Rose Institute of State and Local Government

The Rose Institute's report "Mapping the Revolution in California City Council Election Systems" (April 2025), authored by Pieter K. van Wingerden ’24 and Aria Fafat ’27, documents and analyzes the transformation of city council election systems in California following the 2001 California Voting Rights Act (CVRA). Read the full report here:https://s10294.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/City-Elections-Fact-Sheet_042125.pdf
Check out the Media Release here: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-study-finds-california-cities-quickly-shifting-to-district-based-council-election-systems-302434907.html?=prn

Chad McElroy '26 wrote the last of Rose's Spring 2025 IEO articles. The article "SoCal in the Age of Commercial Space" explores how Southern California has transitioned from a historic aviation hub to a leading center for commercial space innovation, driven by companies like SpaceX, Rocket Lab, and Aerojet Rocketdyne. The region’s "Space Beach" in Long Beach and Vandenberg Space Force Base are emerging as key players in global space launches and defense-related technologies. This transformation reflects a broader shift toward smaller startups, advanced manufacturing, and national security applications in the modern space economy. To read all of Rose's IEO articles, visit: https://roseinstitute.org/inland-empire-outlook/.

The article "SoCal’s Aviation Past," written by Chad McElroy '26, offers a comprehensive overview of Southern California's aerospace industry's historical evolution, decline, and transformation. To read Chad's and the other Spring 2025 IEO articles, visit https://roseinstitute.org/inland-empire-outlook/.

Deborah Aguirre '28 authored Rose's second Spring 2025 IEO article. "The Tale of Two Counties: An Analysis of CalWORKs Implementation" analyzes how the CalWORKs program, California’s version of the federal TANF program, is implemented differently in San Bernardino County and Riverside County, despite sharing the same core goals: promoting self-sufficiency through employment and support services. The study uses data from the counties' Cal-CSA and Cal-SIP reports from the first Cal-OAR review cycle (2021–2026). Read Deborah's and the rest of the IEO articles here: https://roseinstitute.org/inland-empire-outlook/.

The first article of Rose's Spring 2025 Inland Empire Outlook was authored by Quinten Carney ’26. "Inland Empire Goes Red" highlights a historic shift in the 2024 election for the Inland Empire. Trump won the presidency and the popular vote, flipping the Inland Empire for the first time in decades. Read Quinten's and the rest of Rose's Spring 2025 Inland Empire Outlook articles here: https://roseinstitute.org/inland-empire-outlook/.

The Spring 2025 Inland Empire Outlook is here! Join us in congratulating Quinten Carney ’26, Chad McElroy ’26, and Deborah Aguirre ’28 on their hard work this semester. Stay tuned for spotlights on the student researchers' respective articles. Read Rose's 2025 IEO here: https://roseinstitute.org/inland-empire-outlook/.

The 2025 Olson Housing Report, “Building Back Better: Altadena’s Recovery and Lessons from Santa Rosa,” is a comprehensive analysis of wildfire recovery efforts in California. It uses Santa Rosa’s recovery from the 2017 Tubbs Fire as a case study to inform Altadena’s rebuilding efforts after the 2025 Eaton Fire. To view the full report and its findings, visit https://s10294.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/2025-Olson-Housing-Report_DIGITAL.pdf.

The Rose Institute co-hosted our 3rd annual Housing Policy Symposium with the Olson Company yesterday. Thank you very much to Governor Gray Davis, Olson Company CEO Scott Laurie, Rose Director Ken Miller, and Jathan Pai '28 for an amazing conference.

Next week, Rose and the Oslon Company will publish the 2025 Olson Housing Project. The report will detail Santa Rosa’s recovery from the 2017 Tubbs fire and how those lessons might be applied to Altadena’s forthcoming recovery from the Eaton fire. We will also look at how Altadena might apply new state and county housing laws (such as SB9) to build more housing. Congratulations to Project Manager Alex Bishop, Jathan Pai, and the other students staffed on this project!

Please join us in congratulating Chad McElroy, Rose’s 2025-2026 Student Manager. CMC recently published an article on Chad, sharing his accomplishments at CMC and his interest in space policy and the space industry. To learn more about Chad, click the link below: https://www.cmc.edu/newsfeed/chad-mcelroy-26-pursuing-new-frontier-through-career-aerospace.

Rose's Fall 2024 Inland Empire Outlook is published! Check out the four articles about the 2024 election written by student research assistants Jemma Nazarali, Noah Swanson, and Rutvij Thakkar. Read the Fall 2024 IEO here: https://roseinstitute.org/inland-empire-outlook/

Rose Director Kenneth Miller and student research assistant Jemma Nazarali created an Overview of Statewide Ballot Measures for November 2024. The report examines national ballot measure trends and provides an overview of CA's ballot measures. View the report here: https://s10294.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Overview_Nov2024BallotMeasures_Final.pdf.

Rose Director Kenneth Miller and Rose student research assistant Joan Hanson wrote an article in the San Bernardino Sun highlighting some of the Fall 2024 CMC-Rose Institute Poll results that weren’t published in our reports. Read the article here: https://www.sbsun.com/2024/11/15/did-the-2024-election-signal-a-political-shift-in-the-inland-empire-and-california/