YES...Divide California!

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | June 2, 1998 | By Columist JOHN KING

[Bill Hutton III]

... " It's Time To Divide California 4-state plan would bring politics closer to home

CALIFORNIA -- As this political season draws to a welcome close, only one clear message has emerged from this virtual campaign:

Enough already.

The problem isn't just the latest batch of dreary candidates and deceptive propositions. It's bigger than that -- as big as the sprawling state of California and its 33 million inhabitants.

Let's get straight to the point: California is too big to be governable, too big for its residents to feel any connection with the state government that oversees their lives. So make a clean break with the past and chop California into three states, maybe four...."

[Bill Hutton III]

...an old clipping, but even more relevant today.

I am sick of the SF Bay Area liberals and would be happy to see them cecede into their own little utopia and just leave the rest of us alone.

Here's proposal for 6 new states:

NEW County Population
ALTA Santa Clara County 1,682,585
ALTA Alameda County 1,443,741
ALTA Contra Costa County 948,816
ALTA San Francisco County 776,733
ALTA San Mateo County 707,161
ALTA Sonoma County 458,614
ALTA Solano County 394,542
ALTA Santa Cruz County 255,602
ALTA Marin County 247,289
ALTA Napa County 124,279
7,039,362

NORTH Sacramento County 1,223,499
NORTH San Joaquin County 563,598
NORTH Stanislaus County 446,997
NORTH Placer County 248,399
NORTH Butte County 203,171
NORTH Yolo County 168,660
NORTH Shasta County 163,256
NORTH El Dorado County 156,299
NORTH Humboldt County 126,518
NORTH Nevada County 92,033
NORTH Mendocino County 86,265
NORTH Sutter County 78,930
NORTH Yuba County 60,219
NORTH Lake County 58,309
NORTH Tehama County 56,039
NORTH Tuolumne County 54,501
NORTH Siskiyou County 44,301
NORTH Calaveras County 40,554
NORTH Amador County 35,100
NORTH Lassen County 33,828
NORTH Del Norte County 27,507
NORTH Glenn County 26,453
NORTH Plumas County 20,824
NORTH Colusa County 18,804
NORTH Mariposa County 17,130
NORTH Trinity County 13,022
NORTH Mono County 12,853
NORTH Modoc County 9,449
NORTH Sierra County 3,555
NORTH Alpine County 1,208
4,091,281

CENT Fresno County 799,407
CENT Ventura County 753,197
CENT Kern County 661,645
CENT Monterey County 401,762
CENT Santa Barbara County 399,347
CENT Tulare County 368,021
CENT San Luis Obispo County 246,681
CENT Merced County 210,554
CENT Kings County 129,461
CENT Madera County 123,109
CENT San Benito County 53,234
4,146,418

INLAND San Bernardino County 1,709,434
INLAND Riverside County 1,545,387
INLAND Imperial County 142,361
INLAND Inyo County 17,945
3,415,127

SOCAL Orange County 2,846,289
SOCAL San Diego County 2,813,833
5,660,122

LA-CAL Los Angeles County 9,519,338

Summary:

State Population Capital
1 ALTA-CALIF 7,039,362 San Jose
2 NORTH-CALIF 4,091,281 Sacramento
3 CENTRAL-CALIF 4,146,418 Monterey
4 INLAND-CALIF 3,415,127 Redlands
5 LA-CALIF 9,519,338 Pasadena
6 SOUTH-CALIF 5,660,122 Oceanside

[EggsAckley]

Dream on.


Welcome to Free Republic.

[BibChr]

Sure.

Or just slice off the coast, leave the rest. One tight little liberal insane state, one vast conservative sane one.

And a big, big fence between the two, with de-lousing chambers.

Dan

[So Cal Rocket]

Hmmm... 2 Blue States and 4 Red States... gotta like it.

[socal_parrot]

Hey, I'd take it. As long as Southern California (OC and SD) would be a monarchy and I could be a Duke or something.

[NativeNewYorker]

Yeah...the rest of the country will be happy to have that many more Senators from California in Washington.

Let's hive off NYC so Jerry Nadler and Charlie Rangel can be senators too!

[Support Free Republic]

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[bmwcyle]

I like the idea of chipping a section off and set it adrift.

[socal_parrot]

1998?

[EggsAckley]

How presumptious of you! I, of course, am the natural GRAND WA-ZEER for the Southern kingdom. Down, peon!!

[blanknoone]

I think less has to made of how it would be divided and more made of how to get it through. I think a similar measure seperating NYC from NYS would be an easier first step.

[Inyo-Mono]

Inyo should be with "North" on your chart. It has nothing in common with the other counties under "Inland."

[Eala]

*	Welcome to FreeRepublic

[MIchaelTArchangel]

I prefer to wait for the San Andreas fault to let go and dump San Francisco into the Pacific Ocean and set fire to Los Angeles. Problem solved -- by an "act of God".

[Viking2002]

One good earthquake is all it'll take........

[GreenLanternCorps]

There is only one monarch in California!

Norton the First, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico!

God Save the Emperor Norton!

http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist1/norton.html

[gracie1]

Sounds resonable, with execption that Fresno would have to be the capital of the central portion.

Any plan to divide the state would be welcome to the valley because we get outshouted by the LA and bay area continually.

[socal_parrot]

Norton I was way ahead of his time...

I have two things over Norton I, I'm not dead and I'm not crazy...And neither am I!

[So Cal Rocket]

Re-running the 2000 election gives the following results for the 6 states of California:

ALTA CA (10 Electoral Votes) - Gore: 1,599,000 votes, Bush 730,000 votes
NORTH CA (7 Electoral Votes)- Gore: 719,000 votes, Bush 818,000 votes
CENTRAL CA (7 Electoral Votes)- Gore: 567,000 votes, Bush 653,000 votes
INLAND CA (5 Electoral Votes) - Gore: 436,000 votes, Bush 471,000 votes
SOUTH CA (9 Electoral Votes)- Gore: 830,000 votes, Bush 1,017,000 votes
LA CA (16 Electoral Votes)- Gore 1,711,000 votes Bush 872,000 votes

Total National Electoral Votes: Bush 299, Gore 238.

[Polybius]

So make a clean break with the past and chop California into three states, maybe four...."

Just what we need. Eight Democrat Senators from California instead of two.

If you think new divisions will yields some Republican states, just wait 10 years.

[Saundra Duffy]

Excuse me - CA should be divided into THREE parts - Central Valley, we need our own space, thank you very much.

[SandyInSeattle]

I've been hearing about this since I was kid. Used to be split the state into two, then three, now who knows. Used to be about water issues.

Check out www.jeffersonstate.com.

[SandyInSeattle]

I'm all for building a wall around San Francisco and letting them fend for themselves. After first allowing anyone from Berkeley who wants to move there to do so.

[heleny]

How about, instead of (or as a prelude to) splitting the state, we change the 55-electoral-vote winner-take-all system in CA and allow each Congressional district to be a mini-state with its own EV? The two Senate EV's could go to the overall winner of CA.

After all, the population of each district in CA is about the same as the population of Vermont, Alaska, or North Dakota, and CA is still growing.

Assemblyman Tony Strickland proposed this in 2000, although the Democrats obviously didn't like the proposal.

[heleny]

Another option is to reduce the power (and funding) of the state government and restore power (and taxes) to the local counties. Then there would be less need to break up CA.

[Tailgunner Joe]

Just what we need. Eight Democrat Senators from California instead of two.

Bears repeating. Bad idea.

[SandyInSeattle]

Unless I'm much mistaken, California is generally conservative with the exception of the San Francisco Bay Area and the LA Basin. Republicans might do well if the state split.

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

As much as the metro areas look down on the ag areas, we are a major economic prize, especially since the bubble burst in Silicon Valley. Pragmatists will want us for practical reasons. On the other hand, it would be a win/win situation for us. We could be economically well off without the metro refugees moving here and taking up farmland and resources.

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

You are not mistaken. The success of conservative areas would be striking compared to SF and LA county.

[fish hawk]

Here is a better idea. Somewhere a little south of Monerey, build an electric fence 20 feet high from the ocean to Nevada. Then give all of the south of the fence back to Mexico and leave north of there the hell alone, including our water.

[AFPhys]

I've been convinced for a long time that a huge earthquake that cleaved the whole coast of CA from LA to SF into the ocean would be a great thing for the country.

The other half of my fantasy, is that the country would then be out of balance and would dip lower toward the east and the liberal east coast from NYC to Boston would similarly be dunked and we'd be rid of that nest of vipers, too...

Just one conservative's "wet dream..."

[HostileTerritory]

Each region would have more electoral votes than that. It should add up to 64, not 54, because California would get 10 extra EVs simply for including 5 additional states.

[bobjam]

On the converse, there is no reason for the 6 states of New England to be six different states. This is not a new concept- by 1775 the colonies of New Haven, Connecticut, Rhode Island/Providence Plantation, Plymouth, Massachusettes Bay (which included Maine) and New Hampshire had been merged by the British into one colony. New England and New York then argued over who owned Vermont (New England lost).

Other concepts include Pennsylvania giving Philadelphia to New Jersey in exchange for northern New Jersey. Heck, NYC could go to NJ and Long Island could go back to New England (which is where it started).

The Florida Panhandle could go to Alabama (where they wanted to go in 1819) and South Florida could merge with Puerto Rico.

[Coeur de Lion]

I agree with your partitioning. One of the problems the state has is that urban areas have far too much clout(specifically the Bay Area and greater Los Angeles). If state senatorial districts weren't apportioned equally according to population rather than along regional or county lines, this would be less of a problem, because regional interest be they urban(mostly liberal) or less urban more rural(more conservative)would have at least equal representation in half the legislature. As it now stands, we probably should just define the houses as assembly I and assembly II.

One solution would be to partition the state into districts which represent regional interest which have roughly equal apportionment in population. This wouldn't accomplish what would be the results of breaking up the state but it would go a long way to reducing the clout two areas of the state have in one house of the legislature.

[BibChr]

If I said that the thought hadn't occurred to me, I'd be less than candid.

(c;

[wingster]

"Or just slice off the coast, leave the rest."

Oh, that'd be cool. Just give me a heads up on where we're slicin'! Some inexpensive oceanfront property would be great. :D

[JOAT]

Let's get straight to the point: California is too big to be governable, too big for its residents to feel any connection with the state government that oversees their lives.

The government does NOT "oversee" the lives of its citizens. This dunder-headed, communist, non-Constitutional idea needs to be squelched every time it is raised.

[RUCKUS INC.]

Yeah! Let ORANGE COUNTY AND SAN DIEGO COUNTY bear the entire burden of the illegal immigration responsibility. LA COUNTY can keep promoting irresponsible social programs taht benefit illegals and SD/OC would be responsible to stem the flow of illegals across the border. NICE IDEA! (sacrasm)

[Coeur de Lion]

This would actual be a good reason to apportion the state's electoral votes, rather then winner take all. If all state's did it that way it would actually increase voter turnout because one would know that their vote actually counted.

It would also eliminate something like the so called Florida debacle(not what I call it, I call it Al Gore trolling for votes). No candidate's going to call for a recount unless it's in a number of closely held districts where the candidate might be able to change the electoral college results. And even there it would require a sufficient number of districts in order to win the state and get the additional 2 electoral votes.

Another upside is that it reduces the clout of any political party in large states which typically vote either one way or the other: because gains by one party are offset by gains of the other and vice versa.

[You Dirty Rats]

Article IV, Section 3: "New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other state ..."

So this idea is unconstitutional.

If it wasn't, than the party that controls Congress could divide a state packed with its members into 51 small states and get 100 new Senators.

[Docbarleypop]

Just like when i was a kid and my mom cut off the icky crusts!!

[You Dirty Rats]

Another way to look at this is that California can be heterosexual, homosexual or bisexual but it can't be asexual.

Or one could say that since California has a big anti-nucular lobby, fission of the State shouldn't happen.

[savedbygrace]

So, do you really think both the CA legislature and the U. S. Congress would EVER agree to this? That's what the Constitution requires, you know.

[CyberAnt]

Hi Gal - how are you! Roger Hedgecock is planning a "Hold Their Feet to the Fire" trip to Sacramento the end of June. I sure hope I can go - but I have a written test for a good job on 4/19 - and if I get hired, then I probably won't be able to ask for time off.

But as to dividing the state, why three states ..?? I always thought 2 - a North and South - that gives a more even mix, with the Bush crowd weighted in the south.

What say you?

[SoCal Pubbie]

I am absolutely opposed to splitting California.

[Joe Hadenuf]

They failed to mention my compound, and I have rights to land as far as the smoke from a BBQ can travel in any direction for two moons.

And I'm not selling or dividing anything.

The greatest state of the greatest country on earth

[CyberAnt]

Why? Do you see some major problems in that area.

[Amerigomag]

Do you see some major problems in that area.

You bet he does. If the state is split he hasn't got any water.

Almost all of the surface water in the state comes from the mountain range on the east side of the Great Valley (Sacramento/San Joaquin Valleys).

Both San Francisco and Los Angeles are absolutely dependent on these water supplies, exported to them via pipe line or canal.

[CyberAnt]

I thought the south's water came from AZ

[gracie1]

That's only the water that comes from the Colorado river. The California Aqueduct sends the majority of SoCal's to them. That water originates in the Sierra. Then there's the water from Mono lake via the Los Angeles aqueduct. Again, the Sierra Neveda.