Rushed and Stunningly Ill-conceived

East Bay Times Editorial Board Recommends Voters Reject Measure L

The Editorial Board of the East Bay Times recommends Berkeley voters reject Measure L this November characterizing it as a “rushed and stunningly ill-conceived” measure. They note that the $650 million in borrowing is “nearing the size of Oakland’s similar measure” despite Oakland having 3.4 times as many people.

As WOM Berkeley has reported, the measure’s language suggests anything goes with bond funds and represent a blank check. They specifically call out the clause stating, there is “not a commitment or guarantee that any specific amounts will be spent on particular projects or categories of projects.” The Times notes that the “little gem” of legal text is conveniently left out of the ballot language and out of the city’s “impartial analysis.”

WOM Berkeley repeatedly requested that the City Attorney and City Council clarify the impact of this legal text on spending plans, but both were non responsive. Rather than address our questions and concerns City Council attempted to pass “guidelines” for spending. The Times described this action as a "desperate attempt.” Noting that "nothing the council members do now could bind their or a future council’s spending of Measure L money. The guidelines are a meaningless promise."

A copy of the editorial may be found here.

Green Party Says No, No, No! To Measure L

“It is because of Berkeley’s incompetent management that this measure is on the ballot. Vote NO, a billion times no!”

 

In a stinging critique of ballot Measure L, the Green Party has made a “no, no, no” recommendation in its Voter Guide.

 

The Green Party, like many others across the political spectrum, recognizes that we need “targeted” and financially sound solutions to address Berkeley’s infrastructure crisis.  As WOM Berkeley has suggested, the Green Party agrees that taking a 48 year loan to repair potholes does “not make logical sense.”

The party goes further and writes, “It is a city’s duty to repair streets and infrastructure, which [in Berkeley’s case] have been neglected for years.” City Council has engaged in infrastructure benign neglect [or “incompetent management”] and now wants residents to provide a $650 million bail out. The problem is (1) there is no guarantee any infrastructure will be repaired and (2) they have offered no reforms to the system that created this problem in the first place. For example, City Council has not committed sufficient General Fund expenditures to maintaining our city.

 

WOM Berkeley and the Green Party share a common vision for targeted, sound and sustainable planning and Measure L provides neither. Even worse, it kicks the can down the road to our grandchildren to pay for problems of the past.

Read the “No, No, No” Recommendation

 

Why Neighbors are Voting No on Measure L

We Need A Plan for a Sustainable Berkeley Not $650 Million in Borrowing: Why Neighbors are Voting No on Measure L

Residents are feeling the squeeze from record inflation, and declines in retirement and education nest eggs. Now City Council wants residents to approve $650 million in borrowing – ballot Measure L. Here are some of the concerns being voiced by a diverse coalition of Berkeley residents, and why I am voting NO on Measure L.

Borrowing From Our Grandkids: After interest payments, Measure L will cost over $1.1 billion to finance or $8,938 per city resident and take 48 years to pay off. City Council is concerned that homeowners (who must pay off the debt) would get sticker shock if they used a traditional 30-year property tax repayment plan. So to make the repayment plan more “acceptable” they decided to extend the borrowing period from 30 years to 48 years, thereby  passing the cost on to future generations.

We Are Already Overdrawn: Berkeley residents recently voted to pass Measures O, P, M, T1, and FF. In sum, these measures have generated over $200 million in funds for affordable housing and road repair. Combined with other fees, these measures continue to produce tens of millions of dollars every year for affordable housing, homelessness, public safety, and disaster preparedness. Rather than work with this generous funding, City Council has manufactured an infrastructure crisis from years of bad budgeting and now wants to borrow hundreds of millions more to make up for it.

No Specific Plan or Guarantees: There is no plan for how Measure L funds would be spent, but Council has already promised more spending than the measure can support. Present or future Councils can use the money however they wish, regardless of how it is presented to voters. City Council gave itself complete discretion by declaring in the ballot measure: “These dollar amounts are estimates and are not a commitment or guarantee that any specific amounts will be spent on particular projects or categories of projects.”

 

Residents recognize it is vital to invest in Berkeley’s ailing infrastructure. However, we already spend more than double some neighboring cities and yet our outcomes are worse. Borrowing from our grandkids, to finance an overly ambitious laundry list of projects with no plan or guarantees, will not fix our infrastructure problem. A commitment of this scale, first requires thoughtful and deliberative planning and a long term budget strategy for maintaining our investments. Measure L provides none of this.

Please donate to this effort at:

https://berkeleyansforbetterplanning.org