Measure G is a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad attempt to raise your taxes. It would double the Transnet tax you are already paying, and the money would be used primarily to fund projects that ignore the needs of most County residents. It deserves a “no” vote — though, if it were up to me, a member of SANDAG’s Board of Directors, I would prefer a “H*ll No!” option. Here’s why.
SANDAG can’t be trusted. It is beyond ironic that the first promise listed in the ballot language for Measure G is “to repair/upgrade roads.” Yet SANDAG has failed to fulfill similar promises made to taxpayers decades ago when the original half-cent tax was approved, such as improvements to major freeways like Interstate 5, state Route 78 and state Route 67 (all of which would reduce traffic and improve mobility). It has failed to prioritize those essential upgrades, leaving our roads congested and many of our communities underserved — all while the agency continues to take our money, as it will until 2048.
For the record, I and several other board have fought tooth and nail for many years to hold SANDAG able to the promises it’s made. But due to the power of the big cities with their heavily weighted votes we have not been successful. And because of that power imbalance, if Measure G does , most county residents will see no improvements to the freeways and streets that they rely on day in and day out — but they’ll still be saddled with the tax for decades to come.
Worse yet, sooner or later there will be an even higher price to pay for SANDAG’s broken promises. Its failure to complete the promised expansion of state Route 67 to four lanes from Ramona to Lakeside is certain to lead to tragedy.
That expansion, though critical to public safety — particularly when wildfires strike — has been ignored. Lives will be lost as a result. It is just a matter of time.
Unfulfilled commitments like those are ample justification to say no to Measure G, but there are even more reasons.
The Measure G money grab comes at a time when SANDAG is under federal investigation — let that sink in. When the Department of Justice comes knocking at your door, it is never good news. Having served on the board for 10 years, I can’t say the feds’ visit came as a surprise. When an agency like SANDAG takes its orders from a “bull in a china shop” executive director, you should expect things to get broken.
SANDAG has morphed into a bloated bureaucracy that funnels money to a select few while taxpayers foot the bill. An audit last year uncovered rampant abuses in contract management, with some contractors receiving up to 700% more than their original awards. One vendor saw its contract balloon by $64 million. This isn’t just mismanagement; it’s a betrayal of public trust. And the companies benefiting from these inflated contracts are lining up to Measure G, knowing it means more big payouts with little oversight.
Need more reasons to vote “no” on Measure G? SANDAG spent over $2.4 million in questionable taxpayer-funded credit card purchases. Nearly $70,000 was spent at restaurants. This is your money, squandered by an agency claiming to act in your interest. And don’t forget SANDAG’s dishonest projections for a 2016 ballot measure (which I also opposed); charging tens of thousands of drivers a toll for a road they didn’t use; keeping the board in the dark about that for a year; and a flawed closed-session recruitment process to replace a terribly flawed executive director. If I hadn’t had a ringside seat, I’d find all of this hard to believe — but it’s true and damning.
After years of mismanagement, broken promises and abuse of taxpayer funds, SANDAG has lost all credibility. It needs to clean up its act. It must fulfill the promises made to voters over a decade ago. Until and unless those commitments are honored and SANDAG has put its house in order, it should not get another penny from taxpayers.
San Diego deserves ability, not empty promises. Measure G deserves an emphatic no!
Vaus is mayor of Poway and a member of the SANDAG Board of Directors.
