Son of Measure A

If you live in Long Beach, you are being asked to extend the 10.25% sales tax forever. The first Measure A sales tax, passed by the voters in 2016, promised to increase public safety, fix streets and sidewalks, improve and maintain parks and libraries.

Instead, the money has gone into the General Fund and a fire station has been closed; police are still at inadequate numbers; streets are ‘calmed’, ‘on a diet’ and full of potholes; library hours have been lost and parks are in need of maintenance and rangers. There has been no audit, so no one knows how this additional sales tax has been spent. This sales tax was supposed to be lowered in 2023, and end in 2028; a yes vote on March 3 will extend it forever.

Vote no on this infinity tax.

Name Withheld

I received two “vote yes on measure A” and it has the same bs nonsense photo as used in 2016 to snooker Long Beach voters on the last misleading Measure A tax. That tax was to be temporary, but just like a crack head, Long Beach LOVES taxes.

Many of us don’t trust the council and don’t want to see our businesses and the poor hurt more by continued taxes that were promised to expire. Long Beach businesses feel the pain when shoppers go to other cities with lower taxes: Bellflower, Signal Hill, Lakewood, Paramount and surrounding. Only Compton has similar high sales tax of 10.25% and we all know what high Long Beach business licenses, taxes and unfavorable business climate did to the car dealerships and why Home Depot is in Signal Hill and Lakewood and not Long Beach.

High taxes and fees and BIDs (business improvement fee fleecing districts) discourage business. As does the high homeless population and business reducing traffic and bike lanes (like Orange Avenue and Broadway), just to name two bad ideas implemented stupidly without resident or taxpayer input.

The only cure for Long Beach high tax thirst is cold turkey turn off the tap and stop the city waste. Instead of repairing local bad roads (Clark Avenue by Atherton, Wardlow Road by Woodruff, Market and Orange in North Long Beach) the city keeps installing useless traffic thwarting roundabouts and more miles of red curbs or business-killing parking meters.

And why is a new roundabout now at Termino Ave and 15th, just where ambulances will want to drive easily and unfettered into the maybe soon opening Community Hospital ambulance driveway?

When will auditor Dowd audit the roundabouts? After the soon-to-be completed revealing losing Queen Mary report that shows the queen to be a major loser for Long Beach, just as the tax-bond gobbling aquarium does? Neither make any profit and only suck up tidelands money and other fees.

We must stop Long Beach taxing toxicity bad behavior to get the city to balance the books and stop passing fees to the taxpaying customer and water taxed litigated illegal city cheating mentality.

Name Withheld by Request.