HomeMy WebLinkAboutReso Supporting Repair CA. Dual Ballot Measures A RESOLUTION OF TBE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
SUPPORTING REPAIR CALIFORNIA'S DUAL BALLOT MEASURES
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WHEREAS, the Bay Area Council, a business sponsored, public policy
organization for the some of the largest employers in California, has created
Repair California, a non-partisan, statewide coalition of individuals and
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to repair California's governance- and
WHEREAS, Repair California is submitting two ballot measures which will
constitute the first systematic reform of the guiding document of our great state
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WHEREAS, the first ballot measure will amend the state constitution to allow for
the electorate to call a constitutional convention; and
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constitutional convention focused on issues of governance; and
WHEREAS, the judicially-enforceable, limited Constitutional Convention will
focus solely on issues of governance, defined as elections, the budget process,
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local governments; and
WHEREAS, direct tax or fee increases will be explicitly barred from
consideration, as will social issues such as marriage, guns, abortion, and prayer-in-
scft00% aftowing the Convention to ioc;us on crilicai governance reforms,an(I
WHEREAS, amended more than 500 times, the Constitution of the state of
California is currently the third largest such document in the world, behind those
only of Alabama and India, at over 75,000 words; and
WHEREAS, the Constitution has been described as "the perfect example of what a
constitution ought not to be" [Wilson and Ebbert, California's Legislature]; and
WHEREAS, the lack of a functioning system of state governance--a system
dictated by the Constitution—is a major factor in the legislative and budgetary
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WHEREAS, the legislative and budgetary gridlock in our state greatly harms the
ability of local governments to properly and effectively budget, finance and
govern for the needs of the people; and
WHEREAS, the legislative and budgetary gridlock in our state and unfunded
mandates dictated by the state's Constitution results in damaging borrowing or
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WHEREAS, the legislative and budgetary gridlock in our state prevents needed
action in policy areas beset by crisis, such as education, water, transportation,
prisons, and the relationship between the state and local government; and
WHEREAS, some important measures in consideration for the November 2010
ballot would lock-in existing local funding in a broken system, but a
Constitutional Convention could fix the system and restore the balance of power
between the state and local government; and
WHEREAS, Sacramento has proven unable to reform itself, and hence local
government and the people of the great state of California must bring reform to
Sacramento;
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that by adoption of this Resolution, the
County Board of Supervisors hereby supports Repair California's call for a limited
State Constitutional Convention.
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