Almanac. Why my California ballot is soooo large. Part 4 - (part of) The ANSWER

There's no way I'm going to get all I want to say about the ballot size and content issues in this post. Therefore, I hereby declare this a 5-post series!

The the first three blog posts in this series provide significant background for this post. If you did not read them, or if you did and want to review, here are links to each.

https://crdowning-author.blogspot.com/2019/01/almanac-why-my-california-ballot-is.html

https://crdowning-author.blogspot.com/2019/01/almanac-why-my-california-ballot-is_27.html

https://crdowning-author.blogspot.com/2019/02/almanac-why-my-california-ballot-is.html

In the spirit of full disclosure, what you are about to read is tempered in tone and altered in content from what I'd planned before I did the research presented in the first three parts to this series. I did not remove the poison sacks from the snake, but I did milk them before composing this read.

These are the two information pieces produced by the State of California (larger document in the background) and San Diego County. They are snail-mailed to all registered voters. The 76-page booklet on top contains a sample ballot, candidate statements, the full text of all 12 city and county propositions, and arguments for/against each along with analysis by the City Attorney in some cases. The larger document has information only on the 11 state propositions and statements from state-wide candidates who submitted them. It is 96-pages long. FYI, Gavin Newsome was elected Governor. He did not submit a statement.

Let the kinder, gentler rant begin!

California voters were given the charge to determine whether California should implement 11 items AS LAWS. San Diego County voters had the JOB of determining the fate of 12 additional LAWS. 

Below are photos of seven of the 23 measures. I apologize for the quality of the images. They look much better at full-size. Click on an image. It should open in a separate window. You can zoom in from there. That's probably not an option on your smartphone.

How do all these propositions get on the ballot? I have friends in other states who are shocked by the length of my ballot and the responsibility voting on those issues passes from those elected to determine such issues to the populace.

Written Request, Fee, Statement, and Certificate 

Once the proposed initiative measure has been written, the proponent(s) must submit a draft of the proposed initiative measure to the Attorney General with a written request that a circulating title and summary of the chief purpose and points of the proposed initiative measure be prepared. (Elections Code § 9001(a),(d).) At the time of submitting the draft to the Attorney General, the proponent(s) must pay a fee of $2,000. The $2,000 fee is placed in a trust fund in the Office of the State Treasurer and is refunded if the initiative measure qualifies for the ballot within two years after the summary has been issued to the proponent(s). If the proposed initiative measure fails to qualify within that period, the fee is put into the General Fund of the State. (Elections Code § 9001(c).)

Circulation Period 

Proponents are allowed a maximum of 180 days, from the official summary date, to circulate petitions, collect signatures, and file petitions with county election officials. (Elections Code § 9014.) However, the initiative measure must be certified for the ballot at least 131 days before the next general election at which it is to be submitted to the voters. (Elections Code § 9016; Cal. Const., art. II, § 8(c).) As a result, proponent(s) may want to shorten the 180-day circulation period in order to ensure that the proposed initiative measure is certified for the ballot at least 131 days before the next general election. 

Required Number of Signatures 

In order to qualify for the ballot, the initiative petition must be signed by a specified number of registered voters depending on the type of proposed initiative measure submitted. Initiative Statute: Petitions proposing initiative statutes must be signed by registered voters. The number of signatures must be equal to at least 5% of the total votes cast for the office of Governor at the last gubernatorial election. (Cal. Const., art. II, § 8(b); Elections Code § 9035.) The total number of signatures required for initiative statutes is 623,212.

The three paragraphs immediately above this are from the official California website dealing with ballot measure protocol. The full text is much longer. If you are a masochist at some level, here's the link.

In the months leading up to general elections, outside supermarkets and department stores around the state, professional signature gatherers abound. I know there are some who vie for my signature who are proponents of the measure. A healthy percentage, however, are collected by signature gatherers who are paid by the signature.

Here's an informative site about ballot measures and signatures. It's got LOADS of clearly displayed information. 

Ballot measure signature costs, 2018

Twenty-four states have the initiative process (list). Of the 24 states, 18 allow initiatives to propose constitutional amendments and 21 states allow initiatives to propose statutes. http://www.iandrinstitute.org/quick-facts.cfm

This screenshot is from National Conference of State Legislatures. It gives an overview of what is allowed as an initiative and how it ultimately qualifies for the ballot.

So, where are we?

I'm going to do more research. I'm starting here.

Initiatives: True Democracy or Bad Lawmaking?

Here's a hint about my current position. See the first post in this series if you're unsure about that term.

We live in a representative democracy.

The next post in the Almanac series is the final post in the ballot series.

Really.

I promise.

Cross my heart.

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My website is: www.crdowning.com

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#Book Tour. NICU - An Insider's Guide #10. The penultimate stop.

NICU  

An Insider’s Guide
The price of this eBook is $2.99*. 

*25% of all royalties go to Miracle Babies. They were a blessing during Hadley's stay in NICU and beyond. 50% of the royalties are split between Hadley's and Harper's ScolarShare 529 Plan Accounts.

Elevator Speech

Questions and comments like "Why are there so many tubes?" "It sounds like their speaking a foreign language in here!" and many others are overheard daily in the waiting area and inside a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit — NICU. Once a child is admitted to NICU, parents, already traumatized by the sometimes very premature birth of their child, find themselves as outsiders in true insiders’ world.

This book delivers just what the title promises, information, and examples of NICU process and procedure. Downing’s chapter titled Insider Information provides easy to read explanations of terms with which he is all too familiar. 

Background

Hadley Marie Downing is my oldest grandchild. She was born at the end of June, 2012, 11 weeks prematurely. 

A photo from one of Hadley's first three days in NICU. 

June 26, 2012

I'm a Grandpa! As of 2:58PM, baby girl Downing entered the outside world via emergency C-section. Right now Steve said she's just got oxygen tube under her nose. She's long and very skinny. Mom in recovery. — atGrossmont Hospital Womens Center (SGWC).

She spent 60 days in NICU.

Hadley’s story provides a common thread throughout the book. Each chapter explores one aspect of NICU life from Inside in a Hurry through Issues and Crisis Times to Life After NICU. The book is compelling tapestry of narrative and information. It's a resource you will want to share with others.

The full TOC. Each chapter ends with a short Insider Insights section.

ASIDE. 

To give you a feel for the layout of the book, what follows are screen shots of the entire chapter, "Inside in a Hurry."

Grey shaded text are original Facebook Posts. They were titled "Hadley Happenings." There were at least 50 of them.

Unshaded text contains updated thoughts from one-year and two-years after Hadley's birth. 

Every chapter ends with an Insider Insights section.

The final cover was a challenge to produce.

Clockwise from Top Left. Original cover-printed at a local printshop and stapled into book format. It had color photos in the center. First published cover.  The "science guy" was a tag on all my non-fiction books at that time. First NICU idea. Chapter titles included "Calm Seas" and "Stormy Weather." Premature Grandpa in the Local Author Exhibition at the San Diego Main Library. The cover since 2016.

Insider Information Overview

Highlights from the subheadings in this chapter give you a feel for the information found there and its value for NICU parents and family members.

Insider Information

If you have a chance to go somewhere that has restricted access, you appreciate benefits it is to knowing someone employed there. You can get inside information from your friend that will enhance your experience.

In this chapter, you’ll find inside information on fetal developmentand the metric system. Immediately following metrics is a glossary of medical terms. You might want to bookmark the first page of that.

A Brief Overview Of Fetal Development

Four paragraphs of text accompany this summary chart.

A Brief Overview Of The Metric System

Most of the world uses the Metric System for measuring length, weight, and volume. Americans are generally unfamiliar with this system, since the standards we use are part of the English System of measurement.

While not expecting you to become fluentin metric, I’m providing information you need to know—or review—to help you interpret hospital speak...

Centimeter (cm). A unit of measurement of lengthin the metric system. One inchis equal to 2.54cm. 1cm = less than 0.5 an inch. If your baby is 16 inches long, it will be recorded as 40.6cm on the baby’s chart.

A Glossary Of Terms You’ll Hear

PIC/PICC line. A form of IV that is inserted in such a way that it remains stable for long periods of time. Used most commonly in NICU for IV feeding and antibiotic treatments.

NICU nurses love the book. So do I. I hope you are inspired to get one for someone you know and/or support Miracle Babies or your local NICU.

Only one book left on this tour. The Mixer Murder and other case files is the last stop. It's coming in 2-weeks.

Follow this link to a list of all URLs in the series by book title.

Follow me on Twitter: @CRDowningAuthor and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CRDowningAuthor

My website is: www.crdowning.com

I'd appreciate your feedback on Blogger!

Almanac. Why my California ballot is soooo large. Part 3. Career Politicians

I’ll finally present my thoughts on the length of my California ballot in Part 4, two weeks from today.

If you did not read the first two blogs in this series, here are links to each.

https://crdowning-author.blogspot.com/2019/01/almanac-why-my-california-ballot-is.html

https://crdowning-author.blogspot.com/2019/01/almanac-why-my-california-ballot-is_27.html

I recommend you take a few minutes to read as background for this post.

As I write this post, Congress and the President are “negotiating” which version of border security will be in the budget. Chances are there will be another period of Federal Government shut down. See Part 2 for my feelings on that!

  

When the Constitution was drafted and ratified, if there was any thought given to “career politician,” it was not in the minds of most of those who ran for either the House of Representatives of the Senate.

There are scores, perhaps hundreds, of examples of candidates running for the House or Senate intending to champion a cause, then returning to their careers.

Figure 1 and 2 are from Congressional Careers: Service Tenure and Patterns of Member Service, 1789-2019. It’s clear that for nearly 100-years, the idea of running for more than one term in Congress was not the norm. Since 1947, the average number of incumbents seeking reelection is about 85%.

There are many excuses, I suspect that those seeking reelection time after time after time after time… use the term reasons, but I’ll stick with excuses, for this phenomenon. I offer these are options.

Perks of being a member of Congress have escalated. High salaries (average is $174,000 per year),budgets for travel, support personnel, and other expenses, and exemption from Social Security are the main ones. Although the perks are not as perky as many believe (some of my research surprised me), the perks are good. See PolitiFact – Ohio for some of the misconceptions.

Other things to consider in why there are career politicians include. 

Number of Days Congress Works in Session a Year

The House of Representatives has averaged 138 “legislative days” a year since 2001, according to records kept by the Library of Congress. That’s about one day of work every three days, or fewer than three days a week. The Senate was in session an average of 162 days a year over the same time period.

Vacation Time

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 76 percent of private industry workers (who make up 84.7 percent of all workers) receive paid vacation days. After one year of employment, employers granted these workers 10 days of paid vacation, on average.

This number grows modestly as years of tenure with an employer increase. In 2017, the average worker with five years of experience at a company received 15 days of paid vacation and the average worker with 20 years of experience 20 paid vacation days.

There are a total of 261 working days in the 2019 calendar year. Members of Congress work 53% of those days. Senators work 62%. Subtracting 20 days from the 261, means the workers averaging close to the most paid vacation days still work 92% of those days. Even though congress time off isn’t “paid time” in the manner of most vacation time,

The mean household income was $79,263 in the United States in 2015. Members of Congress average $174,000.

Bottom Line. 

Members of congress average $1,160/workday. The average USA workforce member averages $304/workday.

Seems like there might be some desire to become a career politician… 

                                   if… 

you have the right background!

Members of Congress By Profession

So who are these people and what did they do? There are the obvious non-politicians: actor and President Ronald Reagan*, Songwriter Sonny Bono was one-half of Sonny and Cher, one of the most popular rock duos of the 1960s and early 1970s, author and talk-show host Al Franken, who was best known for his role on “Saturday Night Live.” Who can forget professional wrestler Jesse “The Body” Ventura, whose political resume ended at governor of Minnesota?
*Ronald Reagan's background as a repesentative for the actor's guild provided far more preparation for the offices of Governor of California and President than I thought he had. I encourage you to visit his Presidential Library in Thousand Oaks, CA if you have a chance. I suspect visiting any Presidential Library would be of value.

But what about the common members of Congress? Where did they come from? What were their professions?

Business and Law

Data compiled regularly by the Washington, D.C., publication Roll Calland the Congressional Research Service have found that the most common professions held by burgeoning members of the House and Senate are in law, business and education.

In the 113th Congress, for example, nearly a fifth of the 435 House members and 100 senators worked in education, either as teachers, professors, school counselors, administrators or coaches, according to the Roll Calland Congressional Research data.

There were twice as many lawyers and businessmen and businesswomen. (Increased size is my editorial license.)

That’s all for this post. I recommend reading the whole article Members of Congress by Profession. It’s quite a list.

The next post in this series is Almanac. Why my California ballot is soooo large. Part 4 - The ANSWER!

Follow me on Twitter: @CRDowningAuthor and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CRDowningAuthor

My website is: www.crdowning.com

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Sir Isaac's Car #BookTour. Book 9

Sir Isaac’s Car
And Other Tales of Daring and Disaster
The price of this eBook is 99¢. 

This is an anthology of humorous short stories. All Camped Out provided the main plotline in the story of the same name in Traveler’s HOT L – The Time Traveler’s Resort. A Clubhouse and a Kiss (Traveler’s HOT L – Volume 2) is the expanded version of The Clubhouse found in this book.

There are no old versions of any story to which you can compare the version in this book.

Elevator Speech

Henry Langdon and Aaron Fremont are best friends. They've been best friends for a long as they can remember. Aaron narrates all nine of the stories in this volume. Follow Henry and Aaron through a series of grand plans and schemes... and disasters!

Background

I can’t point to a date or event that led me to write Fair Game. I was teaching at Monte Vista High School at the time. I took a correspondence course on newspaper and fiction writing.

Hmmm. That last sentence didn’t come out right.

Upon further review, maybe it did.

After completing the course, I began to write mostly science fiction stories of various length and quality. Fair Game was my first attempt at a humorous book.

The stories are written in first-person. Aaron Freemont is the scribe and Henry Langdon is the ringleader and primary protagonist in each story. “Henry Langdon is my best friend,” appears somewhere in every story. Despite that proclamation, as you read the tales of daring and disaster, you might be tempted to nominate Aaron for sainthood based on his patience and agreeability.

Each story is an episode in the lives of two best friends of middle school age. They live in a small town somewhere in America’s Midwest. The time period is “before cell phones.”

Henry Langdon is a merging of The Fonz and Eddie Haskell. Parents flinch when he comes to visit. Bad guys rethink their ways. He never met a plan he didn’t devise.

ASIDE.

If you are below a certain age, you don’t know who Eddie Haskell is. If you’re younger still, The Fonz means nothing. Click each name for information on that television character.

Aaron Fremont is the quintessential sidekick. Willing to go anywhere and do anything, Aaron is often the first one into situations spawned by Henry’s fertile imagination.

Both Moms are the only other recurring characters in the stories.

The Stories

• In Fair Game, the boys "help" Aaron's mom in pie-baking contest. Incomplete knowledge of seasonings and science are the recipe for comedic disaster.
• A Quilted Bee Gathers No Honey finds the duo collecting what's needed to help Henry's mom win a quilting bee. The lack of thinking before doing is one theme in this story.
• In Meatloaf of the Heart, the boys are unsatisfied by the explanation of what happens at an adult dinner-dance. They creatively—and literally—crash the "All-American Meatloaf Cook-Off Dinner and Dance for Romantic Couples Only."
• Aaron and Henry are All Camped Out over a weekend with a security system James Bond might admire. The admiration would be short-lived. Bird droppings and wet clothing are featured.
• Both boys work to rig the local bingo session in Ballistic Bingo. That’s simple, right? I mean all you have to do is get the right Ping-Pong ball out of the air-powered mixer…
• Who wouldn't predict disaster if two boys visited a glass blower? See what really happens in Crystal Clear. Believe it or not, there aren't many shards of glass generated by the duo in this adventure.
•  in
• Henry launches an all-boys club and builds a place to meet in The Clubhouse. Not all the girls think that's a good idea. The ending is the situation most often avoided by middle school boys.
• Quid is a story of how one can use a reputation to help another. This story is an Arthur Fonzarelli moment that teaches the value of empathy. Something we all need more of.
• Sir Isaac’s Car. A misunderstanding (AKA not paying attention to directions) causes Henry to miss a key part of the instructions for a science project. This leads the pair into the production of a coaster that's not quite what was assigned. The coaster part is a fanciful version of a “true-life adventure” I had as a 10 or 11-year-old. The photos below are of the inspiration for Sir Isaac’s Car.

That's my dad demonstrating how to use the steering mechanism before my first run in the top photo. I'm primed and ready for takeoff in the bottom picture. Out of the frame on the left is the "hill" we sped down. It might be 12 degrees of slope. We ended up putting a seat back with 7 on the back soon after this. The back really helped stabilize the driver.

 Next on the book tour: NICU - An Insider’s Guide

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