Are You Going Ape?
The LA Times is reporting that the LA County Supervisors voted 3-2 to reject a ballot measure that would have increased sales taxes to fund public transportation projects in LA. Two Republicans voted no based on a knee-jerk, reflexive aversion to the t-word despite having a job that requires actual governing. One of them, Mike Antonovich, has his name plastered on a freeway sign along THE 5 freeway. I suppose using public funds to pay for your own vanity is acceptable. Nevermind the fact that the ballot measure called for a sales tax (a consumption tax), which disproportionately affects the lowest earners--thus alleviating any Republican concerns over the proposal.
The third vote came from Gloria Molina, who felt that Zev Yaroslavsky was funneling too much of the funds to the westside and not enough to the eastside. Molina may well have a point. I don't see the westsiders garaging their Jags any time soon to ride a subway. Meanwhile, those living to the east of Downtown LA are the most frequent users of mass transit now, often traveling to the westside to work at the homes of the Jag owners. But she's still an incompetent buffoon for voting no for reasons I'll explain below.
Last, we have Zev. Zev has always been a friend of public transportation. He never uses the issue for political purposes. He's a true public servant who shuns the media, rolls up his sleeves, and gets to governing. In fact, he's so good at it, that he led another voter initiative in the 90s to STOP sales tax revenues from funding subway construction. That's over 10 years lost. Ten years that could have been used to expand the Wilshire line, or extend the NoHo line to West Valley or to the Santa Clarita Valley. You see at the time, Zev used a sinkhole under Hollywood Blvd as the catalyst to effectively stop any subway expansion to the westside because the Beverly Hillbillies didn't want "the others" to travel through their fine city. Property values, and all...you know how it is. With gas prices rising and congestion grinding the entire city to a halt during rush hour, Zev has had a change of heart.
So now, because these five fools cannot seem to figure out what's best for the County, because they are more concerned about how they are quoted in the press than how they govern, because they care more about political patronage than about the well-being of the whole, because they are pure, unadulterated politicians with absolutely no accountability, and because they have failed at the lone task of importance within their purview (transportation), we are left with either no long-term transportation plans or millions of wasted dollars in an effort to put up a second ballot measure.
Someone point me to the petition to recall all five LA County Supervisors. I'll even donate money to the effort. Maybe then LA will finally have a public transportation system as admirable as BART, constructed over 40 years ago.
UPDATE: LA Times Editorial that accurately captures my sentiments.
The third vote came from Gloria Molina, who felt that Zev Yaroslavsky was funneling too much of the funds to the westside and not enough to the eastside. Molina may well have a point. I don't see the westsiders garaging their Jags any time soon to ride a subway. Meanwhile, those living to the east of Downtown LA are the most frequent users of mass transit now, often traveling to the westside to work at the homes of the Jag owners. But she's still an incompetent buffoon for voting no for reasons I'll explain below.
Last, we have Zev. Zev has always been a friend of public transportation. He never uses the issue for political purposes. He's a true public servant who shuns the media, rolls up his sleeves, and gets to governing. In fact, he's so good at it, that he led another voter initiative in the 90s to STOP sales tax revenues from funding subway construction. That's over 10 years lost. Ten years that could have been used to expand the Wilshire line, or extend the NoHo line to West Valley or to the Santa Clarita Valley. You see at the time, Zev used a sinkhole under Hollywood Blvd as the catalyst to effectively stop any subway expansion to the westside because the Beverly Hillbillies didn't want "the others" to travel through their fine city. Property values, and all...you know how it is. With gas prices rising and congestion grinding the entire city to a halt during rush hour, Zev has had a change of heart.
So now, because these five fools cannot seem to figure out what's best for the County, because they are more concerned about how they are quoted in the press than how they govern, because they care more about political patronage than about the well-being of the whole, because they are pure, unadulterated politicians with absolutely no accountability, and because they have failed at the lone task of importance within their purview (transportation), we are left with either no long-term transportation plans or millions of wasted dollars in an effort to put up a second ballot measure.
Someone point me to the petition to recall all five LA County Supervisors. I'll even donate money to the effort. Maybe then LA will finally have a public transportation system as admirable as BART, constructed over 40 years ago.
UPDATE: LA Times Editorial that accurately captures my sentiments.
Labels: Los Angeles, Rabid Conservatives, Rabid Liberals
posted by Armen Adzhemyan at 2:07 PM
13 Comments:
I don't understand how someone is a fool for voting down a regressive sales tax hike. Maybe you should actually explain why hiking the sales tax is the appropriate way to fund these type of projects before you spout off about how stupid the decision was. With inflation and the current economic difficulties many are facing, it isn't immediately clear that forcing everyone to pay more for a subway to the sea (that they may or may not use) is the right way to fund the project. In case you didn’t notice, every time you buy gas you already pay taxes for roads and highway improvements. Moreover, when you pay for your car registration, this money also goes back to the county. More taxes are not always the best solution, and the supervisors who voted against this tax hike aren’t idiots just because they are not doing everything in their power to take more of my hard earned money.
1. There are no means of paying for expanding mass transit in LA County at the present time.
2. Sales tax and property taxes are the only two taxes that the County controls. And the latter is not really controlled because of Prop. 13.
3. The County is in a DIRE need of a comprehensive mass transit system.
4. Because the supervisors have not done ANYTHING productive in their time in office, this includes all of them, and because this is the single-most important issue for the County, they're downright derelict in their duties.
5. With sales tax funds in place, federal dollars would come marching in as well (we can thank Rep. Waxman for his fortuitous reversal on the issue for this one). So, the gasoline tax would in fact be used here. As would federal income tax dollars which are more equitable.
6. Enjoy the Jag.
And just as an aside, if you're going to make a habit of insulting the blog posts here, have the courtesy to post under your name. Anonymous comments weren't meant for vindictive pricks who throw out ad hominems. See e.g. your posts at 10:39/10:45 in Patrick's thread.
Disclaimer: I stole this from a very informative op ed that speaks to this issue better than I can.
1. We already give the MTA one cent on the dollar for every taxable purchase in L.A. County, which generates $1.4 billion a year.
2. The increased sales tax would only aggravate the very conditions of racial discrimination -- building rail by raiding the bus system -- that led to the Bus Riders Union's 1994 lawsuit against the MTA, brought under provisions of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The MTA funds rail projects (subways cost about $350 million a mile to build) that serve development interests and a more white, more affluent ridership. In the meantime, the bus network that serves 500,000 riders every day, or 80% of MTA customers, goes underfunded. Most of these low-income, transit-dependent riders are Latino, black or Asian-Pacific Islander, and more than 60% of them are women. The vast majority of the revenue that would be generated by the increased sales tax would go toward building rail lines and highways. Even the small amount that would be set aside for buses has the arrogant asterisk denoting that if rail projects run out of money, bus funds can be raided.
3. The sales tax would generate rail boondoggles. To get elected officials from Los Angeles County to support this tax, each was promised at least one rail line in their district. The MTA admits that its total budget for these projects adds up to about $60 billion, and many experts estimate that it will take at least $80 billion to finish them between 2015 and 2020. So even if the MTA raises $40 billion over the life of the 30-year sales-tax increase, it will probably have to ask taxpayers for more -- combined with fare increases and service cuts.
4. The bus system is the only viable 24/7, countywide system that can get people out of their cars. The MTA has 2,200 buses fueled by compressed natural gas on the streets -- the product of 12 years of struggle by the Bus Riders Union that forced the MTA to get rid of dilapidated diesel buses and invest $2.7 billion in bus improvements. If the MTA doubled its fleet from the present 2,200 buses to 4,400, added bus-only lanes and ran more bus lines on freeways, it could dramatically reduce auto ridership, get affluent "choice riders" out of their cars, reduce bus overcrowding and create a seamless set of bus connections.
5. It would cost only $733 million to purchase the additional 2,200 buses, which could be here in 12 to 18 months and run for at least 12 years. Operating them for a decade would cost just $3.7 billion. All in all, a first-class bus system with no fare increases or service cuts would cost the MTA less than $5 billion, and it could be done without additional sales taxes. Instead, the MTA proposes a sales-tax increase to build up to $80 billion in rail and highway projects.
6. I don’t have a Jag, but maybe I should get one since you seem to recommend the experience. Thanks!
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oew-mann31-2008jul31,0,4715127.story
The bus riders union has done more harm to mass transit in LA than any of the supervisors. Citing their opinion is a bit like citing Bush on foreign policy. But that still doesn't change the face that you're a vindictive prick who has a knee-jerk reaction to attack anything written on these pages. THAT says more about your arguments than anything else.
*fact
Armen,
You have more faith in the Supes and the transit authority to actually use the money for transit than I do. The Supes are an entrenched lot, and having observed their responses to budget crises over the last six years, I have no confidence in their ability to use funds effectively.
Combine the supes' general unwillingness to act/compromise with the state's poor performance on using transit funds. The state passed a massive transit bond, and the greater LA area isn't even getting a population-proportionate share to spend on road works and transit projects. It also turns out that Mayor Villaraigosa's trash tax that was supposed to pay for more cops on the beat is being diverted to pay overhead.
I dream of the subway to the sea, the gold line connecting Pasadena to Montclair and the Ontario Airport, but I seriously doubt the sales tax would actually be used effectively to complete either of these projects.
Plus, per this morning's LA Times, the governor is considering a temporary 1 cent sales tax hike to cover the budget gap. With the transit hike, this would mean 9.75% sales tax in LA County. That's crazy.
3:18, fair points. I have a question though on the Gov's hike. When I read 1 cent hike, I read it literally as 1 cent. Not 1 percent. Am I wrong?
Sorry Armen if you felt I was insulting to you. I probably could have worded my post more carefully. It just annoys me when someone calls a legislator an idiot for not voting to put a tax on the ballot, when it may not be a good idea in the first place. I didn’t mean to come off as a prick.
The time and place for the bus riders' union has since passed. Prior to the consent decree, buses were overcrowded, prone to breaking down, and just abjectly miserable. Since then, Metro has markedly increased service, purchased larger (articulated) buses, and made a smarter system. The BRU needs to change their song.
Adding another armada of buses to Wilshire Blvd. isn't going to get more people out of their cars. Not to mention, buses still need to wade their way through traffic. Westside to Downtown takes almost an hour by Metro Bus --- even on the 920.
We need a comprehensive, multi-modal transit system that serves the entire county: buses, rail, etc.
L.A. Oh, the potential.
If it's not fast (40-60 mph) and underground, it's not urban mass transit. I don't care if it takes LA 50 years, they need to build a fully underground system like London or NYC. Nothing else will do. Nothing else has ever worked.
After having to drive from Santa Monica to Century City at 5pm for the first time, I fully endorse anything that makes it take slightly less than an hour to go 5 miles.
Note: OC has a tax similar to the one proposed, and has MUCH more effective freeways and traffic lights as a result.
Armen, 3:18 here. It is a 1% increase. The reference to "1 cent" is a convenient shorthand (1 cent/dollar) that makes a sales tax increase sound less bad.
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