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Napablogger by Michael Haley
Michael Haley, president of the Napa Valley Taxpayers Association, writes on local, state and national issues. He can be reached at napaeagle@hughes.net
June 29th, 2009
Road budgets explainedThere was one big pothole on Highway 29 that I had driven over for years, I learned to look out for it every time I drove home, and there it would be. I could count on having to swerve around it. After a while I grew to like looking out for it, swerving on cue every time I went by.
June 15th, 2009
Making history in IranNo matter how things turn out in Iran in the immediate future, a huge statement has been made by the Iranian people that they want more freedom, and my belief is that in the future we will see the manifestation of their courageous actions.
June 5th, 2009
There's more to land use than grape growingThe vote against the Lake Luciana project today flies in the face of County rules for acceptable uses in the open space area of the agricultural watershed, and was a mistake.
Lake Luciana vote was a mistakeThe vote against the Lake Luciana project today flies in the face of County rules for acceptable uses in the open space area of the agricultural watershed, and was a mistake.
May 26th, 2009
What is the Ag Preserve and how do you preserve it ?Over the last several weeks a number of land use issues have surfaced into the local press and it all starts to seem like deja vu all over again listening to the protests.
May 20th, 2009
Voters said no, but keep working on state budget fixIn what was rather anti-climactic the five state propositions devoted to the state budget mess went down tonight. Most voters simply checked out in what looks like it will be the lowest voter turn out for a state election in decades. That alone tells you that something was seriously wrong, and it will be up to the legislature and the media to try to sort out what the message is here.
May 13th, 2009
Yountville and lot line angerTuesday the Supervisors are going to take up an ordinance, seventeen pages in length that we have had only the weekend to try to digest, further restricting property rights in Napa. This is the spawn of a woman who lives in Yountville "most weekends" and got upset because a neighbor nearby wanted to adjust lot lines on a large parcel in order to potentially build six houses on it.
May 1st, 2009
10 thoughts of mine1. Napa County is edging closer and closer to shutting down all major and some not so major development projects and if we become the County of No growth that will hurt us over the long haul.
April 23rd, 2009
Greed WatchOne of my contentions about the cause of the recession has been that it has been brought about out of greed, the other issue being a lack of direction which leads to more greed.
April 22nd, 2009
Has california finally hit the wall?(Editor's note: This archived too soon, causing comments to go away too. I will repost the previously-made comments later today)
April 17th, 2009
Has California finally hit the wall?In a recent interview with Jason Clemens, Economist and Director of Research for the Pacific Research Institute, he explained that California’s budget problems are not really about taxes or the costs of illegal immigration. PRI is near completion of a large detailed study on California’s prosperity, or the lack thereof, and one of the main conclusions is that the state is broke because the economy is deteriorating and has been for some time.
March 13th, 2009
Reaction to Gavin Newsom in NapaNewsom drew an unexpectedly large crowd, and a very enthusiastic one at that. Being a Republican, I don't often go to what felt like an insider Democratic Party event, and this was a very progressive liberal crowd.
March 9th, 2009
No on Prop 1AProposition 1A is the key ballot measure being placed before the voters in May to address the state budget debacle. I am opposed to it because it does not address the problems facing the state budgets and will amount to nothing more than continuing the same dysfunctional government.
March 3rd, 2009
Health Care ReformToday President Obama appointed Kathleen Sebelius to head up his Health and Human Services Department, a key position for his Presidency. It is a welcome effort because there is no doubt that we need serious reform, but like the efforts underway for alternative energy the costs for this program tend to be understated.
February 20th, 2009
California budget dealAbel Maldonado in the Senate has just agreed to vote yes on the deal drawn up by the Governor and top legislators. Although no one is reporting exact details yet, from what we are hearing it looks like a bad deal for Californians. Fortunately voters will have a chance to vote on three parts of it in June and could knock the whole thing down.
February 13th, 2009
Napa County pension reformsThis week Napa County began a process of examining what to do about the enormous deficits in pensions due to the meltdown of the stock market. Pension and actuarial expert John Bartel presented an actuarial analysis on Tuesday to the Board of Supervisors to begin this process.
February 2nd, 2009
Environmental costs have real impactTuesday, the Napa County Board of Supervisors will look at the principles guiding them in this years budget preparation process, and one thing on the agenda giving me pause is the statement "Pursue new revenues to the fullest extent possible for all services.”
January 22nd, 2009
California's budget disasterThe state budget crisis continues, moving into what is one of the worst stalemates over the budget in history. Nothing is apparently being done by our Governor and state legislature except demonstrating their own incompetence, as the clock ticks toward running out of cash.
January 13th, 2009
PUC and Angwin developmentIn what could appear as yet another typical if passionate land use battle in Napa over the rights of development in a county that is largely controlled by an extensive agricultural preserve, the Pacific Union College (PUC) story stands out as a unique case.
January 5th, 2009
Happy New Year?Happy New Year, now pass me the Xanax, two please. That’s how this year is starting out, but will it stay that way? Here’s how it looks to me.
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