HASSO HERING

A perspective from Oregon’s mid-Willamette Valley

Secession in California?

Written September 4th, 2013 by

iPad-Siskiyou-County_t607

In Northern California, the Siskiyou County board of supervisors has voted 4-1 to secede from the state of California. It’s a symbolic action that won’t go anywhere. But it highlights a problem in modern America:  For people alienated from the system, there’s no longer a place to go.

Part of what shaped America was that if people didn’t like the way things were going, they could move west. But the frontier has long been gone. What happens in our politics and in the culture now is determined in the big cities, and people outside the centers of power have little to say about anything because they are constantly outvoted.

Siskiyou County, according to a report in the Redding Searchlight, has a Republican majority. But the state is heavily Democratic, so in anything that matters, the people of Siskiyou County are always on the losing side. Here in Oregon, rural counties like Linn are in the same boat, always outvoted on issues like forests or mines.

Since the 1940s, it’s been proposed to form the state of Jefferson out of counties in Northern California and Southern Oregon. The state legislatures and Congress would have to allow it, and they won’t. But there’s something to be said for regions to take drastic steps so their interests are no longer ignored. (hh)





Comments are closed.

 

 
HH Today: A perspective from Oregon’s mid-Willamette Valley
Albany Albany City Council Albany council Albany downtown Albany Fire Department Albany housing Albany parks Albany Planning Commission Albany police Albany Post Office Albany Public Works Albany riverfront Albany schools Albany Station Albany streets Albany traffic Albany urban renewal apartments ARA Benton County bicycling bike lanes Bowman Park Bryant Park Calapooia River CARA climate change COVID-19 Cox Creek Cox Creek path Crocker Lane cumberland church cycling Dave Clark Path DEQ downtown Albany Edgewater Village Highway 20 homeless housing Interstate 5 land use Linn County Millersburg Monteith Riverpark North Albany ODOT Oregon coast Oregon legislature Pacific Power Portland & Western Queen Avenue Republic Services Riverside Drive Santiam Canal Scott Lepman Talking Water Gardens The Banks Tom Cordier Union Pacific urban renewal Water Avenue Waterfront Project Waverly Lake Willamette River


Copyright 2022. All Rights Reserved. Hasso Hering.
Website Serviced by Santiam Communications
Hasso Hering