Good news, sort of


Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger won't be forcing the cost of the special election onto the counties and cities, as many had feared (and as at least one county clerk had said she wouldn't support without a court order).

He'll be pulling the money directly out of state coffers:

Governor agrees to have state pay for special election
(KXTV) County election officials say they are relieved the governor is vowing to reimburse them for the costs of the special election he called for on Monday.

Yolo County Clerk Freddie Oakley has been an outspoken critic of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's call for a special election, mainly because of the cost to local government. She had spoken to TV reporters, written to newspapers, and contacted the governor personally, begging him to provide the money for a special election if he called one.

Oakley argued that at a time of serious budget cuts, local counties could simply not afford the cost of holding a special election, which Secretary of State Bruce McPherson now estimates will cost nearly $45 million.


Note that McPherson has curiously revised his estimate downward, from $80 million. No explanation has been forthcoming. (I heard a rumor that the original $80 million included localities that were going to have an election that day anyway. If that's the case, I have to say that's a pretty good argument for not counting those expenses against the total, so if anyone can find a source on that, I'd be much obliged.)

In other news, we have a budget deficit, but thankfully, one of the Governor's ballot initiatives covers that. Sometimes you just have to laugh.

One could argue that I'm saying the Governor is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't — that I would have bitched if he'd forced the expense onto counties to avoid deficit spending, and moaned if he spent the money out of the state budget. And one would be right: The special election is a bad idea and a waste of money, regardless of who is spending it.

Posted: Wed - June 15, 2005 at 09:23 AM   | Category:     |   |   | |


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