Public workers strikes: How would court rule?

That’s not a surprise since our Democrat-dominated state Assembly and Senate members have close financial ties to a variety of powerful public employee groups and are, for all practical purposes, beholden to them.

Still, one does have to muse about the notion of a carefully crafted lawsuit in this regard making its way to the current U.S. Supreme Court.

That court is now firmly in the control of a majority of conservative justices. How would they rule on key aspects of this issue (specifically involving local and state government workers) if it came before them? It would be interesting to find out — assuming they would rule on such a matter at all.

It’s always useful to remember that a public union’s strike against a city, county, district or the state itself is actually a strike against the taxpayers who are paying for their salaries and for significant portions of their pensions and health insurance.

Strikes by federal employees are already illegal, although some sickouts and walkouts do, in fact, still occur.

A DARK CLOUD IS HOVERING: The casual motorist navigating Sand Hill Road on the Menlo Park/Palo Alto border probably has no reason to speculate about what occurs in offices along that boulevard and its tributaries.

The buildings are relatively anonymous. There is no hint of the hundreds of billions of dollars — perhaps a trillion or more — which has coursed through those corridors.

On the surface, all seems serene in the temples of venture capital, the vital cash that nourishes innovation and creativity in the heart of Silicon Valley. That would be a mirage today.

There is some anxiety afoot now. Why? Because of a proposed new tax on the accumulated assets of billionaires. Data indicates that dozens of individuals in that hyper-affluent category probably walk the halls of Sand Hill Road addresses — or at least park money there.

Still, it would be a stretch to state that these folks are in some sort of panic mode, although some might well leave California for more tax-friendly climes at some juncture, taking their tax revenue with them.

But we do not anticipate the spectacle of seeing well-off investors brandishing signs and marching in opposition to the potential wealth tax. That’s not their style.

Instead, they would employ more subtle strategies to thwart such a draconian — and, perhaps, counter-productive or unconstitutional — levy.

OUTSIDE TEAMS PREFERRED: This coming Sunday’s Super Bowl is expected to provide a much-welcome windfall for hotels, bars, restaurants and other venues and services located here on the Peninsula. That’s hardly a secret.

But what those entities likely won’t mention much, if at all, is this important morsel: They are quietly relieved that the home-town 49ers are not a participant in the game; Seattle and New England are.

That means more visitors from outside the Bay Area are coming here to spend their cash and check out attractions. In all, it is anticipated that about 90,000 folks will descend on the region for the game.

Local fans of the Niners already have places to dwell, dine and drink as a matter of course. Visitors typically don’t.

Some SF adherents with tickets to the title contest are no doubt selling them to stoked Seattle and New England devotees, adding to the hordes heading here.

TB IS NOT A MARKETING BOOST: We don’t envy the officials who guide operations at Riordan High School in San Francisco. They are dealing with a nasty health scenario that has generated gobs of alarmist media attention.

Three students reportedly have tested positive for active (and contagious) tuberculosis. More than four dozen others have been found to have a latent version of the disease.

The coed campus, which is not far from Daly City, has a dormitory component and has been shut down as a precaution; students are being educated remotely online. Some portions of the athletic program have been paused.

It’s a marketing nightmare as potential 2026-27 freshmen are considering enrollment at the Catholic school in the fall.