RED BLUFF — With Governor Gavin Newsom backing away from a planned ballot measure on Prop 47, local North State law enforcement is reacting to this decision.
In a statement released Tuesday night, Newsom said there’s not enough time for state leaders to work out final language before the Wednesday deadline. State leaders rolled out the proposed measure Sunday night after spending weeks unsuccessfully trying to negotiate a separate, more punitive proposal on the same subject off the ballot.
The unusual and abrupt move highlights state Democrats’ difficult balancing act between tamping down voters’ frustration on crimes and avoiding a return to mass incarceration policies — all while the Governor has his eyes set on political ambitions elsewhere.
Newsom, who reportedly has presidential goals of his own, jetted off to Washington D.C. Wednesday morning to support President Joe Biden and will spend the next few days fundraising for the president after a shaky debate performance.
“This gives you real insight into Gavin Newsom and how he thinks and where he’s at,” Sonoma State University political science professor David McCuan said. “It is that he cares about himself above all others.”
Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey called the governor a political pragmatist.
“I believe he saw the handwriting on the wall that Measure signed by over 900,000 California voters and supported by a wide diversity of law enforcement, district attorneys, small and large business owners and just fed-up citizens was too much of a juggernaut to be denied with any cheap political tricks,” Ramsey said. “I, for one, hope we can get back to helping our citizens shed their addictions/homelessness and protect our communities from drugs and theft.”
Red Bluff Police Chief Kyle Sanders describes this change as excellent news. Sanders shared that the California Police Chiefs Association has fully supported the Homelessness, Drug Addiction, and Theft Reduction Act initiative led by the California District Attorney’s Association and major retail businesses.
“It’s a powerful initiative that is aimed at reducing some of the harm caused by Proposition 47, which directly contributed to huge upticks in retail theft and drug activities, amongst other crimes,” he said. “The initiative will address several issues, but perhaps most notably, it will return us to being able to hold repeat theft offenders more accountable.”
Sanders continued by saying that Newsom and the legislature’s bill, SB 1381, on the ballot would have confused as it competed against the Homelessness, Drug Addiction, and Theft Reduction Act.
“Now that Governor Newsom has withdrawn their bill, that confusion won’t exist, and voters can focus on the critically important initiative that will curtail some of the nonsense that has occurred since implementation of Proposition 47,” he finished.
The Daily News reached out to Tehama County Sheriff Dave Kain, who was unable to comment in time for publication. Kain is a vocal opponent of Prop 47. In the past, he described Props 36, 47, and 57 as eroding punishments for criminals.
“Most of the time, they are released by the court, sometimes released by us with the knowledge that if they go to court, they are just gonna get released by the court anyway; they are considered nonviolent offenses,” Kain said.
According to the sheriff, Prop 47 wiped out harsher penalties for habitual thieves who were caught stealing and then convicted for those crimes.
The now-abandoned measure would have competed with the tougher-on-crime ballot initiative backed by a broad coalition of district attorneys, business groups and local officials. Both proposals would increase penalties for some drug charges and make shoplifting a felony for repeat offenders, but Democratic lawmakers’ plan was narrower in scope and less punitive. They argued the district attorneys’ proposal would return California to the the war on drugs and mass incarceration era.
Lawmakers will now return to their original plan of advancing a legislative package of bills to target auto thieves and professional reseller schemes. They aim to deliver the package to Newsom by the end of the August session.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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