Covid surge and corruption in the Golden State

Jun 26, 2020
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** Summertime Sadness
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California’s Covid-19 hospitalizations surge: As of yesterday, the number ([link removed]) of Californians hospitalized with Covid-19 jumped by about one-third over the past two weeks. At this rate, it’s only a matter of time before Gov. Newsom pauses the state’s reopening even though more than one-in-six residents who want a job can’t get one.

Further efforts to control Covid-19 must exempt students: Children are far less likely to get or spread this disease. In fact, no one under the age of 17 ([link removed]) in the state has died from Covid. Therefore, it is likely safe for most of them to return to school, which is necessary for their personal and scholastic development as well as to allow parents to return to work (whether in-person or virtually). Yet the budget that California will pass today lays the groundwork for a hybrid learning model where students participate in a mix of in-person and online classes, which have been a disaster ([link removed]) so far.

Newsom restores education cuts, but it’s never enough for teachers unions: The lockdown has been economically catastrophic for everyone, including government. Reduced business revenue means reduced sales tax and government revenue. Yet today’s budget restores billions of dollars in proposed education budget cuts. “The situation schools are facing now is better than presented in the governor’s May budget revision,” said ([link removed]) Troy Flint, spokesman for the California School Boards Association. “But it’s still a far cry from what is needed to reopen schools safely and effectively.”

Exploiting the Covid crisis: As CPC contributor Larry Sand writes ([link removed]) in his latest contribution, “Unions have always claimed that we need to spend more on government-run schools. But now, with the advent of a pandemic, they are in overdrive.”

The schools that cried ‘wolf’: Rick Hess, director of education policy at the American Enterprise Institute, writes ([link removed]) in National Review that long before the current crisis, United Teachers Los Angeles president Alex Caputo-Pearl “was urging his teachers to strike in order ‘to get the basics for students.' Of course, Caputo-Pearl neglected to mention that the Los Angeles Unified School District was spending ([link removed]) $18,788 per student, average teacher pay in Los Angeles was $78,962 ([link removed]) , and many of the district’s frustrations were due to UTLA’s unwillingness to adjust employee benefits, which had grown ([link removed]) an astounding 138 percent between
2001 and 2016.”

A vision for public-sector compensation reform in Placentia: CPC contributor Edward Ring continues his multipart look ([link removed]) at the fiscal impacts of the Placentia’s decision to break away from the Orange County Fire Authority. “It appears clear that Placentia will save significantly over the next several years by forming an independent fire department,” writes Ring. “By curtailing pay and reforming pensions, Placentia will save $2.2 million or 30 percent versus remaining with the OCFA. Placentia offers a model for other California cities, counties, and agencies that are looking to curtail public spending in the years to come.”

Racist ballot measure qualifies for November ballot: The California Legislature voted this week ([link removed]) to put a measure on the November ballot to incorporate applicants’ races when determining university admissions and government hiring and contracting. The measure threatens to overturn a ban on such institutional racism against Asians and Jewish people, among others, that was passed by voters in 1996.

Police union chief justifies slapping protesters: “'I firmly believe an open hand slap in the face is 100 percent justified” for protesters who give cops the middle finger, wrote ([link removed]) Bay Area police union chief Steve Aiello on Facebook. “'Maybe it’s the people, not the cops, that need "better training."' (Ariello later said his remarks were taken out of context.)

CPC President Will Swaim’s rhetorical middle finger: As we teased last week, Will Swaim argued ([link removed]) in the OC Register this week that police union reform is a necessary prerequisite for curtailing systemic police violence. Yet Democrats are actually pushing legislation to expand California-style collective bargaining for police to the states that don’t yet have it. Listen to Will discuss the issue on The DeMaio Report here ([link removed]) .

Police unions see power diminish: The LA Times reports ([link removed]) on how police unions are finally seeing their power wane. “Even once-staunch allies are distancing themselves at a time when the future of the profession is being reimagined by city councils, supervisor boards and the state Legislature.”

Power Corrupts: Los Angeles City Councilman Jose Huizar, who’s been active in LA politics for almost two decades, was arrested this week on corruption charges. According to the Times ([link removed]) , Huizar allegedly “ran a sprawling pay-to-play scheme in which real estate developers were shaken down for cash bribes and campaign donations in exchange for Huizar’s help getting high-rise development projects through the city’s arduous approval process.”

Power Corrupts #2: As Transparent California reports ([link removed]) , “In a just-released report ([link removed]) documenting possible fraud at the Sweetwater Union High School District, state auditors revealed how staff were able to push through a pay raise for district employees, while deceiving the public about its true impact on the school budget….The unlawful deception means parents and children will now have to suffer unnecessary cuts in order to pay for the illegally passed pay raise.”

Power Corrupts #3: The Mayor of Pico Rivera was charged ([link removed]) this week in a scheme to launder campaign contributions.

Power Corrupts #4: California Assemblyman Phil Ting apologized ([link removed]) this week for an extramarital affair with Carmel Foster, who accuses him, the California Labor Federation, and the National Domestic Workers Alliance of exploiting her for political gain. Foster says ([link removed]) she was used as a prop to bolster support for a number of ballot measures and bills, including AB5. Ting allegedly used the picture of fellow Assemblyman Phillip Chen to set up his profile on the “dating” website “What’s Your Price,” where he met Foster.

Power Corrupts #5: The Department of Justice and FBI officials announced charges against longtime San Francisco permit expediter and contractor Walter Wong this week. According to Mission Local ([link removed]) , “Wong’s alleged fraud was ongoing since 2004. His money-laundering allegedly started all the way back in 2008.”

For your Friday commute: On the latest episode ([link removed]) of National Review’s Radio Free California Will Swaim and CPC Board Member David Bahnsen discuss state lawmakers’ order to remove the century-old statue of Cristopher Columbus from the capitol, the corruption in LA City Hall, Vallejo’s real-time experiment in “defunding” police, and the Cal State faculty union’s dumb teaching of American history.

Meet the Fockers: A professor at an Oakland university was fired last weekend for asking ([link removed]) freshman Phuc Bui Diem Nguyen if she could “Anglicize” her name. "You need to understand your name is an offensive sound in my language,” said the professor. “We do not tolerate racism, discrimination or oppression of any kind,” said the school president in justifying the firing. "I apologize for my insensitive actions which caused pain and anger to my student, and which have now caused pain and anger to an untold number of people who read my two inappropriate emails on the internet,” said the former professor. Cancel culture is also a virus.

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Jordan Bruneau
Communications Director
[email protected]


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