Secessionist California dreamin’: Not gonna stay
est economy and already has money, so that will be fine. The secessionists likened their cause to the legalization of marijuana and same-sex marriage: things that seemed implausible a decade ago but are now the law here.
Yes California doesn’t have any policy positions. Its members don’t know how the new nation’s government would be set up. The group’s goal is to first have the state secede and then figure out how it should run.
“People are asking about the new nation’s vaccine policy, and I’m asking, ‘Are you high?’ ” said Karen Sherman, who holds group meetings at the gay dive bar she owns in San Diego. “We want to explore independence, not create a new country around vaccines.”
The group’s biggest effort is focused on collecting signatures for the initiative. It will ask voters if they want to repeal a section of the state constitution declaring that California is an “inseparable part of the United States of America” and hold a referendum on independence on March 5, 2019. The group started collecting signatures in late January and has six months to complete the task.
For supporters, Trump’s election, the desire of some Californians to lead the resistance to his presidency and the group’s growing volunteer base has given the group a semblance of credibility it has long desired.
The state Legislature hired former President Barack Obama’s attorney general Eric Holder Jr. to battle the Trump administration on issues such as immigration. Gov. Jerry Brown vowed that California will continue to push measures to combat climate change and ensure Californians have health insurance coverage regardless of national policy decisions. San Francisco sued the Trump administration over sanctuary cities. But these and other elected officials have not endorsed secession. Some, including Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, said they oppose it. LOOK, MORE RUSSIA
Louis Marinelli, a Buffalo native who said he so prefers California that he doesn’t like visiting his mother in New York, now lives in Yekaterinburg, Russia. He said he voted for Trump because he thought it would be good for the California secessionist cause.
He said in an interview that he wants to return to San Diego, but is working there while his Russian-born wife sorts out visa issues in the United States. His wife’s hurdles with the U.S. immigration system and frustration with gridlock in Washington led him to embrace secession. He says he also was inspired by the Scottish secessionist movement.
But Yes California has had to fend off a torrent of questions about Russian influence. In September, Marinelli represented the group at a Moscow conference hosted by the Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia; 30 percent of conference funding came from the Russian government, but none went to Yes California, according to its organizer. Yes California opened a “cultural center” at the movement’s Moscow headquarters in December. Marinelli has compared California independence to the annexation of Crimea, and Yes California has received a flurry of news coverage from the government-funded RT.
Marinelli said Yes California is not affiliated in any way with the Russian government.
“We don’t have any communication with or contact with or receive any support of any kind from the Russian government or any Russian government officials,” he said, noting that people have a right to be concerned about allegations of Russian ties. But he also said that false conspiracy theories swirl around the group, including that it allegedly wants California to join Mexico or that it is funded by billionaire liberal donor George Soros.
Yes California has registered with the California Secretary of State’s Office but has not yet reported contributions. Marinelli wants to hire a professional fundraiser and paid staff.
At the San Francisco meetup, some were more optimistic than others about the idea of the referendum actually passing. Most acknowledged the chances were slim. But they’re willing to try, as many times as it takes.