Elections have consequences: Past, present and future
By Dan Torunian | Sep 5, 2023 Updated Sep 5, 2023
Dan Torunian
As the 2024 election cycle quickly approaches, I am reminded of words spoken by then President Barack Obama that “elections have consequences.”
The words were directed at congressional Republicans in a meeting about his economic proposals. The words conveyed the message that those elected to office had been given a mandate by the people, empowering them to drive change. Those words resonate today as we take stock of our state and our county. We are painfully seeing the problems that arise when policy becomes driven more by ideology than by efficacy. We are living with the consequences of allowing our politics to become such a machine that here in San Mateo County elected offices are being passed down from one generation to another within a handful of dynastic families.
As Californians, we bear one of the heaviest tax burdens in the country, and it begs the question: is the quality of life in our state and county reflective of this reality? Are we getting an appropriate return on the investment of our tax dollars? Have our elected politicians delivered for all of us or just for some of us? Unfortunately, the evidence reflects a bleak reality:
Though California contains some of the most affluent areas in the country (for example, Hillsborough, Atherton) and some of the richest technology companies on the planet, our state has sunk to 28th out of the 50 states in overall prosperity, while running the largest deficit ever ($25 billion, after previously posting a surplus last year).
Inflation in California and San Mateo County far exceed the national averages by 27 points and 35 points respectively.
We are continually burdened with bond measures that are simply taxes under another name; no less than 20 measures were on the ballot last year.
Homelessness has become an unchecked cottage industry; $17.5 billion spent over the past four years with more than 170,000 unhoused and no solution in sight.
Young couples are being forced out of the housing market and are voting with their feet as they leave the state.
Public safety is visibly deteriorating as crime surges and flash mob theft strikes many places around the state as evidenced by San Francisco’s famous Union Square shopping district becoming a ghost town as retailers abandon the city.
Our schools continue to be in the bottom quartile, but rather than focusing on bolstering basic skills, so many of our school boards are instead pushing divisive curriculum whose primary goal is virtue signaling and adherence to an ideology.
And, drug abuse is becoming increasingly public, increasingly severe, and increasingly accepted as a social norm we can’t do anything about.
These policies are formed, driven and influenced at all levels of our state and county government: Governor, state Legislatures, county supervisors, city councils and increasingly powerful school boards must all be held to accountable for our disastrous decline.
As each of you determines how you want to vote in 2024, I urge you to look beyond the “D” or the “R” next to the candidate’s name and ask yourself: “what policies are truly best for my family and for my community?” As we have seen from the facts and they are undeniable, elections truly do have consequences. Those consequences are not felt the day after the election, but in the months and years to come, and they ultimately become a burden for our children and our children’s children. Is what we see today truly the state and county we envisioned for ourselves and for those who will come after us?
Daniel Torunian is a native Californian, retired technology executive, start-up adviser, charity leader, and concerned and active citizen.
