PROPOSITION J : Busy Signal

Last year more than 4.6 million calls were handled by the city’s 911 emergency telephone system. But a half-million other callers were unable to reach an emergency operator, the result of a system whose capacity to respond has been overtaken by the demands made on it. Proposition J on the Nov. 6 ballot would provide funding to expand and modernize this vital emergency system. Every resident of Los Angeles will benefit if Proposition J is approved.

Proposition J, which requires a two-thirds vote for passage, would impose a special tax on residential, business and commercial property in the city of Los Angeles to finance a $235-million bond issue. Proceeds from the bonds would modernize the Police Department’s obsolete radio system, build a new 911 dispatch center in the San Fernando Valley, move the current dispatch center to a new facility and increase the number of 911 operators, dispatchers and police radio channels.

Expanding the capacity of the 911 dispatch center would ensure better emergency service on police, fire and paramedic calls. Building a second facility some distance from the present downtown center would also make available a backup system should an earthquake or some other disaster put the downtown site out of operation.

Proposition J would cost the owner of a 1,500-square-foot home about $14 a year over the 20-year life of the special tax. That is a small cost to pay to obtain a more secure and responsive emergency communications system. Proposition J is a life-saving measure.