According to a recent report from the California Department of Housing and Community Development, California’s homeownership rate is the lowest it has been since the 1940s, and nearly one in three renter households spend at least half of their income on rent.  The State needs to reevaluate what they term as affordable.  Merely expanding development opportunities by making publicly owned land and tax delinquent properties available for developers to build homes priced to high for the average person to purchase is not offering a solution.  The excuse that large corporations paying less than 30% of their work force incomes upwards of $200,000 as justification for new developers to raise property values is unacceptable when the majority of the workforce is teetering on the brink of the poverty level.  Wake up California.  We need to bring the market back down to earth and reality where home owners and renters spend no more than 30% of their income to provide a roof over their heads.  We need to offer tax incentives to rental property owners who market at lower rates.  We need to reduce red tape by expediting the approval process and re-thinking overly restrictive fees and regulations in order to create more affordable homes.

Based on the September 2017 article by Public Policy Institute of California titled "Californians and Housing Affordability", seventy percent of adults and 57% of likely voters say they would vote yes on a state bond measure to pay for affordable housing projects.  Sixty-one percent of adults favor changing California’s environmental regulations and local permitting process to make housing more affordable.  For more detailed information on this article go to http://www.ppic.org/publication/californians-and-housing-affordability/

There are many reasons why people in todays society feel it's ok to be uncivil to their fellow American.  But the fact of the matter is we are all human beings and deserve respect.  Many of us are several generations born American and this is our country.  The majority of our ancestors were immigrants and the only natives to this country are the Native Indians.  First and foremost own up to everyone who is born here has a right to be here and is an American we are not going away nor will we allow you to send us away.

We know how to treat each other with civility, its taught in the schools and in our various religions.  In order to change the situation we must start with our leaders and change the message being manipulated to us through our media.  We must not allow propaganda and fear by those trying to incite race wars or segregation by nationality to bring our society down. 

Another key to a change in civility is restoring unity within our families.  Now a days too many parents are commuting upwards of four hours on crowded highways to get to and from work because they can't afford to live closer to their workplace.  This makes it more challenging for parents to provide proper guidance to their children.  One solution to this problem is to provide incentives to companies who make satelite facilities available to their commuting employees. 

As a long time resident of the Delta community, I am not a fan of Govenor Brown's California Water Fix and Eco Restore, formerly known as the Bay Delta Conservation Plan.  An earlier version of the tunnel project called the Peripheral Canal was presented to the voters as a ballot referendum and was shot down back in 1982.  With the dawn of a new administration in the Governor's office I look forward to collaborating on new and innovative ideas to reach the supposed concept of water redistribution to Southern California.  A project that filters the appropriate amount of fresh water resources needed for the farmers, boosts the population of imperiled fish and revitalized our Delta region.

Currently there are programs such as Title I that are designed to meet some educational needs of the youngest and most poverty stricken Californian students.  What's truly needed for these children is support at home.  They have resources to help them when they are in school but when they return home who is there making sure they are completing their homework and studying the lessons to prepare for exams?  We can offer after school tutorial programs but many of these children aren't able to stay after school because of their transportation arrangements.  One solution would be to adjust the rigorous school curriculum and free up time for a study period with instructional assistance during the school day.  We could develop a statewide online tutorial program that provides internet and computer access to all students regardless of their economic status.  This program would be funded from the additional revenue being generated by legalizing marajuana.  We need to fund public schools by the number of teachable classrooms at maximum capacity and not by ADA student attendance.