LAKE COUNTY — Voters in Lake County were opposed to three propositions that gained statewide approval in the Tuesday general election.
One of the initiatives in question is Proposition 1A, which will authorize the state to issue $9.95 billion to build a high-speed train service linking Southern California counties, the Sacramento/San Joaquin Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. The initiative passed with 52.2 percent of the statewide vote. In Lake County, 54.2 percent of the voters opposed the proposition.
“I was against it because it was way too expensive, and there wasn”t a general need for the services it was supposed to provide, and it”s going to be an ongoing drain on the state budget year after year. And there is no guarantee on any of it. I don”t think they are ever going to come up with enough money to build it,” Kelseyville resident Phil Murphy said.
Lake County Sierra Club Chair Victoria Brandon said the Sierra Club was in favor of the initiative for its green benefits. She said realization of the project is a long way down the road, but called the passage of Proposition 1A an essential first step.
“We think we really need alternatives to gas-guzzling, greenhouse gas-emitting airplanes and cars. In Europe and Japan, high-speed rail lines are successful alternative forms of transportation. One of the things this would incorporate is that it”s designed to run on electricity, which could potentially come from all renewable sources,” Brandon said.
Lake County voters also voted against Proposition 3, which will authorize the state to issue $980 million in bonds, to be repaid from state”s General Fund, to fund the construction, expansion, remodeling, renovation, furnishing and equipping of qualifying children”s hospitals. California voters were 54.9 percent in favor, but Lake County”s voters were 50.5 percent opposed.
“I don”t think many people understand that the pediatric services in Lake County are very limited, and we have to send most children in need of special services to Oakland, UC Davis, San Francisco and other hospitals,” Kelseyville resident Joel Witherell said. He works for the Easter Seal Society Lake County Infant Development Program, which provides early intervention services for disabled children who are three years old and younger.
Witherell said the bond money will allow children”s hospitals that otherwise subsist on Medi-Cal reimbursements and other local money sources to keep their doors open or expand services.
Lake County voters rejected Proposition 11 with 52.3 percent opposed. The initiative passed with 50.6 of voters statewide in favor. The proposition will shift authority for drawing new Assembly, Senate, and Board of Equalization district boundaries every 10 years from elected representatives to a 14-member commission of voters.
Lake County had a 59.5 percent voter turnout in the Tuesday election, with 62.1 percent returning ballots in Supervisor District 1, 51.5 percent casting votes in Clearlake and 59.5 percent voting in Lakeport.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com, or call her directly at 263-5636 ext. 37.
