Opinion

A little bit of history, a little bit of commentary and a few other thoughts are on the agenda this week. Again, SANDAG offers fodder for my keyboard. Just to get you more informed about our Regional Planning Organization, the RPO was first assembled in 1966 as the twelve incorporated cities in the county along with the Board of Supervisors […]

We’re entering the holiday season, and many people could use a little extra cash. You might be interested to know that California is sitting on unclaimed properties valued at over $9 billion. Please visit claimit.ca.gov to see if any of that money belongs to you. Why does California have so much unclaimed property? Under our Unclaimed Property Law, businesses like […]

This is the third time that after trying to figure out what to write about I got bailed out by SANDAG. Thank you for continuing to provide material. Last week the San Diego Association of Governments discussed the massive bike lane project in the county.  This is a project that is year behind schedule and millions of dollars over budget. […]

California has many powerful state agencies that impact the lives of millions. One of the most powerful, but perhaps less known or understood, is the California Public Utilities Commission. The CPUC was created in 1911 after a constitutional amendment was approved by voters to reorganize the Railroad Commission, which was established decades earlier to regulate the state’s powerful railroad industry. […]

I have never been a fan of the Prevent Defense Theory in football.  It seems counter intuitive to me to suddenly change all of the things that had been working to get a big lead, then put your players into an entirely different mindset to protect that lead. My idea is to just keep running up the score, play straight […]

Volunteers. No, I am not talking about the University of Tennessee. Last week, The North County Philanthropy Council honored community volunteers for 2019 and that got me thinking about the value of volunteers at many different levels.  Charities, non-profits, civic groups and government agencies depend on volunteers who give their time, talent and treasure for their very existence. Escondido’s Trudy […]

My husband and I have owned our small retail business for over 25 years. The problems we encountered running that business were some of the primary reasons I first ran for public office. Since joining the Legislature, I have supported a wide range of legislation that would stimulate business formation and provide greater employment opportunities, more work-force training and greater […]

When my friends and I started the Environmental Club at San Pasqual High School, I wasn’t sure how strong the program would be. In the past, there has been minimal support for environmental awareness within our extracurriculars and there was little student involvement as well. Melissa Montejo, along with myself, Ariana Noordyk, Stephanie Monodragon, and Helen Lin decided to change […]

About a week ago, while at the gym a woman approached me and mentioned how she enjoyed my columns—especially recent memory lane, since 1973, comments. Then I waited for the “but.” Aaaand here it comes. “But you forgot Laura’s and the Carousel downtown.” We then spent a few minutes discussing other departed businesses. How could I have omitted Laura Scardino’s […]

Last November, 60% of California voters passed Proposition 7, aimed at eliminating the bi-annual tradition of moving clocks back in the fall and forward in the spring.  Daylight saving time was first imposed as a temporary energy saving measure during World War I, and was re-instated during World War II.  After World War II ended, states were allowed to decide […]