Proposition A

In my neighborhood, a Datsun truck was stolen from a driveway last year. A few months later, a home was burglarized as the dog barked. Neither crime was solved.

In the meantime, the state and county are mired in the worst budget cutbacks in memory. There just isn’t enough money to keep up with the rising crime rate and provide other basic essential public services. If we want to safeguard our communities with adequate justice facilities, we will have to do it ourselves by passing the county’s Proposition A in November.

Proposition A’s half-cent sales tax will put more police officers on the street and finance 10 new jail, court, and police facilities. Once the projects are built, the tax drops to one-quarter cent to pay for operating costs and the officers.

The measure takes a two-thirds “yes” vote to pass. Let’s secure a safe future at the ballot box.

M.G. LAURENCE, La Mesa