Measure M – for Mistake
by Dale Tyler

Measure M is a fraud on the taxpayers of Orange County. The Orange County Transportation Authority claims that this existing half-cent sales tax has done much good in the nearly 16 years it has been in operation. You should be asking yourself, “Good for Whom?”

It is true that during the past decade and a half, there have been significant improvements to our freeways and roads. Some of these improvements were partially paid for by Measure M funds collected from taxpayers. However, a great number of these projects, including the I-5/I-405 widening and the I-5 improvements near Disneyland would likely have happened whether or not we passed the original Measure M. Just before it was passed, the Irvine Company had come to an agreement with CalTrans to widen the El Toro “Y.” However, when it was clear that Measure M would pass, that deal fell through. Guess who spent a lot to promote Measure M? That's right, developers including the Irvine Company and Disney. It turns out that these companies realized it is a lot better to have the taxpayers pay than for them to do so.

The original Measure M promised to make the developers or landowners in all of Orange County, but particularly in Central and South County, pay for their fair share of road and freeway improvements. This was needed because much of the increased traffic comes from those very developments that were being planned. Yet, the developers got almost a free ride. They paid a tiny fraction of the amount needed to expand the roads to handle the cars of their new residences and businesses. For example, in Ladera Ranch, the development to the east of southern Mission Viejo, the developer paid part of the cost of widening Crown Valley from six lanes to eight. Yet, the real traffic increase on Crown Valley from their vehicle traffic alone would require at least 4 more lanes. So while they paid something, it was not nearly enough to clean up their mess in our city. The same is true for the proposed Rancho Mission Viejo development. Measure M's promised protections were never implemented by the OCTA or the County of Orange.

Thus, we have a situation where developers paid to have Measure M passed and then skipped out on most of their obligations to not make traffic worse due to their own activities. The OCTA has been protecting these very companies and soaking the taxpayers for the past 15 years.

Now we are being asked to tax ourselves again, for 30 years this time, and the OCTA is promising that “things will get better.” We need to ask, “Better for Whom?”

There is another group that benefits from Measure M, other than the taxpayers, and that is the OCTA itself. While they claim that they will spend only 1 percent ($130 million) on “administration,” the thousands of OCTA employees will be paid for studies, planning, engineering and publicity costs over and above the 1 percent. The OCTA is like any other government agency, needing more and more money to increase their power. This agency is known for its extravagant spending on things like the “trolley to Nowhere,” also called the Centerline, and the majestic carpool ramps at interchanges like the 405 and 55. As Steve Greenhut says in his Sept. 3, 2006, editorial in the Orange County Register, we need to “starve the beast” and not give more money to an agency that has shown during the past 15 years it cannot be trusted with our money.

Tell your friends to vote “No” on the new tax, Measure M, this November.