CommentsLA WATCHDOG--Money is the life blood of politics, especially for the politicians that occupy Los Angeles City Hall and the County Hall of Administration.
So when our Elected Elite support or oppose a ballot measure, we need to follow the cash to determine their true motivations. This is especially true for Measure S, the Neighborhood Integrity Initiative, and Measure H, the quarter of a cent increase in our sales tax that will fund services to the homeless.
Measure S requires that the City update the General Plan and its 35 Community Plans and assume the responsibility to oversee the development of Environmental Impact Reports and Traffic Studies. Measure S also eliminates “spot zoning” and places a 24 month moratorium ONLY on “up zoned” projects that would have received lucrative zoning changes, courtesy of the City Council and Mayor Eric Garcetti.
The delusional opponents claim that Measure S will make it impossible to build the affordable housing that LA desperately needs. But the truth is that City Hall does not have a plan to build affordable housing or the necessary billions to fund such a plan.
And now that the voters have approved JJJ, the Build Better LA ballot initiative, the cost of affordable units will increase by 46% according to Beacon Economics, the firm retained by the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, an ardent foe of Measure S. This massive cost increase will kill all residential development that needs a zoning change, whether it is luxury, market rate, or affordable.
The real reason for the opposition of Garcetti and the City Council is that if Measure S passes, the gravy train that has resulted in more than $10 million in campaign contributions from real estate developers will come to a stretching halt as City Hall will no longer be able to grant lucrative zoning changes to billionaire developers who have no respect for our neighborhoods and our quality of life.
With the passage of Measure S, the days where the real estate developers make billions, the City Hall politicians collect millions, and we get the shaft are over.
We will finally get a say in the destiny and density of our City and our neighborhoods as Measure S will require the City Planning Department to hold hearings on weeknights and weekends in our neighborhoods. No more schlepping downtown to City Hall during the day and only getting a minute to speak.
Measure H, the County ballot initiative to increase our sales tax by one quarter of cent, will raise $350 million to fund services for the homeless. While nobody denies that there is a homeless crisis, the County Supervisors have not made homelessness a budget priority, even after billions in new revenues swelled its total budget to $30 billion. Instead, the Supervisors approved new budget busting labor contracts and funneled money to their pet projects.
Homelessness only became a budget priority when they decided to pick our pockets for $4 billion over the next ten years.
The Supervisors and Mayor Eric Garcetti have been telling us that without this $4 billion tax increase, the County will not be able to provide the necessary services to the homeless population. But this sounds like the threats made in 2013 when Mayor Villaraigosa and LAPD Chief Charlie Beck told us that LA would be overrun by the Huns and Visigoths if we did not approve Proposition A, the half cent increase in our sales tax that was to be used to hire and retain more cops.
But shortly after Proposition A was rejected by 55% of the voters, Mayor Villaraigosa miraculously discovered the necessary money to fund the Police Department.
There is also the issue of trust.
In November, voters approved Measure M, a permanent half cent increase in our sales tax to fund Metro’s ambitious expansion program and its money losing operations. But the Supervisors and Mayor Garcetti were less than honest with us. They waited until after the election to disclose the massive cost overruns involving the widening of the 405 through the Sepulveda Pass, the Downtown Regional Connector, and the Gold Line Foothill Extension. And they failed to tell us about the decline in ridership.
The City, County, and State are also hatching more schemes to increase our taxes. In addition to Measure H, the County is preparing another Rain Tax to fund its storm water capture plan. The City is considering a multibillion street repair bond and a linkage fee on new developments. The South Coast AQMD is talking about a Vehicle License Fee. The State is considering a substantial bump in the gas tax and expanding the sales tax to cover services. And billions in bonds are being contemplated for the UC system and the State’s deteriorating parks.
The 2016 tax increases and the above contemplated taxes will cost the residents of the City of Los Angeles over $3 billion, the equivalent of raising our real estate taxes by over 60% or our sales tax by over 5%.
Enough is enough.
By voting YES on Measure S, the City will be required to update its General Plan and its 35 Community Plans in an open and transparent manner where we have a say in the future of our City. And at the same time, put a stop to the corrupt pay-to-play culture that permeates City Hall.
And by voting NO on Measure H, we can send to message to the pols that we are not their ATM.
It is time for us to take control of our City and our County.
(Jack Humphreville writes LA Watchdog for CityWatch. He is the President of the DWP Advocacy Committee and is the Budget and DWP representative for the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council. He is a Neighborhood Council Budget Advocate. Jack is affiliated with Recycler Classifieds -- www.recycler.com. He can be reached at: [email protected].)
-cw
S & H: It’s All About the Benjamins
