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Billionaire Draper Pushes Six-State California Initiative

Billionaire Draper Pushes Six-State California Initiative

By    |   Wednesday, 01 January 2014 12:09 PM EST

A proposed ballot initiative filed in California would divide the state into six separate entities.

The petition, filed by tech billionaire and venture capitalist Tim Draper, not surprisingly gives Silicon Valley its own state, TechCrunch.com reports, offering rationale from Draper for why it could be beneficial for all California residents.

In making his odd pitch, Draper cited California's diversity of geography, industry and community, noting that "citizens of the whole state would be better served by six smaller state governments," CNN reported. He said his state had been "rendered ungovernable" by ongoing changes in its economic and social landscapes.

"I am endorsing this initiative because it is a way to localize governance and bring more representation to the local level," Draper said in a statement. "I am planning to work to get it on the ballot."

The new states would be:
  • Silicon Valley which would also include San Francisco;
  • West California, which would be based in Los Angeles;
  • South California, which would cover Orange County and San Diego;
  • Central California covering the Central Valley
  • North California which would stretch from Lake Tahoe to the coast; and
  • Jefferson which would include the far north of the state and would be named for the president who sent the Lewis and Clark expedition to the area.
Draper's plan is outlined on map on his Six Californias website.

In a six-point email that Draper sent to the  TechCrunch explaining his plan, he said one of the benefits would be for all six states to start afresh — "from a new crowd sourced state flower to a more relevant constitution."

Whether Golden State residents are ready for such a novel concept remains unclear, although the Merced Sun Star, in a editorial, calls out Draper, the founder of the global venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson, for using such a notion to add to his empire.

"Draper thinks California multiplied by six would get 12 U.S. senators. Following this line of reasoning, we should break up Texas as well. And Florida. And New York. Then we could all have more U.S. senators, which is just what a limited-government guy like Draper wants, right? More politicians," the paper — which would find itself based in the new state of Central California — wrote.

"Draper’s plan seems, well, a bit fragmented. It’s the kind of thing a guy with money on his hands would do if he were looking for his next venture capital target(s): six new states that owe him something," the editorial continued.

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A proposed ballot initiative filed in California would divide the state into six separate entities.
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2014-09-01
Wednesday, 01 January 2014 12:09 PM
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