In Election 2012, California voters will consider some important measures, including rectifying the looming budgetary crisis (including Governor Jerry Brown's proposed tax increases), campaign finance reform, redistricting, the three-strikes rule, revoking the death penalty and more. What proposals are likley to win and how will they impact the state?
Bio
Robert Hertzberg
Robert M. Hertzberg was twice unanimously elected Speaker of the California State Assembly (2000 – 2002). He now is co-founder of G24 Innovations based in Cardiff, Wales which manufactures a new type of lightweight and flexible solar cell that generates power in low, ambient and even indoor conditions. He is also an equity partner at Mayer Brown LLP, one of the world's largest international law firms.
His work with G24i, and as co-founder of Renewable Capital, has made him an active entrepreneur and leader in global policy on renewable energy. The Guardian (UK) named him as one of the "50 People Who Could Save the Planet" and his company won the World Bank's Award for Lighting Africa, for a project in Rwanda. CNBC European Business recognized G24i as one of its TOP 100 Low-Carbon Pioneers. Mr. Hertzberg has appeared on CBS Evening News, CNN, BBC, Nightline, and in articles in The Economist, and Fortune Small Business. A previous solar company in Los Angeles won the 2005 Wall Street Journal Innovation of the Year Award in the field of energy.
Corey Marshall
Good Government and Policy Director, SPUR
Lenny Mendonca
Member, California Forward Leadership Council; Director, McKinsey and Company
Scott Shafer
Scott Shafer started his radio news career in the early 1980s as a reporter for KPFA in Berkeley and KFBK in Sacramento, where he filed some of the first stories in the nation on the AIDS epidemic. Shafer then went on to KOIT-AM in San Francisco, where he conducted on-air interviews with newsmakers from all over the world.
From 1988 to 1992, Shafer served former San Francisco Mayor Art Agnos as Deputy Press Secretary and then Press Secretary, and from 1992 to 1994 he served then-State Controller Gray Davis as Chief of Staff. He left a position as principal in the San Francisco public relations firm Staton, Hughes and Shafer to join KQED 88.5FM in 1998.
As host and correspondent of The California Report, Shafer has reported on a wide range of issues, and recently been honored with four awards for excellence from the Center for California Studies at California State University, Sacramento.
He also hosts The California Report's "Health Dialogues" series on important health issues facing our state. The California Report is KQED 88.5FM's statewide news program, which is carried by over 24 public radio stations throughout California.
Corey Marshall, Good Government and Policy Director for SPUR, describes how new technologies are being harnessed to make policymaking more engaging for voters.