The Winchester Mystery State Government

I'm in San Jose this morning, at a bakery across a boulevard from the Winchester Mystery House, and thinking about state government. The Winchester, for those who don't know the story, was built over 38 years by a Winchester Rifle heiress, over 38 years. Bit by bit, she and her builders created a maze, adding room after room, fireplace after fireplace (there are 47 in all). creating a mystery box that's so big and confounding that you can't help but get lost inside. Whatever the reasoning behind each addition, the whole thing is madness.

Yes, as a metaphor for California's state government, the house is perfect.

One might think that a budget and cash crisis of the size that now faces this state would present an opportunity for reform, for simplifying a governing structure that surpasses understanding by all but the most informed citizen. The state's Rubik's cube system of education funding might be unscrambled, with a simpler system that ensures equal funding for district and tries to match money with needs. Overlapping boards and commissions might be eliminated. The state's crazy quilt initiative system mighty be brought under control.

But from what I'm hearing about the mostly secret and decidedly slow budget negotiations is that any solution will preserve California's Winchester-like governing system -- and perhaps add a few more rooms of complexity while they're at it. Too bad. The state desperately needs to simplify its systems so that they can be more easily monitored by citizens. Most of the reporters who did this sort of monitoring are gone, going, or simply too busy to do the kind of monitoring they once did. 

See you soon back inside the house.