Some people in California are getting fed up with the state and its constant financial troubles and want out. The Board of Supervisors in Siskiyou County voted 4-1 on Tuesday to pursue leaving California to become its own independent state of Jefferson.
Since one county of 44,000 people doesn’t make for much of a state, the Northern California county plans to ask other counties from the area in California and Oregon to jump ship and join them, something some Siskiyou residents think won’t be too difficult. ”Many proposed laws are unconstitutional and deny us our God-given rights,” said Siskiyou County resident Gabe Garrison. “We need our own state so we can make laws that fit our way of life.”
According to County Supervisor Michael Kobseff, he doesn’t know of anyone in the county who is against the split. “I haven’t had one contact in regard to this issue that’s in opposition,” Kobseff said. Only one Siskiyou supervisor is against making the county part of a new state. Board Chair Ed Valenzuela voted against the proposal because he wants to fix the problems “within the system.” Valenzuela also says that such talk is against the Constitution, which he wants to uphold with any proposals he supports while in office.
Siskiyou isn’t the first California county that wants to become its own independent state and probably won’t be the last. County officials in Riverside petitioned to split the state in half in 2011, which lawmakers called a waste of time. California Governor Jerry Brown’s spokesperson told Californians where they could move if they were unhappy with the state. “If you want to live in a Republican state with very conservative right-wing laws, then there’s a place called Arizona,” the spokesperson said in 2011 when secession talks were catching fire.
Siskiyou better hurry if it wants to become the 51st state, as they have some competition. Some counties in Colorado want to do the same thing as Siskiyou, and some citizens want their state to leave the U.S. altogether. The White House’s petition website saw a flurry of petitions last year asking the Obama Administration to consider allowing their state to secede.