Which is working best, California or Spain?

Well, I got back from Spain about three days ago.   The weather is gorgeous here in the San Francisco Bay Area.  A bit hot yesterday afternoon, but still, gorgeous.  The bay is beautiful.  The birds are singing.  The sun is shining.  All is right in the world, at least on this side of the Atlantic, right?

Marin headlands and the Golden Gate Bridge

Well….

Housing prices are going up again in the Bay Area.  Many people think this is good news.  “Many people” does not include those who’ve lost their homes, or people of modest incomes.  But we’ll let that one pass, and pretend it’s a good thing for everyone.

Some of California’s major cities have gone bankrupt.

What?  Bankrupt?

The lagoon near the Berkeley Marina.

 My own city, El Cerrito, is suing the State of California.  Why?  Because the State of California is demanding a huge chunk of money from it, money that came from the city’s redevelopment agency…and the State of California eliminated all city redevelopment agencies last year, and then said the cities could use the money remaining in the redevelopment accounts for other purposes, and the City of El Cerrito allocated these monies for other projects, and the State of California says that no, they’ve allocated too much and so need to return millions to the State of California, and, and, and…..

I have no view on the legal issues involved, since I don’t really KNOW the legal issues involved.

Why is the State of California requiring money from the cities?  (And this is absolutely not the first instance.)  Because the State of California is in dire financial straits.

So here I get back from Spain, which “everyone” considers to be a basket case, and I find…

…things in California aren’t going so well, either.

But it’s a beautiful day, and the bay looks gorgeous.

View of the bay from the hills.

 

I think I’ll go out for a walk.

OUR NEXT POST will be about the actors in Domino.