The Los Angeles City Council put off a vote Wednesday on a proposed $3 billion bond measure that would raise property taxes to pay for years of street repairs.
The measure has not received support from the city's neighborhood councils. The proposal was formally announced last Friday in order to meet a deadline to place it on the May 21 ballot. City Council President Herb Wesson delayed the vote on the measure until Tuesday.
Los Angeles City Councilman Mitch Englander made his pitch for the $3 billion road repair bond issue Tuesday night to representatives of Neighborhood Councils from across the city, but the Neighborhood Council Budget Advocates voted 13-1 against the measure. They added their voice to that of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and the Los Angeles Neighborhood Council Coalition, decrying what they called the "City Council's predilection for precluding the Neighborhood Councils and their stakeholders from weighing in on citywide measures." The council in December approved placing a half-cent sales tax on the March municipal primary ballot without consulting Neighborhood Councils.
"We all recognize the streets need to be fixed," said Jay Handal, chairman of the Budget Advocates committee. "Our argument is about the fact that the council has again given us 24 hours notice to look at a $3 billion issue."
If the bond measure were approved, the owner of a $350,000 home would see an annual property tax increase of about $24 the first year, rising to a peak of $113 a year, Councilman Joe Buscaino, co-sponsor of the measure told the Daily News. Construction will create 30,000 local private jobs, not city jobs, Englander told the Budget Advocates.
Neighborhood Council representatives complained that they had never been informed about the bond proposal and demanded a 60-day delay in order to give the city's 95 local boards an opportunity to review the plan.
Englander, who represents much of the northwest Valley, has been flogging the idea since before he was elected, at meetings of the Chatsworth Neighborhood Council, the Porter Ranch Neighborhood Council and the Chatsworth Community Coordinating Council, as well as other venues in his district.
Englander spokesman Matt Myerhoff told Patch that the bond proposal has been undergoing "back-end work" for months, and Englander had to move quickly in order to meet a deadline to add it to the May 21 ballot while interest rates are low.
Wednesday's motion only "directs the city attorney to draw up the ballot language," Myerhoff said, and a complete street inventory is required before the plan can move forward.
Neighborhood Council coalition's Chairman Terrence Gomes, in an open letter to 95 Neighborhood Council presidents, complained that said the surprise introduction of the $3 billion bond proposal came without warning or public notice.
"They did this without any input from the public or the Neighborhood Councils that represent the stakeholders that will have to shoulder the eventual burden," Gomes said.
Englander and Buscaino, who represents the San Pedro area, are about to launch an explanatory website and are planning extensive outreach and four regional meetings before the City Council takes a final vote on Jan. 29.
"We are planning to meet with the Neighborhood Councils and other groups to explain the proposal," Englander told the Daily News. "This really isn't new. I have been working on this since I was chief deputy to (former Councilman) Greig Smith."
The bond proposal would appear on the same ballot as the mayoral runoff election as well as two initiatives dealing with medical marijuana.
Englander told Streetsblog LA that sidewalk repair isn't being left behind, it would be paid for with money left over from road repairs.
“You can only bond for projects that are specifically listed by law,” he said. “We have conditions for all 28,000 lane miles. We know where all 9,000 lane miles that are in failed and degraded condition are at. With sidewalks … they haven’t been inventoried yet.”
“Not a dime is allowed to go into the general fund or any other program, other than sidewalk reconstruction or the road repair fund,” Englander said.
For more see:
- $3 Billion Los Angeles Street Repair Bond Issue Proposed
This article was compiled with information from City News Service.
Road repair bond $113 a year ontop of the 2% property taxes go up yearly We already pay $5000+ in property taxes for a 1000 sqft house. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. NO MORE TAXES.
Vote for Kevin James. The other 3 morons have been on LA City Council and Gruehl also as Controller. THEY are the reason our City is almost bankrupt and has almost the highest taxation in the country with drastically cut services. Street sweeping cut from ev. 4 weeks to once or twice a year. A street sweeper is as rare as a bicyclist in those bike lanes on Wilbur, a costly debacle by this stupid City. Get your Neighborhood Councils to vote on a resolution that strongly opposes this bond that will raise our taxes. LA City has enough of our hard earned income already; the problem is with the union salaries, benefits and especially lavish pensions. LA City Council "reformed" pensions...EXCEPT, it was just for new employees and NOT for LAFD and LAPD....these insider politicians are beholding to the unions who give them campaign donation in payment for generous pensions+retiree benefits that are way more than the private sector gets. These politicians won't touch the CURRENT employees nor police and fire because they want to keep them happy so those unions will donate to their campaigns. It is like the mafia is running our city. Ask your NC to vote on a resolution opposing this outrageous bond and vote for KEVIN JAMES FOR MAYOR or we are doomed and we deserve what we get..
Our services have been drastically cut; have your taxes been drastically cut?
"Englander told Streetsblog LA that sidewalk repair isn't being left behind, it would be paid for with money left over from road repairs." Right-- and all the "undocumented" worker/residents/anchor-baby makers will start paying taxes on their cash income as a 2013 New Year's resolution. And, as for all that "unpermitted" remodel/construction work-- all those upstanding, honest citizens will ante up what they owe the city. While we're at it, all the unlicensed contractors, gardeners, and street venders will also acquire city business licenses because they actually don't just want to live in L.A. and suck it dry, but they actually want to support the city they reside in. And, just for kicks, all of these high-integrity career politicians will voluntarily take a pay cut, reduce staff and operating costs, and they will willingly donate part of their pension to the city coffers to help maintain this ever growing sanctuary city. "Don’t Bogart that joint, my friend…pass it onto me." And JWH IV was spot-on about the DWP. I shut everything off, and still my .... aches!
It's time to make a big change to LA, flush the political toilet and vote Kevin James for mayor. If we do not fire the SOB's that have ruined this city they will continue to do so. I will not even get into the DWP ripoff that occurs daily...
Several of these comments are right on the money. People are politically stupid. The first comment is classic. This person doesn't even know that they don't live in the city and the only effect it would have on them is that they will presumably be driving down better roads as soon as they get a mile from their house, and it won't cost THEM a cent. Meanwhile, the giant three foot round, 18" deep pothole on N/B Owensmouth at Lassen is entering it's third week of life, and the street racers are having a good old time at Canoga/Lassen and Canoga/Plummer every morning at 2AM - Set your clock to it. This sure isn't the city I grew up in.
Street sweeping is practically nonexistent now on the roads where the City does not collect parking fines. Parking fines (aka taxes) have gone up 80% under this wife-cheating mayor, and these fines mostly impact low-income apartment dwellers...so much for what they call "fairness." California and the other on-the-verge-of-bankruptcy states are run by Democrats...can't the "low information voters" see how these big government types end up wrecking their cities and states? Vote for Kevin James!