By Pat Orr
For the Apple Valley Review

The fact that California roadways continue to deteriorate despite having the highest road use taxes in the nation speaks to the inefficiency, waste and mismanagement of the funds entrusted to Caltrans.

The state auditor reported last week that Caltrans spent $250,000 on a report that outlined a plan to streamline and improve efficiencies. Caltrans duly reported to the Legislature that the plan was being implemented.

They lied.

No action has been taken on any plan to improve operations and does anyone get fired? Nope, it’s only tax money after all. In the Victor Valley we have suffered the constant indignity of having our main freeway artery under construction for what seems like the last decade. New over, under and bypass lanes come and go with such regularity that the Daily Press even has a weekly column dedicated to telling you what’s screwed up this week on Interstate 15.

Now someone is inching up on a solution. State Sen. John Moorlach, R-Costa Mesa, has introduce Senate Bill 1141 to run a pilot program that “block grants” transportation money to two counties, one in the north and one in the south, to fix their own state roads as a pilot program. No more endless state planning bureaucracy and poor construction management. The money would actually get closer to the people and we could yell at our county supervisors — or elect new ones — to help improve our roads.

This is a plan we should encourage all our legislators to jump on no matter what party they are from. Yes, it would take away power from the state if it worked, but isn’t that a good thing?

How we might manage to ace Sen. Moorlach’s Orange County out of being selected as the pilot county here in the south is another issue. Perhaps our supervisors and Assemblymen can pull some strings if this passes to get some relief for us since we are the gateway to Las Vegas and all those campaign contributions that Sacramento covets so much.

One of my favorite sayings is, “the definition of stupid is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results” — which seems to apply to sending more of our money to Caltrans for roads.

When can we stop being stupid?

Into the fire

Town Councilman Scott Nassif is used to being under fire for positions he takes on issues before the Council. He is so used to the heat he has volunteered to be roasted by a local group on the evening of April 16. Billed as “the After-Tax Day Roast at the Nassif Garage,” the event will take place in the underground parking garage at the Spirit River Center.

Neighbors United Chairman Rob Turner, who is hosting the event said, “we have used this venue in the past and with Scott’s association with cars as a NAPA Auto Parts Dealer we thought it was a great theme. We will have some classic and cool cars inside the garage to look at as well as music, a buffet, raffle and some all-in-fun jabs at Scott and whoever else happens to show up. Since it is the political season we expect several candidates for local offices to come and work the crowd.”

More information about the event and Neighbors United can be found at their Facebook page or for ticket information call 760-961-6018. I will be there and may toss a few logs on the fire myself.

Minimum wage a sign of failure

When Governor Sunspot crafted a deal with the unions to increase the minimum wage last week, it was wholly self-serving so that an immediate increase of two or three dollars that could have come as a result of a successful ballot proposition pushed by unions would be put off a few years and not blow a hole in his budget until he leaves office.

The real message about the minimum wage is two-fold. First, the fact that 49 percent of the California electorate was in favor of a minimum wage hike is instructive because it signals the fact that most Golden Staters no longer believe there are good paying jobs here. The concept of starting at the bottom and working your way up is seen as an old-fashioned idea. The common belief is you either make a zillion in the Silicon Valley or you are poor.

The blue collar middle class that built California after World War II is gone. They retired and moved to Texas. We seem to have accepted that the bottom rung of the income ladder is a place you can stay forever.

Having said that, the second and most disturbing phase of this acceptance of societal failure is that we now fully believe that the lowest earners should be able to make a living, raise a family with all the perks required and enjoy excellent health care while permanently at the bottom of the income ladder. This is the natural outcome of restructuring our thinking because we now see folks with no income at all being able to live their entire lives on our taxes and entitlement programs.

It is entirely understandable why someone with little or no marketable skills who lives in an extremely expensive region of the country like the West Coast or New York City would feel they deserve a “living wage” when “freeloaders” have a life paid for by other’s hard work. It is a self-perpetuating cycle that signals our utter failure to educate our people about the intrinsic meaning of being an American: work hard and rise.

Correction

Last week I incorrectly listed the date the Civil Rights Act passed in my piece about the changing face of political parties. Actually, it was 1964.

— Pat Orr is a local business owner, community volunteer and political junkie.