October 16, 2008

Chamber Connection

Proposition 11 needs your vote

By Pat Dando
President and CEO, San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce
Special to the Times

This November, we will have an opportunity to change a really bad process in Sacramento, one that decides how our legislative districts are drawn.

By voting yes on Proposition 11, you will remove the power of drawing districts from those state elected officials who have gerrymandered our neighborhoods and cities in an effort to protect their political lives.

Republicans and Democrats do a lot of “back-room dealing” to keep their seats protected. This has resulted in very few competitive races for state legislative seats, especially over the past three election cycles, where 496 seats were up for grabs, yet only four changed party hands. That’s a 99 percent re-election rate that has replaced accountability with complacency.

California has become a “same-old, same-old” form of government, with Republican districts leaning to the far right and Democratic districts leaning to the far left. So when those elected get to Sacramento, they all too often fight for what the party dictates rather than for the people of California.

We have certainly witnessed our share of partisanship behavior this summer. The lack of a budget for 91 days was the culmination of this mounting problem that has festered over the past decade and this year, caused pain and suffering among many innocent people. It is downright embarrassing for California to have a legislative body that has become more dedicated to the party line than to serving this great state.

More now than ever, the pressure is on. We’ve heard stories about how individuals would be penalized if they didn’t vote in lock step with what their party leader dictated. We saw what happened when they didn’t. We watched as they were stripped of committee positions and the locks were changed on their office doors because they dared to be independent thinkers, rather than march to party doctrines.

It seems to me that this partisan mentality is in great part responsible for the lack of timely results in Sacramento and recent failure to approve a budget for California. Members of both the Assembly and Senate seemed much more focused on a budget based on Republican and Democratic ideologies than one based on the needs of California.

I don’t know about you, but I’m appalled at the lack of collaborative action and I think it is time the people of this state say, “Enough is enough and we’re not going to take it anymore!” If any of us were to turn in a company budget to our employers three months late, the only thing we would be waiting for is an unemployment check.

Proposition 11 will go a long way in stopping this political gridlock. It will return the will of the people back to the people.

So, if you’re tired of this polarizing partisan banter, please join me in voting yes on Prop 11. The only way to do this is to go to the polls on Nov. 4 and vote.