Comments on: State Senate OKs Evans’ parks bills

By: Great Ideas

Great Ideas — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 04:52:45 +0000

Vote Evans out and save at least a small park.

One small step for….

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By: Jim Bennett

Jim Bennett — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 00:17:03 +0000

I hate being placated by an oppressor.

Is there even a name for that?

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By: Steveguy

Steveguy — Sun, 03 Jun 2012 16:57:23 +0000

$22 million ‘shortfall’? That’s all ? So they lay off or freeze hiring for the real park workers and the parks close, yet the management gets raises and their ‘consultant buddies’ rake in the money. All ‘working’ in huge buildings in Sacramento.

They will spend $2 million ‘studying’ a park, yet close it for a $100,000 shortfall in revenue. And they don’t even count the ancillary revenue made through taxes paid by the Park visitors at businesses located near the the parks.

This whole thing reeks. Either they are stupid, think we are stupid, or have some weird plan to destroy basic services.

$22 Million ? Really ?

Did you know that the CARB ( Ca Air Resources Board) budget is over $650 MILLION ? Yes, over $650 mill. Prison budget in the multi-BILLIONS but let’s close the Parks. Wow

We vote the same ones back in, every time.

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By: Don Amador

Don Amador — Sun, 03 Jun 2012 13:14:25 +0000

As this story points out, the Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 3 on Resources and Transportation voted to steal up to $31 million dollars from the California Off-Highway Vehicle Trust Fund and transfer it to non-OHV related programs. This pilfering of user-pay funding is part of the “Sustainable Parks Proposal” being championed by the California Parks Foundation, other anti-OHV organizations, and California Assemblywoman Evans.

Her plan will directly impact destination OHV areas throughout the state including nearby units on the Mendocino and Six Rivers National Forests, the BLM Cow Mountain Recreation near Ukiah, and the BLM Samoa Dunes Recreation Area near Eureka.

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By: Dave Madigan

Dave Madigan — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 23:48:04 +0000

Did anyone notice that the State Commission that sets pay for State Senators and Assemblymen voted to cut thier pay by 5% beginning in December?

That article didn’t make it on to the Watch Sonoma County page. I expected to hear more whining from Noreen.

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By: Grapevines

Grapevines — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 21:23:14 +0000

As long as weasels like Evans are there you can count on waste happening. Just last Friday our “esteemed legislature” had to convene for about an hour. Know the reason why? If they go more than 3 days without convening, they lose their $141 a day per deim (which happens to be tax fee)

Sure is rewarding to know that the only reason they get to a session is to keep the money flowing into their pockets isn’t it??

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By: GAJ

GAJ — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 21:21:35 +0000

Perhaps there is a glimmer of pragmatism in Sacramento as not only did this go through, (the parks are the teeniest of cuts to the budget that affect a huge number of people), but also SB1186 which should help small business in their fight against “drive by lawsuits.”

Thank you Noreen and other Democrats in the Senate who went along with the Republicans and voted for this sensible bill:

“A bill aimed at helping businesses deal with lawsuits brought under the Americans with Disabilities Act unanimously passed the California Senate on Tuesday.

Senate Bill 1186 would ban “demand for money” letters. In these letters, lawyers often order businesses to pay a set amount, plus their exorbitant legal fees, in exchange for dropping the case. The bill was authored by Senate Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, and Sen. Bob Dutton, R-Rancho Cucamonga.”

http://www.legalnewsline.com/news/236315-calif.-bill-targeting-ada-lawsuits-passes-senate

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By: Frank Matters

Frank Matters — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 19:46:18 +0000

the signing of SB670 wiped out over a 100 million in revenue for the state of California not to mention what it has done to the small towns that depended on this seasonal activity, Evans and others like her Huffman wiggens Moonbeam voted inn favor and thus repercussion

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304444604577340531861056966.html

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By: Reality Check

Reality Check — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 18:36:06 +0000

One doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry at this example of state “problem solving.” Is there any substance to the bill? Who knows. The article doesn’t offer evidence one way or the other.

What does “a more entrepreneurial approach” mean? Are they willing to sell some lightly used parks or let private operators charge admission? I doubt Evans has that kind of entrepreneurship in mind.

This looks like bi-partisan fluff, intended to make it more difficult to close less popular parks when money is tight. But then, when hasn’t the bias been toward making it easier to spend money and darned near impossible to stop?

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By: Jim

Jim — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 18:22:20 +0000

This is such a non-issue. No wait, it is 100% a political issue. Just as politicians always run to “teachers, police and firemen” when cuts are suggested, the state parks suffer.

$22 million is the shortfall? You’ve got to be kidding me. Mathematically, $22 million is 2% of $1 billion. The state wastes $10+ billion/year on illegal aliens. So if 6 months worth of free services to illegal aliens are cut, the state would have 227 YEARS worth of coverage for that $22 million shortfall.

How about we cut the Legislature to part-time instead of full-time? At approximately $256 million/year cutting them to part-time would save $128 million. That covers that shortfall almost 6 times over.

How about we stop the waste for the slow speed “bullet train”? That would EASILY cover $22 million.

Should I start going through the hundreds of programs that the state says are inefficient or not beneficial? How about the dozens and dozens of departments that are redundant?

$22 million…again, the Legislature thinks the people are morons. Tough to argue against that one.

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