Critically Speaking: Show some initiative
A minimum wage increase, the right to marry and rent control are among the statewide ballot measures you’ll decide this year.
I know it doesn’t feel like it but the general election is just around the corner.
We deserve a few days of rest and relaxation after making it through that oppressive heat wave that lasted into this week but we can’t rest on our laurels too long. There’s a lot to decide in November.
There are a handful of Long Beach specific issues on the ballot that we’ve discussed in the past like the $990 million bond measure that Long Beach City College is seeking to renovate its campus. In order for that to become a reality voters will have to agree to raise their own property taxes.
City Councilmembers voted to put three measures on the ballot that could overhaul the city and the port’s hiring processes and also assess a new tax on two power plants operating in the city that could generate $15 million annually for the city.
There’s also a lone council seat to be decided in an East Long Beach City Council race. But let’s look outward today and focus on the slew of statewide initiatives that you’ll be asked to determine in about six weeks.
Some are a shoe-in to pass like Prop. 3, which would amend the state constitution by removing language that stipulates that marriage is “only between a man and a woman” and Prop. 2, which would authorize $10 billion in bonds to upgrade K-12 facilities across the state.
Voters typically support grade-schoolers not learning in dilapidated facilities except for that one time in 2020 when a similar school bond initiative was branded with the Scarlet number (Prop. 13), which led to it becoming the first failed school bond in over 20 years and a local legislator seeking to “retire” the number 13 from future use because of its ties to the controversial 1978 property tax law.
Prop. 4 would issue another $10 billion in bonds for projects that would conserve natural resources like drinking water and protecting forests from future wildfires. Prop. 4 promises nearly half of that funding for clean energy projects and some city leaders believe if it passes some of the funds would go toward the Pier Wind project at the Port of Long Beach.
Prop. 6 would amend the constitution to disallow the practice of forcing prisoners to be forced to work against their will. It currently has no opposition.
But there are some controversial initiatives on the ballot.
Prop. 5 would lower the threshold for city bond measures to fund affordable housing and public infrastructure projects. It may seem backward, but state law requires a higher threshold (two-thirds support) to pass bonds for specific projects but a lower one when cities and counties want to spend tax dollars on general purposes.
This proposition would lower the approval threshold to 55% and any bonds issued thereafter would be recouped through raising property taxes.
Prop. 32 would immediately raise the state minimum wage to $17 per hour and then bump it to $18 per hour in 2026. After that, the wage floor would be dictated by how fast prices are rising. Restaurants, grocers and chambers of commerce are opposing the issue while organized labor and Long Beach Congressmember Nanette Barragan are among its supporters.
The most recent attempt to make rent control a reality in California is on the ballot with Prop. 33, which seeks to repeal the Costa Hawkins Rental Housing Act of 1995 that limited the properties that could be under rent control to those built before Costa Hawkins was adopted.
Prop. 33 would allow cities and counties to control the rents of all properties if their elected leaders wanted to enact a local rent control policy, something Long Beach currently does not have.
And of course, there’s Prop. 36, which would unwind some of the penalty reductions enacted by Prop. 47, which reduced a number of theft and drug-related felonies to misdemeanors. I wrote about this issue and how Democrats remain split on whether to support or oppose it.
The Long Beach City Council is expected to make its position on Prop. 36 known at its upcoming meeting Tuesday.
As the election draws nearer The Watchdog will dive deeper into these issues and we’ll try to limit the amount of unpaid student labor that we use to bring the news to you.
What happened this week:
The city is finally rolling out its state-mandated organic recycling program and you could be one of the first neighborhoods to participate. The city posted an interactive map earlier this week to help you figure out if you’re among the first cohort that will see the new green and blue collection bins when the program goes live in mid-October. The blue bin will replace your purple recycle bin, which will be collected, chipped down and made into new bins down the road. The green bin, though, is the focus. You’ll be required to put your food scraps, yard waste and other compostable materials into that bin to comply with a state law that seeks to reduce the amount of methane produced in state landfills. The gas is prolific at trapping heat in the atmosphere.
Something to keep an eye on:
Do you consume cannabis products? Would you like to be able to do that at special events in Long Beach in the future? The city is asking for resident input on how, where and when people should be able to consume cannabis in public if the City Council moves forward with an ordinance that would allow it to be legal. Cannabis special events have been something that the industry has been pushing for for years to help boost sales of legal cannabis businesses, which has been hampered by the illicit market. The survey lists music festivals, private events and tasting and pairings as some of the events being considered for potential legalization but before the issue goes back to the City Council, you’ll have a chance to weigh in. Whether you’re for or against these types of events being hosted in the city, the survey will be available through Sept. 25.
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