OC Political

With the election of Dwight Robinson to the South Coast Air Quality Management Board (“AQMD”) last year, the Board tipped to a 7-6 Republican majority, a rarity in any California public body with a range as large as the AQMD.  Robinson’s election also served to bolster the prospects for businesses in Southern California who hoped to finally be free from some of the most oppressive AQMD regulations that are forcing them to flee the state at alarming speed.  Never allowing the democratic process to get in the way of their agenda (Robinson was elected by a majority of city mayors in the Southern California region, and a majority of the population), the Democrats have thrown a legislative temper tantrum.  Senate President Pro Tem Kevin De Leon (D) will introduce a bill to enlarge the already 13-member Board by 3 members, adding one so-called public health expert and two environmental justice members.  All three new members would be appointed by the Governor or the legislature, both of which are safely in the Democrats’ hands.  It is not difficult to imagine how those three votes will be cast.  Of course, this will guarantee that the Board will flip back to the Democrats, and all will be right in the liberals’ ivory tower world, with them once again free to regulate businesses to death.

De Leon’s bill also removes the four-year terms of Board members and makes them replaceable at the will of those who appoint them.  This was not a problem when the Democrats controlled the Board and could pass any regulations they wanted, no matter how much they impacted local businesses (many of which have left the state due to the Democrats’ oppressive regulatory environment, coupled with Sacramento’s catering to the radical environmental lobby that controls many of the Democrats in the state legislature).  Suddenly, four-year Board terms are somehow distasteful to liberals.

While it is no surprise the lengths that Democrats will go to warp the system to get their way, it is surprising the speed at which they moved.  Apparently, running businesses out of the state (except of course all those “green” companies propped up by state and federal government subsidies), or out of business, must happen without interruption.