Editor’s Note: I apologize to the regular readers of this blog, as I have been too busy this summer with work (I will never complain for having too much) and travel to write at all. Our daughter won her gymnastics national championships in Florida and subsequently received emails from Ohio State and Illinois among others, so it has been a good summer. Thank you for all of your concerns about my failure to write and your congratulations to our daughter. I truly appreciate the support and promise to dedicate a little more time to reporting.
The local buzz about the State of Jefferson has been pretty loud. Yesterday, George Rebane posted a very good summary on Rebane Ruminations. There will be a townhall in connection with the movement for the creation of the State of Jefferson held at Western Gateway Park in Penn Valley on August 2nd at 3:30pm.
While many liberals locally attempt to categorize the different ideas for splitting California into more manageable, smaller states as an extreme rightwing conservative position, the truth of the matter is that the idea of splitting California is a bipartisan movement.
Jim Reed, a Democratic candidate for the California Assembly from the 3rd District, supports the idea and is even using the State of Jefferson as a prominent position in his current campaign.
The following is directly from Jim Reed's campaign website linked above.
"Water rights and pushing to end fracking will be important themes for Reed. But the case for splitting California in two or three states is likely to be a centerpiece of his campaign."
"He said California has become increasingly difficult to govern. It is not getting the representation it deserves on Capitol Hill, and it could do better if there were more local control, Reed said."
"More people are warming up to the idea of dividing the state. The movement is finding support among Democratic Party leaders, like Willie Brown, Reed said, adding that passing a measure in the state Legislature is doable before sending it off to Congress."
"'It might be the thing Congress would pass if done in the politically correct manner,' he said."
"Reed, 62, said the former lawmaker Stan Statham has invited him to be part of a committee that would explore prospects. Statham is noted for being a strong proponent of the so-called state of Jefferson, a concept of carving out the 51st state from the largely rural southern part of Oregon and northern part of California."
"'I’m not saying it’s completely out of the question,' Reed said of the Jefferson proposal, though he would advocate dividing the state, north and south. 'The debate is where the dividing line will be. It'd be nice to have Silicon Valley in the north state.'"
So the notion professed by our local leftist bloggers that the idea of dividing California is a uniquely conservative position is poppycock.
The bipartisan movement (nobody has ever accused Jim Reed and Willie Brown of being Republicans) regarding the State of Jefferson is not a problem - it is a symptom of a problem. Increasingly, citizens of California are disenchanted with their state government. Once the golden state, California is in substantial decline and is now the punchline for jokes originiating east of the Sierra. Further, the urban/rural divide in California is stark. The entire state is led around by the nose succumbing to the whims of representatives in Los Angeles and San Francisco. How can a representative from Los Angeles possibly understand the issues in Redding or Nevada City?
The fact of the matter is that California is simply too big and amazingly unmanageable. How big you ask? California is so big that, if it were divided into six equally populated states, each of the new states would be about the size of Ohio! Los Angeles County itself has a population comparable to that of Virginia!
Now that a ballot initiative has been proposed and living in a free society, the idea of dividing California will be a prominent issue in the state for sometime. Debate in a free society is good and healthy, but we need honest debate and not the empty rhetoric of those who (in an effort to divide) mischaracterize and misrepresent what is truly going on.
Be sure that you are an adequately informed voter. To that end, do not trust me or anyone else. The internet provides endless sources of information for you. Use this great tool and learn the issues for yourself.
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