Grassroots community leaders take on David vs. Goliath fight to defeat Measure J
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Luisa Alverez is a community college student and Watts resident who has been having a hard time getting to school. “Since the elimination of two Rapid Bus services, my commute to school takes over two hours on three buses and two trains. Last year I missed a mid-term because of the buses running late.”
Los Angeles Metro is now asking Luisa to vote to approve Measure J on November 6th, a $90 Billion dollar extension of MTA’s latest half cent sales tax that will stretch to 2069. The question is can Luisa and Angelinos trust LA Metro with $90 billion dollars?- what community members of the No on Measure J Coalition have called a blank check for corporate handouts to the 1%.
Since Angelenos started paying this tax four years ago, LA metro has cut 1 million hours of bus service and raised fares. This means that MTA’s heavily Black, Latino, immigrant and poor riders have literally paid more for less. So where is the money going? Perhaps looking at the Yes On J campaign's multi-million dollar donor list provides some insight--AEG, Westfield Corporation, CH2M Hill, Parsons-Brinckerhoff, the who' who of the multinational corporate developers and contractors. These corporations will not only reap most of the money but can succeed in fulfilling their whitewashed vision of the city pushing out immigrant and low income communities out of our neighborhoods.
Bus riders, housing advocates, community leaders from South LA to even Beverly Hills have been spreading the word to LA residents to vote no to Measure J through facebook, art, rallies, and community forums. We're telling voters don't believe in the million dollar tv ads with false promises of jobs, of low fares, of mobility while they rob us of our basic services, our civil rights, and leave our children billions in debt for the next 60 years. It's an uphill battle and with only 9 days left to the election we need every webcitizen out there helping us defeat the Measure J corporate behemoth. We may not have the deep pockets of the 1% but the 99%'s effort to spread the word on all media can generate the votes to defeat this measure.
Visit No on J --- www.NoOnMeasureJ.net
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