Unbeaten, but She is Longest Shot in Governor Race

Thomas D. EliasBreaking News, NewsLeave a Comment

Delain Easton

 (One in an ongoing series of interviews with candidates for governor of California)  Delaine Eastin has never run a losing campaign for any office in 14 tries. But if the 70-year-old former state school superintendent emerges to win this year’s race for governor, it will be the biggest upset in the long history of California politics. Don’t rule her out, … Read More

How Could GOP Do This to Their Fellow Californians?

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Thomas D. Elias
Mr. Elias

If there’s one thing members of Congress are elected to do, it is to look after the best interests of their own constituents and other people living in their state. If there’s one thing most of the 14 Republicans among California’s 53 members of the House of Representatives have not been doing much lately, it’s representing the best interests of … Read More

Is Secret Time Over?

Thomas D. EliasOP-EDLeave a Comment

Mr. Elias

California will be exploring new ground as the impending election year builds to its climax in early November. For the first time, big donors to ballot proposition campaigns will not be able to hide behind phony campaign committee names like “Californians for Safe Streets” when they put their money behind causes, many of which can be self-serving. It will be … Read More

Hate Crimes Rise. Trump Did It

Thomas D. EliasOP-EDLeave a Comment

Hate crimes are on the rise in California. There are strong hints the increase stems in part from President Trump’s habit of using racial slurs like the Pocahontas tag he likes to apply to Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren and the travel bans he has imposed on citizens of several Muslim countries. There were also Mr. Trump’s call for a … Read More

Prickly Academic Test at Cal State By Thomas Elias

Thomas D. EliasOP-EDLeave a Comment

Thomas D. Elias
Mr. Elias

Every economic forecast shows California needs more college graduates. About 35 percent more than today’s total by 2030, on pain of losing hundreds of thousands of high-paying jobs to other states and countries. The state’s largest producer of college grads has gotten the message: The Cal State system last spring graduated 23 percent of all students who enrolled four years … Read More

Jerry, Baby. Why?

Thomas D. EliasOP-EDLeave a Comment

“I’ve never seen a CEQA exemption I don’t like.” – Gov. Brown.  Mr. Brown made that observation shortly after starting his second go-‘round as  chief executive in early 2011, reacting wryly to his 1990s experience as mayor of Oakland, where the California Environmental Quality Act often forced him to battle for pet housing and school projects, including a military academy … Read More

Sweet Punch of Prop. 54

Thomas D. EliasOP-EDLeave a Comment

There’s nothing politicians and lobbyists in this state hate more than the ballot initiative process to which they all pay hypocritical verbal homage every chance they get. It’s easy to see why they don’t like lawmaking by the public, the essence of initiatives: The process takes important issues out of their hands. It can alter their working conditions in ways … Read More

Wildfires Smell Like a Previous Disaster

Thomas D. EliasOP-EDLeave a Comment

As disastrous and deadly wildfires raged through once-lovely residential areas in the Wine Country and other Northern California points this fall, there were signs that the aftermath could play out similarly to a scene that began almost 10 years earlier in Southern California. Loud claims were heard this time that negligent maintenance of power lines and poles, together with insufficient … Read More

Now PUC Wants to Clean up Mess

Thomas D. EliasOP-EDLeave a Comment

Mr. Elias

The California Public Utilities Commission now says it wants closure on its most contentious, most questionable decision of the last few decades.   This comes more than four years after a clandestine meeting between the commission’s then-president Michael Peevey and officials of the Southern California Edison Co. set parameters for “settling” the division of costs for shutting down the San … Read More

Feinstein Critics Have a Flat Tire

Thomas D. EliasOP-EDLeave a Comment

Ms. Feinstein

They see her as road-kill, the younger California Democrats hovering over longtime Democratic U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein just before and just after she announced her bid for election last week to a sixth term.   “She no longer reflects the experiences or core values of Californians…and she isn’t willing to step up and lead on resisting (President) Trump…” went one … Read More