LAKE COUNTY >> Forget about the proposed State of Jefferson. Why have a new state when you can have a new nation?
That’s the view of proponents of a California Republic who say they are tired of their state giving much more to the rest of the country than it gets in return, especially in tax revenues, natural resources and agriculture.
Calexit, the California independence movement, began several months ago but just gained steam with the election of Donald Trump as president-elect.
‘Yes California,’ the organization behind the move, is campaigning to get an initiative on the November 2018 state ballot proposing that California withdraw from the U.S.A. and become an independent country.
The move is being called Calexit, after Brexit, the British voters’ decision to exit from the European Union.
The campaign received scant media attention until after Tuesday’s presidential election results when interest in the group suddenly skyrocketed.
The Yes California Independence Campaign hopes to qualify a citizen’s initiative for the 2018 state ballot that if passed would call for a special election for Californians to vote for or against the independence of California from the United States.
The move generated reactions, mostly bemused, from several officials in Lake County, including Rob Brown, Chairman of the Lake County Board of Supervisors.
Contacted by telephone Monday, Brown said it was the first he had heard of the Yes California movement.
“It probably has as much chance of success as seceding from the continent,” Brown said, referring to the improbability of California falling into the ocean. “It will never succeed.”
As to his personal views on a Nation of California, Brown said, “It’s a joke, I think. I can’t see it as something serious to consider.”
To qualify for the 2018 ballot, supporters of the initiative must collect nearly 400,000 valid signatures of registered voters in the state, neither of which is an easy nor inexpensive task. There have been six previous attempts to get similar initiatives on the ballot but all failed to garner the needed signatures.
Unlike the Confederate States seceding from the Union in the mid-1800s, Yes California plans to legally withdraw from the Union, which is a lengthy and complicated process, something never before attempted by any state.
Should the 2018 initiative pass, another proposal would be placed on the ballot in a special election in the spring of 2019, according to organizers.
Should this second referendum pass, a California congressperson would need to propose an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to allow California to become the California Republic. This would have to be approved by a two-thirds vote in both the Senate and House.
Should all these actions occur — which critics say are highly improbable — the proposed amendment would have to be ratified by at least 38 of the 50 state legislatures.
If the amendment passes, California would then kiss the United States goodbye and start the long process to form its own national government with the capital being Sacramento.
Basically, it’s the reverse of joining the Union, proponents say. While the Constitution has no provision allowing states to withdraw from the Union, it doesn’t expressly forbid such a move.
“It sounds like a great idea if they can make it work,” said Terri Larsen, a community activist from Lower Lake. “At least it’s a great concept.”
Larsen, like many others, said the devil is in the details of how organizers would make the Nation of California work.
“If they have something structural to embrace, like the ideals of what America represents — our freedoms, including freedom of speech, and peace and building community — then I would be 100 percent in favor of it,” Larsen said. “I would just need to see more details of it.”
When told of the hurdles the initiative would have to overcome to happen, Larsen echoed Brown’s comments that it is unlikely to occur.
“The other states would never let us go,” she said. “We’re too valuable to the rest of the country.”
On its webpage, www.yescalifornia.org, the group has a 33-page PDF document outlining its case for independence.
“Being a U.S. state is no longer serving California’s best interests,” Yes California states in the document. “On issues ranging from peace and security to natural resources and the environment, it has become increasingly true that California would be better off as an independent country.”
California has the sixth largest economy in the world, based on 2015 GDP (gross domestic product) figures, according to the pro-independence group that is currently bankrolled by Louis J. Marinelli, an English professor from San Diego.
In making the case for independence, Marinelli states that as a nation, California would spend significantly less per capita on the military than the U.S., money that would go into transportation infrastructure, education and health care.
Also, the California Republic would be better able to manage its natural resources and enact stricter laws protecting the environment, according to the Yes California statement.
With Sacramento as the new nation’s capital, Marinelli expects the city will experience an economic boom as other nations build embassies there.
“This will completely transform Sacramento as local businesses, contractors,
and workers build many of these embassies and the infrastructure that
will be necessary to support them and their staff,” according to Yes California. “The presence of foreign embassies in Sacramento will spur growth in all sectors of the local and national economy. Embassies will help bring more foreign investment and international tourism to California, and improve trade relations.”
The Yes California’s website goes into much detail about the specifics of California becoming an independent country, including trade, immigration, currency and even an Olympic Team.
Several other secession efforts are underway, including one in Oregon and another proposing California, Oregon, Washington and Nevada jointly withdraw from the U.S. and form their own nation.
Multiple emails to Yes California from the Record-Bee requesting an interview had not been responded to as of press time. Their website doesn’t list a telephone number.
