This election year, there are a bunch of things on my local ballot in San Bernardino County, which is where Joshua Tree is, that were a challenge for me to understand. This post is my attempt to make sense of it - and to share my research, and my opinions.
Offices
President & Vice President
Kamala Harris & Tim Walz
There are tons of problems with this ticket - but at the end of the day, the presidential office shouldn't be as important as it has seemed lately. A vote for Kamala, for me, is a vote against giving more power to the highest offices, as her opponent has made it clear that he would attempt to turn the US into an authoritarian state with him as dictator, which is an undesirable power concentration, and we know the Supreme Court will not offer resistance. In my opinion, regardless of your politics, this one is mandatory.
US Senate
Adam B. Schiff
This one is harder. Adam is a genuine asshole and worked extremely hard to boot a better democratic candidate (Katie Porter) off the ballot during a primary. I think he jeopardized CA's seat in doing so, but the seat becoming red would be a reliable vote for some especially unsavory shit, so this douchebag gets my vote. It's likely going to be close, otherwise I'd be leaving this one empty.
Representative District 23
Derek Marshall
Derek doesn't strike me as a career politician, or even a particularly intelligent person - his policies appear to mostly be wide-eyed plans about adding economic opportunities and jobs via water parks and high speed rail that feel too ambitious for the seat and tenure - but he does seem to represent a fairly centrist, liberty-oriented, opportunity-focused sentiment that feels representative of the folks who live up here. His opponent is a boring republican "businessman" who sold software in the 90s (which would make any idiot rich), and who now sends me emails about what he's doing for law enforcement and border security. I think voting Derek in is a pretty big win for the demographic shift in the Hi Dez and would be meaningful outside of policy (which I doubt would change much).
Senator District 19
Lisa Middleton
As far as I can tell, this race is a matter of the candidates trying to talk about policy, while the media talks about identity. Both are important - Lisa is a trans woman, the first of which to be mayor of Palm Springs, and would make history as such on the senate. Rosilicie is the first Republican Latina elected to the senate, which is its own sort of depressing history given the party's current rhetoric related to latinx folks. For me, the identity is probably enough for my vote to go to Lisa - I'm a strong believer that trans folks have had to live much more life than most of us and as such usually have deeply developed political theory. However, policy makes this one obvious. Ochoa supports vaguely republican coded policy like "parental rights" in schools and "lowering gas taxes" which I think can both be easily translated into anti-trans and anti-climate sentiments.
State Assembly District 47
Christy Holstege
This one, to be honest, is more about Christy's opponent than what I expect her to get done personally. Greg Wallis has been an annoying douchebag in the California assembly his entire tenure. His politics are extremely tired (and oddly focused on opposing universal health care, which I was fairly certain was an all-but-dead issue outside of ultra-geriatric demographics), and he is the type of "assholes live forever" redpiller which appears to most enjoy being a pariah but has no constructive policy. As soon as he stopped having something to agitate, he'd be impotent. So... let's put Christy in office to get this little speed bump out of Sacramento.
Nonpartisan Offices
Member, Board of Education Area E, SB County
No Endorsement
This race is hard to find any substance on, but I personally voted for Neal Alfred Waner, based on his long history of non profit work in the Big Bear area. I genuinely couldn't find anything about him that didn't seem positive. On the flip side, the incumbent Andrea De Leon is endorsed by the republican party of SB county, and sadly, this decade that's a tough pill to swallow. I'm usually hesitant to vote out an incumbent (because project timelines don't respect term limits), but I do think there should be consequences for blind alignment with the facists this year. That said, I doubt there are any wrong answers on this ticket.
Member, Governing Board Area 3, Copper Mountain College
No Endorsement
It was hard finding info on these candidates, and I'm not totally clear on what the office entails. I'm split on the candidates as well - the incumbent is Mary E. Lombardo, who now has 12 years in this role - I believe that experience is critical to action, and I'm generally supportive of incumbents in these types of roles. The challenger, Terrence C. Latimer, runs a local co-working space, and is a black man who worked in IT/tech. I know that his experience as a minority in this industry would be very valuable in the context of creating opportunities, but I'm skeptical of his optimistic views about the impact and importance of tech. That said, I find his arguments related to helping rural communities with digital literacy compelling. I'm not sure that a shift towards techno-determinism at a community college is the ideal outcome though. I think it's worth reading his "why I'm running post":
And an interview by Mary given last election, which I assume still represents her values:
https://z1077fm.com/we-meet-the-candidates-for-copper-mountain-college-board/
San Bernardino County Offices
Assessor/Recorder (Short Term)
Dara Smith
Mystery! Intrigue! Addiction & Death! Strap in, this short-term assessor/recorder seat has it all.
I had no opinions when I opened my ballot so I googled around until I found this gripper of a story. Apparently we're doing this election for this allegedly important seat because of the untimely death of Bob Dutton, who died in 2022, one month into his fourth term. His assistant was appointed through January, so these 4 candidates are all vying for a half-term to finish up Bob's 4 years.
First off, what the fuck is an assessor/recorder?
They appraise value of property in SB county for tax purposes. I think a layperson could imagine how you might abuse this power, but if you've ever had your house appraised, you'd know it's pretty banal and straightforward, and that property values are quite disconnected from it. It's mostly property tax that is impacted by this position, which doesn't set or collect taxes, just, uh, assess, but not directly (an appraiser does this, the assessor assumedly gives them guidelines), properties. Ok now that that is super clear, let's dig into the candidates.
Blanca Azucena Gomez
This firecracker apparently has been kicked out of a few Victorville City Council meetings (2 in fact, although she was convicted of 4 charges, so she must have really caused a ruckus). She also has been arrested for sneaking into a part of Hisperia City Hall that is off limits to the public and then refusing to leave. The good news is that she's already an elected official, serving her second (and actively running for a third) term on the Victorville City Council. She recently ran unsuccessfully for state Senate in D23.
Do we think we should support her hunger for power?
Josie Gonzales
This is her second time seeking Bob's vacated seat, and is also a seasoned politician, serving on various supervisory and city council seats in the (somewhat distant) past. Not to be outdone by Blanca though, she also appears to be an agitator, more interested in anecdote than fact. Here are some fun quotes: "This position is the most important office, in my opinion, in any county," Gonzales said. "It is the revenue generator for, I would say, probably 85% of the general fund that comes in that then goes to pay for all the services.".
If you're unconvinced by those numbers, get this: She's running on the platform that lots of people are over-assessed - but when pressed about who she feels was over-assessed, she did not have any examples, and said despite not having any experience for the role, she reassured her constituents with this statement: "I claim to have the experience of knowing the individuals that are in the right places that will make things happen.". Compelling!
Who could she be talking about? Well, turns out her campaign advisor is none other than Bill Postmus, who served with her on a board of supervisors before narrowly winning the role of Assessor/Recorder in 2006. This would seem like an important ally, but before he could complete his term as Assessor/Recorder, he was arrested for felony possession of meth during a corruption investigation!
Gonzales, to her credit, has stayed loyal through these trials.
"I told him that after he served his time, if he stayed clean, and he did everything he was supposed to do to find his way back through life and to be able to serve, then I would let him run my first campaign for assessor," she said. "It's not so much about him helping me, it's about me helping him."
Does this help or hurt her campaign? What does this seat do again?
Dara Smith
At this point during my investigation, I was desperately hoping to find a viable candidate to vote for. Unfortunately, Dara's bio starts as such:
Smith is the only candidate in the race who has not previously held elected office. "This is one of those offices that you definitely want to have qualified people in it," Smith said.
Ok, well at least she knows what she's up against.
In all seriousness, she doesn't appear to be aligned with any ex-methhead corrupt seatholders of the office, and has no record of being arrested at city council meetings, and she has a 100 day transition plan which includes some attractive accountability and public education metrics. In general, she feels that the office could do more for outreach to folks who can, for instance, get public benefits for disability or natural disasters.
Donald Willamson
The sole male in this race, Don seems like a simple but likeable man. His main campaign stump is to point out that one time while working as county assessor (1994-2006) he fired an employee for not helping an elderly woman. Seriously, here's the quote:
"He wouldn't help her. He said she'd been in before and there was no point to it," Williamson recalled. "And I said 'Yeah, but I'm asking you to come in here and help me help her.' And he said again he wouldn't do it. So I said, 'OK, just go home then.' "
I'd hate to get on his bad side! He made this vow if returned to office:
"That's me, I like to help people," he said. "Got a problem, come to me."
He also believes that it would be important to reopen the Fontana office that was closed in 2006, mostly so old people, who "like to come in", don't have to drive as far. Sounds reasonable to me!
For what it's worth, it seems like Donald is doing a lot from outside of political office, so maybe he's fine where he's at. Again from the linked article:
"I like helping people. People knew who I was and they always asked me 'Hey, I got this problem, what do I do about it?' I just got a call the other day."
Is this an important race? Who knows. But I sure enjoyed reading about it.
District Offices
Member, Board of Directors Division 5, Joshua Basin Water District
Stacy Doolittle
When I moved to this area in 2020, Stacy came to my house to ask for my vote. Now, she's an incumbent. I could find absolutely nothing of substance on either of these candidates, including this interview which was entirely unhelpful. I don't even know what this person is responsible for, and so I'm going with the lady who showed up at my house.
State Measures
Proposition 2
Yes
This authorizes a $10B public school bond. This obviously includes charters, and between that and the general modern incompetence in government, it's unclear if this impressive number will result in the impact that it should. However, this one is only opposed by Howard Jarvis Taxpayers association which would oppose a fractional cent increase in property tax - and generally, $500/mm a year to fill up some coffers with more to help our stressed education system feels like a good gamble.
Proposition 3
Yes
This one is obvious. Prop 8 was passed in 2008 and overturned by the Supreme Court in 2012; it was a constitutional amendment aimed at banning same-sex marriage in California. However, despite being nullified, it's still shamefully sitting in our constitution. This prop adds an amendment to finally clean up the mess and guarantee the right to marriage among all couples in CA regardless of gender or race.
Proposition 4
Yes
Prop 4 authorizes bonds for "various activities aimed at conserving natural resources". In general, I am frustrated when a proposition like this ends up as a voter issue rather than resolved in legislature. We elect our officials for a reason, and when opaque props end up on my ballot, I blame my elected officials for failing to do their jobs. That said - this is a 10B bond with no opponents other than our friend Howard Jarvis. I suspect this will mostly end up being fire fighting, and while I'm depressed that this is still a topic resulting in any controversy whatsoever, if this is how the money is allocated for it, so be it. Take my yes vote and get your heads out of your asses.
Proposition 5
No-ish???
If the last proposition was annoying, this one is enraging. The wording is incredibly challenging, and attempts to present this as a proposition in support of affordable housing. However, in my reading, any impact on housing is somewhat bolted on, and this prop is a constitutional amendment lowering the approval of infrastructure bonds with a 55% majority. Historically, CA has required a 2/3 supermajority for bond spending. To add to the confusion, this appears to be a partial referendum on prop 13 (passed in 1978), which was intended to cap property tax increases.
My personal opinion is that prop 13 redistributes wealth upwards by putting tax pressures on sales tax instead of property tax, which is effectively a subsidy for the rich. I'd absolutely support a repeal. However, prop 5 feels like a back door, and ultimately I don't think it has the checks in place to prevent it from modern political abuse. "Infrastructure" is vaguely defined in the measure and it's obvious how this could result in the type of "affordable housing" funding that we saw in San Francisco that ultimately ended up entrenching developer monopolies and doing nothing for the actual housing crisis. I ended up as a No on this, purely due to the fact that I feel we can be more specific with our solutions, or we could vote to repeal 13 - but opening the door to less-popular spending bills to support infrastructure that will probably be built by billionares feels sketchy at best.
Proposition 6
Yes
Do you like slavery? No? Ok this should be easy then! This prop eliminates a constitutional provision that allows us to force our prisoners into "involuntary servitude". I think everyone should be a slavery absolutist. Especially with a measure to incarcerate the homeless on the ballot (more on that later!)
Proposition 32
Yes
This is a minimum wage increase to $17 (and $18 in 2026) for companies with >25 employees in California. If you believe that raising minimum wage does anything other than improve economic opportunity for everyone except assholes, call me. My number is 415-656-7383. I will happily have a chat about how economics work, and who will benefit from wage increases.
Proposition 33
Yes
This measure, which was (importantly!) put on the ballot by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation allows local governments to implement rent control.
I lived in San Francisco for a decade, and can't say enough good things about rent control. Anyone who tells you that this puts undue pressure on landlords is confused about how economics works. There are definitely edge cases here but in general, rent control allows communities to stay together, and gives greedy landlords any reason at all to not be assholes and to think twice before building extractive empires.
Perhaps someday if there's more rent control, houses won't be bought up by people looking to leverage them for passive income, and property values will drop enough that houses will be affordable to (gasp!) people who want to live in them.
Proposition 34
No
Holy shit this one is a doozy. Read the measure as written, and then come back.
Here's the rub: THE ONLY FEDERAL DISCOUNT PRESCRIPTION DRUG PROGRAM THAT MEETS THE QUALIFICATIONS TO BE REGULATED BY THIS MEASURE IS...
The AIDS Healthcare Foundation!!!
This measure is worded like it's some public good, but this literally is just a revenge measure put on the ballot to get back at the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, for putting prop 33 on the ballot. These are the evil landlords I mentioned in the prior paragraph, literally using the ballot to try to harm a healthcare organization that exclusively helps people with AIDS! Are you fucking kidding me!!!
Proposition 35
Yes
There doesn't appear to be any reason to oppose this. No opposition was even filed against this - it basically just codifies Medi-Cal, which otherwise would expire in 2027. Why are we even voting on this? Who knows. I'm sure Greg Wallis would oppose this prop.
Proposition 36
No
What the fuck is this shit. This measure basically adds mandatory jail time for certain petty crimes like smash and grabs and minor possession. This is an absurd idea which is expensive to taxpayers, will contribute to systemic crime, clog the courts, and fund private prisons. Maybe easiest nope on the ballot other than getting rid of slavery - although if you're pro prison slavery, I could see the symbiosis here. Maybe that's why this obviously stupid idea is on the ballot?
Morongo Unified School District Measures
Measure C
Yes
This is our second time trying to pass this bond, which seems pretty obvious. There are a lot of libertarian tax nuts out here, so it probably will fail again - but all this does is give money to our small district who could use it. It will cost $36/yr to fund per 100k, which we all know would mostly be paid by out-of-county AirBnBs anyway. I will give any local who votes yes on this a $1/drink discount when our bar opens, up to 36 drinks per year. I'm dead serious. Fund the damn schools.
San Bernardino County Measures
Measure K
Yes
This increases transient occupancy tax (Hotels & Vacation Rentals) to 11%. Don't tempt me with a good time, let's do 30%! I'd vote for 50%! Obviously this is reasonable and fair. Yes yes yes.
Measure L
No
This is a bizarre measure put on the ballot as a pre-emptive anti-defund-the-police move that will lock the salaries of local law enforcement to within 4% of the average of surrounding counties. It's unclear who is trying to defund the police (well I am, but not succeeding) out here, but this seems like the most pandering way to get a tiny raise. Let's talk about the fiscal impact of this if we're gonna argue about minimum wage... In any case, I don't see any need to support this. In fact, I'm not even support of the fact that someone wasted my tax dollars putting it on the ballot.