Voting Guide 2006
Voting Guide 2006
This fall's mountainous heap of statewide ballot measures says, more than anything else, that the people of California don't hire politicians to govern anymore: Politicians are so timid and ineffectual, they take our money and make us govern themselves. This ballot forces way too many technical decisions on the polity, and proves that even participatory democracy can be abused, burying so much fine print that it doesn't take a cynic to think they're just attempts by fatcat lawyers to trick the unschooled. Proposition 90, for instance, appears on its face to be a reaction to a 2005 Supreme Court decision making it OK for cities to grab private property and give it to developers making big campaign contributions, but one unfortunate – and purposeful – clause could actually mean it halts all environmental and public safety regulation. Thus, voters who want to solve a real problem get tricked into a radical rewriting of land-use law. (We urge a “no” vote on that one.) It takes some close reading to sort this out, and, since we're asked to vote every six months on big slates like this, who has the time?
Still, there is some important work to get done here. The “Rebuild California Plan,” a set of six infrastructure bonds hammered out over the summer by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and the legislature, contains much-needed funds to prevent a Katrina-like blow to California's water works, build roads, secure ports, and shore up the school systems. With the exception of 1A and 1C, which are redundant of other measures or don't give the most bang for the buck, they should be passed.
On the big question of the day – who should be governor – we cannot endorse either candidate. State Treasurer Phil Angelides pitches a solidly progressive agenda and should receive our ringing endorsement, but his campaign has been so ineffectual as to raise doubts that he'd ever move any of it. Schwarzenegger has had a remarkable year of actual bipartisan legislating, but his severe ideological swings in the past make us unsure that this new Governator won't change his stripes again.
The race for secretary of state is not one that usually generates much heat, but many new questions about voting technology and methodology – which seem to have affected the last two national elections in Florida (2000) and Ohio (2004) – make this year's contest worth noting. Current Secretary of State Bruce McPherson, a Schwarzenegger appointee, is doing a solid job, but state Senator Debra Bowen has the healthy distrust of easily rigged electronic voting machines that seems necessary right now. Even a whiff of disenfranchisement will keep people away from the polls, and there's more than that in the air already.
This is CityBeat's first endorsement card, and notably absent are local races and federal offices (though we strongly recommend a Democratic Congress to rein in an imperial Republican presidency). Look for a more complete roster in the next election. We believe in this process, and offer this page as a guide when you get to the polls. We will see you there, won't we?
Published: 11/02/2006
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