Group pushes splitting the state
Since a farm-friendly plan to split up California was introduced at the World Ag Expo in February, farmers have awaited further news. The plan is expanding.
The group called Citizens for Saving California Farming Industries (CSCFI ) has announced that it is undertaking a full-scale fundraising effort and will immediately accept invitations from service and civic organizations and others to explain how it proposes to split the state.
What the group calls for is a vertical slicing of the nation's third largest state, establishing a boundary that unites the two major population centers in the San Francisco and Los Angeles areas by a narrow strip along the Pacific Coast, but separates both from the inner portion of the present state.
The proposal differs from suggestions made in the past which have proposed a horizontal split with a line drawn from the Pacific across the Sierra somewhere between San Fran-cisco and Los Angeles.
Surprising to most is that each of the new segments contains about the same number of voters, nearly 13 million. The inner portion contains significantly more acreage, making it compatible with agricultural production.
The division proposal came to light following last November's election. Proposition 2 on the ballot dealt with the housing for laying hens, mother pigs and their broods and veal calves. It passed by 63.5 to 36.5 percent, saddling producers of those animals with enormous costs to provide new and expanded animal housing.
Many voters, especially farmers, in the inner portion of California interpreted the vote to mean that voters in the population centers had a severe misunderstanding, perhaps ignorance, of accepted and standard agricultural practices. The vote tally showed overwhelming disapproval of the proposition in the state's inner counties.
Overcoming the apparent incompatibility between urban and rural California has been deemed an enormous task requiring years of disentanglement, with nothing guaranteed. Many feel it is impossible, and the gap might continue to grow no matter how much effort is given to bridging it. The split proposal is more of a bypass than a bridge over the gap.
Enthusiasm for splitting the state even comes from some of the outer reaches of Los Angeles County. The agricultural segment of the county lies north of the San Gabriel Mountains, and voters there seem to be more compatible with an agriculturally oriented state than one that is urban-centered and dominated by the state's largest city and its Hollywood neighbor. The proposed line for the new state splits Los Angeles County.
The immediate goal for CSCFI is to place a proposition on the 2010 ballot that allows voters to approve the two-state concept. That entails both fundraising and gathering signatures. Both are possible as long as efforts begin right away.
The CSCFI folks believe the timing can't be better. California's well-reported fiscal troubles help set the stage for sign-ups and support. That is backed up by the legislature's lack of response to a severe water shortage. The same-sex marriage issue helps divide the state on lines that correspond roughly to those drawn by CSCFI.
The governor unknowingly encouraged the group that seeks splitting the state when he said California is ungovernable. His replacement will be chosen in the November 2010 election that CSCFI is targeting.
Getting there requires money and the moral support of millions. Citizens for Saving California Farming Industries will be glad to hear from those with either or both. The organization can be reached at P. O. Box 3003, Visalia, CA 93278; or at www.downsize ca.org.
If California is as nice as many people think it is, it only makes sense that there should be two Golden States. Might that mean that it (they) will be twice as nice?
Don Curlee is an agricultural writer based in Clovis. His column appears biweekly. E-mail him at agwriter1@sbc global.net.
