CALIFORNIA FOCUS
FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2013, OR THEREAFTER
FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2013, OR THEREAFTER
BY THOMAS D. ELIAS
“SISKIYOU SECESSION MOVE GOING NOWHERE, LIKE ALL THE REST”
It’s secession season again in
California. For the seventh time in the last 27 years or so, there’s a movement
afoot to split the state.
But while most secession attempts have
sought to divide California on a north-south basis, with the divide roughly at
the top of the Tehachapi Mountains between Los Angeles and Bakersfield, the
latest effort – like the two most recent previous ones – involves far more
creative and interesting borders. The previous pair sought east-west splits
along political lines, wanting to take the most conservative-leaning parts of
California away from coastal counties that tend to vote more liberally.
The
newest effort is a completely different twist, even carrying a name: The state
of Jefferson.
This one originates in Siskiyou
County, a mostly-rural, mountainous area bordering on Oregon that is roughly
bisected by the north-south Interstate 5. County supervisors there, confronted
by a roomful of citizens frustrated by what they see as neglect and even
persecution from state government, voted 4-1early last month to leave. They'd
like to take some other Northern California counties and a few from southern
Oregon with them.
Supervisors in some neighboring
counties will probably vote on the idea soon.
If the state of Jefferson were to
become reality, its largest cities might be places like Ashland, Medford or
Klamath Falls, Ore., or Eureka, in Humboldt County. Should it stretch as far
south as Shasta County, Redding would become its metropolis.
Many Siskiyou residents and some in
nearby counties are angry over new gun control laws and firefighting fees being
assessed by state officials in wildfire-prone areas. They also harbor longtime
fears that big cities to the south might one day tap wild and scenic rivers
like Eel, Smith or Trinity. They feel unrepresented in Sacramento, and are
plainly alienated from the freeway-conscious cultures of Los Angeles and the
San Francisco Bay area.
It’s rather ironic that this move
comes while California’s governor, for the first time in decades, is a
significant rural landowner, Gov. Jerry Brown owning a ranch north of
Sacramento.
But the strong odds are that no matter
how intriguing the Jefferson idea may be and no matter how valid the grievances
of the affected area, this state split will go no farther than all the past
efforts.
For one thing, any such split would
have to be okayed by Congress. How many other states will vote, in effect, to
give the present California two more seats in the United State Senate? No other
state wants its clout diluted.
There’s also the likelihood that the
demographic makeup and political leanings of the Jefferson area would assure
election of a Republican governor and legislature, something Democrats now
controlling Sacramento and the U.S. Senate would resist.
These kinds of factors are significant
reasons why there has been no successful state split since the Civil War era,
when West Virginia was formed as a pro-Union state after the rest of Virginia
became the seat of the Confederacy. Feelings may run high today in some places,
but there’s no way an annual fire fee can arouse the same deep feelings as
slavery did a century and a half ago.
This doesn’t mean people in rural
Northern California aren’t sick of being dominated politically by the big
coastal population centers. So the newest state-split advocates have at least
something in common with the 28 previous efforts to split the state since
California joined the Union, mostly spurred by Northern Californians fearing
domination by Los Angeles.
What’s more, secession would require
an overall yes vote from all Californians, very unlikely.
The
bottom line now, as with past state split efforts, is that it’s not going to
happen, no matter how much fun some folks might have while talking up the idea.
But mere talk won’t solve the economic
and political problems of the area. Only better representation in both Congress
and the Legislature can start doing that, but there’s no prospect most of the
current major office-holders whose districts include Siskiyou County will
change or grow more effective anytime soon.
-30-
Elias is author of the current book “The Burzynski Breakthrough: The Most Promising Cancer Treatment and the Government's Campaign to Squelch It,” now available in an updated third edition. His email address is tdelias@aol.com
Elias is author of the current book “The Burzynski Breakthrough: The Most Promising Cancer Treatment and the Government's Campaign to Squelch It,” now available in an updated third edition. His email address is tdelias@aol.com
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