State of California and Bay Area regional governmental agencies’ plans to force local communities to construct low-income housing may be violating California’s Constitution. In November 1950, California’s voters passed Proposition 10, which prohibits any public body in the state from authorizing a low-rent housing project unless voters in an affected community approve the project. Proposition 10 was presented to voters as an amendment to California’s Constitution.  The amendment is now known as Article 34 of the state’s Constitution. Specifically, Article…

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The City of Orinda is facing decline. Orinda, perhaps the nicest place anywhere to live, has gone from a community of 5,000 in 1960 to over 19,000 today.  While Orinda’s schools are still excellent, educational quality is likely to decline severely once more residences —  most likely high-rise, high-density residences — are built and more pupils arrive in a city that has no more classroom space. During the evening rush hour in Orinda, driving one mile from the city’s BART…

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Orinda’s schools are under attack.  Their educational quality must be preserved. On the November 2018 ballot, there will be two measures to raise property taxes in support of the Orinda Union School District (OUSD). The Icon enthusiastically supports both measures.  The measures did not, at press time, have official ballot titles. One measure, the Health and Safety measure, would finance school facilities.  This measure would authorize the sale of up to $55 million in bonds.  The tax rate for this…

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Demands by the State of California on Orinda are seriously jeopardizing the desirability of living in Orinda. Essentially, the state, for years, has been usurping Orinda’s ability to control the city’s destiny. The state’s attack has been especially obnoxious.  Orinda’s schools, its semi-rural environment, and its open spaces are in jeopardy. Two state-mandated programs are depriving Orinda of local control. One program is the Housing Element.  According the website of the California Department of Housing and Community Development, “Since 1969,…

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In November 2014, Catherine Baker (R-Dublin) won election to a two-year term to the California State Assembly.  She was re-elected in 2016. Now running for a third term, Assemblywoman Baker deserves re-election.  Her name will appear on the June 2018 primary ballot. Assemblywoman Baker, whose 16th Assembly District includes Orinda, has been a tireless advocate of good government. Her district includes such cities as Lafayette, Moraga, San Ramon, Danville, and Pleasanton. Ms. Baker is hard-working, frequently holding town-hall meetings to…

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To build so-called affordable housing, the State of California continues to threaten the sovereignty of local communities like Orinda. Senate Bill 827 (SB 827) in the California State Senate, if enacted, would allow the state government to grab a local community’s land near a transit hub. Specifically, SB 827 could require a local community to build high-rise, high-density housing within one-quarter mile of a frequently used bus route and within one-half mile of a train station (such as a BART…

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Eve Phillips was mayor or Orinda from December 2016 to December 2017 and did an excellent job. In The Icon’s opinion, she is the best mayor Orinda has ever had. Ms. Phillips deserves enormous credit for her letter of August 18, 2017.  In that letter, Ms. Phillips wrote members of the California State Legislature, expressing her opposition to Senate Bill 35, which, Ms. Phillips wrote:  “. . .would pre-empt local discretionary land use authority . . .” For too long,…

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