This week the Golden State got the New York Times treatment in an article titled, “California is Booming. Why are so many Californians Unhappy?” The VOICES crew had a few reflections on the piece, since we’re no strangers to the have- and have-not dynamic of a state run by neoliberals.
We also discuss Sacramento mayor Darrell Steinberg’s very recent influx of campaign contributions from anti-renters’ rights interests such as the California Real Estate PAC (over $4,000). Interestingly, the Steinberg campaign gave $1,750 to Councilmember Steve Hansen’s campaign on a very symbolic day for renters’ rights activists. Hansen, if you’ll remember, led the smear campaign against Michelle Pariset of Public Advocates, who is fighting to let Sacramentans have a vote on real rent control.
Hansen last month was hit with an ethics complaint, since the public affairs firm he works for has regularly represented anti-renters’ rights interests. But no matter that Darrell and Steve are neck-deep in landlord/developer dollars, right? They represent you, the people.
Next month we’ll do a deep-dive into the dollars going into Hansen and Steinberg’s campaigns, carrying on with VOICES: River City’s “Sac Follows the Money” tradition.
Finally, we take a moment to reflect on some of the lives lost on the streets in Sacramento in 2019. We also take a moment to give residents a few thoughts on what they can do to fight back against such wild violence against the lower classes.
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