President's Monthly Message

We Have a Part in Reshaping California
by Mike Anthony

It’s easy, with the economy of the last year, to putyour head down and stay focused only on yourday-to-day operations. Unfortunately, with the current state of the state, we really can’t afford to do only that. Now is the time to stay vigilant.

The definitive failure of the propositions in May’sspecial election, combined with the May budget revise means that there is going to be, (by necessity), dynamic change throughout ourstate. Not all of this is necessarily bad. The voters overwhelmingly made a statement that it is far past time for our elected officials to step up and fix what they have neglected for years.

Now starts the difficult task of sorting through an overly complex bureaucracy.Cutting back or eliminating programs that are duplicative or unnecessary, while maintaining those that will be the economic drivers for the state, seems to be the wise direction to take. Some of these proposed changes will undoubtedly be sensationalistic grandstanding. Some of them will be unwarranted and illogical. Some will make sense, and some will be needed but hard to accept. This processwill be confusing, and we must speak up for what we believe in, or we will find ourselves with a state government thatwill be far from meeting our needs and could severely impact our ability to be profitable in the future. We need to stay involved to shape the state of the future.

We could all take on this challenge individually, but it is wise to speak with a collective voice. We are all fortunate thatwe are San Diego County Farm Bureau members, a truly grassroots organization.Farm Bureau provides the framework and the clout that will allow us to have a significant impact on the process of rebuilding our state. However, it is dependent on the input and feedback from its members to be effective. It is the diversity and the collective brainpower of our membership that will provide the foundation for the Farm Bureau leaders to bring forward the message that needs to be heard by our elected officials in Sacramento. We must keep our heads up, our eyes and ears open. We must point out shortcomings as the process unfolds. We must participate in the process and remain vigilant.