By Gary Abrams
Re “Save Your Home – Vote ‘No’ on the School Bond Measure”
Dear Mr. Michael Milligan,
Welcome to the club. Thank you for the information. Some of it is enlightening.
I have been involved in exposing Culver City’s “rob the blind” politics since my first stroll for School Board in 2009. My articles are published mainly in this online news outlet.
Early in the candidates forums, one of my opening questions is – How many of you use the internet? Of 30 people, five to 10 hands go up.
There is a small percentage of the residents who vote. The School Board is now controlled by a parents united group, which swept last November’s race with all three of its endorsed candidates. Karlo Silbiger was shockingly unseated, mainly because he advocated an itemized bill (transparency) for the proposed bond before putting it in front of the taxpayers.
The strategy for the bond measure is similar for selection of School Board members. Pick a time when there will be the lowest to nonexistence of citizen interest (turnout) in voting.
I wrote about the many “fees,” as in lawyers and consultants, and the new trend of self-taxing among some of my many articles. Just to update you, the lifetime medical coverage for the City Council has been eliminated.
On the subject of scams — Have you ever tried to decipher the parking restrictions on some street signs?
Contrary to popular belief, the Taxpayers money does not simply disappear. It just changes hands.
In case you are wondering what club I was referring to above, it is the Truth-Tellers Club.
Red Light Cameras
During a City Council meeting last month, the Council has a police officer to debunk a targeted citizen’s claim.
City stands by its red light camera program.
Red light cameras have been in use since at least the 1990s, but widespread adoption didn't come until the last decade.
The rapid growth was accompanied by aggressive marketing on behalf of camera contractors, including American Traffic Solutions and Redflex Holdings, Ltd., based in Australia.
Many communities have found another benefit:
More ticket revenue without the need to hire new police officers.
Contractors and supporters of the cameras say the safety benefits are well established.
A 2011 study showed significantly lower fatal-crash rates at intersections in cities with cameras than in those without them.
But many elsewhere disagree and have moved to get rid of them.
Los Angeles ended its program in 2011, citing in part a lack of evidence that the camera program,
in place for more than a decade, was making intersections any safer.
Pasadena ended their program in 2012; San Diego and Poway followed suit last year.
See http://www.smartvoter.org/2014/04/08/ca/la/
Mr. Abrams,a candidate for City Council in the April 8 election, may be contacted at gabrams@ca.rr.com and at www.voteabrams.com
