Quelle Surprise !!!: A small group of suburban voters defeated the LA County transit tax extension

[marmar]

from the LA Times:



A minority of voters living in a daisy chain of small, suburban and relatively upscale enclaves around the county's outer rim were largely responsible for last fall's razor thin defeat of a $90-billion transit tax that received lopsided ballot box support, a Times analysis shows.

The review comes as several of Los Angeles' senior politicians have joined state lawmakers to push for a reduction of the threshold for passage of such measures, arguing that the current two-thirds requirement is undemocratic and hinders the region's growth.

The transit tax extension, known as Measure J, was approved by 66.1% of some 3 million voters but fell 0.6%, or just 16,000 votes, shy of the required two-thirds supermajority.

Regions such as the South Bay, with higher concentrations of staunchly anti-tax voters, played a decisive role in defeating the proposal. ..........................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://articles.latimes.com/2013/mar/31/local/la-me-tax-vote-20130331

[Lydia Leftcoast]

1. And I bet you anything (based on experiences in both Portland and Minneapolis)

that there was a whispering campaign and thinly veiled rants in the right-wing media saying that transit would bring what they call "crime and drugs" into their neighborhoods.

[Vogon_Glory]

2. The Other Theme Was Probably Nobody Will Ride It

The other theme was probably the usual right-wing/fibber-tarian claim that "nobody would ride it" if it was built. That was one of the theme floating around here in Travis County when Austin's Capital Metro tried to start up a light-rail system here.

I've often wondered about the right-wing mind-set when it comes to transit. What do right-wingers consider a well-used transit vehicle to be? One with at least half the seats filled even during off-peak? ALL the seats filled during off-peak hours? All the seats filled and the aisles jammed with strap-hangers? Or something like Calcutta or Rio where the cars are jammed and people are hanging on for dear life onto the sides and roofs?