direction where American voters are headed. A growing share of Americans is registering as independent, and California's top-two primary allows such voters to be more engaged in the political process.
Now at 21 percent – compared with 43 percent for Democrats and 30 percent for Republicans – " 'decline to state' has been the state’s fastest growing party for some time, as the electorate is increasingly frustrated with the inability of both their state and federal representatives to get the business of governing done,” says Michael Shires, professor of public policy at Pepperdine University.
He notes that with the exception of a few competitive districts in the state, candidates before now simply had to run to the right or left to get the nomination in the primary and then coast through the general election.
“Now they will have to reach out to broader constituencies in both the primary and general elections,” he says.
For example, moderate incumbent Rep. Jim Costa (D), "would have barely eked out a win" under the old primary system, according to Doug Ahler, a UC Berkeley grad student who worked on the IGS survey. Instead, he won handily, and his liberal challenger from the left also finished behind the most moderate Republican, setting up a general election between two centrists.
"We think this is a good example of the top-two ballot doing what it was intended to do," says Mr. Ahler.
Tuesday's results suggest this same result can come in different ways. Twenty-term incumbent Rep. Pete Stark (D) could get a stern challenge from his general election opponent, Eric Swalwell, a Dublin, Calif., city councilman who is also a Democrat.
“This race is the poster child for moderation,” says Professor McCuan. “Move to the middle or lose.”
In the long term, results could be Republicans more appealing to the state’s growing Hispanic population, as well as more pro-business Democrats.
“That seems to be happening in a few cases,” says Jack Pitney, a professor of government at Claremont McKenna College.
But the primary has also "led to more party on party violence than we might have expected,” notes McCuan.
That might have an impact on Democrats' hopes of picking up House seats in the fall. His prediction: “If Democrats expected to pick up five additional House seats in California in order to return Speaker Pelosi to power, that number is probably too high.”
Others, however, caution against drawing too many conclusions from the primary.
“Turnout was so low that the data isn’t rich enough to make comprehensive conclusions," says Barbara O’Connor, director emeritus of the Institute for Study of Politics and Media at California State University, Sacramento. "We’ll know more in the fall.”
Source: www.csmonitor.com
California OKs completion of marine sanctuaries from Oregon to Mexico - Miami Herald
LOS ANGELES -- California wildlife officials Wednesday approved the final link in the nation's first comprehensive statewide chain of marine sanctuaries.
The state Fish and Game Commission voted to ban or restrict fishing in 137 square miles of the North Coast as part of a network of more than 100 science-based Marine Protected Areas that stretch along the open coastline from Mexico to Oregon.
The 27 designated areas, which cover 13 percent of state waters from Mendocino County to the Oregon border, have various levels of protection intended to help replenish dwindling fish populations. They make up the fourth segment of protected waters the state is charged with setting aside under the 1999Marine Life Protection Act. The state already has adopted restrictions in Central and Southern California,leaving only San Francisco Bay.
The North Coast's array of sandy sea floor, rocky reefs, underwater canyons, kelp forest and eelgrass beds span some of the most remote coastline in the state and were chosen to safeguard a diverse assortment of marine habitat for future generations.
"We are going to reap the benefits of this for many years to come," said Fish and Game Commission Vice President Michael Sutton, founding director of the Center for the Future of the Oceans at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
Over the last decade scientists have helped craft similar fishing restrictions up and down the state in an effort to curb steep fish population declines that threaten to wipe out some of the most vulnerable species. With Wednesday's vote, about 16 percent of state waters, which extend about three miles from the shore, will be protected.
The specific boundaries and restrictions for the North Coast were hammered out over several years of meetings with fishing groups, environmentalists and American-Indian tribes.
Some "no-take" reserves will be off-limits to anglers, while other conservation areas allow limited fishing. In a compromise with Native Americans, the state will allow tribes to continue to harvest and gather fish, kelp and shellfish in certain areas where they have ancestral food-gathering traditions.
Fishing groups have resisted the marine protection zones up and down the state because it means losing access to prime harvesting waters. But the new regulations drew a round of applause following a unanimous vote at a public hearing in Eureka, an indication of the unusual level of consensus reached by fishing groups, environmentalists and tribal leaders.
Some of the most contentious fishing restrictions in the state - Southern California's array of 50 marine sanctuaries - took effect Jan. 1 after years of heated negotiations and delays.
The North Coast fishing regulations are expected to begin early next year.
Source: www.miamiherald.com
California Marine Protection Zones Approved Off The North Coast - Huffington Post
SAN FRANCISCO — California created another group of ocean protection zones on Wednesday, putting the finishing touches on a vast network of protected areas that dot the sea from Mexico to the Oregon border.
The Fish & Game Commission voted unanimously to approve the new zones off the state's far north coast from Point Arena in Mendocino County to the Oregon border, where fishing is restricted or banned outright in areas.
"We are poised to return California's marine resources to the sustainable abundance we all once enjoyed," said Richard Rogers, a commission member from Santa Barbara, choking up as he cast his vote after more than seven years of work on the project.
The vote was an outgrowth of the 1999 Marine Life Protection Act, which called for a system of marine protected areas along the coast based on scientific study and years of public input.
The idea is that by making certain areas off limits to fishing, or restricting it to certain species in others, struggling marine species will rebound and create a more robust fishery and ecosystem. The approach has been used with success in other areas of the nation and world, including Thunder Bay in Lake Huron and the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.
California divided its coastline into regions that were evaluated for protection by scientists, fishermen, environmentalists and ordinary citizens. Marine protection areas were previously approved for the central and southern coasts.
Officials next set their sights on San Francisco Bay to create protection zones.
Some fishermen have been vigorous opponents of new restrictions or closures in the central and southern coastal areas, saying the restrictions on fishing hurt them disproportionately.
Zeke Grader, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations, said banning or restricting fishing in these areas only addresses one of myriad issues with the marine environment. He said poor water quality caused by urban runoff also hurts marine life, and the protection zones do nothing to help that.
"If we're going to have marine protected areas, let's make sure they're in fact protected and not just some feel good regulations about no fishing," he said.
On the state's far northern coast, Native American tribes voiced loud concerns about the new protection zones' effect on their traditional fishing and gathering.
The commission reached a compromise with some tribes, saying if they could provide records of their historic fishing practices they could be exempted from some restrictions.
For the Yurok Tribe, the largest in California, the approved plan was not entirely agreeable, and a number of its elders appeared before the commission to warn them that they will not allow their gathering activities to be stopped.
"We are hunters, fishers and gatherers and we have lived here since time immemorial and gathered these shores forever since creator put us here," David Gensaw Sr., a member of the Yurok Tribal Council, told the commission Wednesday.
"We're here today to tell you that we need that subsistence, and we will continue to provide our people with that nourishment," he said.
Other tribes represented at the meeting applauded the state's process, saying officials had come a long way in recognizing the concerns of Native Americans.
"The start of this process was very difficult and contentious ... but we have ended in a very positive place with a strong framework for future tribal consultation on important conservation and environmental issues," Priscilla Hunter of the InterTribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council, a consortium of 10 federally recognized north coast tribes, said in a statement.
Conservation groups hailed the commission's actions as a big win for marine life, and said that it bodes well for California's troubled sea ecosystem.
"By safeguarding our iconic ocean places – and the rich web of life they support – these jewels of the coast will help revive depleted fish populations and draw people to the coast to enjoy our remarkable marine wildlife," said Karen Garrison of the Natural Resources Defense Council's oceans program.
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Jason Dearen can be reached on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/JHDearen
Source: www.huffingtonpost.com
California cigarette tax: Voters divided in north, south - Los Angeles Times
California voters are on track to narrowly reject Proposition 29, a proposed cigarette tax on the ballot Tuesday, according to the latest results from the California secretary of state.
With nearly 4 million ballots counted, and all precincts reporting, the no vote holds 50.8% of the tally with a slim lead of just more than 63,000 votes.
Anatagonism was strongest in Southern California, where a majority of voters in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura counties voted no.
Los Angeles County was nearly evenly split, with 50.7% of the more than 700,000 voters casting a no vote. But opposition was much higher in surrounding counties with majorities of 60% or more in opposition.
Support for a new tax was strongest in the Bay Area, where large majorities voted yes, including nearly 75% of San Francisco voters.
INTERACTIVE MAP: Explore the complete Prop. 29 results
Tobacco companies poured nearly $47 million into their campaign to defeat Proposition 29, a tax designed to raise about $860 million a year for research on tobacco-related diseases and prevention programs.
The American Cancer Society and other proponents predicted that the increase in cigarette prices would stop 220,000 children from starting to smoke and encourage 100,000 current smokers to quit. They raised more than $11 million, including $500,000 from New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and $1.5 million from cycling champion Lance Armstrong's Livestrong Foundation.
Backed by the tobacco money, a coalition of anti-tax and business organizations mounted an aggressive campaign against the initiative, including a flood of television commercials and campaign mailers. The proposition, they argued, would create an unaccountable bureaucracy and allow the tax dollars to be siphoned out of California.
COMPLETE RESULTS: All races from the California primary
— Ben Welsh and Anthony Pesce
Photo: A map of Proposition 29 results showing the margin of victory in each of California's counties. Credit: Ben Welsh and Anthony Pesce / Los Angeles Times
Source: latimesblogs.latimes.com
California voters OK changes to term limits for state legislators - Los Angeles Times
In Southern California contests, the nonpartisan race for Los Angeles County district attorney was locked in a three-way contest among Chief Deputy Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey, Deputy Dist. Atty. Alan Jackson and L.A. City Atty. Carmen Trutanich. Lacey, who was leading the pack, would become the first African American or female D.A. in county history if elected in a November runoff to replace the retiring Steve Cooley.
Three incumbent Los Angeles County supervisors — Mark Ridley-Thomas, Don Knabe and Michael D. Antonovich — appeared to be breezing to new four-year terms, with only Antonovich facing a challenger.
With both Democratic President Obama and GOP challenger Mitt Romney already having sewn up their party's nominations, California's presidential primary was anti-climactic, deflating voter enthusiasm and turnout at the polls.
Those who cast ballots made state history, however, with the first test of California's newly drawn political districts and the first comprehensive use of the top-two primary — which in races for the U.S. Senate, House of Representatives and state Legislature sends the two candidates who collect the most votes to the November election, regardless of party affiliation.
Both changes were tailored to favor candidates with at least somewhat wide appeal, including those not hitched to any political party, and mute the hyper-partisan rancor consuming Washington and Sacramento. Among the offspring of these changes were some political oddities.
San Fernando Valley Democratic Reps. Howard Berman and Brad Sherman, both shifted into the same district, were on pace to collect enough votes Tuesday to continue their intraparty grudge match through the November general election — sans a Republican challenger — and a party-backed Democrat was battling to survive until this fall's race for a Ventura County congressional seat that tilts slightly to the left.
"Candidates of both parties are being forced to talk to a much wider range of voters than ever before, instead of relying on the ideological bases of their parties, to get to the general election," said Dan Schnur, director of USC's Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics. "We're going to see a greater number of competitive elections, and that'll lead to the election of more responsive candidates."
Bucking that trend was U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who finished far ahead of a pack of 23 mostly unknown, scantily funded challengers in her bid for a fourth full term. Danville autism activist Elizabeth Emken, endorsed by the state Republican leadership, collected enough votes to face the popular, well funded Feinstein in November — a task so daunting that the Senate race failed to attract even an adventurous GOP middleweight.
Many races remained too close to call as votes were being counted late Tuesday, especially in contests with crowded fields and candidates separated by mere percentage points. Low turnout only added to the volatility.
Katrina Eagilen, a dentist who was in charge of a precinct at the base of Mt. Washington on Tuesday morning, shook her head in dismay at the paucity of voters.
"I'm a little bit disappointed," she said, gesturing at the empty voting booths and the quiet room. "Something so important, we should have the place crowded."
Tobacco companies poured nearly $47 million into their campaign to defeat Proposition 29, a tax designed to raise an estimated $860 million a year for research on tobacco-related diseases and prevention programs.
The American Cancer Society and other proponents predicted that the increase in cigarette prices would stop 220,000 kids from starting to smoke and encourage 100,000 current smokers to quit. They raised more than $11 million, including $500,000 from New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and $1.5 million from cycling champ Lance Armstrong's Livestrong Foundation.
Backed by the tobacco money, a coalition of anti-tax and business organizations mounted an aggressive campaign against the initiative, including a flood of television commercials and campaign mailers. The proposition, they argued, would create an unaccountable bureaucracy and allow the tax dollars to be siphoned out of California.
Voters were less conflicted about Proposition 28, which would limit lawmakers to 12 years in the Legislature, but allow them to serve the entire stretch in the Assembly or Senate. In 1990, Californians limited lawmakers to three two-year terms in the Assembly and two four-year stints in the Senate, for a total of 14 years in Sacramento.
The League of Women Voters of California and other supporters of the proposition said lawmakers spend too much time raising funds for the leap from one legislative house to the other and need to be allowed more time in one office to master complex issues and the lawmaking process.
Opponents, including term limits activist and former game show host Chuck Woolery, said the initiative was deceptively pitched as a toughening of term limits when, in fact, legislators could camp longer in one seat.
Holding onto one of California's 53 congressional seats also proved to be tougher than at any other time in a decade, thanks to political boundaries drawn by a panel of citizens instead of politicians or the courts. Longtime incumbents found themselves vying for votes in unfamiliar territory or in districts merged with those of other House members.
Source: www.latimes.com
California's top-two primary will have some voters seeing double in November - San Jose Mercury News
The results of California's inaugural "top-two" primary are in, and some voters will be seeing double in November.
In about one-sixth of the state's legislative and Congressional races, either two Democrats or two Republicans will be on the ballot as a result of Tuesday's primary that sent the leading two vote-getters into a November runoff. Democrat will face Democrat in 18 races, and Republican will battle Republican in eight more.
But while many feared the new top-two system would severely limit voter choice, the vast majority of California's legislative and House battles will still pit Democrat against Republican -- especially in battleground districts. Most of the homogeneous races are in districts already deemed safe by the party that will monopolize November's ballots. Eighteen of the single-party races are state Assembly battles.
As expected, though, the biggest casualty from Tuesday's foray into a top-two primary were third-party candidates: Not one made it through to November's ballot in the 153 state and federal legislative races. But five no-party-preference candidates -- four for House seats, one for an Assembly seat -- will face off against major-party candidates in November.
Voters approved the new system in 2010 with Proposition 14, billed as a way to force politicians to become less extreme and more pragmatic. It was the brainchild ofAbel Maldonado, then a Republican state Senator from Santa Maria who ransomed his
state budget vote to force legislative Democrats to put the measure on the ballot.On Tuesday, Maldonado took part in the state's first top-two primary, placing, second in the 24th Congressional District race and advancing to a November showdown with incumbent Democrat Lois Capps, D-Santa Barbara.
But Maldonado on Wednesday pointed to another race -- the East Bay's 15th Congressional District -- to illustrate why the top-two system is "a giant, firm step in the right direction."
That extremely safe Democratic district now has Democrat Eric Swalwell nipping at the heels of 20-term incumbent Rep. Pete Stark, D-Fremont, after besting a conservative independent in Tuesday's primary. In an ordinary primary, Stark would've won, a Republican nominee would've had no chance, and the race essentially would be over.
"Mr. Stark cannot kick back and relax. He's got to campaign, he's got to keep talking to the people in that district ... and that's good for that area," Maldonado said. "I can guarantee you that the candidate who wins that district will be the one who can communicate with some Republicans and independents, and that person's voice will be a voice of reason and he will go on to victory."
Darry Sragow, a veteran
Democratic campaign strategist who founded No Labels, a nonpartisan nonprofit "dedicated to breaking the stranglehold that the extremes have on our political process," said Tuesday's primary must be seen as just the beginning."It's part of a process that is beginning to pick up speed,'' he said, " that reflects a lot of voters and a number of political insiders who are incredibly frustrated with gridlock in government and are in a variety of ways trying to crack the system open."
Democrats hope to pick up House seats in California as part of their national "Drive to 25" effort to recapture the chamber this fall. They also hope to widen their state legislative majorities to the two-thirds needed to pass tax bills -- a possibility in the state Senate, a much longer shot in the Assembly. Both Democrats and the GOP were talking tough on those races Wednesday, particularly the House battles.
Corey Cook, a political science professor who directs the University of San Francisco's Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good, said Tuesday's results show the new top-two system could have a greater impact on Republicans -- particularly in the Assembly -- than anyone else.
With so many Republican-on-Republican races in the Assembly compared to the number of seats the GOP already holds, he said, those candidates must consider how to prevail in November. Do they adhere to strict ideological principles, such as signing no-tax pledges or do they behave moderately to attract the independent and Democratic votes that could buoy them to victory?
Cook worries that such candidates, as well as liberal Democrats facing off against their peers, might choose to cloud their true records and ideals to pose as moderates.
"I'm not convinced this system is actually going to work," he said. "It might lead to less substantive November elections that are less about issues and more personal, more about framing your opponent as an extremist."
Josh Richman covers politics. Follow him at Twitter.com/josh_richman. Read the Political Blotter at IBAbuzz.com/politics.
Source: www.mercurynews.com
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