Re: Measures CA and CW
Just say No!
Measures CA and CW are two really bad ideas.
CA: George Washington was the last politician who voluntarily gave up power until now. Our City Council wants to relinquish power to the City Manager. A government entity that voluntarily gives up power is signaling a trap. The trap is giving more power to each individual Council member to privately influence the City Manager, instead of requiring a public consensus of three. Just say No.
CW: In 2013, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors proposed a similar measure that would impose a controversial parcel fee on county property to clean up storm water pollution. The measure would have assessed a $54/year on most single-family homes on all 2.2 million parcels within the flood district. School officials, senior citizens and non-profit agency leaders argued the fee would strain their already tight budgets. The Board of Supervisors listened to these objections and backed away from the proposed measure.
Los Angeles’s proposal had a sunset clause. Our Measure CW does not have a sunset clause. For that reason alone, it should be rejected. This $99/year property tax increase will continue forever. When I asked Public Works Director Charles Herbertson (the City Engineer) how they came up with the $99/year amount, he said they thought it was an amount that would be acceptable to voters.
He also said that the $2 million/year could be used to leverage loans and obtain grants. This would encourage more debt. When asked for specific financial details of the project to be funded, none was provided. The devil is the details. Also, Culver City already has trash-catch screens to prevent trash from entering storm drain systems and does not have any industrial runoff.
Passion trumps reason when deciding how to vote on propositions. Sure, everyone cares about clean water and doing our share to make our environment safe.
The City Council is relying on voters to forget their reasoning powers and succumb to their passions. Our reasoning powers tell us that Culver City will have to do what needs to be done with the funds that are available. Also don’t be suckered into believing that the city will have to cut funding in the Police Dept. or Fire Dept. if CW does not pass. They have been using this ploy for as long as I can remember. Enough is enough. Just say No.
Ms. Greenberg may be contacted at plgreen@att.net
