In 1929, a World War I veteran came to California searching for work. Because of his service, he was eligible to enter a drawing for a land grant in the Tulelake Basin, on the Oregon border.
The veterans wrote their names on slips of paper and put them into a pickle jar. One of the names drawn was Norman Grant Dahle, my grandfather. Ninety-two years ago, my grandfather’s service and sacrifice created the chance for our family to put down roots in California.
Whether they trace back to the Gold Rush or arrived on a plane last year, nearly every California family has a similar story. They came to this amazing state seeking opportunity and a new beginning.
Unfortunately, California has stopped being the welcoming place my grandfather found.
Sacramento has made it so difficult and expensive to build homes that they’ve created a dire housing shortage. Rents are the nation’s highest. Many neighborhoods have terrible overcrowding in substandard old housing. Adjusting for the cost of living, California has the nation’s highest poverty rate.
Often the middle class feels stretched to make it through the month. Is it any wonder why so many Californians end up living in an RV parked on suburban streets or in a tent down in the canyon? California’s worsening crisis of mass homelessness is tragic, and many factors play into it. We need better mental health treatment for the seriously ill, and we need to help addicts find their way out of a life of substance abuse.
This deliberate state policy of scarcity is hitting Californians elsewhere too. Gasoline prices are up around the country this year — but they are highest in California, where we pay nearly $2 a gallon over the national average. We pay very high fuel taxes. The current governor has announced the goal of stopping oil production in the state. And new drilling permits have already been suspended. Is it any wonder our fuel prices are up?
The future, we’re told, is in electric transportation – and amazing breakthroughs are indeed on the streets today. But Californians also pay some of the highest electric rates in America, for an unreliable power grid already prone to shortages and blackouts. Going electric seems like a bargain today, but ratepayers will find themselves on the hook for hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of upgrades.
I am running for governor of California because I’m tired of seeing rising crime and policies that take our state in the wrong direction. Our state needs common sense and a commitment to easing the burden the state has put on working families and small businesses.
My administration will work to reduce the pointless delays and costly regulations that have driven the cost of building a home to punitive levels. When we ask the taxpayers to subsidize affordable housing for the needy, we will cut the state’s red tape so workers can build – and at a reasonable cost, not $800,000 efficiency apartments for the homeless.
My administration will put this amazing state’s abundant natural resources to use – including its oil, which is vital to the economy today and will be for many years.
I will appoint a Public Utilities Commission that gets back to basics – safe, affordable, and reliable power. We live in the richest country in the world, and yet our high power bills buy us brownouts on hot summer days and catastrophic wildfires sparked by an antiquated, failing power grid.
My administration will advance water storage. Californians voted for the Proposition 1 water bond in 2014, which included nearly $3 billion for new reservoirs. Eight years later, the state has produced thousands of pages of reports, but not a drop of water that we could use to get through this drought year.Most of all, I will work to support thriving and safe communities! We’ve had 25 years of one-party rule by Democrats in the state Legislature who think business is the enemy. I will work to simplify permitting and regulations so entrepreneurs’ dreams aren’t buried in regulations.
We can make California a land of opportunity again – not just for tech millionaires but for ordinary people who want to work hard and build a legacy for their families. Let’s turn this state around.
Brian Dahle represents California’s 1st Senate District and is a candidate for governor.
