Some post-election reflections

An election night crowd gathers to watch the returns in Grand Park, outside the county of Hall of Administration.

As Churchill once said, “Democracy eventually does the right thing, but only after exhausting all of the alternatives.” The same could be said of California voters, a group that’s a lot smarter than the “political experts” give them credit for.

This year they largely got it right.

Thanks to them, the state of California has taken a step back from the financial precipice. By approving Proposition 30, voters helped California take a giant step toward stabilizing its finances. Failure to do so threatened every service the state provides, starting with education.  Now, California and its citizens can catch their collective breath. 

Voters’ passage of Proposition 39, meanwhile, plugged a loophole that allowed California companies that do business outside the state to avoid taxes here. Now, those companies will have the privilege of paying taxes like the rest of us. And the funds that will be captured as a result will further help stabilize California’s finances.

And in rejecting Proposition 32, the California electorate saw through the measure and recognized that it is inherently unfair to allow conservative, multiple-million dollar PACs to fund elections while preventing their labor counterparts from leveling the playing field.

We had a disappointment on County Measure J, which would have extended the ½-cent sales tax to allow the MTA to accelerate construction of mass transit and highway projects that were previously approved by county voters.  Measure J came within less than two percentage points of the required 2/3 vote, but it didn’t quite make it. It’s a disappointment to me because we had the opportunity to take advantage of record low interest rates and construction costs that would have allowed us to build out our transit infrastructure in 12 years, instead of 30.  Now we will remain stuck with a 30-year schedule which will undoubtedly cost billions more as interest rates and construction costs rise over time.

Finally, on a personal note, I will be very sorry to see our San Fernando Valley Congressman Howard Berman leave office at the end of the year.  He has been one of the most outstanding members of Congress for the last 30 years. Howard has been one of the most respected Congressional voices on foreign policy, immigration and other important issues facing the nation. He was also a great representative for the Valley and Los Angeles County. He will be sorely missed.  However, I have a feeling we haven’t heard the last of him yet. 

Overall, voter participation was lower than it was in the last Presidential election of 2008, and that was disappointing.  As President Obama said on Tuesday night, there are people all around the globe who risk their lives for the right to vote, but here at home, too many of us take that right for granted.  To those of you who did your part, regardless of how you voted on the candidates or the ballot measures, thank you. Our democracy can only work if we all participate. And that participation is not just a quadrennial exercise, but in truth must be a year-round commitment.

Posted 11/8/12