Governance Reform

California Attorney General Kamala Harris visited the East LA Community Corporation recently to see for herself what could be done with the right focus on improving opportunities for housing in high-risk communities.

Basketball legend and businessman Magic Johnson thrilled a group of young scholar-athletes at the CA Hall of Fame event in Sacramento earlier this month – fist bumping and congratulating the kids from Scholar Athletes Globally Emerging, Inc. – Team SAGE – for their efforts on the court and in the classroom. Team SAGE has challenged California to support students by making better budget choices and supporting reform to fix state government.

Latino local elected officials from throughout the state of California came together on Thursday to discuss the California Forward Action Fund’s Government Performance and Accountability Act (GPAA) and the best ways to reach out to the state’s Latino community.

For the first time in a long time, California voters seem poised to seriously consider one or more of the various measures aimed at raising revenue through increased fees and taxes. But even if the State succeeds in raising more money, have we really addressed the issue of what it takes to make local programs such as education, job-creation and public safety work? The answer is a resounding, “No.”

It has become plain that our state and local governments do not work as well as they should. We see this every day in the partisan bickering over the state budget, the inability of cities and counties to fund basic services or collaborate, and the deterioration of our education and public safety systems. It’s time to hold government accountable for the kind of outcomes California deserves, and California Forward’s Government Performance and Accountability Act (GPAA) will do just that.

You know the system is broken when the city and school district begin developing the same piece of land, but for different purposes. And, in Los Angeles, this is exactly what happened.