Re-posted here with the permission of The Davis Enterprise.  The original article is at http://www.davisenterprise.com/opinion/letters/we-support-government-reform/

About three years ago, a group of community members in Yolo County banded together to address our shared concerns about the effectiveness of California’s state and local governance. We have conducted a series of forums and workshops involving several hundred residents of our region and featuring leading thinkers on governance reform.

Our mission is to inform each other and the broader public about the critical issues facing our state. We advocate for the alignment of authority, responsibility, resources and accountability necessary to support strong, healthy communities.

Our grassroots organization, known as Saving California Communities, endorses the Government Performance and Accountability Act as consistent with our guiding principles. This measure, sponsored by California Forward (http://www.CaForward.org) and intended for the November ballot, would:

• Require state and local government to set goals, establish performance measures and regularly report progress to the public;
• Prohibit the Legislature from creating expenditures or implementing tax cuts greater than $25 million without identifying funding streams or spending cuts;
• Create a two-year state budget cycle for improved planning and oversight;
• Mandate that all bills be publicly available at least three days prior to a legislative vote; and
• Provide incentives for local governments to act together to create "community action plans" for more effective, efficient and comprehensive delivery of services.

We believe this reform package will stabilize the state’s budget, increase government efficiency and accountability, and restore trust by moving decision making closer to the people.

Public participation and advocacy are essential to mobilizing for reform. To find out more about the GPAA, visit http://www.cafwd-action.org.

In addition to our support for the GPAA, Saving California Communities will continue to promote public dialogue and debate of all proposals to improve the governance of our state. For more information or to join our effort, visit http://www.SavingCA.org.

Members of Saving California Communities including city, county, school and state former and current elected representatives, physicians and health care advocates, seniors, students, parents, educators, social justice advocates, environmentalists and business owners (Names online at www.davisenterprise.com and on file at The Davis Enterprise)

Bob Agee

Jan Agee

Sheila Allen

Barbara Archer

Ruth Asmundson

Frederic D "Rick" Baker, MD

Lisa A. Baker

Michael Bartolic

Janet Berry

Mark Braly

Greg Brucker

Barbara R. Burr

Davis Campbell

Delaine Eastin

Cheryl Essex

David Fleming

Lucas Frerichs

Andrea Friedman

Kari Fry

Julie Gallelo

Rick Gonzales

Michael Harty

Anne Hawke

John Hills

Jim and Karen Hopp

Jan Jursnich

Michael Koltnow

Norb Kei Kumagai

Margaret Lirones

Susan Lovenburg

Joel Mandel

Jerry and Kathy Marr

Karen Mo

Rita Montes Martin

Don Morrill

Karen and David Naliboff

Don Palm

Richard Reed

Craig Reynolds

Gary Sandy

Don Saylor

Jane Schafer-Kramer

Al and Sandra Sokolow

Helen M. Thomson

Sandy Weiss

Daniel Wolk

Pauline Wooliever

Jay Ziegler