My name is Aaron Bergh. I’m a California taxpayer and small business owner, and I have had enough.

While families and businesses across this state are stretched thin, $77M of state funds have been handed over to build a dirt bridge over the 101 freeway.

You read that right.

Join my campaign to demand accountability for how state funds are used on major projects like the Butterfly Bridge to Nowhere.

What started as a $54M promise from Governor Newsom has ballooned into a $114M disaster. The bridge is late. The budget is blown. And when asked to explain the runaway costs, the project's leadership pointed fingers at tariffs and inflation — while quietly funding ridiculous jobs like a fungi habitat designer, Indigenous seed scouts, and a soil scientist paid to make dirt “feel more natural.” I support smart efforts to protect California’s wildlife, but not reckless spending on gold-plated boondoggles.

I wish I were making this up.

This is just the latest development in a deeper pattern of systemic mismanagement in California thanks to Governor Newsom: billions lost to EDD unemployment fraud during COVID, massive high-speed rail overruns exceeding $100B with no progress, billions poured into housing projects while homelessness increases, and Medi-Cal and hospice programs with weak tracking and poor results. 

Californians are being forced to foot the bill during a projected $2.9B budget deficit for 2026–2027, with some estimates warning it could reach $35B in coming years.

This is not governance. This is negligence.

We are not ATMs. We are citizens. And we deserve to know where our money went.

I am calling on Governor Newsom's office to stop releasing state funds to this project immediately and to commission a full, independent, public audit — every dollar, every contract, every vendor — before one cent more is authorized. Officials must tie pay and benefits to outcomes and launch a broader Taxpayer Protection Task Force to investigate high-risk spending.

Sign this petition. Demand accountability. No more blank checks. No more press releases. No more bridges to nowhere.