Peter's Quick Guide to the Propositions, Part 1 - Props 19, 20, 27, 21

Prop 19 - Strong Yes! Legalizing Marijuana. Prohibition didn't work for alcohol - people kept drinking, and it financed the rise of organized crime. Funny, but the same thing happened with marijuana. Substance abuse is a serious problem, but criminalizing the user is not the answer. Will there be implementation problems? Yes, but it is still worth saying "No" to our expensively failed drug policy.

Prop 20 - Mild No. Redistricting. In 2008, we passed Prop 11, which shifted state legislative district drawing from the legislature to a new commission, but it has not actually gone into effect yet. Prop 20 would extend the new process to federal congressional districts, too. Since we have not seen how Prop 11 actually works (it sounds good in theory, but may have some issues in practice), it seems a bit early to be extending it to other offices. Let's see how it works first.

Prop 27 - Medium No. More Redistricting. This would repeal Prop 11, and give state legislative district drawing back to the legislature. Of course, the last time the legislature did redistricting they engaged in extreme and shameless gerrymandering that has contributed to our ongoing budget gridlock, and that led to passage of Prop 11 in the first place. Why should we trust them again? Besides, maybe we should see how Prop 11 works before we repeal it.

Prop 21 - Medium Yes. Vehicle Fees for Parks. Parks are good. Higher fees on cars are good (see my entry of July 10 re taxes). Fees on cars paying for parks instead of going towards public transit or air quality or road maintenance is sort of weirdly indirect. And having a specific budget set aside for parks will make budgeting harder still. On balance, while not the ideal approach, it is probably still a good thing.

More Propositions coming soon.