Editorial: Californians say ‘yes’ to housing measures. Mostly. Not a word of dissent in the Legislature.
Editorial: Californians say ‘yes’ to housing measures. Not even a word of dissent in the Legislature
Published March 1, 2012 at 3:44 am
By Scott Reeder
If you live in Bay Area or Southern California and see that the Legislature is holding the keys to the state to pass housing measures on June 6, you might be tempted to drive over and say “thank you” to the legislators.
They could still reject the bills and take back that authority to do what they want anyway. But at least they’re holding the key.
But Californians, we’re not so easily grateful. We say “yes.”
In fact, that’s what California is saying, loud and clear.
That’s what I heard coming out of my car when I drove to the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors on Wednesday night.
I got there first.
I heard the “yes” voices of the people who voted for the housing measures on the June ballot. I heard them loud enough to be heard over the din of the protesters.
I heard them loud enough to drown out the booing and the groaning that started as soon as I got out of my car.
It was as if they hadn’t heard me.
We should be thanking the people of California, not booing and groaning at them.
Why?
Because that’s what we are going to get by voting in favor of housing measures this month.
In a state like California, where a big-city mayor’s job is to make sure the state economy is going well (and make sure he or she has a big campaign check to go with it), the mayors and sheriffs are there to keep the state economy from taking a dive by failing to pass housing measures.
They say it’s about keeping our jobs, our schools and our schools so safe.
They say it’s about the future of the next generation.
They say it’s about fiscal balance and the economy here and in the rest of the country.
It’s about keeping the state solvent for the future generations to come