My Election Picks

Printed on: Thu, Oct 19, 2006

Here's my picks on election day

By Kelvin Wade

Here are my picks for the 2006 election. If you're stumped and don't know how to vote, just memorize this column. Or better yet, clip it and put it in your purse or wallet.

Measure J is a keeper. It's not by accident that Solano County cities are separated by rolling hills and large stretches of greenbelt. We've chosen not to look like a homogenous interconnected suburban wasteland. And while I have qualms about doing anything other than a mortgage for 30 years, Measure J will help keep sprawl to a minimum and allow growth (like a new Wal-Mart supercenter in Fairfield) within city limits.

As for the propositions, 1A is a yes. It limits the government's ability to raid transportation taxes. You can be assured that the taxes you pay at the pump go to the projects they're supposed to. As for 1B, 1C, and 1D, they're all lovely ideas. Who wouldn't want better roads, housing for the elderly and disabled, and better schools? But it requires us to put billions on our state Master Card. Save that credit card for an emergency.

That bring us to 1E. It's a toughie. It's a $4.1 billion ($8 billion total) bond that would fix our levees. What if we don't repair them and have a disaster that costs us billions? You make the call.

While Proposition 83 which targets sex offenders will pass, I'm voting no. This law, like an ordinance recently passed by the Suisun City council, prohibits offenders from living near schools and parks. Don't people know that the majority of sex crimes are by relatives and friends in homes and not abductions from playgrounds? But that provision is fine.

I'm for extending the sentences of violent and habitual offenders. The sticking point is the law calls for all felony offenders to wear GPS devices for life yet it doesn't specify who would monitor them. While offenders would bear some of the costs, who pays for the rest? Why not target the GPS devices at violent and habitual offenders?

Proposition 86 imposes an additional $2.60 tax per pack on cigarettes with the proceeds going to the health-care industry. It's for a great cause but the tax is too high. The legislative analyst says that a tax of this magnitude makes it more likely smokers will evade the tax through Internet sales or buying cigarettes at Indian gaming casinos. I've already had smoker friends tell me they plan to do just that.

Why not a fast food tax? It would be fairer, affect more people, raise more money and could be used for similar purposes.

Proposition 87 sounds great. Make oil companies pay for alternative fuel research and forbid them to pass the tax on to consumers. Great idea. Flawed measure. I don't believe for a moment that the oil companies won't find a way to pass this tax on to us. Plus the new bureaucracy the law creates lacks oversight.

Divided government worked at the federal level in the 90s and it's the best hope of getting moderate legislation out of Sacramento in 2006. Re-elect the Governator.

Though Tom McClintock makes a lot of sense when he speaks, I can't see putting a Bush Republican that close to the governorship, so I'm supporting John Garamendi for lieutentant governor. McClintock is too conservative for California.

I'm inclined to let Bruce McPherson (R) keeps his job as secretary of state. John Chiang (D) for controller. Bill Lockyer(D) for treasurer, Jerry Brown (D) for attorney general and Cruz Bustamante (D) for insurance commissioner.

So get out there and be part of the California voting elite. Hopefully, we'll be among the 15 percent who decide the direction of the state.