Countywide : Meetings Planned on Transportation Tax

Plans to seek voter approval again for an Orange County sales tax increase to fund transportation projects moved forward Monday with the go-ahead for a series of public workshops and hearings on the proposal.

The Orange County Transportation Commission voted 7 to 0 in favor of a public outreach program proposed by the commission’s staff that includes two public meetings co-sponsored by the Foundation for Consensus in Orange County, a privately constituted group of community activists and business leaders.

Foundation members had supported the half-cent sales tax proposal known as Measure M, which was defeated in a special election last year, 52.6% to 47.4%.

Transportation officials are planning to place a similar measure, called by some “son of M,” on the November ballot.

Details of the proposed public workshops remain to be worked out, officials said. Meanwhile, Thomas Wilck Associates, a public relations consulting firm, will prepare materials and subcontract a public opinion survey on voter preferences.

Commission members already have voted to keep the spending plan that was contained in Measure M because to change it would require going back to each of the county’s 29 city councils for approval.

However, public meetings and the public opinion poll are expected to focus on specific aspects of the plan, including links between levels of traffic congestion and new development, oversight by a citizens’ panel and enforcement of growth controls.

While voting with other commission members to approve the outreach program, Supervisor Roger R. Stanton said he is still considering an option to postpone the tax election until 1992. Stanton said he is concerned about the public’s mood and the large number of tax and bond measures already facing voters this year.

Other county supervisors have expressed a reluctance in taking a leadership role in the campaign for a new sales tax measure, citing concerns similar to Stanton’s.