A year to forget

This was a complicated year for Californians who had bet in 2010 that the return of Jerry Brown as governor would fix the state’s woes. Yet, the state is so ungovernable that even the experienced and capable governor couldn’t turn it around.

The state’s fiscal difficulties certainly didn’t end in 2011. Unemployment is too high and home foreclosures continue to put families on the street. It is unlikely that the economy will improve while these two factors persist.

Undoubtedly the expectations for Brown were high and it was unrealistic to think that one individual and some skilled political maneuvering by the new governor could break the stalemate that has paralyzed Sacramento as the state drowns in red ink.

Brown didn’t hesitate to make deep cuts in the budget and, up to the very last moment, sought in vain to secure the backing of even a handful of Republicans to place a referendum on the ballot that would allow for tax increases in order to cover the deficit with a combination of cut and tax hikes. But the Republicans’ demands as well as their rigidity to agree to a budget without requiring a host of changes led to the collapse of negotiations.

Brown will now put his own initiative forward in November 2013.

At the same time, Latino voters, who had backed Brown in the election, saw some of their hopes fulfilled this year. The governor signed the DREAM Act, which had been vetoed on a number of occasions by former Governor Schwarzenegger, so that undocumented students could continue with their college education.

For Californians, 2011 was a year full of frustration. It will go down as a year to forget. The panorama for next year won’t change by an act of magic but there will be opportunities to decide on and implement new strategies new approaches to turn things around.