Articles written by neil rubenstein
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California Population Nears 40 Million
California’s population was thought to be on January 1, 2019; 39,927,315 from the Department of Finance. California took the first stop to regulate companies who sell your information last year w...
Will CCUSD Seek Another Parcel Tax?
Is it possible? I spoke to the President of the Culver City Board of Education at the Clayton Library and Museum on Sunday, June 8, 2019. My question, “Are you going to put another parcel tax for u...
Disaster Preparedness, Urban Drilling Should Be Election Issues in 2020
Culver City Fire Chief David White’s recent presentation on “Disaster Preparedness” alarmed many residents because we live near the largest urban oil and gas producing field in the USA. It made me re...
Government Pension Shortfalls Also Hit Oregon
Now that Theodorsia and I have a great granddaughter; I wondered what the most popular baby names were as announced by the Social Security Administration for 2016. Boys Girls 1. William Ava 2. Noah...
California Ranks Second in Teacher Salaries
According to the National Education Association, in fiscal year 2016-2017 the average teacher salary in California was $78,711, which is the second highest in our country. Our state’s spending per s...
Fracking, Oil Fields, Councilmanic Districts and More
Fire Chief David White’s recent presentation on Disaster Preparedness alarmed many, because we live near the largest urban oil and gas producing field in the USA. It made me realize that we are in a...
CC Teachers Pension Contributions Grow Dramatically
My good friend Maria AKA “The Wild Gypsy Lady” told me about the good work the Stentorians are doing at Dorsey High School. The Stentorians is a Black firefighter organization with members in L.A...
Why is the United States Exporting Oil?
According to business media, the U.S. will soon be the world’s number 2 oil exporter. Why are we sending oil overseas when we need to lower gas prices here? Has it really been 46 years since the p...
Kamala Harris Proposes Whopping $13K Increase for Teachers
I read with interest the California Senator and Presidential Candidate Kamala Harris is proposing a salary increase for teachers of darn near $13,000 per year. It seems for every buck received by the...
Presidential Candidate Proposes $315 Billion (23%) Pay Raise for Teachers.
It’s raining candies! California Senator Kamala Harris, who is vying for the Democratic nomination for president, has proposed a 10-year, $315 billion plan to boost teacher pay across the country. Acc...
CCUSD Ranks in Bottom 12% of California School Districts
It’s a major disappointment to me and others that our Culver City Unified School District is ranked 831 out of 940 school districts in the State of California. Could it be that another parcel tax i...
Who Will the Culver City Democratic Club Endorse for Supervisor?
The ladies who ride Metro buses and light rail through Culver City can breathe easier now, since the judge sentenced 27-year-old Ager Linder to 54 months of probation and ordered him to stay away...
Culver City Ranks Low in Financial Soundness
Friends, before I leave on a well-deserved vacation, I would like to enlighten you all on some problems that are easy to verify. According to California State Senator Moorlach, California is ranked...
Finding Female Firefighters for Culver City
Well folks, I think I might have gotten the solution to our female firefighter problem. But first, it seems we are getting more and more dangerous forest fires every year. The State of California...
Not a Propitious Start for Governor Newsom
By Neil Rubenstein Observer Columnist To the surprise of absolutely no one, California’s new governor has proposed a $209-billion state budget with billions in increased spending and lots of tax hikes...
Will Measure a L Tax Increase Follow Measure K's Tax Hike
Mayor Small, did you know Caroline Carpenter became the very first woman to earn honors as the leader for the Los Angeles Fire Department at the Valley Recruit Training Academy 81? “I’m small, “said C...
Red Light Cameras Worse than Speed Traps in the South
Did you realize Culver City ladies have a better chance if winning the Lottery than being a member of the Fire Department. Women have always been discriminated against with wages and benefits as...
Affordable Housing Dumped on Fox Hills
If Culver City is really a city for everyone, as promoted by the October 11th event at La Ballona School then why didn’t Culver City use city owned land at Washington Blvd and Centinela for affordable...
No Good Reason to Pass Sales-Tax Increase
Can I ask, “With all those millions the developers are spending on construction projects here in Culver City, why do we need to raise taxes?” You don’t need 20/20 vision to imagine City staff pushi...
More Reasons to Reject Measure K
The Los Angeles County Office of Education has just released its annual report of its county-wide Certificated Salary Survey for 2017-'18. On page 45 it showed just how much our Culver City School...
After November, Even More Tax Hikes May be Needed
Can little Culver City continue to pay super-large paychecks and pensions to current and former City employees? If so, local taxes will need to continue to rise. No, I’m just not pointing the finger a...
Teachers Pensions Beat Others by 3-1 MarginBy Neil Rubenstein
In an ironic twist, a recent study by the nonprofit Bellwether Education Partners has found that the rising costs of teacher pension plans are starting to eat into their own salary hikes. Teachers,...
Work for City, Make $500,000 per Year
For those who missed my commentary last week, I am once again attaching a chart to this column showing the names, positions, and total amounts that key Culver City employees earned in 2017. The figure...
Culver Public 'Servants' Make Big Money
How much do you make each year? Are you, as a popular TV and radio advertisement asks, “financially comfortable”? Perhaps you are not, but many of our taxpayer-funded City employees are. Acc...
Council to Mull New Housing Plan
COMMENTARY By Neil Rubenstein Observer Columnist The Culver City Community Development Director of the Housing Division, Tevis Barnes, will soon be presenting to City Council a proposal for three...
