Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone’s proposal that the county lead a campaign for 13 Southern California counties to secede from the state got mixed reviews Friday.
Supervisor Jeff Stone
Stone said in a statement late Thursday that Riverside, Fresno, Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Mono, Orange, San Bernardino, San Diego and Tulare counties should form the new state of South California.
“California was once the world’s fourth largest economy and now struggles to hold on to eighth place,” the supervisor said. “Our taxes are too high, our schools don’t educate our children well enough, unions and other special interests have more clout in the Legislature than the general public. It has to change.”
The creation of the new state would allow officials to focus on securing borders, balancing budgets, improving schools and creating a vibrant economy, he said. The new state would have no term limits for lawmakers, only a part-time legislature and “reasonable” property and sales taxes.
Stone intends to detail his proposal at the Board of Supervisors’ next meeting, July 12.
He unveiled the plan the same day Gov. Jerry Brown signed budget legislation that will divert about $14 million in 2011-12 vehicle license fee revenue from four new Riverside County cities: Eastvale, Jurupa Valley, Menifee and Wildomar. Officials fear the cut will have a crippling impact on the municipalities’ finances.
The county is due millions of dollars in payments from the state for providing legislatively mandated entitlement programs, leading county officials to express reservations about the “realignment” plans included in the 2011-12 budget. Foster care, juvenile offender detention and parolee supervision will be among the responsibilities foisted on localities under realignment.
Stone regularly refers to Sacramento as a “black hole” into which taxpayers’ money is poured with little identifiable return on the investment.
He ran on that plank in his unsuccessful state senate bid last year.
The governor’s press secretary, Gil Duran, dismissed the supervisor’s proposal as “a monumental waste of taxpayer dollars.”
“Most people are normal and will view this as a very strange publicity stunt that will, mercifully, not go any further,” Duran told City News Service. “It’s clearly a joke.”
The aide responded to Stone’s criticism of the state’s politics and spending as so much “whining.”
“If Mr. Stone wants to prove his point, then he can cut his own supervisorial salary in half. He’s got too much time on his hands,” Duran said.
Assemblyman Brian Nestande, R-Palm Desert, acknowledged that secession would pose “a lot of complexities,” but didn’t rule out the possibility.
“This kind of thing has been talked about many times before,” the lawmaker told City News Service. “It’s still an idea worth discussing. We’ve got a state now that is literally unmanageable. The bigger you are, the harder it is to be efficient. The larger you are, the more bureaucracy eats up your tax dollars. It’s better to have a more localized government.”
Stone said he will be recommending that the county’s Executive Office host a meeting with representatives from other counties at the Riverside Convention Center as soon as possible.
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If this is not just a way for Mr. Stone to get attention and he really thinks this is a good idea for our county; I would ask, how will this improve things?
Riverside County seems to have just a much waste in government spending as the state of California or the entire United States of America.
How would Southern California be any different? How would we benefit?
I understand we would not be sending money to sacramento but we would have to send it somewhere. Redevelopment seems to be a black hole of it’s own at the city and county level.
Would Southern California encourage business, have less restrictions, spend money more wisely?
How would it impove things, let’s see. Taxes used for entitlements for millions of LA residents could go toward lowering taxes to encourage business, the massive influx of illegals could be curtailed because the border could be better secured without the stone-walling northerners interfering, two more conservative Senators could be sent to Washington (see good things NOT just for South California), entitlements that currently throw away Billions of dollars on people who aren’t citizens and mostly work under the table (pay no taxes) could be restricted so that South Californian schools could focus on the children of tax payers and other citizens. Yeah, nasus, you’re right; I see little improvement in all that.
I don’t think the counties specified have enough development growth to function as an independent state. Outside of SDC and OC their is just not enough revenue sources. I am pretty sure the counties in the iE have almost 13% unemployment many business have either gone under or left the state outright in the past 3 years.
I think the whole of California needs to get it’s act together. Splitting out will revere fix it.
I don’t see how this helps at all to become a separate state. California needs to get it’s act together as anyone with any sense is looking to leave and move to business friendly and less taxing states.
I think that a lot of companies that have left California because of the state would come back to any of these counties. And it would detere more companies in those counties from leaving. I for one would love to not be a part of the current state without having to move.
Its worth looking at. Sacramento is not together and the fees are going UP, WAY Up. My business could not hold on with another round of higher taxes and fees. Everything we have a budget for has been blown apart and I want to make some money as I work 60 hrs a week and have not had a paycheck for 6 months. Lets take a look, a very hard LOOK!
International Border, International Ports, International Airports, we have a good base to start from. We grow everything and can ship just about anything…Why not!
Hey idiot Jeff Stone, you forgot to add los angeles county. the entertainment indursty in LA alone makes billions of dollars for the state of california and celiberties tax dollars,you want to give it away to northern california. what are you frickin nuts. not only that from santa barber to long beach has alot of wealthy people living in the la county area. Also the long beach and san perdo shipping ports bring in money to the state too as well as major airports too. The list goes on and on and you want to give away tens of billions of dollars. you don’t have a clue jeff, if i were the president i’d fire you just for thinking with your head up where the sun don’t shine.
I thought you were forming a state that would be somewhat devoid of liberals…………if you are going to include the entertainment industry, you are including the biggest group of liberals with a means to lobby to destroy the new state as well. Give them to N. California as the folks you want to include have done a fine job of lobbying for all those liberal ideas for both your state and propaganda for the country! What is being proposed might really work if everyone got behing it, but I don’t like the idea of no term limits. I think that is part of our problem in Washington!
The revenue you’re crying about is a drop in the bucket compared to all the expenditures on welfare, health care, and education for all the illegal aliens living in LA County. Give your head a shake buddy, get some of those ball bearings out of there.
You are missing the whole point, now aren’t you? The idea is to get rid of the socialism and entitlement mindset. To let working people take care of themselves rather than 10 million illegals and other welfare recipients.
“Some guy” wrote, “I am pretty sure the counties in the iE have almost 13% unemployment many business have either gone under or left the state outright in the past 3 years.”
Thanks for proving the point exactly! The socialists in Sacramento have pursued unscrupulous policies that directly result to a bleeding of our business base.
All talk, until it happens.
I would support the effort, but I already know, there is no way his proposal would even be possible.
The only way any of this would work, would be to create Two Regional Governments within the confines of the State of California, Each region being responsible for its own well being. Disband Sacramento, or limit its control to just a tie breaking or emergency vote over the two regions. This would bring Local Control into both North and South Regions within the State of California.
Hi Jeff,
I’m from SDC and more than ready to support your efforts. Let us know how we can help.
Suckers, The politics have been and are just a sucker punch for us tax payers. Millionars, like Einstein here “Jeff Stone Head”, just want more butter for his bread. He’s a selfish sun of a gun just like Bush. That’s why we’re in the red hole. Time to let all this crap go and re-think. I know we can do better than this brainless idea from Mr Flint Stone.
Lo-Lo Land, that wouldn’t happen to be East LA, would it? What’s wrong; worried that without South Californian revenue all those cushy entitlements would dry up; and with a South California government unfettered by the Socialists up north, they may actually get the US-Mexico border relatively secured.
[...] commentLeaving all the old Berkeley burn-outs to their own little tax-and-spend regime? PRICELESS!!!Supervisor Jeff Stone’s proposal for ‘South California’ gets mixed reviewsBy City News ServiceRiverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone’s proposal that the county lead a [...]
I think this is a great idea. It has occured to me that the only way to prove to the liberal/socialist populist that taking from those that work and giving to those that don’t is not fiscally responsible. It’s time for some state to be controlled by totally conservative ideals. That state will grow busines and lower unemployment and improve the core values of its citizens. Property values will go up because people will want to live where they can work and their taxes will be spent to better their lives and that of their family’s, not go to those who don’t contribute.
California’s problems are entirely due to excess population caused by unfettered illegal migration. California taxpayers are burdened with paying for welfare, health care, and education for 15 to 25 million Mexicans. These illegal aliens are an enormous drain on California’s expenditures and most of them earn so little money that their incomes don’t exceed the threshold for paying income taxes. Many of them are paid under the table which deprives governments of payroll taxes. California has been turned into a left-wing quagmire by immigrants who vote left-wing. When you are inundated with left-wingers you get California economic strife. California is America’s Greece. If California can’t get those illegal aliens deported then it’s doomed. California’s battle cry should be “DEPORT OR SECEDE.”
I grew up in Marin County,north of SF. I had a great childhood in the 60′s and 70′s. I went to medical school through the military and spent 17 years taking care of the war injured and their dependents. My wife, who is from the East Bay, and I never thought that we would not return to California. As I completed my military service and had offers to work in any state I chose, California was close to last on my list. The medical and business climate is not conducive to businesses. I ended up staying on the East Coast. People who live in California do not know that there are many other places in the US that are interesting places to live. Are they as pretty as California? Perhaps not. IS the weather as nice as California, perhaps not. But you know what, when you are working, where you live is not that important. You cannot enjoy all that any state has to offer when you go to work and raise a family. What I can enjoy is living where I have lower taxes so that I keep more of my money to reach my investment goals and plan for my retirement. I am the CEO and an owner user of a $10 million a year surgery center and partner in a $7 million a year office practice. I am the exact type of individual that California needs to pay taxes and rebuild the state. Never will I live there. I will visit and go to high school reunions. In the end I will retire in the South in a state that does not tax estates at the time of death. I have not worked this hard and sacrificed so much to do otherwise.
Amen! This a great idea. The 13% uneployment in IE is because of the crappy government from up north. And many of those people commute into LA to work and have been laid off. The north doesnt want this because they want to keep the cash cow that they have in the South. This idea would be the best thing that could ever happen to Southern California. Let it govern itself, and not be forced to act by the crazies up north.