Zócalo's Connecting California
Is California living on borrowed time?
When your hometown ends up in bankruptcy, you may develop an aversion to debt. That's the case with Dino Cortopassi, a deep-pocketed Stockton native and Central Valley businessman who's the driving force behind California's Proposition 53.
By Joe Mathews • • 4m ListenNot a lot of attention has been paid to Proposition 53, a California ballot measure that would require the state to get voter approval for infrastructure bonds worth more than $2 billion. Zócalo Public Square columnist Joe Mathews says the measure is flawed, but still makes a good point about debt. The proposition is indirectly tied to an ongoing fiscal nightmare in Stockton, which declared one of the largest municipal bankruptcies in the nation's history earlier this decade. Prop. 53 is the brainchild of a Central Valley landowner and businessman who says the state is jeopardizing its future by borrowing beyond its means.
Photo: Rich Pedroncelli