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By Miriam Raftery,, Voter's Watchdog columnist
August 4, 2009 (San Diego) – An overflow crowd packed the Mission Valley Library on Saturday, August 1st, when Common Cause hosted a town hall meeting to discuss overhauling the state’s constitution. The government reform group is hosting a series of townhalls throughout California, joining a diverse coalition calling for change in our legislative process. One business-led group revealed plans to put initiatives on next year’s ballot to convene a state Constitutional Convention and rewrite the rules on how we make our laws.
“We believe California’s system of government is fundamentally broken,” Jim Wunderman, president and CEO of the Bay Area Council, said in a statement published the group’s website. The Council represents 275 of the Bay Area’s largest employers ranging from Google to major oil companies, foundations and educational institutions.
“Our prisons overflow, our water system teeters on collapse, our once proud schools are criminally poor, our financing system is bankrupt, our democracy produces ideologically-extreme legislators that can pass neither budget nor reforms, and we have no recourse in the system to right these wrongs,” Wunderman concluded, “Drastic times call for drastic measures. We believe it is our duty to declare that our California government is not only broken, it has become destructive to our future. “ He called for bypassing gridlock in Sacramento by convening a citizens’ Constitutional Convention.
“We all know there’s a crisis in California. The whole world knows about it,” Xandra Kayden, Califiornia government expert for the League of Women Voters, said at the San Diego town hall meeting. “California is one of only three states that requires a two-thirds vote for taxation and budget measures in its Legislature, she noted. “This has resulted n tyranny of the minority. Our tax system is rigid, inflexible, and fosters more inequities than it resolves. We have the lowest bond rating of any state because there is no money and because of our politics—we can’t make decisions. I favor the notion of C Constitutional reform.”
In addition, some argue that it’s time to reform California’s initiative process, which makes it easy for well-funded interests to put costly proposals on the ballot without providing options to fund measures approved by voters.
“If you have a million dollars you can get something on the ballot,” Kayden observed. If you don’t, it’s nearly impossible, as Common Cause discovered when it attempted to get a redistricting initiative on the ballot, ultimately resorting to paid petition gatherers. “Most initiatives are very complex,” she said, adding that many require a yes or no vote instead of being addressed in a process where people can debate the issues and come up with compromises and a consensus.
“The genius of American society throughout history has been our ability to evolve,” said Kayden, who sees similarities now to the “last era of major reform” from 1900 through 1925. Back then, populists, who Kayden described as “small farmers destroyed by the robber barons, big corporations” joined with more urban progressives to enact reforms in a “revolt of both against government power in the hands of private capitalists.” That revolt led to a direct democracy movement in California, including putting power back in the hands of the people through the initiative, referendum and recall processes. Kayden observed wryly, “This “worked pretty well for many years, because it was largely unused.”
Thad Kousser, professor at the University of California, San Diego and a California Common Cause board member, called the movement to reform our state C onstitution “ the big game in town in Sacramento.” To illustrate the scope of the problem, he held up a large volume. “This big book is the California Constitution,” he said, “and the bookmark is the American Constitution. These are very different documents.”
Amending the U.S. Constitution is extremely difficult. By contrast, California provides three steps to amend its state Constitution.
The first is via ballot propositions, which require either a two-thirds vote of the Legislature or citizens amassing millions of signatures to place measures on the ballot.
A second option is a Constitutional Revision Commission set up by the Legislature. But since that requires a two-thirds vote, its odds of success appear doomed. Republicans in the Legislature, though the minority party, have successfully blocked any budget with a tax increase, even on big oil and tobacco products. A blue ribbon commission was set up in the 1990s to propose Constitutional revisions, but its recommendations failed to win adoption.
The third choice is to convene a Constitutional convention. There is historical precedent, since a convention was held back in 1878-79. Under state law, delegates for a Constitutional Convention may be elected, appointed, or randomly drawn in a process similar to choosing jurors. In every case, a majority of California voters must ultimately decide whether to adopt the delegates’ recommendations.
The term “politics makes strange bedfellows” clearly applies to this issue. The Bay Area Council has been joined in its call for a Constitutional Convention by such diverse interests as the progressive Courage Campaign activist group, ethnic organizations and others.
Bay Area Council spokesman Matt Regan told the San Diego crowd how the business-sponsored public policy advocacy group came to the realization that reform was needed. “Last year we went to Sacramento with 40 CEOs,” he said, noting that they made the trip in August after a budget was expected to be passed. It wasn’t – and no legislative leaders would take time out to talk to the group about issues such as water, education, or healthcare. “It was very embarrassing,” Regan recalled. “Senator Don Perata, as he left, said `We need a Constitutional Convention. This just doesn’t work anymore.”
After the Bay Area Council published an editorial in favor of a Constitutional Convention, Regan noted, “our phones rang off the hook.” Some other states regularly hold Constitutional Conventions, he noted, citing Illinois and Hawaii as examples.
Now, he revealed, “We are a month away from language to a) let citizens call a Constitutional Convention and b) decide what form that convention should take. We want it as transparent, open and fireproof as possible,” he said, insisting, “Our goal is not to advance a business agenda.”
He addressed fears that a Convention could lead to a “Pandora’s Box” in which unintended consequences could result, such as changing laws regarding abortion or gay marriage. To prevent that, Proposition 1A would allow the people to convene a Constitutional Convention, while Proposition 1B would limit the Convention to addressing only how the state is governed. “All the social issues will be off the table,” he confirmed. He seeks an “army of volunteers” to help secure 2 million signatures by April 2010 in order to place both measures on the November 2010 ballot.
He envisions a “21st century” convention where the public will be able to watch proceedings online in and engage in online dialogue in what he dubs “reality TV at its finest.” Firewalls would be in place to prevent special interests from wielding influence, with strong penalties for anyone who attempts to lobby delegates, similar to jury tampering prohibitions. Subgroups of delegates could address specific issues, such as how to prevent the Legislature from “picking the pockets of counties and cities.”
Regan believes that all aspects of governance must be on the table, no matter how popular or unpopular the idea of reforming a specific measure may be. That includes such up-until-now sacred cows as Proposition 13 and Proposition 98.
“We represent businesses. We have the most to lose,” Regan said, “but for the good of the state, we ask other interest groups to join us in putting everything on the table, hold hands and jump together.”
One who professes readiness to jump is Gregory Morales from the Mexican American Political Association. “I want to do something radical,” he said, noting that most elected officials have never even read the state’s Constitution. “I read the Constitution and I want to apply Section two, which says the people have the right to rewrite our government.” He believes that the two-thirds rule has been used to “silence people who want good government.”
Morales notes that back in 1878, a key flaw in the makeup of delegates was that no women, Asians or blacks contributed to writing the Constitution. There was one Latino, even though when California became a state in 1849, the population was 40 to 50 percent Latino.
To assure a more diverse representation in a modern-day Constitutional Convention, the coalition led by the Bay Area Council aims to have several hundred people chosen by random draw in each of the state’s 80 Assembly districts, similar to how jurors are chosen. Those several hundred people would in turn elect delegates from among their group to represent their region. The process would include requirements for demographic diversity, as well as representation from all geographic regions.
Not everyone present supported the concept. Richard Rider from the San Diego Taxpayer Association complained that his group was not invited to participate on the panel, which he believes is biased. “What this is all about ie eliminating the two-thirds vote to raise taxes,” he said.
Other audience members raised a variety of questions. “Will working people and military people be protected in their jobs and will there be payment for delegates?” asked Marilyn Riley, an attorney from La Mesa. Yes on both counts, organizers said, though the amount of payment remains to be determined.
A student suggested a requirement be added to assure representation of younger voters.
Asked about the cost of a Constitutional Convention, Regan said it would cost $25-$30 million. But he observed, “Every day that the budget is late costs the state $40 million. If we fix that one problem, we’re far ahead of the game.” He called the Legislature “a toothless, hamstrung body” and added, “We are governed by initiatives with unintended consequences .” Initiatives can mandate spending but not revenues, creating budget shortfalls beyond the Legislature’s control, he observed.
Another audience member expressed concern that randomly selected delegates might lack knowledge of government needed to make informed decisions. To address that concern, delegates would undergo a three-month education process for participating in a Constitutional Convention that could take a full year. “There will be an open dialogue with the people for many months,” said Regan.
Currently, there are also three bills in the Legislature that seek to reform the governing process. SCR 3 calls for a Constitutional Convention. ACR 84 would establish a Constitutional Revision Committee, while AB 4 sets qualifications for delegates to a Constitutional Convention.
Morales, who formerly made his living picking watermelons and took ten years to amass 400 college credits, expressed confidence in the abilities of ordinary Californians to rise to the challenge. “Every one of us can contribute positively to this growing process,” he concluded.
Common Cause San Diego will host another town hall meeting on the Constitutional Convention and other government reform issues on October 3 at the Mission Valley Library.
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