Author: Joel Fox

Proposition 13
never went away, of course, but with the return of Jerry Brown as governor
comes more conversation about Proposition 13, the property tax cutting measure
that will be forever linked to Brown. The famous ballot prop passed during
Brown’s first term as governor. He opposed it when it was on the ballot but led
the effort to implement the measure when voters overwhelmingly passed Prop 13.

Now Brown wants to change some of the ways the measure was implemented.

Yesterday, Brown told the California State Association of Counties that he
wants to realign government and return program responsibilities and
accountability to local government. The big question for local government is
how those programs will be funded.

Will Brown seek authorization for new taxing authority for local government?
Will he see that money is shipped directly to local governments from the state
with no strings attached? Or will he consider changes to Proposition 13 so that
property tax will play an even larger role in funding local government?

Jerry Brown is not thinking about being a one term governor. Introducing his 98 year old aunt sitting in the audience at his swearing-in ceremony, Brown told the gathering that those who were hankering for his job would have to wait. He has good genes and plans to be around for awhile, he said. Those thinking that Brown might consider stepping down after one term better reconsider.

Brown insisted — twice — that he had no mental reservations in taking the job. Probably a good idea, since anyone who wants to be governor of California probably should have his head examined.

When he reiterated his three principles espoused during the campaign, his pledge to only raise taxes with a vote of the people got the softest applause. My interpretation — most in the audience would rather see tax increases with no vote of the people, just raise the taxes!

Taxes, of course, are the crux of the budget crisis that Brown hopes to solve. Taxes are the glue that holds government together. When government tries to do too much without the necessary revenue government unravels.

Jerry Brown is sworn is as governor today, 28 years after he left the office. The world has changed considerably since the young Jerry Brown was governor and undoubtedly Brown has changed as well over that time. Will Brown govern differently or rely on the old playbook from years ago?

Word is that the new governor plans to deal with a massive budget deficit by proposing deep cuts but also offering the voters an opportunity to continue temporary taxes that are set to expire. Cuts and tax increases are suggested as an immediate solution to the state’s deficit problem but the cuts/taxes mix is old school thinking.

Refashioning a 19th century government to 21st century realities is an opportunity the new governor should not pass up. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger planned to restructure state government when he was elected but did not follow through. His best opportunity occurred at the beginning of his administration but he did not press that advantage.

The question we dealt with in deciding the Fox and Hounds Daily Second Annual Black Bart Award winner as Californian of the Year was: Is the obvious choice always the best choice? A strong argument was made that an unexpected player who changed the course of California politics might be an appropriate choice. In this category, Nicky Diaz Santillan had strong support. Meg Whitman’s former housekeeper certainly upset the Whitman strategy and changed the course of the gubernatorial campaign.

However, even if Diaz Santillan had never shed one tear in front of a camera or found her name in one newspaper, the odds are Whitman would have lost the governor’s race, anyway.

Governor-elect Jerry Brown was mentioned by all three of our writers as a nominee for Californian of the Year. He is the winner of the Second Annual Black Bart Award.

When the Boston Red Sox ended their long World Series drought in 2004, Sports Illustrated recognized the long suffering Red Sox Nation – the entire fan base – as its sports person of the year. In that spirit of selecting a large group as deserving, I would like to consider the Voters of California as Californian of the Year.

In the November elections, the voters set down markers that are making seasoned cryptographers scratch their heads. Not only did the Voters stop the Republican national wave across the country, they established the Democrats as nearly unchallenged leaders in this state.

The voters, of course, were not in lockstep with the Democratic Party. They opposed a number of ballot measures that the party supported, especially the redistricting measures.

More glaringly, the voters continued to handcuff the instincts of the newly elected leaders by shooting down tax increases and making it harder to raise fees.

Is there method to the voters’ madness, political scientists ask?

Arnold Schwarzenegger entered the governor’s office with little interest in
ideology and partisanship. The voters of California have expressed time and
again that as a whole, they, too, look down on avid partisanship. According to
polling, voters indicated they wanted a governor just like Arnold Schwarzenegger. But as he leaves office, Schwarzenegger’s poll numbers are in dismal territory and bi-partisan, non-ideological leadership seems an ocean away on a ship that is never going to dock.

I recall California’s premier historian, Kevin Starr, recognized
Schwarzenegger’s potential when he first came into office as perhaps another
Earl Warren — a man who could secure support and allegiance across party
lines. Starr talked of Schwarzenegger as a member of the “California Party,”
that is, someone who focuses on state issues without concern for the
political necessities that make up the planks of party platforms.

Schwarzenegger’s current popularity rating with the voters certainly could reflect that he didn’t fix the budget and other problems, as he promised to do as a candidate. But, the fact that those fixes did not occur also means the people were not so wild about following Schwarzenegger on his different crusades.

For a second year, Fox and Hounds Daily will offer the Black Bart Award
as Californian of the Year. As with last year, veteran California political
writers and analysts, John Wildermuth  and Joe Mathews, will join me in nominating a
Californian of the Year; and a couple of honorable mentions, if the writer
chooses.

There are no specific criteria to follow in making the selection. Each
author will explain his reason for making his choice. Then we will try to reach
consensus. Perhaps, the selection took one courageous act, or a dastardly deed
that had great repercussions, or performed heroically in difficult
circumstances.

Last year’s award winner was then state senator Abel Maldonado,
recognized because Maldonado’s actions and ambitions seemed to dominate the conversation
over the course of the entire year from his February budget vote, to his
maneuvering for the top two primary to his November nomination for Lt.
Governor.

As Jerry Brown returns to the governor’s office after a nearly 30 year absence, the man who approved collective bargaining for public employees might be facing the question of rescinding the right of government unions to collectively bargain.

Would he make such a move? Highly, highly unlikely. However, as the Wall Street Journal editorialized, a few states have rescinded or are considering rescinding collective bargaining. Indiana and Missouri did it by executive order in 2005. Wisconsin’s newly elected governor has it on his to-do list.

The Journal editorial argues that public sector collective bargaining has “proven to be a catastrophe for taxpayers, as public unions have used their political clout to negotiate rich deals on wages, pensions and health care.”

The editorial goes on to say that Jerry Brown, himself, “greased the wheels” of California’s fiscal decline when he allowed collective bargaining during his first stint as governor.

Ted Costa is at it again trying to shake up California politics. Costa, head of People’s Advocate, filed the recall petition against Governor Gray Davis that lead to the successful campaign to remove Davis from office replaced by soon-to-retire Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Now, Costa wants to change the landscape for presidential politics in California by requiring that electors in the Electoral College vote for the candidate who wins each congressional district. Costa filed an initiative this week as the first step to change the law.

California has a winner-take-all Electoral College system. As the most populous state, the current whopping total of 55 electoral votes puts the winner of the California election a huge step closer to the White House. Since the 1992 election, the winner has always been a Democrat.

With California almost a sure thing in presidential politics, candidates from the two major parties, for the most part, ignore the state and it millions of people during the campaign. The candidates spend much more time in smaller states that may carry only a handful of Electoral College votes. However, those few votes in contested states may be crucial to a victory.