Radical Avenue

With financially distressed Westerners abandoning dens all up and down the state, a whole new species of homeowner has taken up residence in the California suburbs. Dry chaparral and low lake levels are making the right house hard to find in Southern California. But one bobcat family hit the jackpot on a lovely Tuscany Hills abode near Lake Elsinore.

The property came with a well stocked koi pond, comfortably dormant lawns and a disengaged previous owner. Plus it’s a great place to raise the kittens.

Way of the Wild
Bobcats don’t recognize our real property laws, so complaints from the bank will never keep them out of a dream home. Besides, the whole neighborhood benefits when foreclosed homes stay occupied. Families with strong moral values and sharp teeth will keep the rats away.

While many exterminators use harsh chemicals to eradicate varmints, bobcats employ the same all natural techniques that their ancestors have relied on for generations. Even humans still living in the area appreciate what the right animals bring to the community.

Animal Homesteads on the Rise
Bobcats make excellent neighbors. They’re quiet, keep to themselves and mostly sleep during the day. But please don’t call them lazy. They prefer the word “nocturnal”.

Opossums on the other hand, will always disrupt a peaceful neighborhood. Those critters are obnoxious, messy and let their kids run around in the street at all hours of the night. Some animals have no common sense.

Humans in this region seem to be re-grouping into the larger urban environments and having smaller litters. That might work to the species advantage one day, given the scarcity of resources in California.

Good news. Here in California, the Building Standards Commission has adopted new residential construction codes intended to cut water usage and increase energy efficiency in new homes. The Commission intends to phase in these new “green” standards over the next three years.

This may not seem like much at first blush. The use of energy saving devices in and around the home is commonplace. But governments have been slow to adopt energy and water savings targets as part of new home building standards. A state regulatory agency has now finally acknowledged the need to explicitly require energy efficiency in new homes.

Influential real estate development groups lobby state governments heavily, and California is no exception. However many developers support green building standards in part because it helps boost their credentials as responsible public citizens. Perhaps standards which require fire resistant new homes in heavily forested areas will be the next step in selling this public interest first approach.

Unregulated Market: Tinderbox Homes
Real estate developers looking to make a quick buck in an unregulated market build new homes using the cheapest materials available. Then they market these homes as rustic log cabins in the country. After a firestorm blows through, homeowners are left with broken dreams and piles of smoldering rubble.

Incentive Driven Market: Fire Proof Homes
States should offer tax incentives to builders who use fire resistant materials in roofs and walls of new homes. Maintaining clear defensible space around homes in fire prone areas is still only a recommendation. Allowing unscrupulous builders to prey on unsuspecting customers hurts taxpayers and reputable real estate developers alike. It’s time to expect new homes built in the wilderness to withstand most wildfires.

California knows catastrophes. Preparing for emergencies is a way of life. Every year California has fires, earthquakes, floods and mudslides. We usually have several of these disasters a year. Right now, fires are ravaging southern California. But you won’t see a Hurricane Katrina style government response here. In California we plan for disasters and respond accordingly.

Thankfully, Grover Norquist and his Americans for Tax reform cronies have almost no influence on California politics. Grover is the guy who believes that when it comes to public services, we need to “Starve the Beast”. By that he means that we should slash public revenue to such an extent that legislatures will be forced to shut down government programs altogether. This would allow private sector organizations to handle the services now provided by public employees. Does Blackwater ring a bell?

Right now employees of “the beast” are saving lives in Southern California. Thousands of firefighters from around the region have poured into the area to battle the intense firestorm. Public employees at the California Office of Emergency Services are coordinating their efforts. And publicly employed National Guard troops are protecting citizens displaced by the fires. If the American Idiots for Tax Reform had their way, this would all be managed by private groups. Can you imagine the local fire captain pulling up to your place to say I’ll need 50 grand before I even consider saving your house from that fire headed in your direction? Most of us would consider that extortion, not reform.
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When Arnold Schwarzenegger was elected governor of California in the 2003 recall of Gray Davis, he advertised himself as a different kind of politician. He has been anything but. Instead he has proven himself to be very much like his irresponsible Republican counterparts in Washington. He loves to propose expensive new public programs, but doesn’t want to pay for them. He expects future generations of Californians to pick up the tab for his spending sprees. Leaders are honest about the cost of new roads, bridges, schools and water projects. Arnold Schwarzenegger is no leader.

California could seriously use some leadership when it comes to prison overcrowding. For decades California politicians have responded to rising crime rates by throwing more people in the slammer. Under the three strikes law, some convicts are serving life sentences for relatively minor offenses. Now a federal judge has appointed a judicial panel to consider capping the California prison population. That would lead to the early release of prisoners in order to relieve the overcrowding. In the meantime, juvenile delinquents get sent to out of state boot camps.

If California politicians would only look past the next election for once, they would see that a more proactive approach is desperately needed. Instead of treating juvenile delinquents as throwaways, they should be recognized for what they really are: at risk children in need of life skills training. If these kids don’t receive the meaningful help they need to turn their lives around, they are virtually guaranteed to spend most of their adulthood behind bars. We’ve got enough convicts in California prisons already.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, California, prison, California prison crisis, prison overcrowding, leadership, juvenile delinquency, boot camp, violent crime, crime prevention