How will the California state park closures and cuts affect you, and the state?
Frankly, I was surprised when I read the headline, "Schwarzenegger to receive national park award."
How could that be…didn't he just propose cutting $70 million dollars out of the state's park budget? Didn't he just propose closing about a third of the 279 state parks? And didn't he just announce as an alternative to all of the above, server cuts in services and reductions of hours that will among other things cause many parks to close except on weekends?
The governor had to make some hard choices this year, his supporters say in response to California's record $43 billion dollar budget shortfall. The proposed cuts his spokesman said do not mean that Arnold Schwarzenegger doesn't support parks. After all he has protected over 400,000 acres of park land, more than any governor in 50 years.
Never-the-less, according to San Francisco State Senator Mark Leno, the timing of the award is a "tragic irony."
These ironic moments are very difficult for politicians who have to live with the ebbs and flows of big challenges and for the public who has to live with the results.
How will the California state park closures and cuts affect you, and the state?
Is Jerry Brown using his job as Attorney General to further his political ambitions?
Attorney General Jerry Brown wants to be Governor of California, and while he has not formally declared his candidacy he has raised millions of dollars to finance such a run in the 2010 elections.
Meanwhile, Brown has been filing high profile lawsuits almost every week against some suspected wrong doer. Just in the last month he's sued a Beverly Hills investment advisor who had ties to Bernard Madoff, had a former healthcare clinic manager arrested in what he called a $2.2 million dollar medical rip-off, and sued six businesses and eight individuals for operating a scam targeted at small business. These filings, a legitimate part of his duties as Attorney General, have kept his name in the news, which is good for any candidate.
His chief rival San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom has no vehicle that provides him as much free media statewide.
On a CNBC business show Wednesday, Brown announced a lawsuit against Boston-based State Street Bank and Trust for allegedly overcharging California's two largest pension funds $56 million dollars. During Brown's much touted encounter with the show's anchors, CNBC's Michelle Caruso-Cabrera asked, "What do you say to people who look at this who say this is a perfect example of the demagoguery of attorneys general when they want to run for governor?"
Brown says he is only doing his job. "In my book, there's nothing quaint about corporate fraud. There's nothing quaint about ripping off pension funds. And, I — along with attorneys general from across the nation — will continue to bring these high-priced rip-off artists to justice."
Is Jerry Brown using his job as Attorney General to further his political ambitions?
Is it politics or the governing structure that has paralyzed California?
There is no shortage of places to have your voice heard on almost any topic, including this site. But even with all of the opportunities to create and comment, scientifically conducted polls continue to serve an important purpose. They are the best instrument we have to track the opinions of a diverse group of citizens on important issues.
This week the venerable Field Poll released three polls that measure our optimism about the direction of the state and the country, the job performance of the Governor and the Legislature, and whether we should change the way we govern ourselves.
Surprisingly, in the poll released Thursday about our optimism, 48 percent of the registered California voters in the Field sample think the country is moving in the right direction, with 41 percent believing the opposite. Those numbers are in stark contrast to where they were in July of 2008 when only 15 percent thought the country was headed in the right direction and 75 percent believed the opposite.
When we turn to California the picture is entirely different. Not surprising in a state with 12.2 percent unemployment and a governor and legislature that were locked in a budget impasse for months, finally resulting in draconian cuts to many cherished programs.
Only 15 percent felt the state was generally going in the right direction while 78 percent think things are seriously on the wrong track. You have to go back to March of 2007 to find a majority 52 percent who felt the state was heading in the right direction, with 38 percent believing the opposite.
So how did the leadership drift so far from the expectations of the people who elected them, even during the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression?
That leaves us with the question — is it politics or the governing structure that has the state with a reputation for innovation stopped dead in it tracks?
The Field Polls provide some answers. http://www.field.com/fieldpollonline/subscribers/
What do you think?
This Week has a new look, new format, and new website. What do you think?
Welcome back. If you are reading this you know that This Week in Northern California has scrubbed its cool blue look and is returning to the air with a brand-new set, and a brand new snazzy website created with bright, vibrant hues. I've never been one who paid a great deal of attention to the desk fronts and background screens on television programs, but I have to admit that considering the precarious social and financial situation of our world, this sunny new look does lift one's spirits. We are excited about the change but would like to know your thoughts.
As we enter our twentieth season please be assured that this is not a superficial overhaul of This Week. Our change is much deeper and more profound than new colors. For the past three months, a group of very dedicated people at KQED has spent many hours trying to tackle some of the same problems you might also be facing at home. Foremost among them: How can we do more with less?
I think of public television as the "soul food" of the broadcasting industry. It exists to serve our most basic needs, to inform, to educate, and to quiet our souls with the best of the arts and culture we share as humans. But no matter how noble the goals of public broadcasting, there is still the daunting task of generating the resources to create content.
The time away from our weekly program schedule accomplished two important things. It allowed the production team sufficient time to rethink the show's mission and objectives, and to bank some resources that can now be used to present a richer programming experience. We will welcome back our great local reporters but we will also incorporate material from our arts program Spark and fascinating science stories with the help of QUEST, we will travel to the source of interesting stories and invite expert guest to share our studio.
The world of social media has opened to us with the launch of our new website. It allows the program to be streamed online with options for you to share it with friends and comment. However the most important element for me is the opportunity to engage you in conversation about what we do or should do as we continue to build the new This Week.
Now it's your turn, tell us what you think about this week's program, our new on air look, and our greatly enhanced website.
Belva