Siskiyou County votes to pursue secession from California

Siskiyou County votes to pursue secession from California
By Kate Mather
The Los Angeles Times

It's the Golden State's latest version of the Great Secession.

Fed up by Sacramento's regulations and Southern California's political sway, residents in one rural Northern California county are taking steps to leave the state.

The Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors voted, 4-1, on Tuesday to pursue seceding from California, the Redding Record Searchlight reported. Proponents say Siskiyou should form a new state -- called Jefferson -- with other counties in Northern California and Southern Oregon they believe share similar interests.

On Tuesday more than 100 people filled the supervisors' chambers, many of whom indicated support for the declaration, the Searchlight reported. When a speaker asked those in the audience who was in favor, "nearly every hand in the room was raised," the newspaper said.

"Many proposed laws are unconstitutional and deny us our God-given rights," said Happy Camp resident Gabe Garrison. "We need our own state so we can make laws that fit our way of life."

"The state of Jefferson is the place I want to raise my son," Kayla Brown said.

Resident complaints include a lack of representation in Sacramento and insufficient attention to major issues for the county, such as water rights and a rural fire prevention fee, the Searchlight reported.

"We have to have government that's local, understands our issues and has empathy," said Mark Baird, a rancher who the Searchlight said was heading the effort.

Supervisor Marcia Armstrong cited restoration of limited government as one of the reasons she supported the declaration.

"We also have this enormous bureaucracy of unelected officials making decisions for us," she said.

Supervisor Ed Valenzuela, who chairs the board, was the only vote against the decision, the Searchlight said. He cited the oath he took upon his reelection to "uphold the Constitution and uphold the constitution of the state of California."

"I signed on to work within the system I know," he said. "I don't like it, I don't agree with it all the time, but ... I did sign up for that and I will continue to do so."

Neighboring counties, which would be invited to join Jefferson, are also weighing secession. Humboldt County Supervisor Rex Bohn told the Times-Standard that his board would probably meet to consider their options.

"I was one of the people who thinks the state of Jefferson wasn't a bad idea," he told the newspaper. "There has been a total lack of respect of our water rights and the fire fee. Those things may not be important to the rest of the state, but it's important to us."

Secession efforts within California date back to the 1800s. The most recent high-profile attempt came in 2011, when Riverside County officials weighed a proposal to pursue the establishment of "South California," which would have seen 13 counties leave the Golden State.

I like Siskiyou County, its a beautiful area, however the whole idea is ridiculous.  If they separated from California they'd go bankrupt over night.  The county is a drain on the rest of California (one which most of us are happy to prop up, again its a nice area).  

I get it, they're conservative and don't like being included in a liberal state.  To that, all I can say is too f**king bad.  Whats next?  If me and my neighbors don't like our states's politics can my block succeed from Oregon and form the state of S. Canyon Blvd?  It sucks when the majority votes differently than you, but that's part of living in a representative democracy.  I disliked Fresno's politics, but I accepted that as a cost of living there.  I strongly disagree with the political views held by most folks in this area, but again I'm a minority and thats the cost of living here.

I especially like the irony of Mr. Garrison citing what he views as unconstitutional laws passed by the California government as a reason for succeeding, despite article IV section 3 of the US Constitution explicitly prohibiting what he's proposing.

Yeah, good luck with that.

Do I really have to post up historical accounts of this very thing happening in this country in the past???

Hell, our states almost went to war with each other over things like this.

Maryland counties join movement to secede from largely Democrat-run state


A group of Maryland residents frustrated with its state’s liberal government is joining a recent movement across the country of regions trying to secede.

Western Maryland is made up of five counties whose residents largely vote Republican and feel under-represented at the state capitol, run by Democratic Gov. Martin O’Malley and a Democrat-controlled legislature.

The movement began in July as a social-media effort, with activist Scott Strzelczyk starting a Facebook page titled the Western Maryland Initiative.

The movement, however, has since garnered significant media attention, with Strzelczyk talking to everybody from National Public Radio to The Washington Post.

“We are tired of this,” he said during an interview Thursday with Washington-area NPR affiliate WAMU. “We have had enough.”

Strzelczyk said the biggest concerns are increasing taxes, and the Democrat-controlled legislature gerrymander voting district so that the state’s big metropolitan areas have the most representation and tighter gun laws enacted this year, which he calls “the last straw.”

The movement is just one of several across the country that includes the Upper Peninsula in Michigan, Northern California and several conservative northern Colorado counties.

The Colorado effort is backed by the Tea Party movement and has gotten the issue put on the November ballot as a non-binding referendum. The movement was also driven in large part by state lawmakers passing tighter gun-control legislation this year that was signed by Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper.

Todd Eberly, a political science professor at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, argues the movement goes beyond disgruntled conservatives, pointing out Democrats in South Florida and western Arizona counties want to break from their states, which they consider run by Republicans.

“This is about folks who just do not believe they are being represented, whether it's Democrats and Republicans,” he told WAMU.

Still, secession will not be easy, for a variety of reasons, including that many of these remote, rural regions rely on money generated in their state’s more commercial and populated cities. And secession leaders would need state and federal approval, which seems unlikely considering the last time a region broke off was 1863, when 50 western Virginia counties split to form West Virginia.

Strzelczyk acknowledges he is helping lead a longshot effort but says the movement will go forward with such efforts as starting policy committees, reaching out to lawmakers and forming a nonprofit 501 (c) (4) group that is allowed to engage in political activities.

“This is about popular support,” he said. “Ultimately, if the people of these five western counties do not support this effort, we’re not going to force them to leave.”