Repair California, the Bay Area Council, and the Full Circle Fund got a pretty decent crowd last night as they called for a California constitutional convention. The L.A. Times has done the same, so this is quite a movement, huh?
San Francisco: Repairing California: Time for a Constitutional Convention
Tuesday, August 11, 2009, 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
The mise-en-scene. Left early but let’s call this a crowd of 300-something, all told, at the PG&E Auditorium on Beale Street last night:
Amy Lesnick of the Full Circle Fund:
Is this another Bear Flag Revolt, like we had in 1846?
And, of course, noisy PopChips were laid out everywhere, just like at the premiere of La Mission in Le Castro Theatre.
A little history:
“In response to a budgetary crisis, several prominent individuals and political organizations are calling for a new constitution. The Bay Area Council, a public-policy advocacy organization, issued a press release in August of 2008 to launch the idea, and co-sponsored a symposium on the subject on February 24, 2009.
A coalition calling itself “Repair California” was formed in 2009 to continue the push for a California constitutional convention. The group plans to submit its proposed measures to the Attorney General by September 25, 2009. This is the first step in the process, after which signatures are solicited from voters.The plan is to obtain the two-thirds majority vote in the legislature and place a new constitution on the ballot for the November 2010 election.
Repair California states that a consensus is emerging to reform these areas:
- The structure of governance, particularly the legislative and executive branches
- The processes for initiatives and referenda
- Campaign finance
- Term limits
- Changing to the two-thirds requirement for passing a budget
- Revenue distribution, particularly between localities and the state”
Who were the speakers and who was there? Find out, after the jump. (more…)
