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(The views of the author are not the responsibility
of Glendale College nor of any other entity; they are solely her
views.)
Does it sound rude to say "Arnold vs Us," and do some colleagues
find it
hard to believe that our state governor somehow is our opponent? Well,
I don't like the concept myself, but the governor's approach to the
special election was quite openly an attack on public employees, and
every single one of us at GCC fits the bill.
We won the first round! The governor's anti-labor, anti-public
education initiatives were defeated, from 74 through 77. Californians
apparently truly disliked this expensive special election, called by the
governor with no one to stop him. They showed their disdain by "just
voting no" up and down the ballot.
FYI, this election cost taxpayers $50 million tax dollars just for
printing, mailing and so forth, plus another $225 million Political
Action Committee dollars from all sides, including plenty of our
contributions as public employee union members.
Despite our shared dislike of this unpopular, unwanted election, we
public servants knew we could not just ignore the issues. So, the
public servants, teachers, firefighters, police officers, nurses, and
others, organized, walked precincts, made phone calls, and gave
money—just to maintain the status quo, folks, that's all we achieved.
We gave and gave, both money and energy, just to keep the rules for
our state budget, legislative reapportionment and union political action
as is. Gee, what a victory!
The battle continues; the governor promises more ballot
initiatives, and the primary for Republican and Democratic candidates
for governor (and for Green and other minor parties, for those who have
abandoned the two majors) takes place in June 2006. Arnold plans to
run, he plans to win his party's nomination, and he plans more ballot
measures to keep us on our toes.
Meanwhile, the Democrats will choose between Phil Angelides, state
treasurer, and Steve Westly, state controller, the two major candidates
for that party's nomination. How much money and dirt will fly before
one of them gets the most votes on primary day next June?
And heads up: Arnold will be back, and next time, among other
goals, he still wants to reduce our pensions (do you want to invest for
yourself, with all the consequences thereof? Or do you prefer our
current STRS and PERS defined benefit systems, both of which have
outstanding track records managing our retirement funds?).
Yes, get ready to defend your pension, your working conditions, the
education budget, etc, etc.
But watch, too, for our own
community college initiative. The California community colleges
are taking the initiative, literally, to create stable funding, to avoid
those annual Prop 98 battles, and to reduce enrollment fees to $20 with
a fee increase option in keeping only with increases in per capita
income.
Early in the new year, we will be asked to circulate petitions to
get that Initiative on the November 2006 general election ballot. Stay
tuned, and don't retire those walking shoes yet!
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