Chamber supports Measure L; so should you...

Chamber supports Measure L; so should you

The Burbank Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors has voted to

support Measure L and we urge the voters of Burbank to do the same.

The chamber’s mission is to promote the quality of the economy and

the quality of life in the community. It is rare for the chamber to

support any measure that would increase taxation because, as a

general rule, we do not believe that taxation promotes the economy.

However, the value to the quality of life in Burbank with the passage

of Measure L outweighs concerns about taxation.

Supporting Measure L is a good business decision. Burbank needs a

Northwest Branch and a Central Library that offer the same

state-of-the-art amenities that the Buena Vista Branch Library has,

and we have the opportunity to achieve that at one-third the cost at

a time when interest rates are at an all-time low. So, for every 33

cents we spend, the state of California will give us $1 worth of

libraries.

Measure L assesses both residential and commercial property owners

$1 per month on each $100,000 of assessed value. For example, if a

homeowner or business owner has a property with an assessed value of

$300,000, they would pay $3 a month for this bond. All property

owners are in this together; businesses will pay more than half the

cost of this bond because they own more than half of the property in

Burbank.

Measure L is a two-step process. First, two-thirds of the voters

must vote for the measure. Then, we must apply for the state grant.

If we don’t get the grant, then the bond does not go through and it

might be several years before we are able to update the rest of our

library system. We will never be able to do it this cheaply. It will

be many years before the state will have enough money to supply

library grants again, and it is unlikely that interest rates will

ever be this low. This is our big chance. Two-thirds of the voters

can get us new libraries at one-third of the cost.

SUSAN BOWERS

Executive Director, Burbank

Chamber of Commerce

Does the city have its own money for libraries?

This is in regard to a Will Rogers column on Measure L in the Feb.

5 edition. More often than not, I disagree with the Leader’s

columnist. In this instance, however, I believe the facts stated in

his column were accurate.

Rogers clearly pointed out how the services that the libraries

provide have changed dramatically in recent years and how the Central

and Northwest library branches are now outmoded and undersized. With

that, I agree.

The aspect of Measure L that Rogers failed to mention was whether

it is necessary to pass a bond measure to finance the city’s

$14-million portion of the cost to rebuild the facilities.

Who says the city cannot fund the $14 million out of one of its

many accounts? The Burbank City Council and the “Pirate of Penzance”

himself, City Manager Bud Ovrom. Keep in mind, folks, that this is

the same motley crew who tried to foist a bond issue on us several

years ago to build a police and fire building by telling us horror

stories about the old building.

When the voters rejected the bond measure, the council and its

lead pirate coughed up the $24 million, or thereabouts, out of its

existing funds and built the new police and fire building without any

bond indebtedness.

If the city had $24 million for the police and fire building, then

it would not surprise me at all if it has the $14 million for the

libraries. It would be interesting to know how many millions of our

tax dollars that the city has set aside in “reserves.” Until the

council comes clean and proves that they absolutely are unable to

come up with the $14 million, or a portion thereof, I’m voting

against Measure L.

RON VANDERFORD

Burbank