A Desert Sun editorial today took umbrage at 2 ballot initiatives that will take place in Palm Springs this fall citing as a reason, their objection to governance by the initiative process. I totally agree with this stance. Not on the ballot propositions per say but on the initiative process. Rife with hypocrisy in the Coachella Valley, this process has been overused by all parties whether they be citizens business or municipal governments.
For their part, municipal governments almost always oppose any citizen or business initiatives on the ballot. The first thing they cite is the cost of placing measures on the ballot. Of course when they place an item, the cost of ballot printing disappears. Plus when municipalities put issues on the ballot, they also usually start a "neutral" public information campaign. Mostly complete propaganda, these rival only the Pyonygang Times in terms of believability. The "educational" materials I saw from Palm Springs on Measure J a few years back were not exactly overwhelming in the credibility department.
The citizens initiatives usually fall into 2 categories.
1.) Those that are pushed by single issue commercial interests such as developers or the vacation rental agency. Essentially, they are seeking a veto of an unfavorable council action.
2.) Those that are pushed by good government groups when faced with a recalcitrant city council. A good of example of this is the 3rd place finisher rule in Palm Springs. There had been a lot of nonsense and games in the late 90's regarding the city council. This cleared up a lot of that. As a matter of fact Ginny Foat got her start on the Palm Springs city council via a citizen initiative passed back in 2001 which elevated her to the city council in 2003 as a 3rd place finisher.
While decrying governance by initiative, it is important to realize that the real villain is not the individual proposal but the process itself, It needs reform. It probable never happen.
Steve Kelly can be reached at sveicker12@gmail.com
