For Sale: Jonathan Walters' Driveway

posted by Christopher Swope

After reading my article on how state and local governments are selling off their toll roads, parking garages and other assets, Governing Correspondent Jonathan Walters has decided it's high time to sell the driveway to his house in Upstate New York.

Actually, just to be clear for any potential bidders out there, I believe what Jonathan is looking for is an 80-year lease.

As the resident expert on such matters, I've informed Jonathan that Wall Street won't be interested unless he agrees to toll the driveway. I think $1 in and out privileges sounds about right.

Jonathan responds:

I think once you've made the necessary improvements that $.50 is more like it (see our RFP for paving specs), plus I'll expect you to put in turn outs, passing lane, exits to fire pit, garden and garage, center line, fog line, metal halide street lights, emergency phone box, regular security patrol, snow plowing, sanding etc., plus a drive-through Dunkin' Donuts, and do all necessary repairs through 2086...

Heads Up: 1.4.07

Romney's housewarming gift to Patrick: A slew of GOP appointees. Globe

Non-Hispanic governor is named to top Latino list. Texas Politics blog

New FL Gov. Crist: "Hey guys, talk better." Lakeland Ledger

Illinois DOT: "Hey guys, hablan español." Chicago Tribune

Felix Rohatyn on Pres. Ford, City Dropping Dead, etc. WSJ (subs req'd)

Got a Heads Up for us? Email [email protected]

Give Us Back Our Po Biddy Crossroads!

posted by Zach Patton

Last year, the Georgia DOT cleaned up its map of the state by deleting nearly 500 tiny communities from the map. The cities, predictably, were up in arms.

Now, Gov. Sonny Perdue has weighed in with a letter to the state's DOT chief, urging the DOT to add the towns back to the map:

"I myself have heard firsthand from Georgians about their concerns regarding the economic and societal impact the state's actions will have on small communities."

The DOT says it's going to re-instate the towns on the map, or at least those with distinct ZIP codes.

The moral: Don't mess with Po Biddy Crossroads!

Fenty and schools

posted by Alan Ehrenhalt       

I guess I shouldn't be surprised when Adrian Fenty says his first priority as mayor of DC will be fixing the public schools. Mayors say that all the time now, and they nearly always get good press for it. The Washington Post has editorialized in support of Fenty's school-centered program, and adds that his desire to take personal control of the school system should be applauded.

Maybe I'm the only one not applauding. I understand perfectly well that the DC schools are in bad shape, and that improving them would be a terrific achievement for the city.

But it seems to me that in trumpeting his desire to focus on public education, Fenty is making the common mistake of seizing on the one problem that will be hardest for him to solve.

Inner-city schools are lagging everywhere in America. Despite two decades of effort, and many claims to the contrary, no one has figured out a solution to this dilemma. Consulting urban leaders from other parts of the country, as Fenty has been doing, will mostly just expose him to a wide variety of failed strategies.

And vowing to turn the schools around in four years -- desirable and important as that goal might be -- is creating a blueprint for civic disappointment when the years go by and things are essentially the same.

   

Heads Up: 1.3.07

Flu Crisis 2007: Too much vaccine. Austin American-Statesman

Why transportation planners need Uncle Ben's. Seattle Times

Texans: Pay up for tolls, even if they're just pennies. Ft. Worth Star-Telegram

Got a Heads Up for us? Email [email protected]

Legislatures: Who's Really in Charge?

posted by Josh Goodman

Which party, Democratic or Republican, has more power in our brand-new state governments? That simple-sounding question is actually much more complicated than at first blush, but, if you can tolerate a little bit of math, I'll do my best to explain.

The raw numbers show that Democrats have 28 of 50 governorships (56%) and 3989 of 7382 legislative seats (54%). But those numbers treat Wyoming's (pop. 515,000) governorship as just as important as California's (pop. 36,458,000) and each member of the New Hampshire House (who on average represent about 3,300 people) as no different from members of the Texas Senate (representing 758,000 each).

With all apologies to Wyoming and New Hampshire, I don't think that makes a lot of sense, so I prefer to adjust for population. Democratic governors are in charge in states with about 161 million people or 54% of the U.S. population. That's a giant reversal from prior to the November elections, when Republican executives governed 188 million people or 63%. However, you only have to go back to early 2003, before the recall that booted Gray Davis from office in California, to get to the last time Democrats had the population edge.

Legislatures are a bit more complicated, but here's the method I think works best: Each legislative house should count for half the state's population.

McGreevey Gets Painted, Too

posted by Zach Patton

Speaking of gubernatorial portraits, New Jersey finally got around to hanging a portrait of former Gov. James McGreevey, who in 2004 resigned in disgrace after admitting to a hiring scandal. (Oh yeah, he's also gay.)

The painting was all set to go last summer, but McGreevey had to postpone its unveiling because he was too busy with his book tour.

The portrait was finally unveiled today in a small, private ceremony at the state Capitol, the first time McGreevey has returned to the Statehouse since he left office more than two years ago.

The delay in hanging the painting also delayed the hanging of the official portrait of McGreevey's successor (and a Governing Public Official of the Year for 2006), Richard Codey. Looks like that portrait may be hung later this month.

(Btw, that's not the portrait over there.  It's just a photo of McGreevey.  But if the artist is any good, well, you know, it'll look similar.)

By the Book (and BlackBerry)

posted by Zach Patton

Florida Gov. Jeb Bush handed the reins over to Charlie Crist at noon today.

But there's one piece of Bushiana we didn't want to leave unnoticed.

Jeb's official portrait contains a few noteworthy features in addition to his smiling mug. The painting, unveiled a couple weeks ago, also includes a photo of Bush's family, several books, including the Bible, and Bush's BlackBerry, a nod to his prodigious email use.

Heads Up: 1.2.07

Arizona: America's Marijuana (And Meth) Gateway. AZ Republic

Coup might topple TX House Speaker. Texas Politics blog

More Speakership drama, in PA. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

LA Y's Ontario (not the Candian one). LA Times

To see NM Gov. Richardson's face on some jars of salsa, click here.

We can finally stop calling Adrian Fenty the "presumptive" mayor of DC. WaPo

A transit card that doubles as a cell phone. Wired

Got a Heads Up for us? Email [email protected]

Two-Party Stranglehold

posted by Josh Goodman

Here's a statistic that surprised me: Once all the new legislators are sworn in, Mordecai "Three-Finger" Brown could have counted every state senator who is neither a Republican nor a Democrat on one hand (other than the members of Nebraska's non-partisan legislature). That's right, there are only three of them, which means that 99.85% of state senators come from one of the two major parties.

In the lower bodies of legislatures, there will be 15 independent or third-party representatives, which puts the major-party percentage at 99.72%. Of those 15, 8 come from Vermont.

That level of two-party domination is remarkable, particularly given that in November 26% of voters described themselves as independents. But, even independent-minded aspirants for office seem to accept that a major-party affiliation will help them get elected and help them advance their priorities once they're in office. That's especially true in legislative politics, where voters often know nothing about the candidates other than the party they represent.