Prop 31: The Hidden Deception Behind Budget Reform

To the editor:

Proposition 31 has been given the formal title of “Government for Performance and Accountability” which means it has been worded so that those that do not have the time or the interest to do the research will vote for it, thinking that politicians in our state government will finally be held accountable.

It has all the right buzzwords:

• Budget Reform
• Transparency
• Accountability
• Improved Government

However, this Constitutional amendment is deceptive by design, as it will effectively remove the California citizens right to control their local government. You are being asked to vote away your right to decide how and what your tax dollars will be spent on in your local community by creating  ‘voluntary’ regional, unelected committees to determine the ‘best’ use of your tax dollars.

These County Regional Committees will be responsible for the collecting of local tax monies from the smaller cities and bedroom communities in their county and will decide how best to “pool” your local tax dollars so that it can be doled out to financially struggling schools, cities, counties, etc.

This is called "Regionalism” that will remove local representation and eliminates borders between towns and counties. In California, we already have regional governments that are known as MPO's (Metropolitan Planning Organizations) or COG's (Council of Governments) and go by the names of SanDAG (San Diego Association of Governments), SCAG (Southern California Association of Governments), and ABAG (Association of Bay Area Governments) plus others.

These organizations are responsible for planning and implementing SB375 – The Sustainable Communities and Climate Protection Act of 2008 which is a planning process to implement transportation, housing, and GHG emissions tied to AB32 – the California Global Warming Solutions Act.

These COG's are instrumental in implementing, through enforced compliance of their policies and regulations, sustainable development, urbanization, social inclusion, poverty eradication, and decentralized cooperation seen with the California Energy Commission (CEC) and the California Air Resources Board (CARB).

You are already seeing a portion of our tax dollars, instead of being directly used by the taxpayers to maintain their local communities, being packaged into “Grants”. They are usually promoted as though they were a gift of free money, however we all know that nothing is free and the redistribution of our tax dollars in the form of  these “Grants” comes with strings attached, to assure compliance from the local government representatives.  

Prop 31 will give appointed members of these County Regional Committees a state “Constitutional” right to redistribute our local tax money as they see fit. So your local tax dollars may end up in San Diego’s school system in order to provide social and economic “equality”, or in San Ysidro for low income housing development, or in Alpine for the compliance and effective management of their sprinkler systems that use reclaimed water supplies, while you wait for a group of unelected bureaucrats to decide when Santee will be able to receive their “Grant” to maintain our community.

The Official San Diego County Republican Voter Guide shows the state's GOP endorsing Prop 31 based on the so called “budget reform “distraction. However, Republican groups around the state such as the California Republican Assembly (CRA) and the California Republican Women Federated have sent out mailers and emails that state they are OPPOSED, as this Constitutional amendment’s purpose is to take from the citizens our basic individual rights and freedom to control OUR local government.

Vote NO on Prop 31! Once implemented, it will be next to impossible to reverse, and our rights as citizens to control our local government will be gone forever.

- Maggie Acerra, Candidate for Santee City Council