‘I thought it would be more popular’ Prop 1 shockingly takes narrow lead to pass in state, but Kern largely voted against it
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BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) – It has been a little over a week since the March 5 primary, and Prop 1 remains too close to call with a less than 1% margin, but appears to be on the road to approval.
According to the latest state election results, 50.2% of people voted yes and 49.8% of people voted no for the proposition. Flood Ministries’ Jim Wheeler said he is surprised it is passing by such slim margins.
“There was a good chance that this was probably going to pass at a wider margin than it is, and so, I guess my first reaction is, ‘Wow,'” said Wheeler. “I thought it would be more popular.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom backs the proposition, and if passed, the measure would approve a $6.4 billion bond that would fund mental health treatment beds and housing. It will also shift tax revenue from counties to the state for drug and alcohol treatment services. Wheeler thinks the measure could help.
“We have a lot of people who are homeless, but have a voucher in hand that can’t find housing,” said Wheeler. “So, anytime there is a conversation about creating affordable housing, that’s a positive.”
Votes are still coming in, but so far, results show Kern County largely voted against Prop 1 at more than 62%. Wheeler said that might be because the proposition does not put enough resources into an equal driver of homelessness — drug addiction.
“I think we need to look at both of those equally and that we need to fund resources equally, so that’s my issue with Proposition 1 — it’s robbing peter to pay Paul, we need a separate funding stream to pay Paul, and we don’t have that,” said Wheeler.
An opposition group called Californians against Prop 1, who conceded this week, said the prop could be a “humanitarian disaster if not well managed.” However, the narrow results so far show voters are split on the measure on both sides of the aisle.
Results on the measure will be certified on April 12.
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