ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : Measure M: Time to Regroup

Two days after a major defeat may not be a good time to talk about starting over. But it is never too soon to regroup for another attempt at a measure to fund much-needed improvements to the Orange County highway and transit system.

Measure M, which would have imposed a half-cent sales tax increase to raise $3.1 billion over 20 years for the county’s transportation projects, was defeated Tuesday, 53% to 47%. Discouraging as that sounds, it lost by less than the 2 1/2-1 margin by which a similar traffic measure was trounced in 1984. We think of it as a slow coming to grips with the facts: There is no magical pot of money out there to take Orange County out of its traffic misery.

Faced with similar traffic problems, voters in San Bernardino, Imperial, Santa Barbara and San Francisco counties Tuesday approved half-cent sales tax increases for their transportation plans. All the counties contiguous to Orange, and a total of 15 in the state, now have approved such taxes.

While not perfect, Measure M was a sound plan that would have speeded the widening of the Santa Ana Freeway (Interstate 5), added lanes to the Santa Ana, Riverside, Orange, San Diego and Costa Mesa freeways, built a network of “super streets” and coordinated traffic signals.

Measure M apparently failed to overcome Orange County’s anti-tax mentality or alleviate fears that the money would result in more development and even worse traffic problems in the future. Many voters were suspicious of the heavy-handed backing of developers, who financed the campaign to the tune of $2.5 million. And they lacked faith that government would spend the money wisely.

But the process of coming up with a transportation measure must continue, and its base must be widened so that the next measure is truly a consensus of all those who have an interest in the well-being of the county and its residents. It is time for all to realize that nobody is riding to the rescue. The prospects of additional funds from state or federal sources are dim, especially since Orange County residents, unlike their neighbors, have refused to dig deeper to help solve the problem with local funds.

The county must help resolve its own traffic problems or forfeit the right to complain.