Save state, vote no

EDITOR: For eight years in a row, California has been ranked as the worst place to do business. Surprised? Our state lost 1.5 million people between 2001 through 2009.

With a 10.9 percent unemployment rate, lower only than Nevada's and Rhode Island's and a third of U.S. welfare recipients, coupled with high state taxes and bundles of red tape making operating a business unaffordable, is it any wonder why 26 percent more businesses left the state last year than in 2010 and most CEOs in Silicon Valley say they won't expand here?

Gov. Jerry Brown wants Californians to vote on several tax increases. The folks and businesses who left voted with their feet. It's time for Californians to wake up and demand that Sacramento make changes. Time to cut through the red tape. Time to put a leash on regulations that go far beyond federal mandates.

And while we're at it, it's time to repeal, revoke or simply say no to a guaranteed rate of return on public pension investments. There's no free lunch, and the taxpayers should not be on the hook to cover pension fund losses.

If you're still here in November, vote no on all tax increases.

KATHRYN J. WICKSTROM

Cotati