Opinion

In 1791, Tom Paine, wrote, in the “Rights of Man,” ‘The county of Yorkshire, which contains near a million souls, sends two county members; and so does the county of Rutland which contains not a hundredth part of that number. The town of Old Sarum, which contains not three houses, sends two members; and the town of Manchester, which contains upwards of sixty thousand souls, is not admitted to send any. Is there any principle in these things?’

In 1832, by act of British Parliament, The Representation of the People Act of 1832 was made law. One of the reforms of the Act, was to eliminate “rotten boroughs” and redistributed representation to the citizens.

Rotten boroughs were a product of an ossified system resistant to change, one where fathers passed on constituencies to their sons as if they were personal property.

These electoral districts had a very small electorate and could be used by a patron to gain undue and unrepresentative influence within the House of Commons.

In 1964, The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that state legislative districts must be apportioned on the principle of “one man, one vote.”

In an 8-to-1 decision, the court upheld the challenge to the Alabama system, holding that Equal Protection Clause demanded “no less than substantially equal state legislative representation for all citizens ...”

Noting that the right to direct representation was “a bedrock of our political system,” the court held that both houses of bicameral state legislatures had to be apportioned on a population basis.

Chief Justice Warren wrote that “legislators represent people, not trees or acres” and “legislators are elected by voters, not farms or cities or economic interests.”

So, here we are in Lake County in 2015, being asked by radical secessionists to rewind our democracy 200 years into the past.

The foundation of a republic is based on power residing in the people, and the government is ruled by elected leaders run according to law, rather than inherited or appointed from divine mandate.

The leaders of the secessionist movement are proposing a return to feudalism by establishing a new state whose government would look like the pre-Reform Act of 1832 United Kingdom.

Their proposal for the government of this new state elect two state senators from each county.
(source: http://www.soj51.net/resources.html ).

In this new “State of Jefferson,” Sierra County with 3,000 citizens, would get two senators and Placer County with close to 400,000 citizens would get two senators.

How is this in any way, fair and equal representation for the citizens who live in those counties?

One man, one vote and the right to direct representation is the foundation of our democracy.

So, to the secessionists, again, “Is there any principle to this thing?”

Becky Curry lives in Kelseyville, Calif.

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Written by: Becky Curry

Published: 28 February 2015

As we wait for a supposed amendment at the next Board of Supervisors meeting to the petition for the State of Jefferson, apparently they see it as a fait accompli. 

The SOJ Web site – http://www.soj51.net/lake.html – indicates that Lake County, in a 4-1 vote on Feb. 17, 2015, joined the petition.

The vote was actually 3-2, and the process isn't completed yet.

This propaganda is just one more example that this entity needs to be stopped in its tracks here in Lake County.

It affects every man, woman and child, and a vote by the people should be held before ANY action on the petition happens.

Cindi Koehn lives in Kelseyville, Calif.

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Written by: Cindi Koehn

Published: 27 February 2015

I called the offices of Mike McGuire and Bill Dodd, our new representatives at the state level, to let them know that I am pleased to see that they are making good on their campaign promises to us here in Lake County and are working to get us money to manage our lake (AB 367 to the tune of $2 million) and another piece of legislature aimed at recouping tax monies from the state for properties that are state or federal lands and, as such, do not generate local property tax revenues.

I was interested to hear that both legislators are paying a lot of attention to what is happening here with the Lake County Board of Supervisors and the notion that the county may want to break away from the state of California. 

You've got to wonder at the timing of this move on the board's agenda.

If I were a representative of a community and trying to get some benefits for that community, I would be disheartened to say the least if I heard that the group I was representing was considering leaving the legislative body in which I was representing them while I was working to convince other legislators get them some benefits.

One of the important statements I heard candidates make in this last election is that the state is not interested in making grants to entities who cannot get along with each other. This makes sense as who wants to fund someone else's fight! You want to put your resources where they will do some good.

One of the pieces of news I heard from Dodd's office is that he is working to get relief for low income citizens on their water rates. Wow!

So maybe it would be a good idea to give these new state representatives a chance to make good on their promises; they seem to be serious about helping us here in Lake County.

At the very least we should not undermine their efforts in the middle of the stream, so to speak.

If you want to encourage more and better representation from your state elected officials, you might contact Mike McGuire's office at 707-576-2771 and Bill Dodd's office at 707-552-4405 and tell them you appreciate the effort they are making on your behalf.

Suzanne Lyons lives in Clearlake, Calif.

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Written by: Suzanne Lyons

Published: 25 February 2015