PG&E Service Area Map:
Prop 16 Results Map:
Given that the residents of the “no” counties were effectively the ones fundraising for the $40 million that PG&E spent on this election, given that several of these counties – San Francisco, Yolo, Sacramento, Marin, Sonoma – have already tried to get out from under PG&E’s monopoly several times before, given that the San Joaquin counties were recently jobbed with the “smart” meter program that systematically overcharged ratepayers, and given that most of us still remember the bonuses paid to executives right before declaring bankruptcy after the Enron con job, this shouldn’t be surprising.
And yet the match of the two maps is startlingly close.
There’s another message here: PG&E spent more than $40 million on advertising. The opposition ran almost no advertising. Yet Prop. 16 still lost. So go ahead, Meg-o, spend all the money you like trying to buy the election. It may not matter.
But really, this and Prop. 17 are exactly like that bullshit “you’ll still have rent control, but not really” Prop the Jarvis-heads tried to scam the voters with two years ago at the height of the economic crisis. And what was stupid about that one was that they honestly expected people to agree with it when they’re losing their houses.
And this was a similar situation. People in this state are constantly being reminded at the top of the Cali government of why a 2/3 vote is a bad thing. I mean, who the hell was the genius who thought a mini-Prop. 13 with electricity would be popular after the disaster it’s been with their friggin’ disability checks?
And I didn’t even get a right to vote on it? No way!
I have a sinking feeling that had this called for a simple majority vote-and not 2/3rds-and the SmartMeter issue not been on people’s minds, this could have gone the other way.