[img]1|left|Ari Noonan||no_popup[/img]Last time I asked a political friend why the state Legislature needs to be in session more than 30 days a year, she frowned and said, as if we were being overheard, that she concurred with my conclusion. “But please don’t attribute that to me.”
Sacramento’s awesome power scares strong people.
Take our town.
Like repentant little boys who have disobeyed their mommies — except mommies aren’t this mean — Culver City has been ordered by Gov. Bald Retread to send to Sacramento $12 million by next May if it wants to retain its Redevelopment Agency.
Last winter, Gov. Retread vowed that he was going to kill Redevelopment Agencies — which small towns love — because small towns are pocketing scads of money that could be spent more wisely by the Angry Liberal Sages of Sacramento.
That audacious claim has as much legitimacy as if I knocked on your door at 10:30 tonight and demanded $1,000 in unmarked bills or I would firebomb your car.
At 73, Gov. Retread has spent his professional life slyly confiscating money from millions of Californians until they bleed — so his latest hijacking is merely a xeroxing of his history.
Just yesterday, the city of Long Beach agreed to fork over $34 million by next May to Gov. Retread’s holdup guys to keep their Redevelopment Agency breathing.
Too bad Jesse James didn’t know about this “legal” scam 130 years ago. He would not have needed to gallop away from trains so swiftly. He could have conserved his energy and walked away instead.
With his one-year anniversary as City Manager due in a few minutes, I asked nice-guy John Nachbar this morning if City Hall were going to meekly assent to Gov. Retread’s obnoxity. Yes, he said, because he is choiceless.
Two state agencies have sued His Royal Tireness, contending that holdups, so darned unseemly, were outlawed years ago.
Mr. Nachbar sounds confident that the little government guys in 400 California towns will prevail in a ruling expected by Monday.
Don’t bet more than you can afford to handily lose.