Long Beach Press-Telegram editorializes against Measure R

Editorial boards at newspapers across the Southland are increasingly taking sides on the various items on the Nov. 4 ballot, and the Long Beach Press-Telegram last night posted its editorial against Measure R, the proposed half-cent sales tax increase in Los Angeles County to pay for more mass transit.

The paper's editorial board opined there's too little in it for southeastern L.A. County and too much for the Westside. An excerpt:

"What you would find are billions earmarked for West Los Angeles projects, including a subway to the sea (as in Santa Monica, not Long Beach), an extension of the Gold Line, busways for the San Fernando Valley and some "undetermined" interchange improvements for the 405 and 91 freeways."

snip

"We agree with Supervisor Don Knabe, who opposes the transit tax because it is inequitable. Yes, it's true that some of us commute to L.A. and beyond each day, but the vast majority of beneficiaries of this tax are people who live and work in L.A. If they want to tax themselves another half cent, they have our permission to do so at a later date. ...

"Southern California traffic is a mess, and it's bound to get worse. Mass transit, more car pool lanes, one-way streets, synchronized traffic lights and other enhancements are surely needed. Measure R supporters say that there will be oversight. They always say that. But major transportation projects always wind up costing billions more than anticipated, and oversight has never been able to prevent that from happening. What probably will happen is that once voters give county transit officials the green light, the state will pocket the billions it should be doling out for local transit."

As I posted on Friday, it's interesting how quiet the Measure R campaign has been thus far. In the meantime, many absentee voters will soon be mailing their ballots.

Note: I'd like to track as many editorials on Measure R as possible. If you see one in your local paper -- whether it's a weekly or daily -- e-mail me about it and include a link if it's available.

--Steve Hymon

Comments

[John Grove]

It appears that the Westside got little attention in past decades when projects like I-105 and the Long Beach light rail line were built. Yes a subway will cost billions, thats the price for years of inaction and devotion to automobile travel.

[Alan Fishel]

As a long time Long Beach Resident and supporter of measure R the idea of the PT opposing it because Long Beach does not get enough of the pie is outrageous. Long Beach is fortunate enough the have the Blue Line even if does not allow it signal preemption along Long Beach Blvd slowing the trains and riders to allow the autos to go first. One of the reasons I chose to live in Long Beach which I love is because of the Blue Line and the easy access to LA, Hollywood, Pasadena and the SF Valley.

Measure R is for all of the residents of Southern California not Just Long Beach, The South Bay, San Gabriel Valley, San Fernando Valley or the West Side. This is putting the transit projects where they are needed most, not necessarily where the political pressure is coming from.

There are many parts of Measure R that I disagree with especially the 710 widening for trucks (which should be on trains not the roads) and the 710 connection through South Pasadena. Never the less I am voting YES on R for the big picture even though Long Beach does not get a large cut of the pie which they think they deserve.

[Chris]

It's estimated that Long Beach Transit will secure an additional $10 million a year in funding if Measure R passes. Even if there is nothing else, this is sure a lot more than "nothing". Long Beach is lucky that people on the westside didn't editorialize against the Blue Line when it was getting built; then we'd have nothing.

[Dana Gabbard]

Jaw dropping, short-sighted, myopic, parochial--all apt descriptions of this sad ill advised crybaby editorial. Why do politicians and editorial boards indulge in behavior that we sternly admonish against when engaged in by 5 year olds?

[Matt]

Sadly, The Los Angeles Newspaper Group owns the Daily News, the Daily Breeze, The Press Telegram, The Whittier Daily News, The Pasadena Star News, The San Gabriel Valley Tribune, the Daily Bulletin, and The Redlands Daily Facts. They just run the same editorials in each of their papers (occasionally with slight local variations), on different days. Hope some real local papers have more original thoughts! Is it any wonder more and more of us read blogs instead?

[lsm]

The editorial board of the Long Beach Press-Telegram sounds particularly lame asserting, "major transportation projects always wind up costing billions more than anticipated" only a few days after Metro announced the Gold Line Extension is ahead of schedule and under budget. This editorial board seems determined not to let any facts stand in the way of what it opines.