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Gary, don't lay all the blame for the initiative process at the feet of California voters. I recently left the state after living there for the first 44 years of my life and relocated my family to Washington, where the quality of life is better and the schools actually have funding. My wife and I saw the writing on the wall long ago.
But the misbegotten ballot initiative idea has also been terribly abused by legislators eager to abdicate their responsibility to make tough decisions to the voters, who elected them and pay their salaries to make said difficult calls. Cases in point: the raft of propositions that failed in May that were intended to help balance the budget. Those were promoted by the governor and legislature to get them off the hook for cuts and tax increases. Schwarzenegger tried to pass a hatful of other measures just after he took office and received an electoral smackdown from the voters.
The point is, the entire initiative process is broken beyond reason. It's become a joke, whether the props originate with voters or the government. Special elections, which seem to occur every year, cost $70 million according to March Fong Eu, the former secretary of state. The whole thing is a joke no matter which side of the gavel you're on. And I really don't see what California can do. I'm glad I got my family out in time.
