Elected leaders across San Diego County gathered near Oceanside City Hall on Saturday to collect signatures to reform California's Proposition 47.
Those leaders include San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan, San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond, Oceanside Mayor Esther Sanchez and Oceanside Councilmember Ryan Keim.
“Prop 47 was a good idea, but it is an idea that went too far and caused a lot of harm to our public safety,” Stephan said.
The referendum was passed by California voters in November 2014. It changed some low-level nonviolent crimes from felonies to misdemeanors.
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“Prop 47 has failed us, especially in retail theft, where theft now really has almost been decriminalized. People can now steal 20 times or 54 times. So long as its $950, it is always a misdemeanor,” Stephan said.
According to Stephan, the effort has gained support and collected more than 600,000 signatures.
Local
Some business owners also attended the event to speak with local leaders and support the effort to make changes to Prop 47.
“We as a community can no longer afford what Prop 47 did to our community from financially to the trauma as a member and our customers and employees go through,” business owner Arkan Somo said.
Local leaders say they’ve already surpassed the required amount of signatures.
“We have 650,000 signatures, so that’s well past the number needed. However, we know from experience that a lot of signatures get thrown out because of some defect, so we want to make sure we have 850,000 at least,” Stephan said.
Proponents of Prop 47 stress that it helps reduce overcrowding in prisons and prevents people facing stiff penalties for nonviolent crimes.
If the final accepted signatures meet the required mark to move forward, the signatures will be certified. Those signatures will then be reviewed by state officials. If they get the green light, it could be on this November's ballot.
