Political calculus
Citizens group opposed to city tax extension made strides even in defeat
By Wayne Lusvardi 02/14/2008
Former City Councilman and Chamber of Commerce President Paul Little wants to portray the vote count for Measure D as big. I would rather opt for looking at these numbers as small and as telling us more of the real story.
Measure D won by a margin of 4,934 votes, or 7.3 percent of the electorate, rather than by 16 percent of those who voted. If 50 percent (+1) of those 4,934 voters, or 2,468 voters, had voted against Measure D, the outcome would have been the opposite. And 2,468 voters reflects only 3.65 percent of the electorate, or about 1.7 percent of the population. Seen this way, Measure D won by a narrow margin.
Certainly 12 percent of Pasadenans voted to impose a tax on 88 percent of the remainder of the populace. Some call this democracy. This is why a two-thirds vote requirement is more prudent when voting on taxes - because it lessens the opportunity for a small but well-
organized coalition of special interests to impose a tax on the majority.
This begs for Pasadena to enact its own two-thirds vote requirement for any tax measure, rather than the 50 percent vote required under state law. But as we've seen, local politicians will never impose a two-thirds vote requirement law on themselves and will circumvent any such requirements on the basis of some "financial emergency" even if such does not in truth exist. A voter initiative for a two-thirds vote requirement on any tax issue would be one possibility to alleviate this abuse. But then again we're right back to a well-organized minority defeating any such referendum.
Historically, this is why cities have declined economically - as we are starting to see in Pasadena - with middle- and working-class flight and commercial protectionism. That the head of the Chamber of Commerce is a booster for Measure D as an in-lieu sales tax to even the playing field for local booksellers and other businesses, and was not even aware that the state of California already has an Internet sales tax law, is yet another irony that goes beyond the story of the vote count.
Despite the election outcome, the nonpartisan organization Citizens for Responsible Government has achieved the following:
1. Forced the city to promise to exempt the Internet from any future taxation when Congress ultimately lifts the ban on Internet taxes. In response, the city enacted such an amending ordinance to Measure D promising to exempt the Internet, but it is ambiguously worded.
2. Forced the city to double the exemption level on phones for low-income elderly residents from the Utility Users Tax so that it protected not just those making under $12,500 per year but households making up to $25,000 per year. The city complied with our request but neither the city nor the media made much note of this.
3. Exposed for the first time that the city of Pasadena had amassed budget reserves and investments of about two-thirds of a billion dollars, reflecting $11,669 per household. The city responded that Measure D represented a "financial emergency" requiring a costly $432,000 special election.
4. Asked the city to make more transparent the voodoo economics of how our water and electricity bills are calculated, with undisclosed discounts and rebates together with overcharges we never see on our monthly bills. The city refused to show the discounts and the overcharges on each bill.
5. Demanded the city consider lowering the tax rate on phone bills by 1 percent, as it is one of the highest phone tax rates in the state (8.28 percent). The city refused to do this, despite the city of Los Angeles and many other cities doing so.
6. Opposed Measure D as an in-lieu sales tax as it would lead to double taxation on those buying goods online by having to pay both a state sales tax and a local Internet tax totaling an onerous 16.53 percent. The Chamber of Commerce nonetheless backed Measure D over our objections and our demand to withdraw their support.
7. Issued the first rebuttal to the Mayor's State of the City 2008 speech in known city history. This rebuttal was prominently published in a hard-copy newspaper and in an online newspaper.
All in all, Citizens for Responsible Government scored some victories in the process that hopefully will not go unnoticed by those who will be burdened with this regressive tax.
Wayne Lusvardi is a founding member of Citizens for Responsible Government and wrote the ballot argument against Measure D.
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