Who you voting for? Here’s what I think on our November 2024 Ballot:
PRESIDENT – ABSTAIN. I’ve thought long and hard about this one. My primary objective is to make sure Trump loses. He’s a con man with immoral policies on trade, immigration, bodily autonomy, and civil liberties. Trump’s character is a disgrace. Trump wants to win by making other people lose. Trump must be defeated. But given that CA is an overwhelmingly blue state, I know Harris is going to win by a mile. Last time Biden beat Trump in CA 11M to 6M votes. That’s a landslide. I expect 2024 to be even more lopsided. So, I know I don’t have to vote for Harris just to make sure Trump will lose. That’s great news because I also oppose most of Harris’ agenda. Don’t get me wrong. There are some things I really like about her including codifying Roe and deregulating local zoning to address the housing crisis. It’s great to hear a POTUS candidate legitimately talking about freedom on SOME issues. But there are too many awful policies in her platform, such as taxation of unrealized capital gains. That’s just straight up theft, even if it will only apply to the Uber Rich. I totally understand why many voters, women in particular, will side with Harris on abortion rights, regardless of their political party. That’s good news as I see it. Which candidate supports capitalism and individual rights? Not Trump. Not Harris. Oliver does, but he is a weak candidate from a party in shambles. So, I choose not to choose. This is an expression of my values, not a compromise in principle. I see no reason to proactively sanction Trump or Harris. But I am rooting for Harris to win, mostly so Trump will lose. Harris will win CA. I’m not so sure about the Electoral College.
US SENATOR – ABSTAIN. Another awful choice. Schiff was good on opposition to Trump, but his other policies are troublesome. We see the same old, tired “make billionaires and corporations pay their fair share”, but they never define what a fair share actually is. It just means “more”. Meanwhile, the other guy is Steve Garvey. I was raised a Giants fan in the 1970s and that 4-man infield of Cey, Russell, Lopes and Garvey killed my squad. Even with his spectacular NLCS homer for the Padres, there’s no way I could vote for The Garv. Besides, he’s mostly a generic Republican on the rest of the issues such as banning abortion and making immigration more difficult. Big pass on both. Since there are only Top 2, I don’t have a third option. I’ll leave this one blank. Schiff should win handily.
US REPRESENTATIVE CA48 – ABSTAIN. No on Issa given his support of Trump in the past. Plus, dude doesn’t even live in our district last I checked. Houlahan looks interesting given that he strongly embraces the Freedom message. I am curious to see if he would actually govern that way if elected. I doubt it. He would likely fall in line with other Dem party officials. I don’t have a candidate here that I like, but I will root for Houlahan to win just so I can hold him accountable on Freedom. Issa likely wins as the incumbent.
STATE ASSEMBLY CA75 – ABSTAIN. I used to like Carl DeMaio. When he first came on the scene, he was an aggressive voice on reducing government spending and government employee retirement reform (which was driving excessive spending). I even liked his campaign to halt the gas tax increase. But the more I see from this guy, the more he strikes me as a charlatan. Heck, we got a mailer about his opponent Andrew Hayes which slammed Hayes for being part of the MAGA crowd. It was created by DeMaio supporters. This is the type of deception that DeMaio supports. Hayes platform looks interesting on fiscal matters, but I don’t like his socially conservative positions. Count me out on this one. My hunch is Hayes wins. DeMaio often runs in elections, but rarely wins.
COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD – ABSTAIN. I really want to support a teacher for a job like this. But while Erin Evans is a teacher, from her website she is more interested in equity and social justice. She’s also a strong opponent of private education. No thanks. I want someone focused on new, innovative education and opening up the system to new providers. Meanwhile, Sarah Song’s job title is Curriculum Developer. That sends off warning bells for me. Does she work for a company that sells text books to the school districts? Ha! I just checked. Yep, she works for a curriculum development company. I don’t see much about education reform from her either. Which candidate supports school vouchers and the expansion of innovative, private schools? Neither of them. I’ll pass on both.
PALOMAR COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRUCT A4 – HAMILTON-BLEAKLEY. This Top 2 thing in CA keeps serving me up Democrats and Republicans that I don’t support. Where are the Independent candidates on the ballot that represent independents like me? Hamilton-Bleakley’s background as a professor in moral philosophy, applied ethics, free speech, and freedom of thought really caught my attention. She’s a Republican, but I am impressed with her Point of View. Michelle Rains is the incumbent, but I see no compelling reason to support her. Ami Admire doesn’t look to be a serious candidate. I will back Hamilton-Bleakley and hope for the best.
COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS D2 – ABSTAIN. What happened to Steve Vaus? LOL. Our Poway Mayor ran for this job a few election cycles ago and lost to Joel Anderson. Anderson strikes me as a moderate, Chamber of Commerce type of Republican. I am still struggling for any reason to support him. He just seems very ‘meh’. I am getting the same ‘meh’ vibes from his challenger Gina Jacobs. BTW, is Jacobs part of the Irwin Jacobs family? This should be an easy win for Anderson.
PROP 2 – NO – $10B SCHOOL BONDS – Here we go again with the school bonds. Everyone “supports the kids”, sometimes at any cost. In the end these bonds end up costing taxpayers more. When a private school needs a new building or an upgrade, do they force you to pay for bonds attached to your property tax bill? Of course not. I’m a big NO on school bonds. If they have legitimate needs, then slice off a fraction of their current revenue stream to pay for it. This likely will pass.
PROP 3 – YES – CONSTITTUIONAL RIGHT TO MARRIAGE. This seems like a cleanup effort to repair the State Constitution. About 15 years ago Prop 8 passed to outlaw gay marriage but was ruled unconstitutional in the courts. Prop 3 guarantees the right for people to marry regardless of sex or race. That’s fine with me. It’s just weird that the public needs to “give their approval” for people to marry the one they love. This one passes very easily.
PROP 4 – NO – $10B WATER BONDS – More costs on taxpayers. I must applaud our San Diego County water leaders… we have a desalination plant in Carlsbad, we get recycled water from Pure Water, and many of the dams have been extended or repaired. San Diego is doing a great job with water. I’m already paying to upgrade the water infrastructure in my hometown of Poway CA. Hey, I’m a big supporter of water infrastructure, but at what price? And should San Diegans be paying for water infrastructure in Sacramento? This one gets a NO from me. I have limits. My hunch is that the YES votes win.
PROP 5 – NO – 55% THRESHOLD FOR LOCAL AFFORDABLE HOUSING BONDS. If you can’t win, then change the rules so you can win. That’s what this is. School bonds used to require a 2/3 Super Majority to pass, but proponents could never get that many votes. So they put up a similar proposal to make it easier to win with only 55% approval. But how is this fair? Should the 55% be able to make the 45% pay for something against their will? I say no. We do have a serious housing crisis, but the solution is not more government financing or subsidies. The solution is to allow more homes to be built. We have a tremendous housing shortage. We should not create even more incentives on demand. That will just make housing even more expensive overall. I bet this one passes. (Note: They only need 50% to pass it, but will need 55% to pass future bonds. That’s kind of weird.)
PROP 6 – YES – ENDS INVOLUNTARY SERVITUDE IN PRISON. Slavery should be illegal, even in prisons. Nobody should be forced to work against their will. The objective should be to keep criminals out of society for everyone’s safety and hopefully to rehab them so they can re-integrate into society upon release. Instead many want to inflict some kind of Old Testament punishment where prisoners are in a chain gang busting up boulders. The sentence is prison, not involuntarily labor in prison. This one might lose at the ballot box. There is a huge “Tough on Crime” movement in CA and this might get swept up with it all.
PROP 32 – NO – RAISE MINIMUM WAGE. Set aside the morality of a minimum wage in the first place… but how is this bill rational when it establishes 2 different minimum wages depending on the number of employees in the company? This is dumb. If you are going to take a moral position on minimum wage, then why should that morality change if a company has 25 or less employees? The whole idea of minimum wage is flawed in my opinion. It’s driven for political rather than principled economic reasons. This just ends up hurting young people with no skills… likely the ones people think they are helping if they vote for this bill. This should pass easily in CA.
PROP 33 – NO – EXPAND LOCAL GOVT RENT CONTROL POWER. Here’s another politically driven policy to attract voters and empower the state… which also makes no sense economically. Nearly every economist will tell you that rent control is a failed policy. Rent control disincentivizes landlords from renting, reduces vacancy rates, and causes non-rent controlled housing to become more expensive. This one likely passes. I am always on the wrong sides of these issues! LOL
PROP 34 – NO – RESTRICTS SPENDING OF PRESCRIPTION DRUG REVENUE. This is a big NO for me. Government bureaucrats should not be setting or enforcing pricing models in a free market. But I do like the opportunity to negotiate prices. This should be legal in the first place. I say this one passes.
PROP 35 – NO – PERMANENT FUNDING MEDI-CAL. This is a tax on people with healthcare insurance to pay for people without healthcare insurance. I remember when they said Obamacare would make healthcare more affordable. Obamacare did the opposite. This makes makes healthcare even more expensive. Better to deregulate the marketplace so customers can access less expensive, customized healthcare insurance policies.
PROP 36 – NO – FELONY CHARGES FOR CERTAIN DRUG AND THEFT CRIMES. I understand the problem with Smash and Grab. We need to hold thieves accountable. Crime in retail stores is leading to an exodus of retailers which harms neighborhoods. However, possession of drugs should not be a felony at all. The drug part of this bill is a deal breaker for me. That means, it will pass in CA. LOL
MEASURE G – NO – HALF CENT SALES TAX INCREASE – We are taxed too much in California. Even here in San Diego County we have been paying a sales tax increase to fund the roads, but then they diverted the money to be used for public transit. Why fall for another bait and switch? Roads should be funded by the people that use them (i.e. gas tax, registration fee, etc.). A grandma that walks to her local grocery store should not be paying a higher sales tax to fund roads for other people. It’s possible that San Diego County voters might align with me on this one and shoot it down.
BTW, there’s another sales tax increase on the ballot in Escondido. They’ve shot it down the last time it was proposed. Will voters say NO again?
MEASURE H – YES – FARM IN POWAY – LIFE TIME FITNESS. This is the big issue in Poway. It’s to change the zoning rules to allow for a much larger fitness center in the new Farm development. People in Poway are very angry about all of the development and this is their one chance to block it… to “Stick it to the Man.” There’s also a lot of anger with voters since this plan would override the previous Farm initiative in 2020. Let me just say that voters shouldn’t have the right to vote on what other people to do on their property in the first place. This whole thing is about NIMBYs micromanaging what other people do on their own land. This is a violation of property rights and one’s right to their own life. So I object on that principle. But I will be voting YES. If the owner wants to make changes, then who am I to forbid him from doing so? It’s his property. Plus the project looks like a welcome upgrade here in Poway. This one should lose around 40%-60%. That’s my prediction.
POWAY CITY COUNCIL – Let me say upfront that I live in District 3, so there is no vote for me on the Poway City Council this election cycle. My representative is Peter DeHoff and his term comes up in 2026. But I do want to weigh in on the local races.
POWAY DISTRICT 2 – There are three candidates running and I see signs all over Green Valley for all three of them. I like that Vanessa Springett is running as an independent candidate, but that puts her at a disadvantage to her opponents who are getting big financial and manpower support from their local parties. But Springett is a NO on H candidate. It is a core part of her platform. She is aligned with the Green Valley Civic Association on this matter. She does check all of the boxes on her resume for a solid local political candidates in terms of community activism and experience. I will pass on her, but watch with interest. Jared Wilson is one of her opponents who seems to have been prepping for this run for public office for sometime. It is my understanding that Wilson is behind the San Diego Police PAC which provided a channel for huge money to pour into our local races, some of which rubbed me the wrong way. Tony Blain came out guns-a-blazin’ announcing his candidates before the 2022 election. I like Blain’s stance on Term Limits, but otherwise I am confused by his campaign. He chose not to attend the Candidate Forum. I don’t know what his status is. I make no endorsement in this race. I predict Wilson wins.
POWAY DISTRICT 4 – It’s the incumbent Caylin Frank and a challenger Jenny Maeda. Maeda is anti-development, so she is a NO for me. This anti-development posture is NIMBYism which is why we have sky high housing costs and a housing shortage. We need to have candidates that embrace growth and more housing. We need YIMBYs, not NIMBYs. I like looking at the hillsides and ridge lines too, but we don’t have a moral right to restrict what other people do on their own property, especially if you object because your view changes. Caylin Frank is the incumbent who is frequently under fire by the vocal minority in South Poway that is upset about all of the development. But the anger is real and that might tip this election towards Maeda… maybe. I make no endorsement in this race either. I think this is the one race where we may see an upset… especially since there are only 2 candidates. It’s either support status quo, or support change. People are angry at the status quo. I think change will win.
That’s my 2024 ballot, plus my opinion on a few other races.
Vote Harder.