Class action cases remain rampant, despite Congress' decision
in 2005 to divert more state cases to less sympathetic federal courts.
Their numbers aren't declining at all since the law took effect,
according to figures from the Civil Justice Association of California.
Often, plaintiffs' attorneys get the cases heard in the state anyway
by getting only Californians to sue. That's easy in such a big state.
Nearly half are filed in L.A. County, a haven for plaintiffs.
Lawyers often bypass curbs approved by voters in Proposition 64,
intended to limit lawsuits under the state's unfair competition law.
It makes plaintiffs show they were personally affected by the offense.
Attorneys seek out plaintiffs by getting them to buy products
that are said to be defective or by advertising for possible claimants
in consumer publications before a class action is even begun.
Even if they win a case, businesses still lose money
because of the expenses involved with presenting their defense.
Defeating class certification is the key. If a judge agrees
to let the class action lawsuit go forward, expenses will be huge.
Relief won't come from the legislature, which has killed bills
supported by business groups early in this session. The laws would have:
Allowed judges to remove frivolous claims from a class action case.
Permitted withholding of attorneys' fees until class members are paid.
Made it possible for defendants to appeal a class certification.
 Utilities will make greater use of solar power with plans
to have it supply electricity for over 500,000 homes.
Southern Calif. Edison will place solar panels on commercial buildings
starting with the roof of a building owned by ProLogis in Fontana.
And Pacific Gas & Electric plans three solar plants in the Mojave Desert.
Power firms must use the sun or wind for 20% of their energy
by 2010 under California law, replacing coal and natural gas used today.
And governments are providing incentives for solar usage...
state rebates for homes and federal tax breaks in the 2005 energy bill.
 A $180-million mixed-use project will go up in Westlake Village.
The city council has approved plans for Opus Corporate Center,
which will have two four-story office buildings, shops and restaurants.
Lofts are being converted to office condos in North Hollywood.
DT Group will transform 68 residential lofts, which aren't selling,
into office units they hope will sell better. Owners can live there, too.
Westside L.A.'s office market remains healthy, even as other areas
hit the skids. The latest project is 12-story Corporate Pointe Tower,
which will be built in Culver City by IDS Real Estate Group.
 An apartment glut looms as the area's labor force shrinks.
The new 890-unit Enclave at South Coast complex in Costa Mesa
adds to supply, while local financial companies are laying off workers.
Demand is growing for medical offices. Pacific Health Corp.
has bought Anaheim Memorial Medical Center for $57 million. New projects
in Irvine include MacArthur Medical Campus and Pacific Medical Plaza.
The L.A. Angels of Anaheim are luring businesses with incentives
to keep them buying season tickets. They offer low-rate financing
and other gimmicks to get them to renew five- and seven-year contracts.
It all must be working...season ticket sales are up a bit this year.
 UCSD will get a 150,000-sq.-ft. biomedical research building
at its health sciences campus in La Jolla to provide space
for projected growth of its medical and pharmaceutical schools.
The UC Board of Regents has approved a request to begin site planning.
Bidding starts soon on port infrastructure at Punta Colonet
in Baja California, the future site of a big rival of L.A. area ports.
Trains will carry products 150 miles north to San Diego and other cities
from the $4-billion port, which may be ready for business by 2014.
 Ventura County is limiting sales of lots in mobile home parks.
The county won't let owners convert property from rental to sales
unless they can prove that they have the support of mobile home tenants.
Officials figure the county needs low-cost rentals and that some owners
are selling lots under mobile homes to get around rent control laws.
Pismo Beach development is in the works if the city can get water
currently allocated by the State Water Project to the town of Shandon,
which doesn't use its full share. Pismo Beach wants to annex land
and expand its tax base. One developer hopes to build 180 houses.
A hotel and restaurant are planned in Lompoc on North H Street
at the site of a former Ford dealership. A Hilton Garden Inn is likely.
A half cent sales tax increase may be ahead for Monterey County.
Voters will be asked to OK the tax hike for road improvements in Nov.
 Commuters will soon be able to buy coffee at BART stations.
Peet's Coffee & Tea is opening kiosks at the Embarcadero station
in S.F. this month and later at the Montgomery Street, Civic Center,
Pittsburg/Bay Point, Downtown Berkeley and Daly City stations.
But if riders drink their coffee on the trains, they risk being fined.
Half Moon Bay's new hotel will be the last big coastal project
for some time. It took 29 years of negotiations with government agencies
to get approval for the Oceana Hotel and Spa, which has just opened,
and its enclosed shopping plaza and restaurant, still under construction.
Environmental groups and permit agencies will tie up future projects.
Opponents of Home Depot's S.F. store can thank the housing market
for the company's decision to drop plans for an outlet on Bayshore Blvd.
Neighborhood groups, which feared heavy traffic, lost their long battle
with the city in 2005 to keep the store out. But the poor environment
for home improvement sales has prompted the company to curtail expansion.
San Jose is the most expensive U.S. city for doing business,
according to a survey by KPMG, a consulting firm. The rankings are based
on labor, tax, office, utility and other business-related cost factors.
New York is second, followed by Trenton, N.J., Detroit and Boston.
Tech salaries are a big reason. The trade organization AeA
says the average annual paycheck of tech employees is above $100,000,
more than twice the average paid by all private employers in Calif.
 Owners of a Redding nature park and museum want to build a hotel
along Highway 44 to help raise funds. Turtle Bay Exploration Park
is seeking city approval to recruit a hotel firm for the development.
Retail stores and a hotel are planned in the town of Shasta Lake.
The city will sell 11 acres of redevelopment property for the project.
Sconza Candy Co. will relocate its Oakland plant to Oakdale,
Stanislaus County, at the former site of a Hershey chocolate factory.
The new site, with 100 employees, is designed to boost output fivefold.
A venture capital firm has high hopes for a Madera factory.
The Central Valley Fund of Davis has invested in Ultra Gro LLC,
financing a buyout by managers of the family-owned fertilizer operation.
Expect a slight pullback of workers' comp reforms this year.
Gov. Schwarzenegger will probably go along with a tweaking 
of the 2004 law that cut rates in half
for the average California business.
Injured workers will get a break...
those partially but permanently disabled.
Benefits may be increased somewhat
amid claims by Democrats and labor unions
that the reforms probably went too far.
Changes could be part of a trade
for legislation that Republicans want.
Meanwhile, rates won't change much
over the next few years. Calif. insurers
propose no midyear change in rates to the insurance commissioner.
He may seek declines, but rates will be determined by the industry
and market forces under current California insurance laws. |
 Eminent domain is the topic of two measures on the June ballot.
But the focus is really on rent control, which would be banned
under Prop. 98 but is not addressed by Prop. 99, a rival initiative.
Rent control is easier for voters to understand than the battle
over the condemnation of private property by state and local governments.
Prop. 98 advocates will argue that rent control stymies new housing.
Opponents will warn of high rents that'll be charged by greedy landlords.
The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn. is behind the rent proposal
in Prop. 98 along with a ban on seizing private property for private use.
For example, a home or business could not be condemned for such uses
as shopping centers, downtown redevelopment projects or tourist sites.
Local governments favor a different approach. They back Prop. 99,
which bars them only from using eminent domain in acquiring a home
for conveyance to an individual or business. It would change little
from current practice, which does allow private property to be condemned
for use in government-endorsed projects to fix up blighted areas.
We think both measures will lose amid voter confusion.
Local redevelopment officials face a nightmare next year,
when authority for 34 redevelopment project areas expires on Jan. 1.
They'll no longer be able to sign contracts or condemn property
unless authority is extended by the legislature and governor.
They'll have trouble getting the money they'll need to continue
because some hard-pressed cities want to spend it on schools and roads.
 It's becoming tougher to enforce binding arbitration agreements.
The Calif. Appellate Court has sided with a Ralphs Grocery worker
who tried to void a document he signed approving a mandatory settlement.
The court ruled that the employee did not realize he had agreed
to arbitration of his complaint of racial discrimination and harassment.
It said the dispute form did not resemble a contract, and he wasn't told
by the human resources department that he was agreeing to arbitration.
Live-in employees don't have to be paid for being on call.
The Calif. Appellate Court reaffirmed that motels have to pay employees
only for time they actually work when they're required to live on-site.
 A sign of Calif. hard times: Nevada is recruiting its businesses.
An advertising campaign claims Calif. taxes are "un-bear-able"
and points to the state's big budget deficit and workers' comp costs.
Nevada has also advertised during several previous fiscal crises
and during Calif.'s well-publicized 2001-2002 electricity troubles.
Calif. antitax groups are sure to point to Nevada's campaign
as a warning that high taxes will drive businesses out of the state.
But Nevada isn't free of troubles itself. Like California,
it has big financial problems. And casinos, whose gambling is taxed,
are pushing for a gross receipts tax affecting all businesses.
For editorial information call us at 202-887-6462
©2008 The Kiplinger Washington Editors
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