OC Blog News Roundup -- November 9, 2005

Today's top stories from behind the Orange Curtain:

Election Roundup: Propositions Defeated -- OCR
OC voters back the Governor, deal defeat to Measure D.

OC Voters Reject B,C,D, and E -- LAT
Sounds like a kid who doesn't want to take his vitamins.

Voters Reject La Habra Tax -- OCR
The city is expected to cut jobs, community service programs and capital improvement projects.

Measure F Holds Lead -- DP
Bond has 55.2% of vote at 11:30 p.m., just over percentage needed to pass, with 37.3% of votes tallied.

Orange Approves 4,000 Homes Project -- OCR
Finally!

Petitions Submitted For OC School Board Recall -- LAT
We'll know in a few weeks if enough of the sigs are valid to force a recall of the entire seven-member Capistrano Unified Scoohl Board.

Laguna Niguel Council Unanimously Bans Loitering On Street Medians -- OCR
Homeless people claim they are "unfairly" targeted. Targeted - yes. Unfairly -- no.

Frank Mickadeit: Of Jaramillo And A Jan Brady-Like Existence -- OCR
Frank writes about what it was like in the Blum family -- jaramillo's in-laws.

Mission Viejo Says "No" To Gym Plan -- OCR
Costs are cited as the council splits 3-2 at a meeting that draws hundreds of residents.

Comments

[redperegrine]

Tax advocates are always saying that without a tax infrastructure will fall apart. Same thing in La Habra. But can anyone verify that LH's utility tax paid for any capital improvements? My guess is no - but I'd like to hear.

Please someone at OC Blog take note, it is the City of Laguna Hills, not the City of Laguna Niguel that doesn't want people on their medians.

Your 11/9/05 Blog Round-up indicates it is Laguna Niguel.

Cheers,

EDJ

[MrWhipple]

This from the LAT article on B, C, D, and E:

"Toward the end of the campaign we knew it was going to lose," said Dan Young, vice president of the Orange County Professional Firefighters Assn. "This was about public safety but our measure got sandwiched between several others and the opposition politicized the issues."

"The opposition politicized the issues"? What planet does Young live on? OC voters (thankfully) saw through this naked tax grab. That's all there is too it.

[Jason]

Who's editing Ron Campbell's articles at the OCR? From the first link in the Roundup:
Proposition 75, the union-dues measure that Schwarzenegger endorsed after it qualified
later:
Schwarzenegger personally placed four of the eight initiatives on Tuesday's ballot, including measures that would make it tougher for teachers to earn tenure, would place strict spending limits on California's annual budget, would make union spending for political purposes more difficult and would change the way legislative seats are drawn.

So apparently the Governator personally placed 75 on the ballot, but only supported it after it qualified for the ballot. Gotta love it.

There are some interesting takes out there (Claremont's Local Liberty has a few links) about how the props that qualified without Arnie's support (73 and 75) were doomed by his later support of them, at the hands of the "No on everything Arnie wants, no matter what" crowd. I was pleased with the early returns that had some winning, some losing and had a blog post half-written in my head exhorting the voting public for those indications that there was at least a decisive minority of voters who were voting for or against specific props according to their own consciences rather than a blind full-slate vote. Alas, that went up in smoke all too soon.

[Brett R. Barbre]

RE: La Habra Utility Tax
I represent the City of La Habra on the Municipal Water District or Orange County and meet with them regularly to discuss water infrastructure issues. They have spent a significant amount of money upgrading their water system and they still have some large projects that may be delayed as a result of this vote. As far as how they spent the entire amount collected, I am unsure of those specifics.

[Blog Watcher]

You have to love the Orange Punch blog. Seiler is channeling John Wayne.

[redperegrine]

Okay Brett, my questions are simply these: 1)does the La Habra Utility Tax revenue go into the General Fund? 2) does La Habra use General Fund revenue to pay for water-related capital expenditures (or any other kind for that matter)?

(BTW, is there a separate Water Fund in La Habra, and does it transfer money into La Habra's General Fund to cover overhead?)

My questions are based on my experiences in Fullerton where no capital improvements are budgeted out the General Fund. Rather they are paid for by a plethora of funding sources, including developer fees, Redevelopment, CBDG, water & sewage fees, State grants, Gas Tax, Measure M, etc, etc.

Fullerton's ill-famed Utility Tax of 1993-1994 went directly into the GF and paid for salaries and benefits. Its proponents told us it was necessary to maintain our quality of life. When things got desperate some of these adherents also claimed that "infrastructure" would be impacted, although the City's budget suggested otherwise.

At least the citizens of La Habra got to vote on the tax. We didn't.

[Silence Dogood]

Once again, Norberto Santana has a great blog post on his experiences with the NYC subway system.

I can second his remarks here. New York City stinks - literally, assaults the olfactory limits of the body with a wetched smell akin to dung and puke. I like the place, but man it smells with the humidity of summer and fall.