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ALPERN AT LARGE - As one gets older, it’s easy to be one of those “Debbie Downers” who always question and cajole, who always protest and reject…but these last 4-8 years have been too much for us to blindly place our faith in city and county government.
In short, if we’re being asked to pay more in taxes and bonds, or if “someone else” will pay taxes and bonds but “not you”, vote NO.
State, county, and city governments are NOT spending well, and both crime and homeless/affordable housing initiatives are as corrupt as anything this nation has ever seen.
In short…don’t “feed the beast”. I have no problem paying more taxes, but can anyone really promote any authentic idealistic need for us to throw more of our money for causes for which we’ll all benefit?
Proposition 5: NO—don’t make it easier for bonds, taxes, or whatever else the same ‘ol, same’ ol city, county, or state governmental figures (and their allied cronies) want to raise. It’s not our fault, they spent our money poorly, or that inflation (which is truly something California loves to create) is making everything more artificially expensive.
Whether it’s education, transportation, housing, pensions, or just about everything else that’s being notoriously misspent, it’s a dreadful mistake to incentivize bad decisions and bad spending and bad policy.
Vote NO on any of the city or county or state proposals to make us spend more on homeless, affordable housing, transportation, police/fire, education (ESPECIALLY education, with the K-12 population decreasing) or other priorities that are just NOT being spent appropriately.
I have argued and fought to spend more on transportation taxes, for example, and very much want our roads and rail, and everything related to mobility, to be funded.
But then the California High-Speed Rail initiative folks knowing LIED to get us to approve its Authority (I fought for them before, and like many got “buyer’s remorse”), and it’s money that has been shifted from all sort of local and regional subway and commuter rail projects.
And the lack of security on our trains and buses makes it very, VERY hard to trust those who need to make rapid transit safe, convenient, and desirable.
Will we ever be able to restart our infrastructure, homeless/affordable housing, and other initiatives anew?
Probably, but not now, and not with those currently in power Downtown and in Sacramento.
NO on County Measure A, or E, or US.
And especially NO on State Proposition 5…we need to make it doggone HARD to raise taxes or bonds.
And if I’m sounding like a cynical, grumpy old man, then I apologize.
Especially because by my very nature, and as someone who’s fought for transportation and infrastructure spending for most of my life, this cynicism thing is something I despise.
But for THIS election cycle, cynicism is just the right thing to do.
(Kenneth S. Alpern, M.D, is a dermatologist who has served in clinics in Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside Counties, and is a proud husband and father. He was active for 20 years on the Mar Vista Community Council (MVCC) as a Board Member focused on Planning and Transportation, and helped lead the grassroots efforts of the Expo Line as well as connecting LAX to MetroRail. His latest project is his fictional online book entitled The Unforgotten Tales of Middle-Earth and can be reached at [email protected]. The views expressed in this article are solely those of Dr. Alpern.)
