A Design Flaw In California Government

During the evening rush hour on August 1, 2007 the eight-lane steel truss arch bridge that carried Interstate 35W across the Mississippi River in Minneapolis collapsed into the river and onto the riverbanks beneath, killing thirteen people and injuring 145. The likely cause of the collapse bridge was determined to be a “catastrophic design flaw.”

California’s existing method of operation is like the I35W bridge prior to that tragic day in 2007. The most recent economic pressure on our state has exposed potentially catastrophic structural flaws in the current form of state governance. It is clear to any objective observer that the state is about to fail – and fail catastrophically – in the foreseeable future. As with the I35W bridge, the result of such a failure will be remembered in terms of it’s impact on human lives. A generation of California’s young people will be deprived of decent childhood development programs, quality educations and affordable, accessible health care.

Both the social and physical infrastructure of California is deficient and continues to degrade. It is no exaggeration to say that the health, welfare and safety of our society are endangered.

“California has become ungovernable” has evolved from an observation to a cliché. A package of initiatives that allegedly would have put a two or three year patch over the state’s structural budget flaw was put on the May 19^th ballot by the Governor and legislative leaders. Almost 70% of Californians who bothered to vote cast their ballots against the thinly veiled gimmick. Those who did not vote showed their disapproval, or more likely, disbelief, by not even participating.

The state now stares into a $24.5 billion budget hole. As the Governor and the legislature play more political games, California faces the possibility of literally going broke. This is the same California that once had the 6^th highest gross domestic product in the world. It is a sad state of affairs.

With yearly budget shortfalls that result in annual program cuts and elected officials who are either inept or worse, there is a growing movement advocating the revision of California’s Constitution to fix the state’s existing structural failings. To make substantive changes to the Constitution, a Constitutional Convention must be convened. That’s where rational thought meets political reality.

The California Constitution specifies a Constitutional Convention be called by a two-thirds vote of both houses of the legislature and submitting the question to the voters. Making the unlikely assumption that a majority of voters agree that the Constitutional Convention is a good idea, the legislature is then required to provide for the Convention within six months. “Provide for” includes adequate funding for the operation of the Convention. In 1962, the electorate approved the creation of a California Constitution Revision Commission, which worked on a comprehensive revision of the constitution from 1964 to 1976. There is no chance that a legislature that seems genetically incapable of producing a balanced budget would provide adequate funding to overhaul a system that benefits only the existing interests that gain from a continued stalemate.

The structural dysfunction in Sacramento permeates every aspect of governance and will likely preclude any prospect of the State Legislature acting on a Constitutional Convention or any other meaningful reform. Our elected officials appear to have lost the ability to balance the competing interests of this diverse state. Further, given a status quo that benefits only them, there is no motivation for reform, even when faced with the collapse of government.

Returning to the I35W analogy, it is as if the engineers have inspected the bridge and have determined that failure is imminent. The bolts are rusted through, the gussets are loose and the bridge shudders with each passing vehicle. To close the bridge now and make the necessary repairs will cost money and require a difficult detour. To delay will cost many times more. Unfortunately, those with the obligation to fix things are more occupied with what they can obtain from the last few vehicles that will cross the bridge before it fails than they are with doing what it takes to prevent an entirely avoidable disaster.

Since there is no chance that a Constitutional Convention will be convened or funded as stipulated in the State Constitution, the only possibility of repairing this broken system is to circumvent it. Ironically, it is the often-criticized initiative and referendum process included in the state’s unwieldy constitution that is the most likely avenue for reform it.

Already, an organization called Repair California is working to establish a broad-based grass-roots coalition to create what they claim is a workable initiative and Constitutional Convention process. Let’s hope that the damage is not yet irreparable, because the bridge is beginning to collapse and it’s rush hour for California residents.

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Tom Murray contributed to this piece. Tom is a member of the San Luis Obispo Local Agency Formation Commission, a Board Member of SLO GreenBuild and has worked with Crotty Consulting Inc. on a range of issues, including public infrastructure and resource conservation.