Is Business Abusing the Ballot?
Moderated by Joe Mathews, Irvine Senior Fellow at the New America Foundation Hotels attempt to use a referendum to block another hotel’s plans in Beverly Hills. A mall takes its argument against a competitor’s mall to the voters in Glendale. The owner of a local chain of hardware stores uses a ballot initiative to prevent Home Depot from opening a new store on his turf in Thousand Oaks. California businesses are increasingly taking their disputes with cities, labor and especially each other to municipal ballots in the form of initiatives …
