Measure I Campaign Kicks Off

By Paul Eakins

LONG BEACH – Mayor Bob Foster has been campaigning for weeks to build support for his infrastructure improvement measure, but on Thursday the “Yes on I” campaign officially kicked off.

Surrounded by about 30 prominent supporters of Measure I, including two City Council members, business owners and a former governor, at Marina Vista Park in East Long Beach, Foster said that organizing supporters was the first step.

“People like to see, I think, a good coalition that’s very diverse, and we have that,” Foster said.

Now, the work of educating the public by the Nov. 4 general election will continue, he said.

“We want to make sure that people are fully informed as to what Measure I will do and that they understand that it’s fully dedicated, that it’s gonna fix what they care about most right here at home,” Foster said.

Measure I would levy a parcel tax against residential and business owners to finance $571 million in bonds for infrastructure work over 10 years. The tax would cost single-family homeowners $120 per year initially, while businesses would pay based on square footage, and would continue until 2044.

The measure would pay to replace or repair 400 miles of streets, 163 miles of sidewalks, 75 miles of alleys and 3,000 storm drains, as well as renovate or build fire stations, community buildings and other facilities.

Critics say the cost is too high, that the economy is too weak and that taxpayers can’t handle more burdens.

Opponents also say the mayor didn’t get enough public input before moving to put the measure on the ballot and that the money could be funneled to non-infrastructure uses.

While Measure I does explicitly state that the bond money must be used for infrastructure projects, it doesn’t prioritize specific projects nor give estimated costs, which critics say is a problem.

Just as the mayor and his supporters were gathering Thursday, news was spreading that the Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce had voted not to take a position on the measure, neither supporting nor opposing it.

Local organizations and community leaders have been on both sides of the issue, but on Thursday Foster’s event was all about support.

Among those there were former Gov. George Deukmejian, a Long Beach resident; council members Bonnie Lowenthal and Val Lerch; leaders of the local police and fire unions; Eloy Ortiz Oakley, superintendent-president of Long Beach City College; leaders of the Long Beach Surfrider Foundation; as well as local university students and others.

John Molina, chief financial officer of Molina Healthcare, one of Long Beach’s largest employers, said he had come out to support Measure I despite potential company payments of tens of thousands of dollars for the parcel tax. He couldn’t give an exact figure, but he said Molina Healthcare owns or leases about 300,000 square feet of operational space.

“It’s not going to be an insignificant sum, but the bottom line is, you can’t have a first-class city with a third-class infrastructure,” Molina said.

paul.eakins@presstelegram.com, 562-499-1278

(c) 2008 Press-Telegram Long Beach, CA.. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.