Last Wednesday, I had the honor and privilege of interviewing Pete Peterson, Republican candidate for the office of California's Secretary of State. This position would be essentially comparable to a "Chief Administrative Officer" in business. Mr Peterson, instead, considers the position more as a "Chief Engagement Officer", since the Secretary of State must engage with the populace as citizens, as well as, customers.
After considering his analogy, I agree with him. This position must be attentive to the needs of the people, more than writing law, as the legislature does, or executing those laws, as the Governor is Constitutionally required. The Secretary of State must enforce election laws in a fair and reasonable manner and make certain it is applied without prejudice.
Mr Peterson presently leads his opponent, Alex Padilla, by three points in the latest Human Events/Gravis poll. This is remarkable, considering that California is a liberal, Democrat state. The advantage he has in this election is that he is not running against the incumbent, Secretary of State Debra Bowen, who has been termed out under California Law. Common sense indicates that since voters must choose between two relative unknowns, voters will look more soberly at the platforms of each candidate and vote for the person rather than the party.
During the primary season, Mr Peterson received the endorsements of both the LA Times and the LA Daily News, as well as, other papers. Thus far, the San Jose Mercury News has decided to be an early leader in this area, by endorsing Mr Peterson over his opponent in the general election. Soon enough, the Times and Daily News, and others, will be publishing their endorsements. The candidates have had some meetings with various editorial boards already and surely will have more to come.
Mr Peterson has indicated that his primary responsibility will be to resolve California's convoluted voter registration issue, where voters who are registered in New York, may also be registered in California because they may have at one time been a resident of California. He will complete the task outlined by federal law which mandates this process by making election rolls a statewide database rather than by county. Sadly, our largest state is last in compliance, still maintaining voter rolls county by county with varying degrees of accuracy.
I asked Mr Peterson if he would be able to work with Governor Jerry Brown, assuming the Governor is re-elected. He stated that there are areas of agreement in which the Governor was on the same page as him. These included transparency in government, placing the budget online and informing the people on funding of various programs.
Finally, during our conversation, I found a common thread running through our discourse: Government both at the Federal and State levels are too big. De-centralization of big government is key to make local government more efficient and more responsive to the needs of the people. And finally, make public officials more accountable to the will of the people.
This, then, is why I urge the residents of California to elect Pete Peterson as your next Secretary of State. It is time for a change in how your needs are met and for someone to administer the policies and State law efficiently on your behalf.
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