The votes are in, the arguments continue

Re “Voters Reject Schwarzenegger’s Bid to Remake State Government,”

Nov. 9

As an Orange County teacher, I am very happy with the election results. The sad thing is that I believe Propositions 74, 75 and 77 all had merits. If 74 had included an improved review-and-assistance process for new teachers, I might have voted for it. If 75 were a law to give all union members the right to opt out of political contributions, replacing the mishmash of rights that exists, I’d have been on board

If 77 designed a broader panel of judges along with representatives from both parties and community interest groups, I’d have been a lot more comfortable with it. As it is, it seems a majority of voters understood that the governor’s populism is barely even skin deep. Each of these propositions was crafted to concentrate power and encourage executive decision making over messy and nuanced democratic debate.

ELECTA ANDERSON

Irvine

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So voters rejected Proposition 74, which would have extended a new teacher’s probation period from two years to five. To this voter, it seemed to be very little to ask in exchange for a public schoolteacher receiving tenure. After all, who of us today, with the exception of U.S. Supreme Court justices and the British royal family, gets a guarantee of lifetime employment?

JOHN G. THOMPSON

Sylmar

*

The election results are not a repudiation of redistricting, of campaign finance reform, of prescription drug funding or of firing bad teachers. Instead, they are a broad and loud statement against bullying, power grabs, manipulation and lies. We have shown the world that a charismatic movie star isn’t enough to make us turn on our own neighbors and children. I have never been so proud to be a Californian.

DOUGLAS GREEN

Sherman Oaks

*

I’m ashamed of the people of California. Regardless of political persuasion, we elected the present governor to get us out of the mess left by the previous one. The results of the election show that the voters prefer the status quo. It boggles the mind to try to understand why an attempt to make our Legislature spend no more money than comes in failed. That is only good business sense. Perhaps the problem is that individuals themselves live beyond their means and think it is all right for the state to do so as well. That’s frightening and does not bode well for our future.

ARLINE GEORGE

Reseda

*

Considering the results of the initiatives placed on the ballot by the Governator and the other special-interest groups, I’d think it is time for one more special election to place an initiative before the voters to repeal this silly initiative process. The politicians use the initiative process to avoid making the hard choices we elected them to make. If we take away this safety net, it would force them to do their job. It is obscene how much money was spent and how little Arnold has to show for his efforts.

TOM NEFCY

Calabasas

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Whoever can misrepresent the facts best ... wins. Some call them outright lies. They know what they are doing.

DAN FORDE

Saugus

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Re “Voters just say no,” editorial, Nov. 9

To say that “unions wield too much power in Sacramento still had some resonance” misses the whole point of Proposition 75’s deceptive message and the whole anti-union mood that has been cultivated by corporate America and its media puppets.

With the exception of the well-documented abuses of the prison guard union, our teachers, firefighters, nurses and police officers are the backbone of the state. Their unions are the only bargaining power they have to push an agenda that helps not only their members but the interests of students, patients and people in emergency situations. The Times’ editorial staff got it all wrong on Proposition 75.

LON SHAPIRO

Granada Hills

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Tuesday’s special election was less than special for me. When I went to bed around 10 p.m., some of my propositions were just barely ahead, and I consoled myself saying you can’t win ‘em all. But then when I woke up and saw the paper, I found out that, as usual, I can’t seem to win any of them! Which is a shame -- the voters sent an unequivocal message to the Legislature and the California Teachers Assn. that everything is great, even though the state is nearly bankrupt and our kids can’t read, write, add or subtract.

KENNEDY GAMMAGE

San Diego

*

My faith in the voters of California has been restored. Now if similar gusto would be applied to replacing that egoist who is posing as a governor with a qualified individual, maybe sanity could be restored. Arnold should be made to reimburse (out of his own funds) the citizens of the state the tens of millions of dollars wasted on this ill-conceived election.

SYLVIA LEWIS

Thousand Oaks

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The hundreds of millions of dollars spent on the special election will be included in the gross national product, which goes to show that this economic measuring tool is not as meaningful as we would like to think it is.

GERRY RANKIN

Glendale

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The Times’ reports that the total election costs -- advertising campaigns and election administrative costs -- may run as high as $250 million prove the adage, “A fool and his money are soon parted.”

California is a rich state but a foolish state. The money could have provided schoolbooks or healthcare. Instead, lobbyists and campaign consultants are purchasing expensive new cars and probably planning foreign vacations to Acapulco and even to China. Governors and legislators are elected to draft and pass laws, and that is what they need to do.

ARCH MILLER

Arcadia

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Well, Ma, they turned down what the Governator wanted after they turned out ‘ol Gray Davis. Them Easterners call us yahoos, but really we’re not. We’re a bunch of people who want to do everything the way we want to, when we want to and where. We believe in only one thing -- the unions. We trust them, support their policies and willingly pay them to tell us what, when and where to do it. Who needs them other people? We got our union bosses. They done spent $100 million of our money to tell us what’s right.

ERNEST NORSWORTHY

Rowland Heights

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Our governor just wasted more than $50 million in tax dollars so that this state could say an emphatic “no” to eight terrible initiatives. After this whole mess, an entire election that accomplished nothing at all, I have only one thing left to say: Gov. Schwarzenegger, I want my money back.

BRIAN BALTA

Pasadena

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I think this election voiced California’s feelings on much more than the individual issues. The voters have told Schwarzenegger that they don’t like the way he does things. They don’t like that he started out telling us he would pay for his own campaign and then take people’s money for it. They don’t like that his big campaign platform was against special-interest groups, and then when he got into office he gave his own definition of “special interest.”

They don’t like that his chief of staff is from a special-interest group, as are many of his Cabinet members. They don’t like that he blasted the last governor for his fundraising levels and that Schwarzenegger has raised far more. They don’t like that he got out-of-state Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) to do TV commercials here and that much of his money is from out-of-state special-interest groups. They don’t like Arnold Schwarzenegger. Time to resign, Arnold!

JOHN MARX

San Francisco