Local filmmakers Brian Mack and Doug Lamore submitted the video above for the Yes on 21 State Parks video contest. I haven't studied Proposition 21 yet but I am impressed with this tactic to create grassroots support for their proposal.
Go to the website to see other videos and vote.
How are you going to vote on Proposition 21?
I am voting no on prop 21. While it might seem like a good idea to provide a dedicated revenue stream for the state parks here is what I see happening.
1. We vote a new tax on ourselves (Prop 21 Fee) because the legislature has short changed the state parks.
2. With the new funding source in place the legislature feels free to further reduce funding for state parks.
3. The state parks department has to come back to the voters for a “Fee increase”
4. Repeat steps one thru three until the entire parks department is funded by this Fee.
Why don’t we put a proposition on the ballot to charge a fee to support the legislatures free cars and other perks? Let’s see how much support we can get for something like that.
And what is the legislature robbing parks to pay for? Wasteful social programs. Let's cut those and use the savings to fund the parks.
Regardless of everyone's views, at the very least, in the interest of political discourse, check out the ads. As Brian Dennert stated, it's not a bad idea to get people interested in the issue (the video contest), no matter where you stand.
Good comment, Eric. This reminds of the State lottery revenue that was sold to the public as a way to provide increased funding for schools. In reality though it is used as a source of funding to backfill the money that was taken from the schools to fund other programs. It's all a big shell game and, unfortunately, we seem to get suckered into it every time.