The Octopus People of California

During the Progressive Era in California, the time surrounding 1900ish -1920ish, reformers from around the country were standing up to state governments that had a hold on local power. No state in the union was as corrupt and in need of reform than California in the 1860's when Leland Stanford was the Governor of California and the Big Four were consuming land via government sanctioned eminent domain laws for their precious rail road industry. The tyrannical rule of Governor and then Senator Stanford lasted for decades until a lawyer from San Francisco, Hiram Johnson and a doctor from Los Angeles development a period style political action committee to end the far reaching tentacles of what author Frank Norris called The Octopus.                                                                
                                                                              G. Frederick Keller The Wasp  1882
In 1910 Hiram Johnson and Dr. William Randolph Haynes worked to inform the people of the candidates who were not in one of the eight clutches of the Southern Pacific Railroad. Luckily those candidates running as Progressives made an impact on the state government and indicated the following three tools for democracy. The initiative, the referendum and the recall. The referendum, which offers veto power to the people and the recall which allows the removal of judges and representatives were key tools for the California in 1910 as they are in 2014.

But the initiative process is an amazing thing. On the city and local level the initiative is a great tool for making happen what local council members and mayors may be to afraid or unable to do. But in California the state wide initiative system completely undermines the capabilities of the state legislature and creates pipe dream  laws with no existing sources of funding. We may be progressives at heart but we as a Californians do not have the tools to disect or time to read about the small print and invented pork that private citizens and state officials feed themselves when they misconceive the people. In its own ironic state after passing the great reforms to help end the reign of the railroads, the initiative is used to build the state's biggest railroad, the high speed rail which was passed by the people in 2010 on the 100 year anniversary. In our own way we have become the Octopus People using direct democracy to budget at the ballot box and avoid the utilizing the people we already pay to do the job.

It is too easy for an initiative to get passed with the states initiative industrial complex and the mistrust of govenrment that is embedded in every Californian's DNA. Scholars at USC's Initiative & Referendum Institute  have issued reports saying that in the big picture all the money we spend on elections or have missed on because of initiatives like Prop 13 have not had a completely detrimental effect on the state's economy in the periods that the studies observed. But I and others question if the initiative system as is stands today is worth all the negative amplitudes that it creates.

In order for the state to function more constitutionally, shouldn't initiatives and constitutional changes be scrutinized as federal amendments and need a ratification process from a majority or 2/3s of the states 58 counties? We pass initiatives by playing on fear like the Bush administration did with its colored alert sysyetm. We lie to ourselves then rob existing state funded programs set out by an elected legislature to do things like make sure chickens can open their wings while the toiling in their death cages.

I feel that with an upcoming election Californians should look to their ballot and find those who will work on the constituents behalf not an industry posing as a organization to help make our lives better by selling their case to the low percentage of voters in the state. No one has explained this better that former legislator John Burton.

gabriel j sanchez
All In 58