Proposition 77: Not a NICE Mistake

People’s Advocate Chief Executive Ted Costa at the Bear Flag League Summer Conference last weekend.

Yesterday afternoon Superior Court Judge Gail Ohanesian ordered Secretary of State Bruce McPherson to not include Proposition 77 on the November Special Election Ballot.

Flap reported it here with links to the actual order of the court.

Now, the name calling and the excuses begin.

“It removes the underpinning of his most important reform proposal, and I use ‘reform’ in the broadest sense possible,” said Lance Olson, an attorney for the No on Proposition 77 committee, which intervened in the case. “So now we’re going to have a special election over whether teachers are entitled to a hearing after two years or five years. What a waste of taxpayer money.”

He called Schwarzenegger’s political team “the gang that can’t shoot straight.”

But, how Mr. Olson’s union bosses would love to get rid of the Paycheck Protection Proposition 75 and the Teacher Tenure Proposition 76. The unions will have to spend millions to wage a perhaps futile media campaign to defeat these two measures. These are resources which could have been reserved for the 2006 election cycle in an attempt to win back the Governor’s Mansion from the Republican Schwarzenegger.

Ted Costa has his laments, but Flap knows he will BE BACK in June 2006 with a redistricting initiative, if his appeal fails.

People’s Advocate Chief Executive Ted Costa, whose office manager inadvertently sent the wrong version of the initiative to a printer, said he assumes all responsibility.

“It’s not a nice mistake,” he said. “We figure it was a legitimate mistake, an honest mistake, and we figure those differences are very small…. No voter was here saying they were misled by it.

“Reforms go on. We’ve been trying for 20 years to get good, fair districts so the people have a chance to take their government back.

“Next year or the year after, we will be working toward that goal regardless of what it takes, and tomorrow we’ll be working on an appeal.”

Flap asks:

Will the new redistricting measure (should Costa’s appeal fail) for 2006 have a companion measure to change the term limits law?

Will the Democrat Legislative leaders circulate a competing redistricting measure as a poison pill?

Stay tuned.

Technorati Tags: Schwarzenegger, Bill Lockyer, Proposition 77, California, California Special Election, Ted Costa, People’s Advocate

Cross-posted to The Bear Flag League Special Election Page