Don's Tuesday Column

THE WAY I SEE IT by Don Polson        Red Bluff Daily News 8/12/2025

        Newsom’s CA, for better, mostly worse

Or, just another day in paradise. Looking over the Alsea Bay in Waldport, Oregon, is a never ending panoply of changing sunshine, clouds, tides, wafting foliage, and sights and sounds of birds. A lot of crows and vultures (as raptors, they soar beautifully) but also a multitude of Great Blue Herons, Snowy Egrets and, as mentioned last week, magnificent Bald Eagles.

Before landing in Internet dead zones closer to Newport, Daily News editions reported county budget items (ugh) and something about kicking an investigation of a local official to the California DOJ (not sullying my vacation with that).

As is normal, fellow campers come and go. Most of them are on the coast for the same reason we are: the outdoor air conditioning and fresh air. Their stories often involve not just their homes in Salem or Eugene but also connections to Idaho, Nevada and even Arizona through family or previous homes. Few have any connection to Southern California, as we do, probably to their benefit.

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A followup on the Newsom/Democrat obsession with “creating” more Democrat congressional seats (CA votes about 40 percent for Republicans; only 17 percent of its congressional seats are Republican). I just read that they are determined to ram through a vote this November to undo the redistricting commission. “Code Red: Newsom Moves Closer to Gutting Voter Power” (Steven Williams, Redstate.com, 8/03).

The California Citizens Redistricting Commission (Prop 8), approved by voters in 2008, was undermined by loading up public hearings with left-leaning advocates to manufacture a phony sense of “citizen pressure.” Result: lopsided partisan redistricting (see above). If Maryland can limit their 35 percent Republican vote to 1 Republican congressman out of 8 seats (Massachusetts=36 percent Republican vote but 0 congressional seats), why not Sacramento? You go, Texas.

“Why gut it now? Because they’re not protecting democracy, they’re protecting themselves. And if they’ll kill a voter-approved reform to hold onto power — what won’t they kill next?”

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What more insult can be added to injury for the 10,000 or so burned-out homes and owners in the Palisades and Eaton fires? “Gavin Newsom Announces Funding for ‘Multifamily Low-Income Housing’ in Wake of LA Wildfires… ‘The funding we’re announcing today will accelerate the development of affordable multifamily rental housing so that those rebuilding their lives after this tragedy have access to a safe, affordable place to come home to.’” (Legalinsurrection.com, 7/21)

So, homeowners may eventually get their dream home back but have low-income, multifamily, multi-story neighbors—that’s not restoring their lives.

Plus: “Senate Bill 79 (SB 79), authored by State Sen. Scott Wiener, marks the Democrats' most brazen attack yet on local control, property rights, and the fabric of neighborhoods. The bill would compel cities and counties to greenlight high-density housing developments on nearly any parcel zoned for single-family homes if it’s within half a mile of a public transit stop, even if that’s just a bus stop.” (Redstate.com, 7/21)

But wait! There’s more. “Gov. Gavin Newsom signs housing bill overhauling California's landmark environmental law—Newsom said the bills, which he signed Monday night, are the most consequential housing reform in recent California history… Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law an overhaul of California's landmark environmental protection rules that he says is essential to address the state's critical housing shortage and long-running homeless crisis.” (Associated Press, 7/01)

I have mixed feelings. Admittedly, removing some of the onerous CEQA restrictions affecting housing development should be a good thing—especially if the usual environmental suspects are alarmed. However, we rightfully suspect it won’t actually result in more, and more affordable, single family housing, which is what most people really want. Hmmm.

“LA's Worst Problems Just Collided to Put Fire Victims Into a NEW Ring of Hell” (by Victoria Taft, Pjmedia.com, 7/23). In a word: squatters. “After your initial groan, what was your next thought? Wait, ‘there are no homes there. They've burned down! How can squatters do that when there's no structure to squat in?’

“Welcome to the confluence of L.A.'s worst problems: Homelessness, illegal aliens flooding the state, and fires. In another realm, when three horrible things come together at the same time, it's the Bermuda Triangle. In L.A., it's like a homeowner's own personal ring of hell.”

I wrote about the legal quagmire when renters just refuse to either pay rent, or simply move out (we experienced it for a year). Well, these “industrious” folks are smart enough about such things as to simply pitch a tent on someone’s burned-out-but-now-cleared lot. They know the “law” makes it hard for the owner to have them removed. Imagine being advised that your only legal protection is to pay for fencing and “NO TRESPASSING” signs—around your bare dirt homesite. Don’t expect Newsom and the Democrats to come to the rescue for your property’s benefit.