Two Lumps of Coal for Santa Barbara Families this Christmas
County and State pension shortfalls are getting worse rather than better. We hate to play the part of the Scrooge this holiday season, but there have been two recent developments in public finances...
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Resolve to Save Money and the Planet
Maintain proper pressure in your car tires. The incoming Administration has resolved to change U.S. energy and regulatory policies in the New Year – changes that are likely to anger many...
View ArticleContributing to the DC Debates over Homeland Security Policy
In an Op-Ed published on CNN.com yesterday, Brian Goebel argued that proposals to ban Muslim travel and register Muslim residents were misplaced on many grounds and should be rejected in favor of...
View ArticleCalifornia Public Finances 101
As California pension costs increase, so do UC tuition and fees. In one of our most popular Posts in the past year, we noted that as public pension costs have risen in California, so too have tuition...
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Get Back to Work
Our politicians should keep an eye on DC, but they need to focus on solving California’s many problems. Since the November election, it has become quite fashionable in certain California circles to...
View ArticleThe Worst Is Yet to Come
CalPERS’ dismal investment performance will wreak havoc on weakening municipal finances unless our elected officials begin taking aggressive actions today. The Los Angeles Times has published another...
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Raining on our Local Economic Parade
Those who believe this is as good as it gets in the Santa Barbara area are all wet. Our extraordinarily wet winter and pending activation of the Santa Barbara desalination plant promise some...
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Everyone has a Stake in Growing our Local Economy
No one is completely insulated from our economic slowdown. In February, a local nonprofit – Reason in Government – released a detailed report assessing and grading the economic health of Santa Barbara...
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Gone, but for a Very Good Reason
Announcing the launch of Driving2Save.com As members of the 2040 Matters community know, it has been quite a while since our last Post. But our silence for the past 6 months has not been a sign of...
View ArticleIncrease Your Resolve
Making a New Year’s Resolution to drive smarter will increase your chances of adhering to your other resolution(s) As we head into 2018 and begin to implement our New Year’s Resolutions, it is...
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Offsetting the Hidden Costs of California’s Wildfires
The 2017 wildfires that ravaged California not only claimed lives and destroyed property, they released millions of metric tons of greenhouse gases. Like thousands of others, we were forced to evacuate...
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Time to Bite the Bullet and Kill the Bullet Train
The potential environmental benefits of the bullet train cannot justify its exorbitant costs. The hits just keep on coming for the California bullet train, which is supposed to run between Los Angeles...
View ArticleBack Again
After taking another break for very good reasons, I’m restarting and restructuring 2040Matters Although Posts on 2040Matters haven’t ceased, they have slowed to a trickle in the last 16 months. This...
View ArticleWhere can I find California’s Official COVID-19 Statistics?
I have received several emails and comments in response to my Posts asking for me to provide a link to the statistics I am using to calculate the trajectory of the virus in California. All of my...
View ArticleBrian Goebel Discusses COVID-19 Modeling with Noozhawk
Brian Goebel was interviewed live via Zoom yesterday by Noozhawk Founder Bill Macfadyen. The interview covered the trajectory of COVID-19 in California, Brian’s modeling efforts to date, and the key...
View ArticleGovernor Newsom’s Call to Action for California’s Counties
County officials need to take the lead on addressing the Governor’s six indicators and transitioning out of the COVID-19 statewide stay at home order. On Tuesday, Governor Newsom released a planning...
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The California COVID-19 Hospitalization Curve Remains Bent
The statewide stay at home order has more than served its intended purpose. We now have more than two weeks of official data to assess the effectiveness of the extraordinary statewide stay at home...
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Yet Another COVID-19 Planning Failure
Having failed to plan for the success of the stay at home order, California must now plan for the poverty pandemic and other crises that will soon follow. History will not be kind to government at any...
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Jump-STARTing the Re-Opening of Santa Barbara County
The START Guide for re-opening San Luis Obispo County could accelerate Santa Barbara County’s transition into the next phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. In California, the curtain is coming down on the...
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Will Localism Ever Be Determinative?
The Governor must deliver on his repeated, and so far empty, promises to increase local control over public health. In the iconic Peanuts comic strip, one of the recurring plot lines revolved around...
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