On a recent Friday evening in October, a small group of students gathered at Claremont McKenna College to listen to a panel.
Up for debate is a local ballot measure that would send a big message, secession from the state of California.
“If you think about it, it's a big deal,” said James Brown IV. He organized the Claremont McKenna event to raise awareness around Measure EE.
The question posed to San Bernardino County voters with Measure EE looks something like this: should local officials study all options to obtain the county’s fair share of state funding, up to and including secession? That part about secession is what’s grabbing people’s attention.
“But the implications, if this was to happen, are extreme and should be taken as seriously as the result could be,” Brown IV said.
San Bernardino County, by area, is the largest county in the United States and is bigger than nine states. But despite its size, some local officials say they’re not getting the state support or resources they deserve.
That’s partly why secession came up in the first place, and it’s not a new idea. “This secession movement in San Bernardino, I mean, this is one of about 220 such movements in California history,” said Durham University history professor Kevin Waite.
Waite says San Bernardino County joins a long history of secession attempts in California. For decades, people in Northern California and Southern Oregon have discussed creating a state of Jefferson.
Waite says that San Bernardino County was involved in a similar secession movement over a century and a half ago.
“Like the San Bernardino secessionist today, they argued that they basically weren't getting enough of what they needed,” Waite said. “They could get more of that if they formed their own territory and, ultimately, their own state.”
Among supporters of Measure EE is Fontana Mayor Acquanetta Warren. She says the state needs to properly invest in essential services such as county jails and courthouses.
“So the funding that is so dear to everybody keeping our public safe… is not coming directly to our county, from the state,” Warren said.
But the proposal has also been met with criticism. “Generally speaking, I think it is a waste of taxpayers’ money to put such a proposal on the ballot,” said state assembly majority leader Eloise Gomez Reyes.
Reyes and two other state representatives wrote a letter opposing the ballot measure. “We know that San Bernardino cannot secede from California; they cannot form their own state,” Reyes said.
The odds of secession happening are slim. It would need to get approval from state legislators and the U.S. Congress. But its first test is with voters. Many people I spoke with hadn’t heard much about the secession plan, that includes Gem Montez from Colton.
“At first glance, talking about this succession, I really don't feel like our leadership is connected to the community's needs,” Montez said.
Montez doesn’t know how she’ll vote yet, but she does relate to some of the feelings behind this push for secession. “I agree that we're underserved, underrepresented, underfunded, all of those things,” Montez said.
Montez says she wants local leaders to speak up, but she’s just not sure this ballot measure is the best way to do it.
