AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez
This announcement by the newly-elected California Service Employee International Union president has raised some eyebrows:
The new president-elect of California’s largest state employee union said Tuesday that the influential organization won’t back Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s effort to fend off a likely recall election this fall.
Richard Louis Brown said anger over union contract concessions last year during what proved to be an illusionary $54 billion state budget deficit helped fuel his victory over longtime Service Employees International Union Local 1000 President Yvonne Walker.
Brown said that anger extends to Newsom.
“He is going to need support from public sector unions to help him fight his recall,” Brown said in an interview with The Associated Press. “When I become president of Local 1000, he can look for somebody else to support him. He will not get any help from us. He’s on his own.”
For the first time in state history, we lost a seat in Congress this week. If the California Exodus is a myth, apparently the Census Bureau is in on it.
We actually would have lost two seats if Gavin Newsom and the Legislature hadn’t spent $182 million to juice the Census headcount. Florida and Texas, meanwhile, gained several seats.
California’s loss reflects population changes over the last decade. But much of the damage was done by Newsom the last two years. His own Administration reports 136,000 more people moved out than moved in during just one of those years.
Overall, a staggering 53 percent of residents say they’re contemplating a departure. California was once a place where anyone could get ahead; it’s now a place many can’t wait to leave behind. Our state’s inherent beauty and countless wonders are being overwhelmed by the failure of our politics.