In local political races, like that of Rialto mayor, negative campaign ads are becoming commonplace. Ralph Rossum, director of the Rose Institute, discusses the problematic impact of extreme advertisements in an article in the Press-Enterprise: “Ralph Rossum, of the Rose Institute of State and Local Government at Claremont McKenna College, said the type of negative… Continue Reading
Author Archives: Rose Institute
New Voter Registration Numbers: "Obama Surge" Continues
The final voter registration report before tomorrow’s election shows the surge in California Democratic voter registrations is continuing. After signing up over 465,000 new registrants between January first and September 5th, the Democratic Party then signed up another 582,000 between September 5th and the October 20th registration deadline. The Republican Party showed some signs of… Continue Reading
LA Weekly Takes a Look at Proposition 11
A recent article appearing in LA Weekly takes an in-depth look at Proposition 11. The article attempts to explain what Proposition 11 hopes to accomplish to novices of the redistricting process, entitling the article “Proposition 11: The Most Misunderstood.” The article also highlights some particularly notable cases of gerrymandering and the details of how the… Continue Reading
Democratic California State Treasurer Endorses Proposition 11
According to the Sacramento Bee CapitalAlert, California State Treasurer Bill Lockyer, a Democrat, has decided to endorse Proposition 11. His endorsement provides a potential counter to the argument made by foes of Proposition 11 that it is a Republican power grab. State Treasurer Bill Lockyer became the first statewide elected Democrat to endorse Proposition 11… Continue Reading
Wall Street Journal Has Article On Proposition 11
Acknowledging the importance of political activities in California to the United States as a whole, the Wall Street Journal recently took a look at Proposition 11. The article mainly describes the arguments for and against for their national readers who may have been previously unfamiliar with the initiative and its implications. However the article does… Continue Reading
Think Tank Says Prop 11 Will Not Hurt Minorities
According to a recent press release, the Center for Governmental Studies in Los Angeles has recently concluded that Proposition 11 will not hurt minority representation in California, and may in fact help it. Additionally they point to other postiive like increase transparency, and a multi-party rather than single party method of redistricting. The center had… Continue Reading
Center for Governmental Studies Report Shows Prop 11 Benefits
In a recent report, the Center for Governmental Studies found that the independent commission that would result from Prop 11 would be more ethnically diverse and less partisan than a redistricting committee in the legislature. Generally, the redistricting process would become more fair. The entire article is found on The Wall Street Journal’s Market Watch.… Continue Reading
Two Newspapers Editorialize in Support Proposition 11
The The Bakersfield Californian and The North County Times both recently released editorials in favor of Proposition 11. The Californian had this to say on the subject: The deep-seated partisanship between Democrats and Republicans that has gummed up the works in Sacramento is largely a product of the redistricting process. Inside political deals have tainted… Continue Reading
California GOP Vice-Chair Claims Prop 11 Good For Partisans
In a recent commentary piece on his website, Flashreport.org, California GOP Vice Chair Jon Fleischman makes the claim that Proposition 11 will make California more partisan by allowing conservative interest groups to get more strongly conservative candidates elected to the legislature. Additionally he says that the increased partisanship will cause more gridlock, which he believes… Continue Reading
Doug Johnson on City Manager Pay Issues
According to a recent Pasadena Star-News article, Temple City workers, including its city manager, were paid as independent contractors, allowing the city to avoid paying for certain benefits and deducting taxes on their behalf. Doug Johnson adds that this a pretty unique case in city government: “I have never heard of that before,” said Doug… Continue Reading