Santa Clarita Valley Measure : Firefighters Union Endorses Road Tax

A countywide firefighters union Thursday endorsed the $275-million Santa Clarita Valley road tax initiative, saying the area’s crowded roads endanger both the public and those responding to emergencies.

“It’s an issue of health and safety,” Dallas Jones, president of the 2,500-member Los Angeles County Firefighters Assn., said in announcing the union’s support for the Nov. 7 ballot measure.

“So often, the roads here are so crowded that we have to drive on the wrong side of the street, and that’s dangerous to everybody,” Jones said.

The initiative, Measure P on the ballot, needs a two-thirds vote to pass. It would create a road-improvement assessment district that would cover most of the Santa Clarita Valley, adding between $75 and $200 to annual residential property tax bills. Commercial and industrial buildings would be assessed 7 1/2 cents a square foot.

‘Step in Right Direction’

“Nothing’s being done now, and in the years ahead the situation is going to get worse,” Jones said. The tax is “a step in the right direction.”

The crowded roads not only endanger personnel responding to emergencies, but affect the time it takes them to reach life-threatening situations such as traffic accidents and fires, Jones said.

A truck that overturned on the Golden State Freeway in August, paralyzing roads for several hours, underscored the need for road improvements in the area, said Mark Thompson, a member of the Roads Now Committee.

“Roads are much like arteries,” said Santa Clarita Councilman Dennis Koontz, who appeared with Jones to announce the union’s endorsement. “When they get clogged, people are in danger.”

Unwanted Traffic

Residents opposing the tax measure claim that it will raise money to build roads that will pour unwanted traffic from other parts of the valley onto Valencia’s well-planned streets.

Lou Garasi, who has spearheaded Measure P, said the area’s three fire stations are on Soledad Canyon, Seco Canyon and San Fernando roads--streets that have become overly congested and are earmarked for improvements with funds from the tax measure.

Valencia residents who oppose the tax don’t realize that the fire station that serves them is on San Fernando Road, a two-lane highway that often is choked with traffic, Garasi said.

Jones said many members of the firefighters union live in the valley and will form a committee to work toward passage of the ballot measure.