127 - Elegy for the California GOP (1.26.2021)

What is the future of the Republican Party? Is it now the party of Trump, in the form of far-right insurrectionists and conspiracy theories? Or is it a more moderated, Mitt Romney style of small government fiscal conservatives? 

No matter who wins the fight for the soul of the party in California, the state's GOP is as good as dead, with no potential for growth in either direction. Here in Sacramento the party took a step toward the fringe, with far-right Proud Boy Jeffrey Perrine being elected into the county's GOP leadership. 
 
At first it didn't matter to the county GOP that Perrine was in the boy's club identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group. But when Perrine doubled down on a 2018 quote of his saying, "all the illegals trying to jump over our border, we should be smashing their heads into the concrete," that was simply too much. If he doesn't resign, Perrine will be removed by county party leadership in February.
 
Throw some popcorn into the microwave, because this party's death spiral is far from finished.
 
In other news, did you hear about the wins in Sacramento city housing and homelessness activism last week? 
 
After years of fighting it, Sacramento City Council OK'd 'safe ground' sites to be placed throughout the city for people experiencing homelessness to camp in tents or live in tiny houses. (The lone vote against it? District 2's Sean Loloee.)
 
Council also unanimously agreed to make it so that any single-unit parcel of land within the city can now have up to four separate units of housing. This is a potentially impactful move that few cities have ever passed, and--oddly--has added Sacramento to conversations on progressive housing policy. 
 

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