ARTICLE
National and State Politics Local Pain! Local Solutions? All politics’ may well be ‘local.’ But the context of local opportunities and problems – and sometimes their source -- is in significant part the product of state, national, and, increasingly, international political forces. Of course the political environment is only one of the elements that define the economic and social environment in which we live and work. But it creates a majority of the rules, funds many of the systems and much of the infrastructure upon which we depend, and generates a high proportion of the political ambiguity in which we live. What are these political forces and how might this fall’s election reorder or redefine the context in which local strategies and policies must operate? These forces are easy to see. For instance, much of what Santa Cruz is today is the product of the investment of state funds in UCSC. The significant reduction of national and state investments in transportation has been a defining force in the quality of life for many Santa Cruz County residents and businesses. International trade policies have redefined local economic structures and crippled or driven away local industries from cut flowers to computer chip fabrication. Perhaps most pervasive of all, the failure of regulation and oversight of the finance and mortgage industries to avoid the financial crisis of the last decade, touched virtually every local resident, business and institution. While all of these forces are beyond our control and largely beyond our influence, they still define or influence both core economic elements and much of the social context of our communities.However, we do have significant influence over the local structures and policies - the mechanisms we use to define ourselves and address our needs within the larger social and economic context. The Chamber focuses much of its efforts in five areas: housing, transportation, education, water and economic development (capital investment and the creation of jobs) with the goal of making Santa Cruz County both economically competitive and responsive to those larger social and economic threats and opportunities. For instance, the Chamber and its members are actively engaged in the following: Housing Facing a precipitous reduction of federal and state funds to support housing development, the elimination of Redevelopment Agencies and the shifting of the lion’s share of government planning and building costs to new housing projects, each city and the County are exploring both changes in policy and means to encourage the development of new housing. Transportation As the real-dollar value of fuel taxes have shrunk and other federal and state allocations of funding to highways, streets, roads, and public transportation have been reduced, the local electorate has supported new funding to reduce the daunting maintenance backlog and to increase public transportation capacity for many service areas. The electorate will be asked to provide additional support to an array of transportation improvements in a funding measure in November. Education U.S. education performance continues to slip in comparison to other industrialized countries against whom we complete. The once-heralded California education system has been reduced to “middle of the pack” performance. But as a local community, our dedication to support education has been remarkable. Measures to fund programs, buildings, materials and teachers have, in general, not only passed but often succeeded by record margins. Our commitment will be tested again in June with two local-district measures – a Live Oak School District’s Measure R ($98 per year parcel tax) and the Lakeside Joint School District’s Measure J ($820 per year parcel tax) – as well as the County-side Cabrillo College bond ($23.27 per $100,000 of assessed valuation), and the County Library’s bond (excluding Watsonville) ($49.50 / residential unit, $86 per commercial, agriculture and recreation parcel.) Water There are glimmers of political hope regarding state and national policy and investment: from improved allocation and management of water, addressing arcane ownership structures and management rights and attention to conservation issues - to addressing climate change on a national and international scale. Locally, dedicated efforts of many seem headed in the right direction, from the WSAC recommendations for addressing the city’s storage constraints to Soquel Creek and Pajaro strategies for addressing over-drafting and water supply problems. The City’s strategy for water rates and fees, necessary to implement these plans, is being determined today with a focus on equity and sufficiency. Economic Development The world economy is being transformed by forces as diverse as climate change, robotics, redistribution of income and internationalization. In the U.S., we face the looming retirement of millions of baby boomers and a decline in the proportion of and compensation for middle-class “blue collar”jobs. The result is unprecedented peace-time uncertainty about the future of our economy. Jobs and the investment of productive capital are primary among the most uncertain elements of the County’s future. Will Santa Cruz County be able to retain and grow a productive “export” economy? What is the future of traditional economic segments – agriculture and tourism? Will the County be able to retain a resident workforce or will local residents increasingly be retired, second home owners, out-commuters and students? The challenges for our County require two categories of effort. The first is responsiveness to the issues of today’s economic environment. Times of change are times of opportunity. While there is much the state and national leaders could do – and may do – that will affect local problems such as housing, transportation, education, water, and economic development, we as a community must encourage and support positive efforts to address these contextual issues and take best advantage of those things we can do locally to thrive. The Chamber’s efforts in these areas focus on identifying, communicating and influencing these local opportunities. Secondly, we must be vigilant analysts of the changes in the state, national and international environment that will change and, sometimes, redefine the context in which we must operate. To be “ahead of the curve” we must first see the curve coming. The Chamber continues to undertake projects to “see into the future” as local businesses and governments develop long-range plans and policies. Of what does the current election cycle most clearly remind us? It is that we must be prepared to sustain ourselves in whatever environment will emerge and to make appropriate contingency plans today for the variability of state and national strategies, successes and failures. The decisions of a new President, a reconstituted Congress and an evolving Supreme Court… the strategies, investments, policies and rules promulgated through state voter propositions, the governor and legislature, state courts and administrative bodies… changes in the economic environment, an increasing proportion of which will be determined by people and forces outside of the U.S… These and other external outcomes will form the “road” (and create the ruts) over which we must travel in our efforts to prosper as a community. The Chamber invites you to a lunch to hear from a uniquely positioned observer on the question of what might those future scenarios look like. On May 18, from 11:30 to 1:30 the Chamber will host Tom Campbell, five-term Bay-Area Congressman and currently Professor of Law and Professor of Economics at Chapman University. He will consider several of the more likely outcomes of the November election and some possible policy impacts. Campbell is uniquely equipped to talk about such things; his experience includes: a U.S. Supreme Court Clerkship, administration of state and federal budget and finance offices and a Ph.D. in economics. He has served as a Stanford Law professor, congressman, a member of the White House chief of staff’s office, Dean of both an MBA school (Hass) and a law school (Chapman). He will offer his insight into the future of governance nationally and some of its possible impact on local issues. Register here to join us May 18, 11:30 to 1:30 at The Inn at Pasatiempo for this conversation with Tom Campbell. This event has been funded through the Chamber Advancement Fund of the Past Presidents of the Chamber’s Board of Directors. About Tom Campbell Tom Campbell is a Professor of Law and a Professor of Economics at Chapman University. He served as dean of the Fowler School of Law at Chapman and, before that, dean of the Haas School of Business at Berkeley. Campbell was a United States Congressman for five terms, a California State Senator, Director of Finance for the State of California, Director of the Bureau of Competition of the Federal Trade Commission, a tenured law professor at Stanford, a White House Fellow in the office of the Chief of Staff at the White House and a law clerk under US Supreme Court Justice Byron R. White and US Court of Appeals Judge George MacKinnon. He is the author of Separation of Powers in Practice, a constitutional law book published by Stanford University Press, and numerous articles in law reviews, including Harvard, Stanford, UCLA, Columbia, Hastings and Texas. He is a weekly columnist for the Orange County Register. He is married to Susanne Campbell, a Russian specialist and former director of the joint program between St. Petersburg University School of Management and the University of California, Berkeley. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Chicago and law degree, magna cum laude, from Harvard. He was Chairman of the World Affairs Council of Northern California and is a Member of the American Law Institute.
Transportation As the real-dollar value of fuel taxes have shrunk and other federal and state allocations of funding to highways, streets, roads, and public transportation have been reduced, the local electorate has supported new funding to reduce the daunting maintenance backlog and to increase public transportation capacity for many service areas. The electorate will be asked to provide additional support to an array of transportation improvements in a funding measure in November. Education U.S. education performance continues to slip in comparison to other industrialized countries against whom we complete. The once-heralded California education system has been reduced to “middle of the pack” performance. But as a local community, our dedication to support education has been remarkable. Measures to fund programs, buildings, materials and teachers have, in general, not only passed but often succeeded by record margins. Our commitment will be tested again in June with two local-district measures – a Live Oak School District’s Measure R ($98 per year parcel tax) and the Lakeside Joint School District’s Measure J ($820 per year parcel tax) – as well as the County-side Cabrillo College bond ($23.27 per $100,000 of assessed valuation), and the County Library’s bond (excluding Watsonville) ($49.50 / residential unit, $86 per commercial, agriculture and recreation parcel.) Water There are glimmers of political hope regarding state and national policy and investment: from improved allocation and management of water, addressing arcane ownership structures and management rights and attention to conservation issues - to addressing climate change on a national and international scale. Locally, dedicated efforts of many seem headed in the right direction, from the WSAC recommendations for addressing the city’s storage constraints to Soquel Creek and Pajaro strategies for addressing over-drafting and water supply problems. The City’s strategy for water rates and fees, necessary to implement these plans, is being determined today with a focus on equity and sufficiency. Economic Development The world economy is being transformed by forces as diverse as climate change, robotics, redistribution of income and internationalization. In the U.S., we face the looming retirement of millions of baby boomers and a decline in the proportion of and compensation for middle-class “blue collar”jobs. The result is unprecedented peace-time uncertainty about the future of our economy. Jobs and the investment of productive capital are primary among the most uncertain elements of the County’s future. Will Santa Cruz County be able to retain and grow a productive “export” economy? What is the future of traditional economic segments – agriculture and tourism? Will the County be able to retain a resident workforce or will local residents increasingly be retired, second home owners, out-commuters and students? The challenges for our County require two categories of effort.
The first is responsiveness to the issues of today’s economic environment. Times of change are times of opportunity. While there is much the state and national leaders could do – and may do – that will affect local problems such as housing, transportation, education, water, and economic development, we as a community must encourage and support positive efforts to address these contextual issues and take best advantage of those things we can do locally to thrive. The Chamber’s efforts in these areas focus on identifying, communicating and influencing these local opportunities.
Secondly, we must be vigilant analysts of the changes in the state, national and international environment that will change and, sometimes, redefine the context in which we must operate. To be “ahead of the curve” we must first see the curve coming. The Chamber continues to undertake projects to “see into the future” as local businesses and governments develop long-range plans and policies.
Of what does the current election cycle most clearly remind us? It is that we must be prepared to sustain ourselves in whatever environment will emerge and to make appropriate contingency plans today for the variability of state and national strategies, successes and failures. The decisions of a new President, a reconstituted Congress and an evolving Supreme Court… the strategies, investments, policies and rules promulgated through state voter propositions, the governor and legislature, state courts and administrative bodies… changes in the economic environment, an increasing proportion of which will be determined by people and forces outside of the U.S… These and other external outcomes will form the “road” (and create the ruts) over which we must travel in our efforts to prosper as a community.
The Chamber invites you to a lunch to hear from a uniquely positioned observer on the question of what might those future scenarios look like. On May 18, from 11:30 to 1:30 the Chamber will host Tom Campbell, five-term Bay-Area Congressman and currently Professor of Law and Professor of Economics at Chapman University. He will consider several of the more likely outcomes of the November election and some possible policy impacts.
Campbell is uniquely equipped to talk about such things; his experience includes: a U.S. Supreme Court Clerkship, administration of state and federal budget and finance offices and a Ph.D. in economics. He has served as a Stanford Law professor, congressman, a member of the White House chief of staff’s office, Dean of both an MBA school (Hass) and a law school (Chapman). He will offer his insight into the future of governance nationally and some of its possible impact on local issues.
Register here to join us May 18, 11:30 to 1:30 at The Inn at Pasatiempo for this conversation with Tom Campbell. This event has been funded through the Chamber Advancement Fund of the Past Presidents of the Chamber’s Board of Directors.
About Tom Campbell
Tom Campbell is a Professor of Law and a Professor of Economics at Chapman University. He served as dean of the Fowler School of Law at Chapman and, before that, dean of the Haas School of Business at Berkeley.
Campbell was a United States Congressman for five terms, a California State Senator, Director of Finance for the State of California, Director of the Bureau of Competition of the Federal Trade Commission, a tenured law professor at Stanford, a White House Fellow in the office of the Chief of Staff at the White House and a law clerk under US Supreme Court Justice Byron R. White and US Court of Appeals Judge George MacKinnon.
He is the author of Separation of Powers in Practice, a constitutional law book published by Stanford University Press, and numerous articles in law reviews, including Harvard, Stanford, UCLA, Columbia, Hastings and Texas. He is a weekly columnist for the Orange County Register.
He is married to Susanne Campbell, a Russian specialist and former director of the joint program between St. Petersburg University School of Management and the University of California, Berkeley. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Chicago and law degree, magna cum laude, from Harvard. He was Chairman of the World Affairs Council of Northern California and is a Member of the American Law Institute.