Tinkerbell’s last chance

THE SWEEPING REFORM of government that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced in January is now a sliver of its former self (just like the governor’s approval ratings). When Californians vote in the November special election that Schwarzenegger called, they’ll find not a coherent package but a grab bag of initiatives rushed onto the ballot by special interests.

It’s a dreary prospect, made more so this week with an appeals court decision that Proposition 77, which would take the drawing of political districts out of politicians’ hands, must be removed from the ballot. The governor’s redistricting initiative was the election’s sole bright spot. It would have accomplished a true public service, encouraging more political competition and more responsive government. Unfortunately, its careless supporters sent different language for the attorney general’s approval than they used on their signature-gathering initiatives.

We’d still prefer that the whole misbegotten special election be canceled. If that’s beyond the possible now (there’s a chance it’s not), a glimmer of hope for a better plan still flickers like the feebly blinking Tinkerbell after she drank the poison. Whether she lives is up to Schwarzenegger and Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez (D-Los Angeles). Does that sound like a crushing burden on these two leaders? We hope so.

Nunez, Schwarzenegger and their staffs have been talking off and on for months about a compromise set of reforms that could be agreed on by the Legislature and the governor. They would jointly put the new items on the November ballot and agree not to fund expensive, nasty campaigns against one another. Schwarzenegger would disown his two remaining initiatives, steering voters to the new package.

The two sides are down to the wire. The official last day for such a package to be passed, signed and sealed is Thursday. Unofficially, both sides think they can squeeze 10 more days out of the system.

They’ve reportedly made some, if not enough, progress on Schwarzenegger’s budget-cap initiative. Schwarzenegger would also have to agree not to support the so-called paycheck protection initiative, which would strip unions of money and political clout. Both sides could throw in modest alterations of legislative term limits, agree to disagree on teacher tenure and call it mutual victory. Other special-interest ballot initiatives on prescription drugs, energy policy and even abortion rights would remain outside the compromise. But the bitterness of the battles would be muted if the governor and Legislature weren’t at each others’ throats.

Opinion in Sacramento varies as to whether the court decision striking down the redistricting initiative makes it politically easier simply to quit negotiating and go to war. This time, could you, Governor, and you, Mr. Speaker, put aside the political calculations and worry only about the result of what both sides regard as “going nuclear”? What comes after nuclear war is nuclear winter, continuously through the 2006 gubernatorial and legislative elections. Think of voter interest as the Tinkerbell meter. If it gets much lower, she’s dead.