Molina e-mail details her sales tax concerns

Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina's office sent this e-mail Tuesday to local, state and federal officials, detailing Molina's concerns over the half-cent sales tax proposal for the November ballot. The e-mail was from her deputy, Gerry Hertzberg.

Molina is also targeting the state bill that would allow a sales tax, proposing to strip provisions that set minimum amounts to be spent on certain projects. That is sure to be controversial -- it would deny state legislators the chance to ensure their pet projects get some money and give that power to Metro.

I'm sure state officials will like that.

Here's the e-mail, which was forwarded to me. I have confirmed with Molina's office that it is authentic:

As you know, a great deal of concern has been raised about the lack of equity in the proposed Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) expenditure plan for the proposed half-cent sales tax.  Numerous city representatives, State representatives, and Congressional representatives have expressed concerns about the proposed project list, the lack of discussion about the plan, and the exclusive process by which it was created.

The resulting lack of consensus about such an important thirty-year public policy commitment is extremely problematic.  Failure to achieve consensus not only threatens our ability to garner a two-thirds approval at the ballot box next November, it strains MTA's relationships with important State and Federal funding partnerships, and it threatens regional harmony.

Consequently I strongly believe that MTA should devote adequate time and effort to develop consensus about a project list and expenditure plan that best addresses our regional transportation problems with the projected proceeds from a sales tax, and state and federal funding.  While the outreach and deliberative process necessary to achieve consensus will not be possible in a few weeks, it may be possible to complete it prior to the November election.

This would necessitate that A.B. 2321 (Feuer) be amended to strip the mandate for particular projects.  Instead it should include the statutory enabling language to allow the MTA to proceed to put a half-cent sales tax measure before the voters.  It could further mandate that MTA develop an expenditure plan for the sales tax proceeds after evaluation according to specific transportation criteria ( I.e. ridership, population, cost per mile, transit dependent along each line, major employment nodes each along line, etc. ) and of course, it should mandate that reasonable regional equity is addressed within the plan.

I would further suggest that the more costly and expensive projects be segmented so that all projects may be put on a timeline that allows a rotation of projects to achieve regional fairness.

I hope that you will join me in advocating for this consensus building approach.  The plan that results from this exercise will govern the development of highway, rail and bus transit for the next thirty years.  It is therefore imperative that it provides the best balance of projects to improve our regional transportation system in a manner that is fair and equitable.

Thank you for your consideration of this important and time-sensitive matter.

Comments

[Greg]

Molinhack smell greenback.

[RB]

"...and of course, it should mandate that reasonable regional equity is addressed within the plan.”

Just like how the Westside has helped fund the 210 expansion, the 605, the 2 widening, the 101 widening, etc. It bothers me that the Westside can help fund freeway expansions, improvements and light rail expansions and no one complains about fairness, but when it comes to helping the Westside relieve traffic, everyone else throws up their arms claiming that they won't get their fair share. If Gloria is so concerned about regional harmony, then maybe she can figure out how to get some relief to the Westside besides an outdated I-10 and a grossly congested I-405. All the while, the eastside gets its Gold Line extension, and the Valley gets it Orange Line extension. The entire county needs help and at some point, the Westside is going to have to have a subway. Why stall building it any longer?

[Dana Gabbard]

If you live in Molina's district call or e-mail her and let her know what you think of her antics. That is what I am doing.

http://molina.lacounty.gov/

[Aaron]

This is crazy - we all know that the primary purpose of the tax is to fund the Westside subway and that the remaining funds will be spread among worthwhile projects. All of this jockeying probably means that it won't be on the ballot in November, so now we'll just need to wait longer to be able to choose a fast and comfortable commute in and out of the Westside.

[Robert NO longer in LA]

How DO these jokes stay in Office? Must be a brain-dead electorate.

[Jose]

Does anyone here really think that Gloria or any of the other supervisors won't do the same thing themselves if this approach passes? This memo is pure hypocrisy. And with their recent track record. The LA County supes have again and again proven themselves capable of messing up anything they touch.

I know the bunch in Sacramento is not necessarily any more trustworthy, but when it comes to a county wide tax for transportation, sometimes more input is better. There are a lot of smaller things that could have been fixed over the years if the supes hadn't been so absorbed in whatever it is that they claim to do (see MLK-Drew as an example of their effectiveness)