Let’s not lose paradise (Dec. 19)
By Chuck Doud
The Madera Tribune
California seems to be losing its lustre.
If there was one thing California could always do, it was grow. New population numbers, however, show that more people have left the state over the last few years than have moved in. While the state did grow slightly in population, most of those numbers were babies born here.
While babies are lovable, cute and our hope for the future, they don’t arrive with money or job skills. They are definitely long-term investments, some of which, if they happen to wind up in jail, don’t pay off.
People who leave the state take their money and their skills with them. This out-migration is getting harder to mitigate.
Why would people want to leave paradise?
Yes, California is a paradise, but in many cases it has been ill-used.
Here are more new numbers: California’s roads and highways have been rated the worst in America except for those of one state: New Jersey. That means the roads in Arkansas, Alabama and Louisiana, which usually come last in everything, are better than those in California. Yet the flow of dedicated cash from fuel taxes in California, at an average of 65.8 cents per gallon, is by far the largest of any state. Where does the money go? California every year falls behind on highway maintenance by more than $10 billion.
Approved but unsold California bond issues are stacked up like 737s over LAX. More are due to arrive if the voters give their okay.
Meanwhile, the number of actual jobs in California seems to be dropping. We know the unemployment rate is 12.3 percent — 0.2 percent lower than last month — but we seldom hear how many actual jobs there are. We do know thousands of jobs have been outsourced or moved out of state. Forever gone.
California is still paradise, but I hope it doesn’t become paradise lost.
