Siskiyou County Secession From California: State Laws Deny 'Our God Given Right,' Says Resident
In a nearly unanimous vote, residents of a northern California county have decided to go forward with a motion to secede from the state.
Siskiyou County residents believe that the government in California has gotten too large without being able to represent the personal concerns of many of those who live in Northern California. Some of those concerns include water rights and a rural fire prevention fee-- two hot button issues in the area that have little value elsewhere.
"We have to have government that's local, understands our issues and has empathy," Mark Baird, a rancher responsible for heading secession efforts, told the Los Angeles Times.
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More than a 100 members of the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors met Tuesday to vote on whether the country should continue to push forward with efforts to secede from California State. When asked who was in favor of the motion, "nearly every hand in the room was raised," the local Searchlight newspaper reported.
The plan is for other rural Northern California counties to join in and for a new territory, which would be called Jefferson State.
"The state of Jefferson is the place I want to raise my son," Kayla Brown told the Times.
"Many proposed laws are unconstitutional and deny us our God-given rights," Happy Camp resident Gabe Garrison added "We need our own state so we can make laws that fit our way of life."
The final vote to move forward was settled at 4-1 with Supervisor Ed Valenzuela being the sole supervisor to vote against.
"I signed on to work within the system I know," he told the Times. "I don't like it, I don't agree with it all the time, but ... I did sign up for that and I will continue to do so."
Other counties who would likely be invited to join Jefferson State have showed at least a small interest in the new proposal.
