California
Castle also believes a group helps create awareness about the city’s budget challenges, particularly risks to public safety funds. “It can help us step up and make our voices heard about the budget. And if people are aware, they may be more inclined to vote for a good ballot initiative.”
San Francisco Assessor Phil Ting has started an effort to revise a provision of Proposition 13 that deals with tax assessments for commercial property.
If SunCal’s initiative appears on the Nov. 3 ballot and voters give the developer the go-ahead, the company has plans in place to build much more than the 4,800 homes that have caused so much controversy.
Stung by the California Supreme Court’s ruling yesterday, advocates of allowing same-sex couples to marry began mapping plans to return to the ballot, probably as early as next year.
Today the California Supreme Court upheld ballot proposition eight banning gay marriage in the state. The 6-1 decision ruled that voters legally outlawed same-sex marriages via a voter passed ballot initiative in November. The court also ruled that the estimated 18,000 gay couples that were previously married in California before the law took effect would continue being married.
Prop. 8, as it is commonly referred to, has been in the media spotlight for several months as Californians struggled to decide what is the legal definition of marriage.
Opponents of a City Council move to ban safe and sane fireworks in Lakeport are preparing to take their cause to the city’s voters.
Much has been made about the results of California’s ballot measures. Some articles denounce the system as convoluted, and others praise it for providing the people a voice. Californian voters sent a loud message to the government: deal with the budget. Others unhappy with the result want a constitutional convention to do away with the system.
What do you think should happen?
Some interesting articles:
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger discussing the results of the California ballot measures.
From MSNBC:
“Don’t come to us for extra help. That was the message,” Schwarzenegger said after a meeting with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.
“And you know something. I appreciate that when you hear that from the people. It gives us a chance to go and adjust, and say ‘OK, we went in the wrong direction. Now lets go in the right direction and lets go do what the people want.’ “
Californians went to the polls yesterday in a special election which featured six statewide ballot measures placed on the ballot by the governor. An op-ed in today’s LA Times proposes ending the frequent special elections in the state by moving to a system of four quarterly elections each year.
Five of the six budget measures on California’s special election ballot yesterday failed to get enough votes to pass. The measures were pushed by governor Arnold Schwarzenegger as a fix to the state’s budget woes. Only measure 1F, which prevents state officials from getting pay increases during bad economic times, passed.
After voting absentee in an election that will go a long way in determining the state’s finances, Schwarzenegger flew to Washington to meet with President Barack Obama as he announced higher fuel-efficiency standards.
If California voters defy expectations and pass the half-dozen propositions on the May 19 ballot, it will be a start toward filling the yawning hole in the state’s budget. But it’s only a start.
In a few hours California voters will take to the polls and decide the fate of their state. Using the initiative and referendum process millions of people will weigh on important measures. In Paul Jacob’s weekly column he writes how he is “jealous” of Californian’s power.
Californians live in one of 24 states that have the power of initiative and referendum. While he agrees the process is not perfect but states it provides people with options.
Tuesday’s special election isn’t only about the ballot measures aimed at bailing the state out of its financial troubles and annual budget battles. Two Bay Area cities and one school district are also begging voters for help in separate tax measures.
The Panetta Institute’s annual survey of U.S. college students was released a few days ago and it reported that for the most part, students are optimistic about where our country is headed, despite the continuing economic uncertainties. This year’s survey was in dramatic opposition to last year, where far more students thought things were going wrong. The students’ hopefulness, however, might have been tempered if the Cal State Monterey Bay team conducting the survey had reframed the questions toward California issues.