Some years ago, at a meeting of the California State Council on Developmental Disabilities, a controversial suggestion by one of the council members resulted in startled murmurs from the audience. Annoyed by this unsolicited feedback, the council member blurted out, “No comments from the Peanut Gallery.”
For those younger than the baby boom generation, it should probably be mentioned that the “Peanut Gallery” was what the audience of preschoolers was called on the 1950s Howdy Doody TV show. This was a disrespectful and demeaning comment by a public official, and no doubt the perpetrator quickly regretted his honesty because it confirmed what anyone who has spent time around government insiders know: This is precisely how most bureaucrats and elected officials regard the public. Citizens are like children and thus “should be seen and not heard.”
This attitude of superiority and disdain for the public helps explain politicians’ extreme hostility to the initiative process. As I have written before, government insiders find it annoying that average citizens have the option to place measures on the ballot which can run counter to their plans.
It also explains why the Legislature just passed Assembly Bill 857, currently sitting on the Governor’s desk, that is the most direct assault on direct democracy in California in the last 100 years. This attack makes it more difficult for most citizen groups to qualify measures for the ballot. The bill is sponsored by two of the biggest labor organizations in Sacramento, the Labor Federation and the California Professional Firefighters, entities that have long viewed the ballot box as a threat to their interests, especially as it relates to pension reform. One of its key provisions is to impose a requirement that ten percent of the signatures for a statewide measure be collected by non-paid signature gatherers. However, the measure would exempt non-profits including public employee unions.
In any event, this requirement is facially arbitrary. The bill does not articulate the policy justification for the restriction let alone the cutoff of ten percent. The requirement is also very likely to be stricken as unconstitutional.
