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...."

[Saundra Duffy]

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

[Not A Snowbird]

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.

[Not A Snowbird]

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.

[Not A Snowbird]

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.