City News
Tomorrow is National Bike to Work Day and, even aside from that, California bicycle enthusiasts have a lot to look forward to. As commuters seek ways to save gas, help the environment, and take a break from the fast-paced nature of modern life, more people are opting to cycle. And, better yet, more cities are looking for ways to accommodate them.
Over the next three decades, the City of Los Angeles plans to add an additional 1,600 miles of bikeways in order to make the city more cycle-friendly. One of the first projects is on Figueroa Street in Downtown Los Angeles,...
A bill which would essentially allow the City of Oakland to circumvent California gun laws is currently making its way through the state legislature. AB 180, sponsored by Assembly Member Ron Bonta (D-Oakland) would allow the city to impose stricter gun laws than are currently offered by the state, such as requiring gun owners to re-register their firearms every year. Licensing and registration directives are currently under the purview of the state. Bonta, however, says that one-size-fits-all policy isn’t working for Oakland, which has been...
After 39 years in the Long Beach City Attorney’s office, the city’s chief legal counsel is stepping down. On Tuesday, City Attorney Robert Shannon announced his retirement, effective July 2.
Shannon began his career as a senior deputy attorney in 1974. He served as Assistant City Attorney between 1995 and 1998, when he was first elected to his current post. Shannon won re-election in 2002, 2006, and 2010, and would have been up...
Despite signs of an upturned economy, cities across California continue to face fiscal issues so large they may turn to bankruptcy.
Joel Kotkin, a professor of urban development at Chapman University, says bankruptcies are “almost inevitable.”
USA TODAY has made predictions on the next 10 cities that will declare bankruptcy, based on information from DataQuick, National Association of Realtors, California Department of Finance and California Employment Development Department....
Ian Kaiser has (almost) officially been named City Manager of the City of Portola.
While contract negotiations are still underway, nothing official can be announced yet. However, during a meeting last month, the City Council voted to extend a conditional offer of employment to Kaiser. He is currently the town administrator of 3,000-person Blackville, South Carolina, but is from the Bay Area. He was also the educational chairman for the Vallejo Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Economic Revitalization Committee for downtown Vallejo.
Kaiser will replace current...
By Mike Madrid, CaliforniaCityNews publisher
Well it's out.
The May Revise that is. The annual Sacramento ritual that arrives as outside temperatures in town start to heat up. Technically, the May Revise is when the Governor issues his budget proposal based on the most recent tax receipts collected through the year.
Politically it's the start of the kabuki dance that we know as the budget fight. The dance is supposed to end mid-June but has been known to drag out through the entire summer.
...The City of Sebastopol is following in Lancaster’s footsteps, becoming the second city in the nation to require solar power for all newly-constructed homes and commercial buildings. The new building ordinance, approved by the Sebastopol City Council last week, mandates that all new homes be equipped with two watts of photovoltaic-produced power per square foot of insulated space—or 75 percent of the structure’s power load. In areas in which such mandates are unfeasible, builders must provide some alternative energy means or otherwise pay a fee. The ordinance does not apply to completed...
Stockton Mayor Anthony Silva is proposing some bold changes to the way City Hall operates and his suggestions aren’t sitting well with many city officials and government transparency advocates.
Silva would first like to hire his own City Hall spokesperson to replace Connie Cochran, who currently occupies the position—a right Silva possesses under the City Charter. Silva said he opted to forego such a move upon taking office, allowing city officials to focus on Stockton’s federal bankruptcy trial instead. But now, Silva says he could use the help. Cochran has said she devotes her work...
In the wake of the California Supreme Court’s medical marijuana dispensary ban, cities across the state are beginning to rid their streets of the dispensaries. As we reported last week, over 175 cities and 20 counties have already enacted ordinances banning medical marijuana shops; this ruling gives the go-ahead to others to move forward on their own ordinances.
The City of Anaheim celebrated this ruling as a victory, as the city has...
Air quality regulators ponder an icon
By John Howard
California’s beaches, as iconic as freeways and Hollywood, are under fire – literally.
Hundreds of fire rings—those ubiquitous, cement-edged pits that for more than seven decades have allowed generations of beach goers to build bonfires near the ocean—are on a hit list in Orange and Los Angeles counties amid complaints that they damage air quality. Air-pollution fighters, following complaints from a number of coastal homeowners, mostly in...
