"We support government reform"
By (see list in letter) | Letter to The Davis Enterprise | February 9, 2012
Re-posted here with the permission of The Davis Enterprise. The original article is at http://www.davisenterprise.com/opinion/letters/we-support-government-reform/
About three years ago, a group of community members in Yolo County banded together to address our shared concerns about the effectiveness of California’s state and local governance. We have conducted a series of forums and workshops involving several hundred residents of our region and featuring leading thinkers on governance reform.
Our mission is to inform each other and the broader public about the critical issues facing our state. We advocate for the alignment of authority, responsibility, resources and accountability necessary to support strong, healthy communities.
Our grassroots organization, known as Saving California Communities, endorses the Government Performance and Accountability Act as consistent with our guiding principles. This measure, sponsored by California Forward (http://www.CaForward.org) and intended for the November ballot, would:
- Require state and local government to set goals, establish performance measures and regularly report progress to the public;
- Prohibit the Legislature from creating expenditures or implementing tax cuts greater than $25 million without identifying funding streams or spending cuts;
- Create a two-year state budget cycle for improved planning and oversight;
- Mandate that all bills be publicly available at least three days prior to a legislative vote; and
- Provide incentives for local governments to act together to create "community action plans" for more effective, efficient and comprehensive delivery of services.
We believe this reform package will stabilize the state’s budget, increase government efficiency and accountability, and restore trust by moving decision making closer to the people.
Public participation and advocacy are essential to mobilizing for reform. To find out more about the GPAA, visit http://www.cafwd-action.org.
In addition to our support for the GPAA, Saving California Communities will continue to promote public dialogue and debate of all proposals to improve the governance of our state. For more information or to join our effort, visit http://www.SavingCA.org.
Members of Saving California Communities including city, county, school and state former and current elected representatives, physicians and health care advocates, seniors, students, parents, educators, social justice advocates, environmentalists and business owners (Names online at www.davisenterprise.com and on file at The Davis Enterprise)
Bob Agee
Jan Agee
Sheila Allen
Barbara Archer
Ruth Asmundson
Frederic D "Rick" Baker, MD
Lisa A. Baker
Michael Bartolic
Janet Berry
Mark Braly
Greg Brucker
Barbara R. Burr
Davis Campbell
Delaine Eastin
Cheryl Essex
David Fleming
Lucas Frerichs
Andrea Friedman
Kari Fry
Julie Gallelo
Rick Gonzales
Michael Harty
Anne Hawke
John Hills
Jim and Karen Hopp
Jan Jursnich
Michael Koltnow
Norb Kei Kumagai
Margaret Lirones
Susan Lovenburg
Joel Mandel
Jerry and Kathy Marr
Karen Mo
Rita Montes Martin
Don Morrill
Karen and David Naliboff
Don Palm
Richard Reed
Craig Reynolds
Gary Sandy
Don Saylor
Jane Schafer-Kramer
Al and Sandra Sokolow
Helen M. Thomson
Sandy Weiss
Daniel Wolk
Pauline Wooliever
Jay Ziegler