After 15 years at OCBC, my board awarded me a 90-day sabbatical—a chance to explore new ideas, travel, connect opportunities, gather inspiration and information to enhance the creative output. In academia, the idea of a sabbatical has been around for years—some say with roots in the...
Scenic beaches, majestic mountains, a temperate climate and a world-class economy are a part of what makes California such an attractive place to live.But today fewer people are able to call the Golden State home. High housing costs have created an affordability crisis unprecedented in...
Healthy economies demand many things. A skilled workforce, raw materials, an efficient manufacturing base and access to capital are among the basics. But leave out a safe, well maintained, functioning transportation system to move workers and goods, and what do you have?Delayed production and delivery,...
“Playing the long game” is not a new saying. In sports, it means throwing the football down the field or driving the golf ball toward the green. Urban Dictionary defines it as “considering the future implications of current choices, thinking ahead, being deliberate and patient.”For...
Orange County is a tale of two water supplies: Much of the north county sits over an abundant aquifer that can meet half or more of the water needs of the communities above it. The south county, unfortunately, has a rockier geology with no significant...
The following article appears as it was originally published in The Orange County Register November 16, 2017.Undoubtedly, one of the most influential directors in history is Steven Spielberg. Imaginative fantasy is a hallmark of so many of his movies from E.T. to Jurassic Park to...
The LA Times report, Is Disney paying its share in Anaheim?, by its header, select information, and lack of context, leads a reader by the nose to a wrong conclusion. The correct answer, however, is a resounding “yes.” Missing from the story are some undisputed facts:Fact....
The following article by Lucy Dunn was originally published in The Orange County Register Sept. 17, 2017. Every day, I walk into the kitchen, turn on the faucet, and clean drinking water magically appears. It’s a miracle, really, and I’ll bet, like me, you don’t even...
The report concluded there are two ways to mitigate the challenges of high housing prices: “bring earnings up or bring costs down.”Let’s steer away from the cost side for now where reform is needed in everything from state environmental burdens, to federal regulation on lending,...
The LA Times recently published a couple of stories on June 29 and July 11 about the continuing housing crises and the supposed failure of California’s housing element law to avert that crises. Simply stated, California’s housing element law requires that every city and county plan for its own...