Friday, October 07, 2016

Vote NO on Measure B this November

16 years ago, VTA perpetuated a fraud which was Measure A. This time the same characters are doing the same thing with Measure B. Unlike last time, the Measure B includes funding for highway projects and is sold by SVLG primarily as a highway tax.

Measure B again will have some money for BART. The same project that VTA could even partially complete for 16 years. They couldn't make this a marquee project because voters cannot be easily fooled. The rest of the transit funding is insignificant because they weren't even enough to restore transit back in year 2000 level, and many transit expansion projects promised in Measure A will remain unfulfilled.

The most disappointing is that some "transit advocacy" groups like Transform are support this. Transform knows that the highway projects would offset reduction in greenhouse gasses from the transit elements. But their final excuse is that: We know it is bad anyway, but we must get along with the program. The reality is that these groups rely on foundation funding to provide staffing, and that they don't want to cross SVLG because doing so can cost them their jobs.

The obvious choice is to vote NO. VTA has not changed. Its obsession for BART and highways is hurting transit all over the county. VTA does not need more taxes, but needs reform.