Comments
ALPERN AT LARGE - No, you’re not crazy or stupid. The Voter Information Pamphlet and Sample Ballot really DO have too much boiler plate up front, and do NOT sufficiently condense the vital summaries and pro/con arguments up front:
1) There are laws to require simplification of stock and mutual fund summaries be simplified. There are laws to have medical reviews and approval/denial language be at a sixth-grade level for patients to understand. OUR BALLOTS ARE TOO COMPLICATED!
2) An independent commission of non-lawyers (and perhaps elementary school teachers, voter advocates, and logic/language experts) need to make pre-election info easy enough to easily interpret, access, and understand at a SIXTH GRADE LEVEL.
3) And laws to make a “Do Not Call” status really MEAN something are also in order. OUR CELLPHONES HAVE BEEN TAKEN OVER BY UNBLOCKABLE TEXTS AND SPAM CALLS.
On to the ballot:
Here we go:
1) L.A. Unified School Board: Vote for change and front-line teacher and parent/student advocacy at the LAUSD. No money, but better spending and NOT being owned by the UTLA/teacher unions who do NOT advocate for teachers, parents, and students.
2) L.A. Community College District Board: This district does NOT deserve more money, but does have a vital role in educating our youth after K-12. Andra Hoffman and David Vela are the only two with universal support...for the other seats, vote for change and employment preparation as part of post-high school education.
3) State Assembly and State Representative: Vote for policy, not party, and if you think change is in order, then vote accordingly.
4) City/Local Measures:
a) Measure DD—YES. Keep politics, racism, and egos out of Council redistricting.
b) Measure HH—YES. Transparency and auditing YES, conflicts of interest NO.
c) Measure II—NEUTRAL. Lots to like, and lots to wonder, about here. A toughie.
d) Measure ER—YES. Our Ethics Commission needs support, and fiscal/political honesty is long-overdue in L.A., which is only less corrupt than Chicago.
e) Measure FF—NO. Our public sector pension costs are destroying all of L.A.
f) Measure LL—YES. As with Measure DD, we need to keep politics, racism, and egos out of LAUSD redistricting.
g) Measure US—NO. For the LAUSD, spend cleaner and wiser. NOT more money.
4) District Attorney: Nathan Hochman. Civilization and chaos must return to L.A.
5) Judges: We have no business making non-educated guesses at these vital arbiters of the law. However, vote for law and order, and for proper enforcement of the law.
6) County Measures:
a) Measure G—YES. Long overdue ethics reform, nonpartisan and honest standards, and ensuring local and relevant representation for a sprawling Los Angeles County.
b) Measure A—NO . For homeless and affordable housing services, which have almost been criminally misspent, we will add fuel to the fire rather than putting the fire out.
7) State Measures:
a) Measure 2—NO. For the K-12 and Community Colleges, spend cleaner and wiser. NOT more money. They keep asking, and they keep wasting. Again. And again.
b) Measure 3—YOUR DECISION. Whether this succeeds or fails it makes no difference to constitutionally mandated law, all the way from the Supreme Court.
c) Measure 4—NO. For safe water, infrastructure, fire prevention, and the environment, spend cleaner and wiser. NOT more money if they’re spending poorly overall.
d) Measure 5—NO, NO, and NO! For affordable housing and infrastructure spending, spend cleaner and wiser. THIS IS A DANGEROUS MEASURE...and will lead to more bonds and taxes than we could ever imagine, and with dangerously less voter oversight.
e) Measure 6—YES. To my understanding, voluntary work programs for inmates will still be allowed, but involuntary work programs will not. This is not merely coddling inmates.
f) Measure 32—NO. If you think that raising minimum wages for entry level jobs won’t destroy jobs, think again. How many automated kiosks do you want instead of jobs?
g) Measure 33—NO. Hate ‘em or not, landlords are barely scraping by and losing money due to too much rent control. Rent control will lead to an affordable housing nightmare, and the more we do it, the more rents go up for us all.
h) Measure 34—NO. This is replete with hidden agendas and personal vendettas, and is frighteningly more complicated than just health care spending. Wrong measure to solve the very real problem of proper spending for health care.
i) Measure 35—NO. As with Measure 34, this is replete with hidden agendas, and is the wrong measure to solve the very real problem of proper spending for health care. As with Measure 34, are our Medi-Cal programs being spent and administered well?
j) Measure 36—YES, YES, and YES! Unless we want chaos and crime to be the new normal for Los Angeles and the rest of California, we need to get rid of Gascón and all those who despite law and order. We must restore felony status to felony crimes.
8) Presidential/Senatorial elections: All major candidates on both sides have extraordinarily negative aspects. Vote on policy, not party.
Vote tonight or tomorrow, before the deadline, and we must all do our civic duty. There’s much to be concerned about with respect to the hidden agendas and poorly-summarized measures.
This ballot has too many hidden, confusing, and dangerous opportunities for us to vote against our own best interests, and I hope that the opinions of yours truly (just one person in a very big world) can clarify and help a bit.
We deserve a better life for ourselves and future generations in this once-Golden State.
(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.)
