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California's population bomb is not just ticking, it's exploding


Saturday, July 14, 2007 7:09 AM PDT

Comments (25 comment(s))

When I look back on my 20-year body of columns, I see dozens of articles I wrote about California's population explosion.

Lord knows I have done my part to raise awareness among the citizens regarding the consequences of unchecked population growth.

In 2003, in a quixotic effort, I ran for Governor of California in the Gray Davis recall election. My platform stressed how damaging a dramatic population explosion is to our quality of life. Everything is negatively impacted: schools, hospitals, construction, crime and the environment.

Talk about flailing at windmills. No one listened — especially people in the state and federal government who have the power to act.

I've said repeatedly: "More people equals more problems." Every hour, California's population increases by 60 people — that's one a minute. Each of those people will have needs to fulfill. How, I wonder, are we going to do it?

I argued for meaningful controls of legal and illegal immigration. Levy meaningful fines on employers who hire illegal aliens. Take away the job magnet that lures people from Mexico and Central America.

Reduce the hundreds of thousands of non-immigrant visas doled out without a second thought. Students and workers who come to California on those so-called temporary visas become permanent residents. As the saying goes, nothing is more permanent than a temporary worker.

Build a fence. Critics claim it can't be done. But of course it can. What better way to deter illegal immigration? Immigration is one of the variables in the population dimension that can and should be controlled.

Stress the wisdom of family planning. Don't have more children than you can nurture into productive citizens.

But now, according the projections issued this week by the California Department of Finance, we have reached the moment of truth. State demographers predict that California's population will hit 60 million by 2050. That represents nearly a 75 percent increase during the next four-and-a-half decades.

Demography is a fascinating discipline. Unlike physics or chemistry, it is not an exact science. Whether there will be 57 or 63 million residents over the next four decades, no one can truly predict.

But once the wheels of demographic change start rolling, it's hard to reverse them. Expect to be steamrolled. Whether California ends up with the lower or the higher number in the range, chaos will rule.

Contemplate the impact that growth will have on our lovable, livable Lodi. San Joaquin County's 2000 population was estimated at 569,083 and is projected to increase 213.5 percent by 2050. Lodi's current population is roughly 60,000. If it grows at the same rate as the rest of the county, we'll have nearly 200,000 residents by mid-century.

Other scary numbers are population increases of 3.5 million predicted for L.A. County, 1.1 million for Orange County, 1.7 million for San Diego County and 4.7 million for Riverside County. Riverside's population, the "winner" in the demographic race to disaster, will triple by 2050.

Whichever the exact number for the state's population or for Lodi's turns out to be, the question is: How will people live?

Naturally, to preserve our dwindling available land, much talk centers around the concept of "smart growth" — building up instead of building out.

This idea has been kicking around for 10 years with no sign of success. Smart growth's best hope for catching on will occur when not a single blade of grass remains to pave over.

In a curious twist, those most adversely affected by population growth may be taxed to fund infrastructure improvements. They, however, are tax adverse.

On the other hand, those residents who will soon make up the majority of the state's population, Latinos, favor tax increases.

The irony is that, according to the Public Policy Institute of California, 63 percent of Latinos are not registered to vote.

The best California can hope for now is that the state will become so unbearable a place to live that people here will move away and others will stop coming.

Joe Guzzardi, an instructor at the Lincoln Technical Academy, refuses to give up his fight for common sense in population issues.

Reader Feedback

False Logic, cont. wrote on Jul 19, 2007 11:34 AM:

" Second, new residents moving to California come from all over the U.S., as well as other countries. California has a long history as the "Golden West" promising new lives and riches to all Americans. How many of your parents, grandparents or great-grandparents moved to California from another state or emigrated from another country? "

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False logic wrote on Jul 19, 2007 11:33 AM:

" Mr. Guzzardi assumes that each of the 60 people per hour arriving in California are all from other countries. This is false logic. First, the statistic he sites points to a 60-person-per-hour increase in population -- that includes babies born AND new residents, minus people moving and dying. "

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Leonard wrote on Jul 18, 2007 11:09 AM:

" RV: Get you facts straight. Citizens of Nevada do not pay income tax. Nevada funds itself, instead, of revenue from legalized prostitution and gambling. "

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Brian wrote on Jul 18, 2007 8:36 AM:

" Political correctness gives a pass to just about anything wrong. It's also working real hard to put it's spin on murder and other violent crimes. In fact, we can give Jesse and Al credit for convincing their base that they are victims of society no matter what they do. Talk about not being held accountable for your actions. "

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to: Ivan wrote on Jul 17, 2007 9:24 PM:

" yes freedom of speech, but using our schools, roads and benifits are privliges and these illegels do not pay the price for them that us americans do ie. TAXES , MILITARY SERVICE loose your life for this country then we can talk. "

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rv wrote on Jul 17, 2007 3:58 PM:

" Nice try, Dale, but those are tax-paying citizens who are leaving for Nevada-not the same animal at all. You will have a tax base that can afford new infrastructure, etc. "

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Leonard wrote on Jul 17, 2007 10:09 AM:

" I have the perfect solution to Lodi's population problem. Lets just deport all these LA transplants back to SoCal. Lets tell them to take their 10 Starbucks and their Mallwart Supercenter with them. "

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Dale wrote on Jul 17, 2007 7:27 AM:

" The trouble with your population explosion is it is spilling over into Nevada. It is bringing all the problems you have with it. As we say here in Nevada, GO BACK "

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Ivan Dixon wrote on Jul 17, 2007 6:37 AM:

" YUP! I am also outraged by these Spanish billboards. Don't these people realize that Freedom of Speech is only for English Speakers? It says that in the Constitution, doesn't it? Right next to the part that says Freedom of Religion is only for Presbyterians? "

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Seriously! wrote on Jul 17, 2007 6:23 AM:

" You are 100% correct on this one Joe. Sadly, you, me, and all the others that have seen and see the dark road ahead will not be heard. Those who are deluded or in denial prefer to leave their heads buried up to their wasit. "

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No. 1 wrote on Jul 16, 2007 7:50 PM:

" Well i think its to late to fix it and it boils down to more people more sales and cheep labor. Its got to stop there. maybe its time to move to Idaho, were its still clean and they plan on keeping it that way. And white people still do landscaping and construction jobs. "

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I Was @ Burger King on Cherokee wrote on Jul 16, 2007 5:55 PM:

" yesterday when I heard them playing hispanic music on the speakers! This is America, noy Lil Tijauna! All immigrant legally here in America are supposed to be able to SPEAK, READ and WRITE ENGLISH! There is no reason for Burger King Billboards in Lodi to be in SPANISH except to pander to all those here illegally who cannot read english! "

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E. wrote on Jul 16, 2007 12:00 PM:

" Hopefully, by 2050, the idea of race will be even more diminished than it is now due to intermarriage and a strong Hispanic middle class. Hispanics are just the new Irish or Italians, not the coming plague as many people in this town think. As much as we bash liberalism in Europe for causing a fertility crisis, we forget that native white birthrates here are nearly as low. We need these immigrants too if our standard of living is to maintained. "

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GrapeNut wrote on Jul 16, 2007 11:59 AM:

" I don't always agree w/Mr. Guzzardi but on this on this, I do. On the other issues brought up by other readers: I work in customer serv & I'm asked, "Do you speak Spanish?" 30 times a day. Note to our Latino friends: Not everyone with brown skin speaks Spanish!!! Please, people with relatives who speak a foreign language, tell them it's in THEIR best interest to learn fluent English so THEY can deal with problems that may arise. People bring 8-12 year old kids to deal with things they have no business trying deal with. "

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Ivan Dixon wrote on Jul 16, 2007 10:13 AM:

" Great post Pescott! You are absolutely right! Speaking too many languages will ruin any country. Just look at Switzerland! They speak French, German and Italian over there and the place is a mess. "

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Prescott wrote on Jul 16, 2007 9:43 AM:

" Put your foot down or lose, like Los Angeles. A polyglot of nations and languages, in Lodi, will destroy it. And now JC Penny's & Mervyn's are carrying "Aztlan" T-Shirts that promote the Mexican take over of the American Southwest. Get informed. www.NumbersUsa.com. Sorry, have to use comments section as they keep shutting down the forum. "

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Prescott wrote on Jul 16, 2007 9:42 AM:

" Go to Walmart & Food4Less and it looks like you are in Mexico. Pretty soon you will have to speak Spanish to get any job in Lodi. We have people that speak many different languages in Lodi, why should Spanish be pandered too? "

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Prescott wrote on Jul 16, 2007 9:42 AM:

" As a former Los Angeleno, I keep warning that Politically Correct Lodi has been targeted by the "Reconquista" forces. You are correct, when you say that Latinos, and not Lodi youth, are working those starter jobs. Our youth grow up without the money management skills, and then live a life of debt paying taxes to subsized illegal alien labor. "

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Brian wrote on Jul 16, 2007 8:39 AM:

" To Hey Brian, Thanks for the sarcasm. Judy is right. Just about all the fast food places I go to have Latinos as the majority workforce. This is a fact. My sister-in-law had to quit working at Wendys because she couldn't speak Spanish and the management did nothing to encourage the Mexicans to speak English. Yes we can thank the liberals for famine because it's the liberals who throw the foreign aid around to just about anybody including the corrupt governments in Africa who don't give it to their people. "

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Hey Brian wrote on Jul 15, 2007 5:42 PM:

" Why not thank the liberals for famine, pestulence and fire as well? "

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judy wrote on Jul 15, 2007 5:16 PM:

" I agree with Joe. I believe this country, not just California, is in trouble. When you go to Target, Jack in the Box, etc., and the employees are now speaking Spanish, it is discouraging. Apologizes need to be given to all those immigrants who have worked so hard to be here legally and who have positively contributed to build the USA for all citizens. Apathy will lead to the elimination of the USA as we have known it. "

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Brian wrote on Jul 15, 2007 7:59 AM:

" I would much rather have a population increase of equal balance and not just Latinos. The liberal philosophies has led to shrinking families of European decent. Since we need people to replace the aging workforce, the non-white populous, especially latinos, are making sure we have a workforce. They are smart enough to not follow the trends these days that's it's cool not to have kids. Gotta thank liberalism for the shrinking white population. And Europe has to deal with all the Muslims pumping out the babies while their Christian population shrinks every day. "

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Morgan Barrington wrote on Jul 14, 2007 10:13 PM:

" As usual, Joe is right. If you dont get it, you are uninformed. "

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yes wrote on Jul 14, 2007 3:18 PM:

" Well said. "

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It's Obvious That... wrote on Jul 14, 2007 9:36 AM:

" Legal hispanics already here want their Parents, Brothers, sisters, cousins and children here! They are willing to send back to MEXICO $8 BILLION dollars a years to help sneak them into America and pack 15 people into a one bedroom apt! 50% are making "Anchor Babies as fast as they can POP THEM OUT in a desperate effort to remain in AMERICA once found. Problem is POLICE and the SCHOOL district know where they live and do NOTHING! It will only get worse! "

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