An op-ed by Tab Berg, President of California Parents for Public Virtual Education, which represents over 4,500 online school families in Orange County. Promoting Educational Opportunities for Public Virtual School Students In an increasingly interconnected world, access to internet and healthy, nutritious foods has become vital for students’ academic success. As the landscape of education evolves, it is essential to ensure that all students, regardless of their socioeconomic background, have equal access to educational resources. The implementation of the Affordable Connectivity Program and ..read more

By Brad White, Founder, Our Nation’s Heroes Foundation It’s no surprise that rising health care costs are top of mind for many Californians. In the last decade, health care spending in California grew faster than our state’s economic growth.I have experienced this first hand after 2 trips to the Emergency Room then being hospitalized twice in the last year and a half. The first time in 2022 for 4 days for Congestive Heart Failure, High Blood Pressure and Diabetes; the second time I was hospitalized recently in June-July 2023 for 11 Days for 3rd Stage Kidney failure and put on Di ..read more

As I wrote about last week, at the June 14, 2023 Irvine City Council meeting, Irvine Mayor Farrah Khan sprung a secretly negotiated construction deal on the city’s residents that will block 80% of the city’s construction workers from working on city construction projects in Irvine. The normal public process for these sole source, no-bid, multi-year contracts for all construction labor is where there is one vote to start PLA negotiations and a subsequent vote to approve the final PLA language that is “negotiated.” One of the questions I asked at the meeting was “Does this secretly-ne ..read more

Last night at the Irvine City Council meeting, Irvine Mayor Farrah Khan sprung a secretly negotiated construction deal on the city’s residents that will block 80% of the city’s construction workers from working on city construction projects in Irvine.  How Much Could This Cost Irvine Taxpayers? If Irvine completes $200 million dollars of construction, Mayor Khan’s special interest deal (PLA) will cost Irvine taxpayers roughly $30 million dollars in higher costs.  Unfortunately, the Irvine City Council ignored all the questions asked at the meeting and sent in via email bef ..read more

At the last regularly scheduled school board meeting, the Anaheim Elementary School District (AESD) voted to expand a special interest deal they had passed in 2018 on construction for the school district. The 2018 special interest deal is most commonly referred to as a Project Labor Agreement, but it was renamed by the AESD Board as a “Community Benefit Agreement” in an attempt to put a new face on an old idea that comes with a lot of controversy. When one of the public comments at the Wednesday April 5 ..read more

Dear Friends,   Almost every election I am asked about the judges on the ballot. Often I do not have a recommendation one way or the other. On this ballot you are going to find a long list of justices of the courts you are being asked to either approve with a yes vote or disapprove with a no vote. Let me give you some background about the elections for the California judicial system that might also help understand the old axiom “Elections have consequences.”   California’s State Judicial System   In California’s state judicial system (not Federal Court where ..read more

Each election I post my “Craig’s PICs” voter recommendations. For those interested, here they are: craigs-pics-november-8-2022-general-electionDownload ..read more

The following candidates who received the recommendation of the Endorsements Committee are up for consideration tonight by the Republican Party of Orange County Central Committee: Carrie Hayashida for Cypress City Council Hon. Bonnie Peat for Cypress City Council John Gabbard for Dana Point City Council, District 1 Patrick Harper for Fountain Valley School District. Laurie Merrick for Garden Grove City Council, District 3 Dr. Susan Prichard for La Habra City Council Ben Yu for Lake Forest City Council, District 2 Hon. Scott Voigts for Lake Forest City Council, District 3 Aaron Washington for ..read more

It’s been some time since we’ve done a live blog, so it’s probably time to start up again. It should be noted the phone reception in Costa Mesa has been much more challenging than back when the meetings were held in Irvine. The following candidates who received the recommendation of the Endorsements Committee are up for consideration tonight by the Republican Party of Orange County Central Committee: Max Duncan for Aliso Viejo City Council Hon. Don Caskey for Laguna Hills City Council Hon. Erica Pezold for Laguna Hills City Council Josh Sweeney for Laguna Hills City Council Hon. Dave Wheeler ..read more

Over my career I have worked with several non-union construction groups. With each organization the message to elected officials has been essentially the same, “If you restrict 80% of the construction workforce from working on your projects, your costs will go up.” It is obvious to anyone who has taken Economics 101. Unfortunately, this message was ignored by Republican Midway City Sanitary District Director Chi Charlie Nguyen. The Project Labor Agreement that Nguyen and his colleagues passed in 2021 has now come back to cost Midway City Sanitation District taxpayers over $2.5 million dollars ..read more