BILL FULTON: California — that big blue state — is also the epicenter of a peculiar form of direct democracy: ballot-box zoning. With the constitution assuring easy access to the ballot, environmentalists, disgruntled citizens, and developers alike swamp the ballot, seeking the end-run around local elected officials. Now, the ballot-box zoning idea may be crossing the state’s red-blue line.
Up to now, there’s been a deep division within California on ballot-box zoning. The “blue” coastal counties — where Democrats rack up huge margins — have been rife with ballot-box zoning for years.
But the “red” inland areas — where Republicans predominate — have not. According to California Planning & Development Report data going back to 1986, more than 700 ballot-box zoning measures have appeared in the last 20 years — but only a few have ever appeared in inland counties. (For more detail, see www.solimar.org/pdfs/growth_mgmt_report.pdf).
Now that may be changing. In fast-growing San Joaquin County seven different measures appeared on Tuesday’s ballot in the cities of Stockton, Tracy, and Lodi. The result was a mixed bag — with, oddly, environmentalists and developers winning out on different issues — but the amount of ballot activity was the most seen in any inland California county in recent years. For the record, San Joaquin County went for Bush, 54%-45% over Kerry. (A complete account of ballot-box zoning results is available at www.cp-dr.com.)
And every indication is that ballot-box zoning will continue to penetrate the California’s red counties. According to polling from the Public Policy Institute of California , some 75% of the state’s residents believe they should be able to vote on important growth issues — and that figure is just as high in the Central Valley as it is in San Francisco and Los Angeles. So stay tuned.
2 Comments
Joel Kotkin in his Sunday op-ed in the Washington Post (9/12/04) took on the much hyped Metro vs Retro debate of the “Great Divide” and suggests that the intellectual elites associated with the Democratic party make it difficult for the Dems to suggest they “feel the pain” of the middle class. He further argues that Dems who argue against sprawl would do better to connect with those who live in the suburbs and sprawl-like housing and articulate economic appeals to the real problems they confront.
As an expert in “boomburgs” do you agree with Joel? Also, do yo think the presidential debate will ever focus on these issues or are we going to be mired in “who is tougher debate” for the next 50 days?
Yes Sam you are right. Thanks for catching the mix-up.