☆ Election roundup (13/14): Will gov't stop splurging and actually balance the budget?
Jay Gatsby, obsessed with his neighbor Daisy, throws lavish parties in hopes of getting her attention in The Great Gatsby (2000). Spoiler alert: their love story soon turns tragic—and fatal.
In the wake of Election ‘24, Opp Now contributors wonder if State gov't might fix its $68 bn deficit with smarter budgeting (um, it's about time)—or keep throwing taxpayers’ cash to flashy but trivial projects. An Opp Now exclusive featuring: local realtor Mark Burns, past mayor Lydia Kou, transit expert Tom Rubin, and HJTA's Susan Shelley.
Big things to watch going forward post-election?
Mark Burns, Silicon Valley realtor: We have a $68 billion deficit for the state; and while everybody makes up a number, I think that we have something closer to a trillion dollars in unfunded liability for retirement and benefits, for government employees in the state, teachers, firefighters, police, all the government workers. Where are they going to come up with money for that? So I think the biggest thing to watch going forward is how frugal and careful voters are going to be.
Lydia Kou, past Palo Alto mayor: One more area to beware and to keep an eye on is "following the money.” The large think tanks such as the Terner Center Berkeley have professors writing papers that do not seem to comprehend the boots-on-the-ground issues and are actually compounding and contributing to the huge cost of living issues. Then there is the McKinsey Global Institute's report back in 2016, which named a housing number that was so bogus. But, they get to be the state legislators' go-to for informing their decisions—when other professors such as Prof. Michael Storper and Prof. Andres Rodriguez-Pose not only look at data but also geography to inform their research.
Ideology is good for talk and hypocrisy; it is a distraction and not reality, and definitely masks what they are actually doing ... wasteful spending.
Tom Rubin, former SoCal Rapid Transit District CFO: California Democratic Party will likely continue as if nothing had happened—we’ll see Son of RM4 and Return of Prop. 5, along with ACA 10 #2 to stop TPA #2.
Susan Shelley, Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association VP of communications: New attacks coming on Proposition 13.
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