L.A. County business interests scored key victories on local and state ballot measures in Tuesday’s elections, but also suffered some setbacks.
Among the victories were passage of Measure R, a countywide half-cent transportation sales tax that will generate up to $40 billion for congestion relief projects over the next 30 years, along with $10 billion worth of bonds for the Los Angeles Unified School District and the Los Angeles Community College District.
Business interests in Santa Monica successfully beat back a measure to cap development. But business was on the losing side as a similar measure placing more roadblocks to development in Redondo Beach passed.
In the crucial second district county supervisor race to replace retiring County Supervisor Yvonne Burke, organized labor champion Mark Ridley-Thomas soundly defeated business-backed rival and L.A. City Councilman Bernard Parks. Unions spent $8.5 million on behalf of state Sen. Ridley-Thomas, outspending Parks’ supporters by a margin of 8 to 1.
One hotly contested development measure in Beverly Hills, a referendum on a proposed hotel and condominium project next to the Beverly Hilton, was too close to call as of mid-day Wednesday. The “no” side was leading by 68 votes with hundreds of provisional and absentee ballots still to count. A final tally was not expected for at least a week.
Overall, though, business interests were pleased with the outcome, saying the bond and sales tax measures would provide a major economic stimulus for the local economy that’s now being hammered by the credit crisis and the recession.
“We approved locally $50 billion worth of projects yesterday to be built over 30-year period. That will help our community recover from the economic downturn quicker than other regions,” said Gary Toebben, chief executive of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce. “The voters showed a great deal of confidence in these proposals.”
The Chamber and other local business interests also cheered the apparent passage of state Proposition 11, which takes the decennial redistricting process out of the hands of legislators and sets up an independent commission to draw the boundaries. As of mid-day Wednesday, the measure was leading by 97,000 votes, with several hundred thousand provisional and absentee ballots still to count.
“We hope that it does pass,” said Dave Fleming, chair of the Los Angeles County Business Federation. “If it does pass, it will change the political landscape of Sacramento for years to come and go a long way towards ending the partisan gridlock that we’ve seen.”
Most local business groups also supported state Proposition 1A, the $9.9 billion bond measure to fund the backbone of a high-speed rail system from Los Angeles to San Francisco. However, given the requirement for federal matching dollars before the bonds can be sold, the measure was not expected to provide an immediate boost to the region’s economy.
– Howard Fine