Times Editorial Shows Who’s Holding up the Sales Tax in Sacramento

A Times’ editorial  lifted the curtain on some of the back room dealings endangering Metro’s sales tax proposal, hereafter referred to as Measure R, in Sacramento.  Apparently two Los Angeles County State Senators that sit on the appropriations committee, the same committee that passed on the proposal on Monday and is scheduled to vote on it again tomorrow, won’t say whether or not they will allow the proposal to move forward.

That still won’t guarantee the measure will appear, because it also has
to be approved by the Legislature. And a pair of Democratic state
senators who are on the all-important Appropriations Committee — Gil
Cedillo of Los Angeles and Jenny Oropeza of Long Beach — haven’t
indicated whether they’ll let the bill move to the Senate floor.

Tired of all the back room dealing that continues to play with our transportation future?  Long Beach’s Senator Oropeza can be reached at her office in Sacramento at (916) 651-4028.  Senator Cedillo of Los Angeles can be reached at his Sacramento office at (916) 651-4022.

Photos: Sen. Oropeza,  dgarzila/Flickr

  • The most impact is if residents of Cedillo’s and Oropeza’s districts call. You can learn who your state senator is via this website:

    http://192.234.213.69/smapsearch/framepage.asp

    This talk of a “better” measure next year is a fraud. No one will want to risk political capital after this ongoing farce. Plus the equity being whined about is for projects that on their merits are mediocre as to ridership, etc. Our chance is NOW and we must seize the day and battle the stupidity of the prevailing defeatist/anti-government culture of entrenched politicians–we cannot let the future be hostage to their selfish mindless behavior. And by the way, I called Gloria Molina’s office yesterday (I reside in her district) to tell her staff I will never vote for her again and that I was talking to a Times reporter and would give him quotes ripping her and the other obstructionists. Lo and behold I was quoted today:

    Dana Gabbard of Southern California Transit Advocates said supervisors failed to understand that people from their districts travel into other districts and would benefit from the projects.

    “Are they afraid someone across the fence will get more” than them? Gabbard said. “The parochialism in this just boggles the mind.”

    http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-tax6-2008aug06,0,436918,full.story

  • A wave of polite but firm phonecalls would not be a bad idea.

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