Joe Matthews praises Assemblyman Gatto's initiative reform efforts

The California Constitution has been amended over 500 times.

Joe Matthews is a Journalist and California Editor at Zócalo Public Square, Fellow at the Center for Social Cohesion at Arizona State University, and co-author of California Crackup: How Reform Broke the Golden State and How We Can Fix It (UC Press, 2010).

As one of the leading voices on how to fix California's broken  government structures, I am proud to receive recognition from him for my efforts at initiative reform.  Below is  short excerpt of an article he wrote last week at Fox and Hounds Daily.

Many California leaders and groups want to make this the year for reforming the initiative process. You’d think I’d be one of them. I've written two books that dealt in detail with the initiative process. I help run a global forum on direct democracy. I teach a class on the subject. I write about it constantly... 

...But I think “initiative reform,” as a concept, is something we shouldn't do. 

That doesn't mean there aren't good ideas out there. There are. 

Darrell Steinberg’s package of proposals makes a ton of sense. 

Assemblyman Mike Gatto has been advancing the smartest, most ambitious proposals on initiatives in recent years. 

The Think Long Committee for California has a very well-thought-out batch of proposals, with the hands-down best new idea on the subject (creating a group that could do long-term thinking and put measures directly on the ballot as an alternative to signatures)...

...So what’s the problem? Put simply: the initiative process can’t be reformed by itself....

You can read Joe Matthews' entire article by clicking HERE.


Mike Gatto is the Chairman of the Appropriations Committee of the California State Assembly.  He represents the cities of Burbank, Glendale, La Canada-Flintridge, La Crescenta, Montrose, the Los Angeles neighborhoods of Los Feliz, Silver Lake, Atwater Village, and portions of the Hollywood Hills and East Hollywood.   www.asm.ca.gov/gatto