County Supervisors Approve Metro Sales Tax For November Ballot

Yesterday, the Los Angels County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved including Metro’s planned sales tax measure on the November ballot. The approval was expected as all of the supervisors sit on the Metro board where four out of five them already voted to move forward with the measure. Supervisor Don Knabe voted against the ballot measure at the June Metro board meeting; yesterday he joined his fellow supervisors in supporting letting L.A. County voters decide. To be approved, the measure must pass by a two-thirds majority.

The sales tax measure, which has been provisionally referred to as Measure R2, will soon have its own official letter designation, likely “Measure M.” Metro requested the letter “M”, with “E” or “T” as alternatives if M is not available.

Read Los Angeles Times coverage for additional details about yesterday’s approval.

Groups are already lining up for and against the November ballot measure.

The San Gabriel Valley Tribune reported that the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments endorsed the measure. Though San Fernando Valley governmental bodies have not made their formal endorsement yet, there is, as reported by The Daily News, a great deal of support among Valley leadership, including elected officials and business groups.

Again from the Tribune, the South Bay and Gateway Cities COGs oppose it. According to Wave Newspapers, Gateway COG member city of Norwalk’s councilmembers are opposing the measure because it does not widen their portion of the 5 Freeway soon enough.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti is among the strongest boosters for the Metro sales tax measure. In July, Garcetti tapped two of his leadership team to spearhead efforts to pass the ballot measure: Executive Vice Mayor Bill Carrick and Deputy Chief of Staff Rick Jacobs.