{"id":523111,"date":"2010-04-11T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-04-11T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sacbee.com\/2010\/04\/11\/2668465\/prop-16-would-protect-taxpayers.html#mi_rss=Opinion"},"modified":"2010-04-11T03:00:00","modified_gmt":"2010-04-11T07:00:00","slug":"prop-16-would-protect-taxpayers-from-power-grabs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/523111","title":{"rendered":"Prop. 16 would protect taxpayers from power grabs"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\t<\/a>
\n\t
\n\tWillie L. Brown Jr.,
\nformer speaker of the
\nCalifornia state
\nAssembly and mayor
\nof San Francisco,
\nis an attorney whose
\nclients include Pacific
\nGas & Electric Co.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

California’s taxpayers deserve transparency when it comes to their money, especially in today’s economic environment. The state has tallied up $145 billion in debt, and an annual budget deficit of $20 billion threatens cuts to critical services and jobs on the state, county and local levels. Decisions to take on additional debt or use taxpayer money to fund big programs – such as a government takeover of electricity service – need voter input. That’s why we need to vote yes on Proposition 16 on June 8. <\/p>\n

Current law does not require voter approval if local leaders want to use public money to develop the complex systems necessary to provide electric service. Proposition 16 fixes this omission, giving voters a voice. This initiative requires a two-thirds majority vote before municipal leaders can incur public debt or spend public money to start up a municipal retail electricity business, using the same standard as hundreds of other special tax or bond situations. <\/p>\n

As a former mayor of San Francisco, I can tell you from firsthand experience that involving the people in big decisions like funding large municipal utility programs is critical. Not only will they participate in such programs by receiving utility services, but they’re paying for the development of the business itself. And if those programs fail, they are on the hook for a bailout. <\/p>\n

Having benefited from the input of the voters during my years as mayor, I can also tell you that California’s voters know a good plan when they see one. They can discern between a well-constructed plan that will work and one that is not well formed or that takes unnecessary risks with their money. And local leaders need the community’s input. Large public programs are always far more visionary – and far more expensive – than expected. Since the voters are paying for it, better to get their permission up front than make the decision blindly and have a mess on your hands that the taxpayer has to fix if it fails. <\/p>\n

Proposition 16 promotes transparency and ensures that the voters have a voice when it comes to how their money is spent. It requires that a local government that wants to run the complicated delivery system necessary to provide electricity must go to the voters to lay out its case and prove it can build a system that works. Then voters can either give their permission to spend their tax dollars or incur additional public debt, or not. <\/p>\n

Proposition 16 doesn’t decide on public power or no public power – it just makes sure that the question is in the hands of the voters, where it belongs. <\/p>\n

California’s leaders are doing their best to manage some tough economic times. With the economic climate as tough as it is, investing blindly in risky new businesses just makes it that much harder on everyone. Leaders need the input of the people they serve. If they are going to spend the taxpayers’ money or take on additional debt, they should be required to get voter approval first. Proposition 16 does just that – it’s just good sense.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Willie L. Brown Jr., former speaker of the California state Assembly and mayor of San Francisco, is an attorney whose clients include Pacific Gas & Electric Co. California’s taxpayers deserve transparency when it comes to their money, especially in today’s economic environment. The state has tallied up $145 billion in debt, and an annual budget […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4325,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-523111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4325"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=523111"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523111\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=523111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=523111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=523111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}