Dear Governor Newsom,
We are writing to you again on behalf of, not just Imperial Valley, but all Southern California. In recent years, we have begrudgingly submitted to record-breaking home prices and being the second most expensive state to fill up on gas. Yet what seems to have pushed us over the edge were our skyrocketing summer power bills.
Meanwhile, Governor, you have been traveling the world building your profile for a much grander audience. This leads us to a similar question as our prior unanswered correspondence:
What happened to our leader?
Throughout your tenure as Governor, there has been a growing sense that you have become increasingly out of touch with the state, and people, you once seemed so deeply committed to serving.
It’s unfortunate because in the early days of your political career as the “Renegade Mayor,” you embodied a blend of passion and action that was transcendent. Although you were a loud and proud liberal Democrat, your actions often seemed apolitical and driven by genuine conviction than by political calculation. However, your ascendance and aspirations have made you lose focus on governing our Golden State.
Your handling of the COVID-19 pandemic was the first glimpse into this shift. In the beginning, we admired your leadership. You stepped up when we needed you, your daily briefings brought assurance and security. For a moment, we had a governor who understood the gravity of the situation and was prepared to protect us. However, as the pandemic dragged on, your focus seemed to shift from saving lives to seizing the spotlight. Initiatives were rushed, and seemed more for the opportunistic privilege to proclaim, “First-in-the-nation,” than for the lawful good.
As the pandemic disappeared in the rear-view mirror, so too did your focus on California. As you spoke in Bologna and played basketball in China, our state burned from wildfires, extreme heat, and exploding homelessness. As you signed a “Planetary Compact” to protect the global environment, our state remained home to cities with the country’s worst air pollution, and a pair of toxic border rivers closing beaches and poisoning cities with their ammonia, phosphorus, parasitic worms, and extremely high concentrations of fecal bacteria.
And when you were in the country, your mind seemed to be anywhere but California. You did late night television in New York City; stumped for President Biden in New Hampshire; and made a failed, short-lived effort to amend the Constitution of the United States. In hindsight, we now question the real motives behind all three.
Public servants across the nation are also starting to feel a certain way. A fellow governor was recently candid onstage and revealed that, behind your back, even your own peers roll their eyes at you.
Although we caught those early glimpses of your greatness, how on point and in touch you were with the people, that same shine blinded us to those revealing moments of your hubris and recklessness:
• Your past bizarre photo shoot on a billionaire’s rug.
• Your present decision to use public funds for a $200,000-a-year Hollywood photographer.
•Your timeless French Laundry dinner.
• The loss of $31 billion in pandemic fraud.
• The failure to account for $24 billion spent on the homelessness crisis.
• The collapse of a $100 billion dollar budget surplus into a $45 billion deficit.
Despite the disappointments, Governor, we know you still have it in you.
Your recent call to restrict cell phones in classrooms, public battle with Big Oil, expansion of mental health services for first responders, and a stronger approach on homelessness are flickers of that rising renegade with an ear to the ground.
Do not allow your victories to be overshadowed by a legacy marred by vainglory, ambition, and a disconnection from the struggles of everyday Californians.
As you approach your final two years as governor of California, please allow the heart of this letter to serve as a plea: Take a look in the mirror. Refocus on initiatives that unify. Make the California Dream affordable. Address the issues we all face, every day. Do not go through the motions. Finish strong. Above all else, be the best version of you. The people of our great state deserve it.
You stand before a real opportunity to rebuild your reputation and redeem your legacy here at home. Chin up, Governor, and take it.
Gil Rebollar,
Brawley
Andrew Arevalo,
El Centro
Marco Perrone,
Calexico
— This letter appeared in the Desert Review last month and was written by millennials and lifelong residents of Southern California’s Imperial Valley on the U.S.-Mexico Border.
