Drew
@drewda.bsky.social
390 followers 1.2K following 66 posts
A bookish pedestrian in Northern California. Just here to chit-chat (not to represent any orgs, employers, or clients)
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drewda.bsky.social
When commentators write about Gov. JB Pritzker, why don't they also bemoan Illinois's pension liabilities?

I'm curious from the perspective of California, where long-term issues are always used to tar current leaders, even though it's not their fault and they're making good faith efforts to fix...
drewda.bsky.social
Ha. Thanks for a quality column
drewda.bsky.social
I don't need to have a beer (or a tea or whatever) with the next governor of California — this column by @byrobinepley.bsky.social sounds about right:

www.sacbee.com/opinion/arti...
Like crabs who spotted one of their own gaining too much elevation, Porter’s opponents in the gubernatorial race rushed to pull her back down into their muck. California State Controller Betty Yee wrote on her X account that “Katie Porter is a weak, self-destructive candidate unfit to lead California. The stakes are simply too high for her to stay in this race. It’s time for her to drop out of this race.” (A statement to which most Californians can only reply: “Who is Betty Yee?”) But, honestly? They’re all jerks. As a Sacramento-based journalist, I can tell you firsthand that Porter getting snippy with a reporter isn’t anything new. If that was a fireable offense, half of the state legislature would be out of a job.
Reposted by Drew
barackobama.bsky.social
California, this November 4th, the whole country is counting on you.

Prop 50 puts our elections back on a level playing field, preserves independent redistricting over the long term, and lets the people decide.

So return your ballot today. Vote yes on 50.
drewda.bsky.social
The line for Pennsylvania is almost as long as the monument to Columbus's discovery of Philly is tall...
drewda.bsky.social
"This city is a complicated place, but I’ve found two truths: The Golden Age is a myth and San Francisco is never 'over.'

"The city’s future improves through hard work at street level, not through troops and the whims of President Trump."

www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/m...
drewda.bsky.social
Thank you for a revealing interview. Also very timely given that Benioff is also a trustee on the board of USC, which is presumably debating Trump's "deal"
drewda.bsky.social
FWIW, this didn't last long...

bsky.app/profile/drew...
drewda.bsky.social
At least I got one chuckle while reading today's WIRED piece about SiliValley's Trump-friendly executives: a barely disguised Marc Benioff
Not surprisingly, when I offered some of the Valley’s top executives the opportunity to vent this summer, few took the bait. Vacations seemed unusually long. Calendars were so packed that not a single slot was available for the next three weeks, four weeks, six weeks … when did you say your deadline was? One CEO notorious for logorrheic gabbing to reporters told me he was trying to “decompress” on politics. “But any time you want to talk AI or AI agents, please let me know!” he said.
drewda.bsky.social
I asked an East Bay city engineer that question and he said that striping is often handled by a subcontractor to the paving firm. The striping subs batch together jobs around the region to optimize their own schedules, not necessarily the completion date of each project...
drewda.bsky.social
Thank you to one of the hardest working legislators in Sacramento, who understands that land-use and transport are just sides of the same coin
scottwiener.bsky.social
That feeling when the Governor signs your bill allowing more homes near public transit & you then walk from your 39-unit apartment building to get on the subway.

Housing + transit = perfect combo
drewda.bsky.social
They do call it the "Greater Bay Area"
drewda.bsky.social
Ha, but I assume this is just about how his office intentionally batches together bills to have one headline per day for the normies
drewda.bsky.social
To give just one of the more explicit recent examples, Reid Hoffman wasn't donating to the Harris campaign for charity (FWIW, I disagreed with is anti-anti-trust goals, but still think it's good he was in the Dem big tent)
Reposted by Drew
alfredtwu.com
Another batch of California bill signings - nothing significant, no new vetoes either. www.gov.ca.gov/2025/10/07/g...

Keep making those calls for SB 79 and the LGBTQ rights bills! 9am-5pm, or message anytime at www.gov.ca.gov/contact/ 1/
drewda.bsky.social
Buckley got his start with something similarly juvenile. Then again, no one handed him the keys to an existing outlet, let alone an actual news org...
drewda.bsky.social
The amount of lane-length filled by half a dozen robot-and-teleoperator-chauffered cars vs. the amount of lane-length filled by a 14R Mission Rapid bus:
aniccia.bsky.social
6 Waymo robots queued for a right turn:

Mission St onto South Van Ness, San Francisco

~half mile from Waymo's SoMa Grand & 14th St depots.

~6 Waymo robots in a line or the same block/intersection isn't unusual in downtown & tourist areas of SF.

Congestion as an automated service.

OP: x.MarkKnd
drewda.bsky.social
They're going to privatize it... and somehow succeed as a right-wing version of Hampshire?

(With apologies to Hampshire College for highlighting how a small quirky school is financially failing and will probably close due to no longer efficiently serving a target market)
drewda.bsky.social
Good luck to the USC board of trustees to make the right decision on behalf of their current faculty, students, researchers, staff — and their future as an independent institution
governor.ca.gov
IF ANY CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITY SIGNS THIS RADICAL AGREEMENT, THEY'LL LOSE BILLIONS IN STATE FUNDING — INCLUDING CAL GRANTS — INSTANTLY.

CALIFORNIA WILL NOT BANKROLL SCHOOLS THAT SELL OUT THEIR STUDENTS, PROFESSORS, RESEARCHERS, AND SURRENDER ACADEMIC FREEDOM.
New York Times: "Trump Administration Asks Colleges to Sign ‘Compact’ to Get Funding Preference."

The White House asked nine top universities to pledge support for President Trump’s agenda to help ensure access to research funding.
Reposted by Drew
governor.ca.gov
IF ANY CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITY SIGNS THIS RADICAL AGREEMENT, THEY'LL LOSE BILLIONS IN STATE FUNDING — INCLUDING CAL GRANTS — INSTANTLY.

CALIFORNIA WILL NOT BANKROLL SCHOOLS THAT SELL OUT THEIR STUDENTS, PROFESSORS, RESEARCHERS, AND SURRENDER ACADEMIC FREEDOM.
New York Times: "Trump Administration Asks Colleges to Sign ‘Compact’ to Get Funding Preference."

The White House asked nine top universities to pledge support for President Trump’s agenda to help ensure access to research funding.
drewda.bsky.social
Yes, and it's unfortunate how many of the former are appointed to suburban planning boards and use that as an opportunity to critique the latter in design reviews of multi-family projects...
drewda.bsky.social
Thanks, good to know
drewda.bsky.social
Interesting. I know City of Alameda only requires spot repavement, although when large projects like a new EBMUD pipeline involved a lot of trenching they did also work together to repave and restripe an entire intersection
drewda.bsky.social
To your point, my understanding is EBMUD is obligated to repave any portions they touch. They also have to follow pavement cut moratoriums that cities can impose for ~3 - 5 years on newly resurfaced roads. But utilities can get around permit moratoriums for "emergencies" (again a subtweet of PG&E)
drewda.bsky.social
If you're talking about the East Bay, EBMUD has a good reputation for trying to coordinate at the staff level with cities' repaving schedules whenever possible, and it's a non-profit entity with high credit ratings. (This is a subtweet of PG&E)