The people have spoken! But what have they said? Well, this being California, we’ll have to wait about a month to find out.
While voting in the Golden State has never been easier, counting the votes has never been harder. In our endless quest to lure our fellow countrymen out of their electoral apathy, we’ve created countless methods of voting, mail-in-ballots, provisional ballots, early voting, vote centers, etc., everything except better candidates.
The task of collecting and counting all these different ballots has slowed the final results to a crawl while opening the door to allegations of hanky-panky which ultimately discourages participation in future election, while inspiring threats of violence against poll workers and election officials. Remember good old paper ballots?
Still, the early returns from the Super Tuesday’s primary contests seem to be playing out as expected: the status quo remains the status quo.
For all the bellyaching on FOX News and talk radio about how rotten California is — homelessness, crime, gridlocked roads and gas prices higher than the deadbeats loitering outside pot shops — We the People voted for the exact same people who got us in this mess, proving once again we love California, warts and all.
Or maybe it means the biggest complainers have already abandoned ship to Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Texas and Florida?
It’s not that those of us who remain are unaware of our rotten roads and sidewalks, failing schools, and gargantuan budget deficits. The disconnect seems to be who’s to blame?
I’m beginning to think it may be my fault.
My track-record of picking winners and giving the thumbs up or down on ballot measures is only slightly better than Chip Kelly’s record as UCLA’s football coach. My traditional voting method follows this formula: A) If the LA Times has endorsed a candidate or ballot measure, I vote against them and B) I never vote for judges unless I’m due to appear before them as a defendant.
The Los Angeles City Council looks like a racket
It’s not that I am uncomfortable with losing. As a life-long Mets fan, losing is my birthright. What baffles me is how I can be so out-of-sync with my fellow Golden Staters. Exhibit A, George Gascón. Really? The top vote getter in the District Attorney’s race? Mr. Get-Out-Of-Jail-Free?
Another confounding race is Kevin de León cruising to re-election to the LA City Council after being caught carving up council districts with the head of the LA County Federation of Labor to benefit himself at the expense of African American voters.
Or the apparent victory of every other incumbent for every office. Is everything that good here? No changes need to be made? What am I missing?
It’s too early to call the Prop. 1 race, Gavin Newsom’s latest cash grab to “solve” homelessness. But even lefty voters were squirrely on this one after watching hundreds of millions blown on “low cost” housing for the homeless that’s averaging $700,000-plus per apartment of Measure H and HHH dough.
Then there was the landslide win for HLA, the unfunded multi-billion dollar fantasy of turning the most car-centric city on earth into a Dutch village of tulip-sniffing bicyclists.
It’s not that I favor Los Angeles leading the league in pedestrian deaths and ugly streets crisscrossed with power lines and billboards. It’s the physical reality of a city that stretches from Chatsworth to Venice. Bikes in LA are recreation, not transportation.
If you’re pedaling to work when it’s 114 degrees in the San Fernando Valley, you better have a shower waiting for you when you get to your cubicle. Or please pick up a can of Febreze with your morning oat milk latte.
Taking away lanes in a gridlocked city to accommodate someone’s workout is absurd. The goal seems to be to make traffic so bad we have no choice but to abandon automobiles. How long before they put sand traps in Ventura Boulevard?
So, despite the non-stop complaining about pretty much everything, even pony rides at Griffith Park, we went to the polls and rehired everyone. The few incumbents termed out will be replaced with ideological clones. For all the talk of “change” and “moving forward” and “new ideas,” the political culture in California is stuck on more of the same.
Doug McIntyre’s column appears Sundays. His novel, “Frank’s Shadow” is available at Amazon.com. Reach him at: Doug@DougMcIntyre.com.
