Gov. Gavin Newsom has held office for nearly three years. During that time, this governor has presided over worsening conditions for the regions of this state that truly need change. He may tout economic growth, but where is that growth centered? Under his administration, Newsom’s allies see soaring wages while the rest of us languish under increasing tax burdens and higher costs of living. Santa Clarita is far from exempt from this tragedy.
I suspect many of you have discussed the prospect of moving elsewhere, beyond the clutches of an apparatus of thievery passing as government. You have spoken with your families about the mansions of Texas fetching the same prices as a pathetic little studio apartment would here. Though Republicans may talk about moving for these reasons more regularly, all of us have considered why we are forced to pay an arm and a limb to enjoy California. My family certainly has.
Does the Golden State need to be this way? Should decline determine our thoughts and desires and ambitions? I may be too young to remember a “better time,” but the visible effects of decline and our unwillingness to act upon it can only lead us down a path of regret and longing.
People move to Texas, to Florida, and even to Nevada to make a new life because they can chart out a new path for themselves on their own terms. The opportunity to make a living your way, an ideal we should always strive to achieve, is alive and well in these states. I have plenty of problems with the governments of Texas and Florida, but the unfortunate state of the California government practically necessitates laceration. In other terms, our abhorrent state government forces us to care about who is in power. That is unacceptable.
In my own experience during my time in high school, I have become significantly more involved in the politics of my home state, of the 25th Congressional District in particular. I find it regrettable that the rampant and perennial problems of California require relentlessness to even obtain adequate news coverage, let alone find political interest in a resolution.
I do not associate with either major political party, instead opting for a more realistic and frankly human framework in finding who to support. Does the candidate in question have the mindset, ideas and plans to give California new life? With less than a month remaining before the recall election, practically half of Californians want this election to take place for many of the same reasons. Political affiliations mean nothing when the person running your state feels it is fair to impose COVID-19 mandates without the consent of the people, let alone the Legislature, a similar posture to any good old tyrant, albeit a few notches less extreme. Those differences mean nothing when that tyrant finds it fair to break his own rules while enjoying himself in a lavish restaurant beside his cronies during the height of the pandemic. They mean nothing when the governor sent his kids to an in-person private school in October 2020, ten months before public schools opened. And they mean nothing when Newsom presided over $31 billion in Employment Development Department fraud. This governor governs by one maxim alone: personal gain.
Regardless of who holds the keys to power, the holder must listen twice as much as their power grows. The governor holds ample powers. On its own, this presents limited problems if the incumbent is a Teddy Roosevelt type — sympathetic and acutely aware of the needs and wants of all their constituents. But Gavin Newsom is no Theodore Roosevelt. He belongs to a group of people who feel that the law does not govern them, while simultaneously imposing strictures as if they held some semblance of justice in their hearts. I would not be so unfair as to call them aristocrats, for even now their power has limits. Still, is it not dangerous to continue the reign of King Newsom if he exhibits these hypocritical traits? This state deserves a governor who governs, not dictates.
I may be too young to vote in this election, but I can still make good use of my freedoms here. And so I would ask you, fellow citizens of Santa Clarita, to oppose Gov. Newsom in this recall election. Voting for him will only result in another year of scandal, malfeasance and tyranny.
Benjamin Bartel
Saugus
