Hard Truths is a monthly newsletter about national, state, and local issues, with (sometimes sassy, other times serious) personal updates from the author – Heather Schmidt, M.PA. Heather is the owner of Heather Schmidt Consulting Services, Executive Director of VC Voter Edge, and a busy Mom to three.
Merry Christmas, to those that celebrate, and Happy Holidays to all those that celebrate other traditions, or none at all.
National Nonsense
I don’t mean to be an alarmist, especially not a climate alarmist, but: does anyone else find the weather across the nation, and even internationally, a bit… odd?
Of course a lot of people will immediately scream that it’s climate change, while others will chalk it up to the normal ebbs and flows of weather. It is nevertheless strange to see friends in the Midwest and Southeast report warm temps – some even calling it “hot” – while we face 50 and 100 year storms here in California. (How many of these 100 year storms can we have in the span of a couple years though…?)
And while storms like these typically come with cold temps, we are facing high levels of humidity and – frankly – abysmally stuffy conditions. Prior to that, Southern California faced night after night of an ominous fog that was at times so thick, people turned on their hazards and pulled over (happened in front of me, twice).
Today, a post went viral over on X/Twitter, discussing the fact that Iceland is currently 10C warmer than its average temperature in the month of… July. As we close out the year, most climate and meteorology analysts surmise 2025 will go on as the hottest year on record, and I am just not sure this is something to celebrate.
What is alarming to me, though, is the total inability of people in the position to do something to… do it. Take for example the issue of rain and storms and these 50 and 100 year floods. After a couple incidences of pretty significant localized flooding, you would think that the counties and state would want to rapidly improve and scale infrastructure to improve drainage.
And yet here we are. They do next to nothing, and the next time a disaster strikes, they increasingly normalize the notion of personal responsibility for fixing the problems they have caused.
Whatever climate change is – whether it’s a man-made phenomenon, a naturally occurring cycle, or a combination of the two (the latter of which, most scientists believe and I have written about PREVIOUSLY)… we’d be smart to get better prepared to survive it. Even Trump – historically a climate change denier – has talked publicly about doing more to harden against weather and climate related disasters. If even he gets it…
My question is, though: how many more disasters do we have to face before meaningful changes are made and safeguards are installed? I don’t mean subsidies for rich Americans to buy EVs and convert to solar; I mean hardening against fire, floods, and everything in between. I mean competence in disaster preparedness at every level of government. There seems to be so much arguing still about what is causing it, and finger-pointing when things go wrong, that nothing ever fundamentally gets done.
At some point, we may have to draw the conclusion that the arguing and finger-pointing is all we’ll ever see. And then what?
From the Greatest State in the Nation
Gas is down to below $4 a gallon across the state, for the first time in years. For us in So Cal, it’s been since 2022 – 3 years – paying above $4. When I paid $3.59 yesterday, I about broke down and wept.
And the same trends are beginning to surface with other things. A lot of food items, rents… they’ve stalled, some dropping. And many housing market analysts believe that interest rates continuing to come down while stock improves will potentially solve much of California’s housing problem before the end of 2026.
I – personally – believe that to be overly optimistic. Though, I can see significant improvements by 2028. It also feels especially gross to think the economy might be starting to improve – especially in the places it matters the most, namely housing and food prices – as prices remain unacceptably too high, and we – as just one example – continue to pay half our income on rent, living in a sardine can of a home.
And this is the folly of living in California – a supposed bastion of liberalism, though in reality more a purple landscape of people moderate to left leaning, with many pockets deep in the red. The reason that the vast majority of people believe that California is this land of woke liberals with purple hair and blinged-out septum piercings is because the media is largely centered in deep blue areas of the state, representing the bluest among us. As an independent, myself, living in a smaller county (albeit one still larger in population than entire states), I feel gaslighted by the media and people around me when they rail on about inflation, the increasing costs of housing, and the like, as I witness things improving. The data shows us housing is coming down, yet still they claim it’s higher than ever. The data shows us that inflation is slowing, yet they still claim it’s rampant and runaway (it is not). The data shows us that everything still costs way too much, but that a lot of things that matter the most are beginning to ease toward affordable. I’m hearing one thing, then seeing and experiencing another.
I attended an earnings call for a local organization a few weeks ago, at which time I learned that the stock market is projected to end the year on another high note. Of course stocks are only one piece of the complicated puzzle that makes up our economy, and the speakers of this particular earnings call acknowledged that. Nevertheless, they talked about the good position the American economy is ending the year in, but then in a cynical term emphasized that this is for the top earners only – the people with a lot of money, whereas lower income Americans continue to struggle. One of the speakers in particular said it like a side note – an asterisk: “well yeah sure, those at the bottom continue to feel a lot of pain, but we are otherwise doing GREAT.” This is where it becomes more clear: this isn’t just an issue of California liberal bias against a Republican administration, or the media reporting from a specific subset of people viewing the economy through a political lens. The wealth gap has grown wider, and the true runaway inflation of the last several years has led to more people at the low end than ever before – including, and perhaps especially, here in California.
I believe this is that cognitive dissonance: that knowing one thing, while experiencing another. Two things are true in this instance: everything is still too expensive, but the economy is unequivocally improving. Also, people are living in new economic conditions (for them), while being told that other economic conditions are what’s real.
It’s dizzying, really. And it’s still all true.
The data does not lie. Inflation is slowing. Housing costs are coming down. Even health insurance for the vast majority of people did not rise such to the degree it was said it would rise. Things are starting to improve (just not fast enough).
And from the looks of it – gas prices, rent decreases – California is leading the way on things getting better.
Just Local Stuff
Things slow down to a standstill on the local front around the holidays, which has given me an opportunity to catch up on a YouTube series by a local gadfly – here in Oxnard.
The gadfly’s name is Eric Andrist. He owns the historic Levy House, located in the downtown district of Oxnard and featured on numerous television shows and in news articles for its alleged hauntings. Henry Levy (one of the supposed ghosts) was a mayor – twice – and a prominent businessman back in the day; today, the owner of the home has coined himself a Public Advocate, and even holds seances in the home to try and connect with the spirits that haunt it.
Ghost stories aside, Andrist has begun producing a YouTube series on alleged corruption in the City of Oxnard. People’s views of the series, or Andrist’s “call it out” style notwithstanding, in catching up on it this week with my free time, I’ve realized the corruption here in Oxnard goes far deeper than just the elected mayor not living here, and everyone being complicit in that fact.
One absolutely insane tidbit I caught from his most recent video was that a few years ago, the City of Oxnard took out a restraining order against a resident for “workplace violence.” Was someone stalking an employee? Showing up at City Hall with flowers and inappropriate innuendos? Was there a fight when someone came to pay their utility bill? Was an employee doxxed?
Nope. Not even close.
According to the request for an order for restraint, the City alleged that an elderly man who can barely walk and whose comments are rarely understood – Larry Stein – placed too many public records requests. In California, the Public Records Act has made a voluminous body of documents, interactions, files, and communications amongst public organizations subject to the public record. Anyone can request them, and for just about any reason. For a few years now, Larry Stein has been fighting the City on their perpetual closure of the elevator in the parking garage in downtown Oxnard. While Mr. Stein has taken on other issues with the City over the years, the timing and his obsession with the elevator leads me to believe this is the reason for their restraining order. The elevator is primarily closed to the public to avoid problems with the homeless that may abuse it. That is evident, even though it’s a public elevator in a parking garage that is subject to ADA compliance regulations. For years, the City has ignored Mr. Stein, gaslit him, lied to him and claimed it wasn’t really closed (they have a permanent closure sign installed next to it), and – apparently – even taken this legal action against him.
This is just one of the really crazy things uncovered in that video series. You may all view it HERE if you’re into local politics and Oxnard lore.
A Bit on Me
I have a lot to share, and yet am not yet ready to share any of it.
So we’ll leave it there. I’ve said enough today already anyway.
Whatever holidays you do or don’t celebrate, and I hope this time and season has been good to you! See you in 2026!
Heather Schmidt Consulting Services 
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