Contributor

John Campbell

John Campbell (R-Irvine) is an Assemblyman representing the 70th District in Orange County. Mr. Campbell is the Vice-Chairman of the Assembly Budget Committee. He is the only CPA in the California State legislature and recently received a national award as Freshman Republican Legislator of the Year. He represents the cities of Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, Irvine, Costa Mesa, Tustin, Aliso Viejo, Laguna Woods and Lake Forest. He can be reached through his Assembly website and through the website for his California Senate campaign.

Change
A wakeup call for a state capitol out of touch
[John Campbell] 10/10/03

California is a huge state with 35 million people and 8 different media markets. The state capitol is in one of the smaller of those media markets. As a result, many people were not aware of what was really going on in Sacramento. They would hear the occasional sound bitten platitude and assume everything was all right. It hasn't been all right. Much of what I hoped I might accomplish with this weekly column was to give some transparency to an unaccountable state ruling government that believed they could do anything, no matter how unpopular and get away with it. Additionally, I wanted to enlighten readers about how the huge Democratic majority pandered to their special interests but told the public they were doing something else.

On Tuesday, we found out that the message got through. The people resoundingly voted to change not only the legislative direction in Sacramento, but also the culture. This new administration will keep its promises to pursue real worker's compensation reform, repeal the car tax increase, balance the budget without raising taxes, and free businesses and job creation from the triple sting of high electricity rates, regulation and legal abuse. The Governor elect will also move his plan to change fundraising and redistricting rules to lessen the opportunities for the kind of coin-operated government of the prior administration.

But it's not going to be easy. Five years of unfettered and unaccountable Democrat control have left this state in decay in many measures. And the legislative majorities who voted for much of this bad legislation are still in place.

Governor-elect Schwarzenegger many times said during the campaign that this job was bigger than him, and that he needed your help to win. But the need for your help did not end on Tuesday. We will continue to need your help to make sure that if the legislative majorities stand in the way of the change that the people overwhelmingly want, the people will stand up again to demand that change.

The change is not over. The journey is not ended. It is just beginning. The voice of the people has been heard. Now, we must ensure that the will of the people be done.