SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY, Calif. (KERO) — Many people are leaving the golden state for a variety of reasons, but now an entire county is threatening to do the same thing. That’s the thrust of Measure EE, which is up for vote this election day in San Bernardino County. The author of the measure, however, knows it’s a long shot.
Real estate developer Jeff Burum says that the true goal of the measure is to simply get Sacramento's attention. He claims San Bernardino County does not get its fair share of state funding. For example, there is no county in the state with a bigger deficit of Superior Court judges. If approved, Measure EE would allow county representatives to advocate for all options to obtain the county’s fair share of state funding, including secession from the state of California.
"If we could create a new constitution and a new state and show the world what a better place looks like, I’d be all over it," said Burum. "But I’m also a practical guy. The chances of us creating our own state is one in a million.”
The measure would also allow the county to dedicate resources to dig into ways to get more money.
Don’t expect San Bernardino County to become its own state anytime soon, however, as no part of any state has ever successfully seceded, with the exception of West Virginia at the height of the Civil War.
