Has California Governor Jerry Brown lost his way? Has he gotten so pumped up with some success that he has forgotten how the system is supposed to work?
These questions come from a guy who used to feel that the Oakland Mayor, and then Governor the second time was pretty much spot on regarding most subjects. He seemed to be pretty grass roots and common sense oriented. He usually was able to make sense. I used to interview him every Thursday on the air and it was one of the highest rated segments of our whole week…week after week.
Well he sat down with the editorial board of the San Jose Mercury News and the first issue was water. He has been a proponent of digging the tunnels under the Delta in Northern California and shipping water south to farmers (they need water), and then to Southern California (that one, the jury’s out…they traditionally have gotten water from the Colorado River in Arizona). He helped get a bond measure passed to build more water storage but even his Democratic colleagues didn’t get the twin tunnel Peripheral Canal idea as part of that bond. Now, this is the third time the Brown family has tried to do this. His dad had the idea first. That finally came to fruition as it was put on the ballot in 1982 as Proposition 9. It went down to defeat. It failed again a decade or so later to even get on the ballot, and now Brown has resurrected it. This time he says he will go around the legislature and the voters to do it. He says he’ll just do it. Really?
Seriously, didn’t you Mr. Governor criticize Arnold Schwarzenegger when he called the legislature “girlie men” and went around them to do stuff like the vehicle fee increase. Now you want to ignore the voters? Hmm. He says he wants to do it to protect the Delta. How does digging trenches underground and pumping water around a body of water that already suffers from salt intrusion, help the environment? It robs the natural flow of water from the “high country” through the Sacramento River. Seriously?
He also mentioned that he supports the President of the California Public Utilities Commission Michael Peevey who is accused of cozying up to the utilities that he regulates.
The Governor also says he is going to push through the Bullet Train. The train that leads from Modesto to Bakersfield. A shell of what was proposed and for which we voted.
Maybe we get some perspective in his response to the question of why he won’t debate his Republican opponent for governor Neel Kashkari. He said, “In the big picture, not only am I not indicted (a dig at Texas Governor Rick Perry), but I’m doing a hell of a job.” Wow…even if you do say so yourself. Oh, Mr. Governor, since you brought up indictments, wasn’t Governor Perry indicted on abuse of power charges? Hmm. Be careful of the voters, at least some of us are watching. Make Sense?
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