Free Cities
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New Solano city’s travails spotlight state’s maddening approval process
New Solano city’s travails spotlight state’s maddening approval process by Steven Greenhut | September 10, 2026 California Gov. Gavin Newsom and the state Legislature deserve credit for trying to reduce some impediments to building housing and other projects in our red-tape-laden state. But the latest development fracas in Solano County ...
Blog
California pensions: A bipartisan push to destroy municipal budgets
California pensions: A bipartisan push to destroy municipal budgets by Steven Greenhut | September 4, 2026 Four years ago, California enjoyed an astounding $97.5-billion surplus, but now the supposedly “balanced” budget faces an intractable structural deficit, according to the Legislative Analyst’s Office. Given economic headwinds caused by runaway inflation and fears ...
Blog
Sounds like a plan: Cities embrace pre-approved housing designs
Sounds like a plan: Cities embrace pre-approved housing designs By D. Dowd Muska | September 4, 2026 It’s so obvious, even Los Angeles gets it. In response to the savage firestorms that struck California’s largest metro region in January 2025, both the city and county of Los Angeles enacted a ...
Blog
Pensions are main reason for slowing police response times
Pensions are main reason for slowing police response times by John Seiler | August 28, 2026 One of the reasons to be vigilant about excessive police compensation is because it ironically can crowd out funds for adequate numbers of officers. As cities enter a period of mounting budget deficits, that ...
Blog
Bay Area transit tax would lock in flawed spending system for decades
It’s a tax that would run for 14 years and raise an average of $1.2 billion a year. The four northern counties of Marin, Napa, Solano and Sonoma looked at the deal and opted out. To work around the need for a two-thirds majority, tax proponents funded a petition drive to place ...
Blog
Who should be liable when utility equipment sparks wildfires?
Who should be liable when utility equipment sparks wildfires? by Kerry Jackson | August 21, 2026 California utilities have been responsible for more than 1 million acres of scorched land. Power lines and other equipment, often outdated, have caused thousands of wildfires. Last year’s Eaton Fire in Los Angeles County for instance, ...
Blog
Charter reform is fine, but sinkhole points to LA’s deeper problems
That’s just one facet of the recommendations delivered to Los Angeles Charter Reform Commission (CRC) members in April while the primary campaign was in full swing. An abundance of Angelenos clearly want something better than spending their tax dollars on failed policies, programs and virtue-signaling. LA residents certainly want functioning ...
Blog
After union flex, Folsom squelches plan to eye privatization
After union flex, Folsom squelches plan to eye privatization By Sal Rodriguez | August 11, 2026 Fiscal challenges — from diminishing revenues to rising expenses — are a common reason for localities to decide to put out services to bid. For the vast majority of things a city government can ...
Blog
A not so Brightline: California’s other bullet train boondoggle
It’s happening. This time, it’s really happening. That’s what dignitaries at the pseudo-event told themselves on April 22, 2024 — the day Brightline West “officially broke ground on the nation’s first true high-speed rail system.” Bureaucrats, politicians, and civic leaders predicted nothing but sunshine for the long-sought HSR route linking ...
Blog
California’s latest ‘green’ strategy threatens local recycling efforts
California’s latest ‘green’ strategy threatens local recycling efforts By Steven Greenhut | August 7, 2026 California’s state recycling agency, CalRecycle, boasts that “California is building a circular economy that can recycle all waste by reducing how much trash we make [and] creating responsible recycling markets.” There’s nothing wrong with recycling, of ...
New Solano city’s travails spotlight state’s maddening approval process
New Solano city’s travails spotlight state’s maddening approval process by Steven Greenhut | September 10, 2026 California Gov. Gavin Newsom and the state Legislature deserve credit for trying to reduce some impediments to building housing and other projects in our red-tape-laden state. But the latest development fracas in Solano County ...
California pensions: A bipartisan push to destroy municipal budgets
California pensions: A bipartisan push to destroy municipal budgets by Steven Greenhut | September 4, 2026 Four years ago, California enjoyed an astounding $97.5-billion surplus, but now the supposedly “balanced” budget faces an intractable structural deficit, according to the Legislative Analyst’s Office. Given economic headwinds caused by runaway inflation and fears ...
Sounds like a plan: Cities embrace pre-approved housing designs
Sounds like a plan: Cities embrace pre-approved housing designs By D. Dowd Muska | September 4, 2026 It’s so obvious, even Los Angeles gets it. In response to the savage firestorms that struck California’s largest metro region in January 2025, both the city and county of Los Angeles enacted a ...
Pensions are main reason for slowing police response times
Pensions are main reason for slowing police response times by John Seiler | August 28, 2026 One of the reasons to be vigilant about excessive police compensation is because it ironically can crowd out funds for adequate numbers of officers. As cities enter a period of mounting budget deficits, that ...
Bay Area transit tax would lock in flawed spending system for decades
It’s a tax that would run for 14 years and raise an average of $1.2 billion a year. The four northern counties of Marin, Napa, Solano and Sonoma looked at the deal and opted out. To work around the need for a two-thirds majority, tax proponents funded a petition drive to place ...
Who should be liable when utility equipment sparks wildfires?
Who should be liable when utility equipment sparks wildfires? by Kerry Jackson | August 21, 2026 California utilities have been responsible for more than 1 million acres of scorched land. Power lines and other equipment, often outdated, have caused thousands of wildfires. Last year’s Eaton Fire in Los Angeles County for instance, ...
Charter reform is fine, but sinkhole points to LA’s deeper problems
That’s just one facet of the recommendations delivered to Los Angeles Charter Reform Commission (CRC) members in April while the primary campaign was in full swing. An abundance of Angelenos clearly want something better than spending their tax dollars on failed policies, programs and virtue-signaling. LA residents certainly want functioning ...
After union flex, Folsom squelches plan to eye privatization
After union flex, Folsom squelches plan to eye privatization By Sal Rodriguez | August 11, 2026 Fiscal challenges — from diminishing revenues to rising expenses — are a common reason for localities to decide to put out services to bid. For the vast majority of things a city government can ...
A not so Brightline: California’s other bullet train boondoggle
It’s happening. This time, it’s really happening. That’s what dignitaries at the pseudo-event told themselves on April 22, 2024 — the day Brightline West “officially broke ground on the nation’s first true high-speed rail system.” Bureaucrats, politicians, and civic leaders predicted nothing but sunshine for the long-sought HSR route linking ...
California’s latest ‘green’ strategy threatens local recycling efforts
California’s latest ‘green’ strategy threatens local recycling efforts By Steven Greenhut | August 7, 2026 California’s state recycling agency, CalRecycle, boasts that “California is building a circular economy that can recycle all waste by reducing how much trash we make [and] creating responsible recycling markets.” There’s nothing wrong with recycling, of ...