The News Links - March 1-3, 2010

Matier & Ross: Pols likely to keep distance in Sacramento bids

Telegraph: California is a greater risk than Greece, warns JP Morgan chief.

Mayor Newsom's YouTube Update - Feb. 27, 2010

Commercial Real Estate

• March 2010: New York City office, retail and industrial market report.
• $46B in CMBS balances now delinquent.
• Commercial property deals to hit $478 billion.

San Francisco

• 15,000 S.F. workers face layoffs, shorter weeks.
• Streets, sidewalks ace litter test; private property slips.
• Willie Brown: Spotlight on Muni pay - big payoff for Elsbernd.
• Rejoice, voters: You'll have pension reform on the ballot come June.
• San Francisco Chamber of Commerce's 2010 CityBeat Poll results can be found here.
• Voters change tune, say city is headed off track.
• City Hall Watch: What’s old is new again.
• Newsom: No sitting or lying on San Francisco sidewalks
• The voice of Muni heads to City Hall.
• Mission Bay chosen as an 'iHub'
• Public angst over Muni, schools grows.
• SFMTA weighs proposals to close FY11-12 budget gap.
• Voluntary retrofit incentives move ahead
• Mayor finds something else to hate about the June ballot.
• Senator Leland Yee's March 2010 newsletter can be found here.

Marin/San Mateo/Sonoma

• South San Francisco School District weighs cuts, parcel tax.
• Burlingame parcel tax for schools passes.
• March Madness begins for Novato budget-cutters.
• Marin supervisors go forward with $83 million public safety building.

California

• California Attorney General Jerry Brown announces his candidacy for Governor (video).
• Jerry Brown in 2005: CA gov has "very limited power,'' mostly "the power to pontificate" (video).
• No-texting rules would be tough to enforce on California Assembly floor.
• Reports: Furloughs causing banked vacation to skyrocket.
• California Assembly swears in its first gay speaker.

The Economy

• Wasted stimulus.
• US and UK can handle decades of debt.
• Spend now, pay later becomes our official policy.
• Construction spending declines in January. 

Energy & Environment

• Getting global warming right.
• A tall order: Serious materials to retrofit Empire State Building's windows.
• U.S. Senator Graham calls cap-and-trade plan dead.
• Fed's Beige Book: Continued expansion, but snowstorms held back activity.
• Private-sector employment falls by 20,000 in February, report says

General

•  $5 Fee to overthrow the government
• Cut pay for government workers: That's the only way to get serious about the deficit.
• City budget gaps set the stage for deep cuts.
• The terrified American shopper.
• Decentralize the government.
• Chile: Prepared for the Quake but Not the Tsunami.
• An underfunded program for Greece.