How Measure P Went Down in Flames
Now that the elections are over, we can breathe a collective sigh of relief, trash those offensive signs, and marinate in our perfect November weather—even though it’s hard not to be rattled by the fires up north, and ponder by what divine providence we have escaped them.
There’s a photo currently making the rounds on social media of Malibu engulfed in biblical flames—with gridlock on Pacific Coast Highway as motorists try to escape. It’s surreal in its magnitude.
One can’t help but contemplate what horror would befall us in a similar scenario, especially if Laguna Canyon becomes impassable because of a fallen utility pole.
So why did Measure P—the bond to underground our utilities as a fire safety measure—fail so miserably? It’s pretty gnarly that it garnered just 46 percent of the vote, while it needed 67 percent to pass. That’s a 21 percent gap. To put that in perspective, those are pretty much the margins of defeat of some of the most lopsided presidential elections in history, like Nixon beating McGovern in ’72 (23 percent), or Johnson beating Goldwater in ’64 (22.5 percent).
With all the fabulous wealth in this town, one wonders why we chose so decisively not to fund our share, and foist the rest on visitors. It’s not like we can’t afford it. But something bigger than the usual fiscal watchdogs shrieking about excessive tax burdens was obviously at play. I think it was the marketing. This was one of the poorest communicated campaigns I can recall. The benefits were negligible. A $200 million beautification project benefiting certain neighborhoods, with a “worst case” fire scenario that may or may not ever happen. Or even be factual. And using all of our political and financial will on that one specific project. And burdening generations to come with debt. Meh.
The tragedy is that this was teed up to leverage the tangential benefits that would accrue with widening the shoulders, like adding lanes, roundabouts, a transit and/or bike lane, a light rail, or just a contiguous pedestrian path that could make East Laguna a viable, pedestrian-friendly, affordable housing district filled with vitality.
It’s even more frustrating when considering all the time our community invested in vetting the benefits of undergrounding the lines. Back in October 2014, a special “133 Task Force,” composed of 19 different community groups, voluntarily convened for nine months of meetings. After exhaustive consideration, the committee made a near-unanimous recommendation to build a dedicated bike lane that could also double as an express transit lane (yes they do exist and work), along with a pedestrian pathway. The city then issued a “Request for Proposal” in May 2017 to develop a Project Study Report, with the objective of “enhancing pedestrian and bicycle circulation, transit access, and roadway safety by undergrounding the existing overhead utilities.”
And yet, a year and a half later, we got bupkis. And now we’re back to zero in major city improvements.
What if the authors had told us that undergrounding was a mere trojan horse, and that the real benefit would be seriously mitigating our daily traffic horror on the 133? That we could increase traffic flow with roundabouts at El Toro, LCAD, and Broadway at Forest. That we could add lanes in critical areas and create perimeter parking lots with an express transit lane. That we even had the room to perhaps one day build a light rail to the Irvine train station. Would that have made it worth it to one out of five more voters? I guess we’ll never know.
In other election news, how about that Peter Blake, finishing just a half point behind 20-year incumbent Toni Iseman? He put quite a few off with his irascible style, and had to combat an outrageous lie that he’s in the pocket of developers. But at the end of the day, it was his multitude of fresh ideas to reinvigorate our town and the ability to articulate them that carried the day. He also demonstrated that engaging with the community in the rough and tumble world of social media was a savvy move, as he tirelessly answered every critic. It proved a winning strategy that got people to know and talk about him.
So now the hard work begins to meet campaign promises—starting with term limits. We’ll need a ballot measure to change our status from “General Law City” to “Charter City.” This would give us tremendous flexibility, including possible voter districting so that every neighborhood is equally represented. It will take strong and dedicated leadership to get this done, and, unlike Measure P, a thorough elucidation of the benefits. But if I’ve ever encountered a promising public servant with the stones to make it happen, it just may be Peter Freaking Blake.
Billy Fried hosts “Laguna Talks” on Thursday nights at 8 p.m. on KX93.5 and can be reached at [email protected].
