Can OCTA Appear Competent For 12 Months In A Row?

Passing one of those "Your 1/2 Cent Goes A Long Way" promo signs at a freeway onramp today, my thoughts alighted on the topic of OCTA's challenge in enewing Measure M.

Reaching the two-thirds necessary will be a tough sell, as the OCTA's Measure M consultants understand. On the other hand, I'm doubtful the senior staff clustered about OCTA CEO Art Leahy (with a some exceptions) possess that same understanding.

The current notion is to qualify the renewal of Measure M for the November ballot. At present, they're hamering out what transportation projects will be in Measure M, attempting to package it to maximize its voter-appeal.

That means OCTA is going to have to convince two-thirds of Orange County voters to trust them to efficiently implement the proposed list of projects in a timely and cost-effective manner. For the next 12 months, OCTA has to avoid making the kind of news that undermines voter confidence in its ability to bring projects to completion on-time and on-budget. It will require political leadership that is able to perceive that critical dimension to important decisons, and act accordingly: Will this help or hurt our efforts to renew Measure M? If OCTA wants voters to extend the half-cent sales tax for a few more decades, they'd better hope voters are thinking about Measure M projects that were successful, not ones that were screwed up.

That's a lot to expect from today's OCTA. The Board of Directors has a goodly number of members possessing street smarts and horse sense, but the OCTA senior staff suffers from a political savvy deficiency. Hopefully, their Measure M renewal consultant team can serve as the political equivalent of a multi-vitamin supplment. 

Comments

I don't know Jubal ... seems like a good % of the public's congestion stress is directly from the press ... as we reach Measure M renewal time, voters' arms will be twisted with polls, stories, etc on congestion and quality of life until they say "UNCLE" ...

[calwatch]

On the other hand, the San Bernardino and Riverside County propositions passed handily. I don't expect a problem with OCTA. It will be likely that they will tune the amount of money going to transit down (since they are not building any fixed guideway rail anymore) and the amount of money to local streets up, but the carpool lane program and the rest will continue.

[calwatch]

On the other hand, the San bernardino and Riverside County propositions passed handily. I don't expect a problem with OCTA. It will be likely that they will tune the amount of money going to transit down (since they are not building any fixed guideway rail anymore) and the amount of money to local streets up, but the carpool lane program and the rest will continue.