Chronicle picks up my post on worthless Legislature

Mr. Boren,

I couldn't agree with you more on the worthlessness of our present legislature. I also agree that a unicameral legislature would be at least less costly and perhaps more efficient. I hope that you will follow up on you own suggestion and propose a constitutional amendment to abolish the legislature as it presently exists and replace it with a unicameral legislature composed of one or perhaps two representative(s) from each county. This would have the advantage of getting rid of political gerrymandering of voting districts. I would be most happy to make a modest contribution to fund the necessary signature gathering to place the amendment on next years ballot. Even the threat of such a ballot initiative might be enough of a prod to get our worthless legislators toward working constructively.
Sincerely yours,

Laurens Garlington
San Francisco

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Thank You Jim:

My Grandparents were from Fresno and I always knew that they knew more than a thing or two? My Mother always said that Politicians are only as good as You make Them/ But now a days the Media seems to control the Directions that they take? Now is the time for all of Us to get together to stop the Waste and Stupidity that runs Rampant in this Society/ We will do Our best to keep Voting for change and trying to do the Right thing. Thank You again Jim.

Marshall and Robin in So. Cal.

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Jim,

I thoroughly enjoyed your piece about our "do nothing" state legislature. Let's start by getting rid of, by initiative, the 2/3 vote on the budget!!!

As a retired elementary teacher, your premise triggered memories of my State pet peeve - the CA State Board of Education's idiotic and extremely costly "reformation" of our state reading curriculum, patterned after the federal "reading first" program.
Recently, I experienced a wonderful feeling of "Schanden Freude" when the U.S. Dept. of Ed. published the results of an intense study of the effectiveness of "reading first" revealing it's ineffectiveness - children did no better in reading comprehension (i.e., actual reading) after years of instruction using the "reading first" method than those who did not receive that method of reading instruction.

Now, 6,000,000,000 federal dollars later (and our state has enriched certain workbook publishers, mandated teacher "retraining" programs, employed countless "consultants", etc., to the tune of God knows how much), the truth comes out - wasted money!!
Yet another concrete example of the ineffectiveness of our state government.

Ken Dotson
Burlingame

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Thank you for your editorial titled "Our Worthless Legislature" which appeared in the 11/27 edition of the San Francisco Chronicle.

You hit the nail on the head. The people we elect to represent us quickly forget who elected them and why. This Legislature is completely and totally worthless; even worse, when they failed to pass a budget for more than 2 months, and when they finally did, it was bogus, they all lost the moral authority to govern.

I recently retired after a 32 year career working in government; the last 17 in California. I was drawn to government because I believed that government service was honorable; I also believed that government is the one institution in our society that had the ability to positively impact the lives of all Americans. Thirty-two years later, I now believe that our government - and I mean government at all levels, Federal, State, County, Special Districts and municipalities are incapable of effective governance. It was a painful truth for me to come to, but it is the truth.

While there may be some merit to your point that California ought to adopt a unicameral legislature, one way to address the state's financial crisis would be to take all budget and spending authority away from the governor and legislature and establish a three person financial control board, as New York City did in the mid 1970. That action helped avert financial disaster for New York, and more significantly, reduced the impact of the numerous special interests in the budget process. I'm convinced it would work here as well.

Our confidence in government has never ever been this low. And after working in government for 32 years, I can see why. Government simply does nothing well!

Again, thanks for your editorial. I wonder if anyone in Sacramento read it.

Best regards and happy Thanksgiving

Steve Harman, MPA
Dublin, CA

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Just read your article . . . You are so right on with your comments. I do not know if you have the time or can answer the following questions.

Is there still a loop hole in Calif. Vehicle tax that allows purchase of expensive RV's, planes and boats in Calif. but take delivery in another state, hold for a certain period of time and then bring back into Calif. to avoid the state tax?

How safe are California muni bonds?

I know you may not have information on the above, however, your article sure got me going. I have written to all my representatives. Unfortunately their pay is not stopped when a budget is not presented on time.

Sincerely:

Sky Richardson

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I just read your editorial in the SF Chronicle.

Perfectly said - it is ridiculous that NOTHING gets done. I have a saying that fits perfectly: "They couldn't agree on the day of the week."

It seems all they do is feed at the trough. I'm sure you saw the appointments to the Waste Management Board - more termed out politicians who can't be expected to do anything else than sit around waiting for the next dole out.

Christopher Cole
San Francisco

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While I'm sending this to you from halfway across the country, I resided in your great state for 10 years (1985 to 1995) and saw these problems coming even back then.

You're suggestion of replacing the congenital idiots who have beshat themselves upon your populace in the guise of 'leaders' carries much merit, of course. Might I also suggest that your state copy the majority of states in the union and remove the ability of legislators to live off the weal?

Go to a part-time legislature, whether you keep the bicameral structure or go unicameral. Allow these grifters, thieves, perverts and thimbleriggers to have only 60 days of *paid* session (which would take you to the end of May of a session year) to get a session's work done, and unless called back into emergency session by the governor.

They can continue to speechify and bloviate beyond the end of 60 days if they wish, but they will not be paid for any more than 60 days of work during a two-year session.

Put simply: you should get rid of the "professional" legislator. Make them have to earn a living doing something else the rest of the session. Of course, it goes without saying that you should remove most of their perks and benefits, along with the vast majority of their paycheck.

Oh, and one more thing: eliminate conflicts of interest by prohibiting any civil employee at a local or state level from serving in the legislature.

Force them to get their work done and then cut them off. This should not be that difficult. Merely run a ballot initiative to amend the state constitution and be done with it. I can't believe that a supermajority of the voters will vote to continue to fund the clown posse you have now.

dave stine
Sheridan, WY

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Dear Mr. Boren,

In my view, your editorial was itself worthless. What a waste of column-inches. You made no substantive points. You simply ranted.

And I'm no defender of this legislature or this governor. But let's try to be thoughtful.

In paragraph 2 you acknowledge what I suspect is the key problem in
the system -- that the budget requires a 2/3 majority in each house.
So having 1/3 + 1 vote in either house can block the budget. You also acknowledge that while the Ds squirm, the Rs seem proud of this stalemate.

Why not make a reasoned argument that ties to the likely problem -- the supermajority requirement?

Yours,
Lee Tien

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WELL SAID! ! THEIR PRIMARY FOCUS IS EITHER THEIR PARTY OR THEMSELVES. THE SYSTEM IS DEFINITELY BROKEN. THANKS FOR YOUR COMMENTS.

DAVID FIELD
SARATOGA

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I am 82 years old and have lived in California for 82 years. I am a political novice BUT how could one help to NOT notice that to which your article spoke. Words fail me, as they not did fail you. I am moved to use every dirty word in the book regarding the dismal performance of our inept, disfunctional, partisan, do nothing legislative body. I don't know the solution, but these pampered do- nothings are a disgrace. On the good side, I have benefitted from the best public university system in the world as have 5 family contemporaries, 5 in-laws, and 6 offspring, their spouses, and children. So, it is not all bad in the Golden State. Thanks for the article.Sanford DickeyDear Jim:I spent over 35 years working in local government much of it as a lobbyist in Sacramento for local government interests. Your article completely fails to discuss the real reason the legislature is ineffective when it comes to the budget- it's the 2/3rds vote requirement. We elect the legislature by a popular vote and most substantive legislation is passed by a simple majority. But then when we come to the budget, we the people of California are one of only 2 state which permits a minority to obstruct democratic governance.I recommend you spend some time examining that issue and perhaps you will come to support that necessary Constitutional change.Perhaps Prop 11 and competitive districts will help to cure the problem but the only real cure is to enact a Constitutional amendment.Thanks and have a good Thanksgiving.

Ed Gerber

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I just finished reading your OpEd piece printed in the SF Chronicle this morning. While I must certainly agree with your comments regarding our do-nothing elected officials, and to some extent, your intermediate solution ("Throw them out...") I was seriously looking for a real solution re: What to do with these folks and what to do with the fiscal problem facing our state.

I made a couple of grave errors in my past: Perhaps the first was voting for a full time legislature. In retrospect, if our elected officials aren't in Sacramento (or WDC), then they probably aren't passing more laws which encroach on our individual freedoms. My second error certainly can be disputed: I voted for term limits. Again, looking back, what I now see is that the lobbyists seem to be controlling the legislative agenda.

Maybe a partial solution would be to adopt Nebraska's unicameral system. Think about it: By eliminating one of the legislative chambers, the savings would be significant!

The real problem with the financial crisis in both Sacramento and Washington is simple: In order to get elected, those who are "in" want to give away more of my (and your) money in order to get reelected. So the negative budget balance continues to grow. Reduce spending! It's that simple. How have we survived as a state and nation over these more than 200 years without the socialist mentality now pervading our society?

Thanks for hearing me out! Best regards and have a Happy Thanksgiving!

James Murphy
Los Osos