Siskiyou County voted to secede from California this week, and the county’s supervisors are planning to get neighboring counties to join them in forming a new state called Jefferson.
People in the county are pretty much all in favor of the split, according to residents and supervisors interviewed by the Redding Record Searchlight.
”I haven’t had one contact in regard to this issue, that’s in opposition,” Supervisor Michael Kobseff said.
”Many proposed laws are unconstitutional and deny us our God-given rights,” said Gabe Garrison of Happy Camp. “We need our own state so we can make laws that fit our way of life.”
The vote was 4-1.
Board Chair Ed Valenzuela voted against. He said he took an oath to uphold the constitution of the state of California when he ran for re-election, so he thinks it’s best to solve problems within the system.
“I don’t like it, I don’t agree with it all the time but at the same token, I did sign up for that and I will continue to do so,” he said.
The county residents feel like they don’t get enough representation as a mostly rural area in Sacramento.
Mark Baird, a rancher who is vice president of the Siskiyou Water User’s Association, said they’re trying to get more rural counties in northern California and southern Oregon to join in.
If the new state of Jefferson were to actually form, it would need approval from both the state legislature and the U.S. Congress.
