Countywide : $1 Million Raised for Measure M’s Coffers

Supporters of a half-cent sales tax for transportation have crossed the $1-million mark in fund raising with just four days left until Orange County voters decide the fate of the hotly contested measure, according to campaign reports filed Friday.

The last-minute additions to Measure M’s campaign coffers were highlighted by a $200,000 loan secured by the Irvine Co. and Disneyland. Those two companies backed an earlier $250,000 loan to the campaign, and their latest loans--combined with several other gifts and in-kind contributions from other organizations--bring the group’s total war chest to about $1.14 million.

Reed Royalty, who chairs the Yes on Revised Measure M campaign, said the contributions and loans will allow supporters of the sales tax to step up their “education efforts,” in the campaign’s final days.

“We’re doing mailings and telephone calling, and we’ll keep doing it right up until the end,” said Royalty, area vice president for Pacific Bell.

Tuesday’s election will mark the third time that Orange County voters have considered a sales tax to pay for transportation improvements. A nearly identical transportation tax, also called Measure M, was defeated by county voters last November, 53% to 47%.

But while Royalty and other backers of this year’s Measure M predict that their ample campaign coffers will help strengthen support for the proposal down the home stretch this time, opponents of the measure remain confident.

“Their polls and their consultants have led them to believe that if they spend more money, they’ll win,” said Tom Rogers, a slow-growth advocate from San Juan Capistrano and a leader of the anti-Measure M campaign. “I just don’t believe that’s true.”

Support for the measure has remained mixed in recent polls. A late October Times Orange County Poll found 47% supported the measure, compared to 37% who opposed it. When respondents were told of specific projects that the proposed tax would pay for, support increased to 58%.