Our fences are falling down, as is to be expected, as they are
17 years old. The fence to the south leans; our neighbor is going
to check his garage for a bag of concrete that he thinks may be
there, and I am going to buy a post.
Our fences are falling down, as is to be expected, as they are 17 years old. The fence to the south leans; our neighbor is going to check his garage for a bag of concrete that he thinks may be there, and I am going to buy a post. We think that if we replace one rotted-out post, the fence itself may be induced to stand another five years.
Our fence to the north is in worse shape, as our neighbor there is rebuilding his garage, one wall of which has served as 25 feet of the fence for time immemorial. Now the remains of the wall are propped up on 2×4’s.
I told Clemente that we would pay for half the cost of replacing the fence, and he said, “Yes, let’s do that … next year, when I have the money.”
See, that’s what ordinary people do, when they are cut to 80 percent of their salary, as our family was, or when they have to make substantial home repairs, as our neighbors to the north and south do. They budget. They decide what they can afford. They do it. And when they have the money, they do the next bit.
Not so the state of California, nor our local taxing agencies. They have yet to learn that when times are tight, one tightens one’s belt, reduces spending, makes do, works harder. I am going to help them learn this valuable lesson by voting no on practically everything this March 2.
Prop 55 wants $12.3 billion in bonds, which means that taxpayers will have to pay them off to the tune of $24.7 billion. Insane. Vote no.
Prop 57 wants $15 billion, so that our state can borrow money to pay off our deficit. The result will be to increase our deficit and postpone paying it off. If, on the other hand, the state were to tighten its bloated belt and reduce spending by 13.4 percent, the entire deficit would be paid off in 18 months, probably about the time Clemente and I can afford a new fence.
Prop 58, the so-called Balanced Budget Act, does not balance the budget. It does permit more short-term borrowing. Voting no on this measure is like refusing to co-sign for a spend-aholic.
Prop 56 is the most nefarious of all the state measures. It lowers the requirement that new taxes be approved by a two-thirds vote to a mere 55 percent. Californians have repeatedly demonstrated that when a tax or bond is deemed necessary, two-thirds of you will show the old curmudgeons like me who is boss and pass it.
Decreasing the requirement to 55 percent will give us higher taxes, sure as water flows downhill. Grandparents will retire in Nevada to escape confiscatory property taxes. Tax revenues will fall as companies flee and the gainfully employed follow them. The Golden Goose will be cooked, once and for all.
Regional Measure 2 increases bridge tolls. Eighty-nine percent of the money collected will fund mass transit. Unfair! Eighty-two percent of local trips are made in cars; 12 percent by foot or bicycle; only 6 percent by tax-financed, government operated transit. If we need transportation, it is roads and bridges, not BART.
Measure B will strengthen the library, so that it can continue to ignore the parents and taxpayers who want no porn for kids in our public libraries.
Measure E will buy computers and make repairs at Gavilan College. Unfortunately, their computers are considerably better than mine; their buildings are half as old, and they could do the required maintenance and repairs within their existing budget, and defer the wish-list until next year, like Clemente and me.
Measure A would change the person who runs Juvenile Hall. Instead of being appointed by a judge of the Juvenile Court, he would be appointed, supervised, directed, and if necessary, suspended or removed by the county executive. Measure A would also establish an advisory committee, but does not stipulate that they would have any actual power.
Just on the face of it, Measure A looks like a turf war between the county and the judiciary. I will probably vote no. No on everything is easy to remember.
