Thread: Fmr CA Assemblyman wants to split California into 2 states

Maze wants to split California into two states
BY DAVID CASTELLON • dcastell@visalia.gannett.com • February 12, 2009


When his final term as a California assemblyman came to an end at the start of the year, Bill Maze could have quietly headed off to do other things.


But in the past couple of days at the World Ag Expo, Maze, of Visalia, has been busy shaking hands, talking to people and passing out pamphlets, much like a politician seeking votes.


This time he's not seeking them for himself but for a cause: Splitting 13 counties along the California coast into a separate state.


They are: Marin, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Benito, Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angles counties.


"We need to talk to people up and down California," Maze said, trying to drum up support for a group called Citizens for Saving California Farming Industries.


He formed the nonprofit with three men who approached him in mid-January with the idea of splitting the state.


They were Don Curlee, an agricultural journalist who writes a weekly column for the Times-Delta; Joe L. Neyer III, publisher of California Farm Equipment magazine; and Virgil Rogers, a retired farmer operating a small cattle ranch in Springville.


They have an ambitious goal, but one Maze insists can be done: Put an initiative on the state ballot to split off a 51st state.


That new state — "Coastal California" or "Western California" are a couple of names Maze suggested — would include three of California's four most populous cities: Los Angeles, San Jose and San Francisco.


San Diego, the second most populous city, would remain part of the 45-county California, which Maze believes should retain its name.

Maze and his associates aren't the first to propose splitting California.


One of the most famous attempts occurred in the early 1940s when a group of Northern Californians, tired of promises for new roads and bridges from the state legislators that didn't come, attempted to join two California and two Oregon counties into the State of Jefferson.


They even elected a governor in a non-binding vote. But the effort came to a halt after the start of World War II, though there are still signs at the Siskiyou County line welcoming travelers to the "State of Jefferson."


Much of the reason for the split, Maze says, has to do with the amount of power the 13 coastal counties have to control California despite encompassing only a small part of the state geographically — particularly, San Francisco and Los Angeles.


"We've got L.A. County, which ... takes most of [California's] money for public services and education and the list goes on," Maze said.


Then there's San Francisco and the Bay Area counties, which he said have spearheaded radical policies that have hurt business, particularly farming — including restrictions on planting genetically engineered crops — and San Francisco gets its water from the eastern part of the state extremely cheap because of its political clout, Maze said.


With the sheer number of people in Los Angeles and the Bay Area, he said, "You have a greater number of individuals elected to state office.


"The rest of the state can't outvote them."


One example of that influence Maze offered was Proposition 2, posing restrictions on animal confinement. California voters passed it in November even though it could put dairy and meat producers out of business, said Maze, a former farmer.


He added that 41 counties voted against Proposition 2, but it still got enough votes to pass. Rogers said the passage of Proposition 2 prompted him to talk to Curlee and Neyer.


Nearly two months later, they approached Maze, who was out of the State Assembly at the first of the year because of term limits.


Maze says he has friends in the California Legislature who support the proposal. He wouldn't identify them.


Nor would he say if any Tulare County politicians have expressed support.


As Maze passed out brochures at the Ag Expo, there were skeptical looks, but several people stopped to listen, among them Mike Croxen, 23, of Madera, who grew up working on his family's Gilroy ranch and now works with cows and calves.


"I think it's a pretty good idea," he said, after speaking with Maze and getting a baseball cap and T-shirt with the group's icons.


Al Hearne, a retired teacher from Springville, called out, "There's going to be a new state," as he walked by Rogers, his neighbor.


As for the enormous logistics of splitting up California and dividing assets, roads, bridges, services, law enforcement and infrastructure, Maze insists "Those are administrative, mechanical things. Those can be done."


When asked how the two states might split California's enormous $40 billion-plus debt, Maze said the 45 counties are more fiscally conservative, so "I bet they these people will say, 'We take the debt,' and will pay it off in two or three years."


"Too many taxes, too much control, too much bureaucracy. Conservatives don't have a voice. The two larger cities [Los Angeles and San Francisco] control the state," he said later. "The agriculture and conservatives don't have a vote."


Maze, who estimated he spoke to about 1,500 people and passed out more than twice as many flyers and pamphlets by Wednesday afternoon, said about 400 people signed up to be on the group's e-mail list.


Maze said he, Neyer, Rogers and Curlee have put up $10,000 of their own money to get things started.

http://www.visaliatimesdelta.com/apps/p ... /902120331

Maze says he has friends in the California Legislature who support the proposal. He wouldn't identify them.

Really Mr. Maze? You better double check on that to make sure your "friends" in the California Legislature understand your intent is to create two states, NOT COUNTRIES, with mexico being one of them!

Gerrymandering on a grand scale.

How about if San Francisco and Marin Cos. split off and join red China?

I think China would reject SF and Marin County on the grounds that they (SF & Marin) are "too" communist!

"We've got L.A. County, which ... takes most of [California's] money for public services and education and the list goes on," Maze said.

Hmmm....gee, I wonder why?

This will gain attention and more states will look at just those options. Many states in the past have entertained such ideas. My state included. Until those in the urban areas understand that there are other people with other ideas in rural areas with a different set of circumstances and another world view this will only garner more attention. JMHO

If this were to gain traction in my state I would jump up and down with joy.

I can't remember the percentage of the population in this country that lives in cities or suburbs compared to rural areas, but, it has gained through the years and the trend is expected to continue world wide. This means that the folks in the rural areas will be under represented from lawmakers and will fall to the whims of those who live in the cities and have no idea of the hardships that they create on the rural way of life.

Folks in rural areas have a real desire to 'cling to their guns and religion.'

Originally Posted by vortex

Gerrymandering on a grand scale.

already going on .... which is why the state is in such a mess---those liberal representatives make sure their districts remain favorable to them.