Transportation Tax to Return to O.C. Ballot

Orange County voters, who have twice rejected proposals that would have created a local sales tax for transportation, will get a third chance to consider such a measure in November.

The Orange County Transportation Commission voted Monday to place Measure M, a hotly contested half-cent sales tax initiative that failed last year, on the Nov. 6 ballot. The commission vote was 5 to 2, with Supervisors Roger R. Stanton and Harriett M. Wieder, who are also commission members, opposed because they believe too little time has passed since the measure’s defeat last year.

“I am confident that we’re doing the right thing,” said Commission Chairman Dana Reed. “As to whether the electorate approves, we’ll just have to wait for the campaign.”

The commission’s decision sets up a rematch of last November’s special election, when Measure M failed by a margin of 53% to 47%. That election was marked by extraordinarily low turnout--22% of registered voters cast ballots. Backers of the transportation tax believe that the gubernatorial race this year will spur greater turnout, which might propel the proposal to victory.

Analysts agree that a higher turnout could change the measure’s prospects, in that it would be going before a broader spectrum of county voters.

“I think this is the best shot they’re ever going to have,” said Harvey Englander, a Newport Beach political analyst. “With the right kind of campaign, I think they’ve got a good chance.”

Irv Pickler, vice chairman of the transportation commission, voted for putting the measure on the November ballot, saying that although it might entail a difficult campaign, higher turnout will help and time is not likely to soften the county’s traditional opposition to new taxes.

“I wish the timing was perfect,” Pickler said, “but I don’t think that two years hence it will be any better.”

Recent polls have suggested that a slim majority of county voters supports Measure M, but the margins have been perilously thin, and even supporters agree that without a vigorous campaign in its behalf, the tax could go down to defeat again this year.

That would mark the third time in six years county residents had rejected a transportation tax. The first was the 1-cent transportation tax that was resoundingly defeated in 1984.

“I can’t push this issue when I’m hearing voters say they don’t want it,” said Wieder, who is facing a November runoff in her bid to keep her supervisor’s seat. “The voters have a right to decide, and I would never deny them that, but on the other hand, it looks like we’re cramming it down their throats.”

The commission will repeat the vote for administrative reasons next week, and the measure is subject to review by the county supervisors, who are expected to take it up Aug. 7. Still, all parties agreed Monday that those two votes will be routine and that the measure will be on the ballot.

Reed and other backers of the sales tax proposal have long argued that the county needs the measure in order to smooth Orange County’s snarled traffic. Without the sales tax, they note, the county will not be able to collect its full share of three recently passed statewide transportation measures. Those will provide hundreds of millions of dollars to local governments, but much of the money will go only to local jurisdictions that provide a matching share.

All of Orange County’s neighbors have transportation taxes in place, and local leaders fear that state and federal money that could go to Orange County will go to those places unless Orange County can pass a measure of its own.

The proposal faces significant opposition, however: Detractors include those who oppose virtually any tax increase, environmentalists who complain that it does not go far enough toward regulating growth, and officials who support the tax but believe that this November is the wrong time to put it before the voters.

“I will maintain my position that it is a mistake for us to put this on the ballot,” said Supervisor Stanton, who has often argued that it is too soon to bring the measure before the voters again. “I’m just going to sit back and watch.”

While Stanton and Wieder oppose Measure M’s being on November’s ballot, Supervisors Thomas F. Riley and Don R. Roth strongly support it, and Riley has said he will campaign for it aggressively. Supervisor Gaddi H. Vasquez has not committed himself to a position on the issue.