Remember When Elections Were to Elect PEOPLE?

I had a couple of council members on the show this morning. Opposing views on whether or not the citizens of Ridgecrest should support a ballot initiative that will tell the council to do ANOTHER ballot initiative that let’s us decide if we want an elected mayor. Oh wait, there’s more. Another group yesterday came out with one that is supposed to address the trash issue. (wonder if the city should have done that LAST November) And finally, we hear that a certain retail chain, trying to get a bigger store in town, might do a ballot measure that might cut the appeal process down. And that is just at the city level.

Every time I am step in to vote I am surprised how long the ballot is. They aren’t cut and dried issues either. On some measure to vote against it, you have to vote FOR it! WTF?!?

For those of you not in California, I hear you don’t have as many as we do and that doesn’t surprise me. Occasionally we vote on rather or not our elected officials in Sacramento get a raise. We vote no, and then they vote themselves one 6 months later. Wanna fix the prisons? There’s a vote for that. Save the whales? Yup, there’s a vote for that. We get these BOOKS every year so we can study, so voting isn’t voting, it’s a test.

The bottom line is, when the process stops working, then, and usually ONLY then, do they take it to the people. Isn’t that backwards?