Final but unofficial election results for Measure J, a 35-year half-cent sales tax to raise money for local road improvement projects in Contra Costa County, fell far short of the two-thirds approval needed to pass, and in fact didn’t even make 50 percent.
QUESTION: Are you happy with these results, or upset?
42 comments
Happy.
We are so over taxed in this area it is incredible.
If the people that manage the funds from our taxes cannot use them efficiently now then why should we give them even more money?
I would guess 51.9% are happy
I am glad to see this measure fail. There was a lot of money behind Measure J as evidenced by the slick advertising pieces that arrived in my mailbox every other day. People are finally starting wise up to the fact that continually voting for these tax increase measures over and over to fix the problems the last ballot measure was supposed to address is ridiculous. Enough is enough!
Happy.
Happy ? That would be a massive understatement. Hopefully the powers that be get it thru their thick heads the cash cows have said NO !
13 and J both failed. Could it be possible that folks in this state are beginning to wise up?
We can only hope Cyn!
I sure hope so! I’m actually shocked they’re both going down. Liberalism is rampant in the East Bay! Hope to God this is a turning point!
Yes soon liberals do run out of other peoples money. I thought Californians were getting smarter, then saw Bernie got support here. He has duped the young into believing Marksist propaganda.
talk about being duped by the education system….. its spelled “Marxist”.
“It’s”
Forgot the apostrophe.
If BART didn’t get a single dollar from this then maybe I might have voted yes. But they seem to take everything. How are the trains going to remain clean when they go all through the entire bay. So no the money won’t stay in this county only. Not to mention the gas tax they forced on us. The RM3, etc. etc.
After the recent gas tax hikes, the bridge toll hikes, the expanding toll lanes, Bart rate hikes, et cetera I am surprised and a little worried about the 48% that voted for this increase.
The lottery was supposed to cure the school budget problems. In over 30 years it hasn’t so maybe we should repeal it. It will be fun to watch the politicians scramble in panic.
Ecstatic, the checkbook is closed.
FINALLY… signs of intelligent life… didn’t need another tax just get Newsom to give back the gas tax. So happy isn’t strong enough a word!
Maybe the governor will now use some of the millions in the rainy-day fund. Or maybe continue to hoard money.
Yes, Happy. We are already have taxes going to it, in some shape or form.
Extremely happy. Enough is enough with the overtaxing on everything that leads to nothing for those that are footing the bill.
It was another pig in a poke. There is no doubt we need road improvement but it has to be spelled out exactly what will be done and the exact cost.
Happy happy happy.
Very happy! Now the braindead politicians need to go. The voter base in CA is dumb beyond belief. How the hell could anyone vote for DeSaluier, Maxine Waters, Swalwell, Pelosi? It’s beyond comprehension. None of them ever do anything for their districts.. You idiots get what you get.
And on a bigger note – none of them have any interest or knowledge/ experience in economics.
And running a bar doesn’t qualify. He starts losing money, then he raises prices….. no interest in efficiency.
time to start hiring qualified economists and managers for OUR money
since the grasshoppers have used and abused it for so long
thank you California for wanting and taking the step to take back this once proud and great state from the grips of lying politicians and fake representatives
vote them out one by one and watch the state recover and bloom into a thriving diverse highly educated beautiful clean treasured place for families and business to grow and be a beacon of prosperity …once again
before the dark times of the 50 year reign of terror brought forth by a socialist communist corrupt regime that fed on its citizens ….and took away their rights and opportunities for a better life …throwing us to the wolves and stealing our money ..all the while bettering themselves tremendously while the laws and decency were stripped away to better control the populous through scare tactics and broken promises and shattered dreams
it will take some overachievers to accomplish this goal …ones that see the narrative thrust upon us and can help and encourage hope and a focus to achieve again and not be forced to take shared scraps for compliance
ones that can see this states bright future ahead and citizens needs and concerns addressed and maintained so everyone can benefit and succeed as they work hard and prosper and grow with the state and are proud of its accomplishments ….
community health and a leading mentality for growth and prosperity will be the way out ….thank those and encourage those who are working for a better state ….every part of the workforce can succeed and be treated with respect as a whole ….
be proud of those pushing harder at work to make sure things are done right and with a smile ….
move forward not down …..this state and you deserve that ….
A lot of people would have wanted a more itemized and detailed plan, particularly in regards to the BART aspect of the proposal. People also probably wanted to see some proposal to audit BART, or some way to reform the management of BART, and install more oversight of the BART board.
BART riders do want the trains to get cleaned more often, and would like issues addressed to make the stations be more inviting, safe and clean.
A better BART, and more biking trails (accessible to electric bikes too) are both good things. There is large support for these things. Measure J was clearly not the correct proposal to accomplish these goals.
HAPPY HAPPY.
Yes on NO. Too many bonds and taxes already.
Very very very very happy. We’re constantly getting hit with higher taxes. Our sales tax is already quite high. Then there was the increase in gas taxes that we were slammed with. And car registration. I got the renewal notice for my 13 yr old car yesterday. It’s higher than last year, and is just a couple of dollars under $200. Are people finally getting tired of getting slammed with every higher taxes?
Mr Mayor, any word on Measure A in Pleasant Hill? Pass? Fail?
It failed. $63M bond on top of the existing one, for parks in a city of what, 35,000? 35 years to pay it off, with a final cost of $150,000,000. Pleasant Hill has very nice parks already. How about waiting to float another bond until the last round of borrowing is paid off?
I hope this sends a strong message to legislators! The public is tapped out and you can’t treat them like an ATM every time you need more funding. As far as transportation goes there are probably many tearing up the freeways to commute to Silicon Valley. Make those companies pay for transportation maintenance. But I’m sure the tech illiterate legislators are afraid those companies will leave California. They won’t and in fact I would suspect the response would be “what took you so long?”
The legislators won’t pay attention – they continue to try fleecing the voters.
Just watch.
The Bay Area is now a “REGIONAL” transportation hub of 9 counties. It does not make sense to focus only on one county parcel tax when it comes to transportation.
Combine all these individual county Transportation entities into regional and you will save millions of dollars on outrageous salaries and pensions for these managers and district administrators. Who knows maybe it will also create something useful for the people that pay for these extra taxes.
Uhhh…did that last bit sound too much like Bernie?
Very happy that J and 13 went down. Very surprised, but very happy. Measure J is still spending Bond money they took from us 20 years ago! They only have the audacity they do because typically Californian’s vote like fools.
People are simply too dumb to figure out where the money comes from for all of the transportation improvements…. such as the 4th bore of the Caldecott Tunnel and widening of Highways 680, 580, 80, 24, and 4. It comes from a measure like Measure J, which is simply an extension of a voter approved Transportation Measure that was approved back in 1988, which expired in March of 2009.
If a County can show support for a Measure like J, then the State and Feds step in with MATCHING FUNDS. But voters are so ignorant that they have no clue about this.
I guess voters don’t care about spending more time stuck in traffic during their commute. Dumb. Really dumb.
CCTA’s own EIRs stated that the provisions of Measure J would do nothing to ease traffic congestion in Central County.
What is dumb is BART taking so much money from our county and spending it in other counties. A new station in Fremont and the extension to San Jose that BART was just dying to do for years while east county has paid BART taxes for many years and gotten nothing. East county BART would open up more room for housing and less traffic. And don’t talk about the highway 4/680 work, Gov Moonbeam took the money for a 6 and 8 lane highway 4 from highway 80 to Stockton and spent it on touchy/feely stuff that disappeared overnight. Then he was reelected as governor for a second go around!!!
Yay! Do the math people.
Delighted this and Prop 13 failed. Please remember when re-election time comes around that Laura Hoffmeister, Concord, Julie Pierce, Clayton, Cindy Silva, Walnut Creek, and Kevin Wilk, Walnut Creek, all recommended a “yes” vote on Measure J. Gives you a very good idea of how muddled their thinking is on how these projects proceed, and just how they are governing in the region.
This and the bond measure both failing were the only things out of this election I am happy about.
Half of the money from this tax measure would have gone to BART, Buses, and Bikes! This tax measure was a fraud from day one, with special-interest hands going for your wallet even when it is in your back pocket!
No matter how many tax increases we approve, politicians in this state won’t widen over-burdened roads like Treat, not to mention actually fix our current roads. We have driven in many states with better roads, lower taxes, and an increasing number of former California residents.
BTW- California gas is +$1.00 more expensive than other states and we still have potholes large enough to hide Jimmy Hoffa!
@Chuckie the Troll,
California Gasoline is more expensive than the rest of the Nation because it is a reformulated blend that is only made for CALIFORNIA and not fungible.
This REFORMULATED blend was signed into law via Republican Governor Gray Davis via an executive order in 1999, which directed the phase-out of methyl teriary butyl ether, known as MTBE. This was phase 3.
Phases 1 began in 1991 with the elimination of lead and again with Phase 2 where specifications were set for ingredients such as sulfur, aromatics, oxygen, benzene, etc.
Thus, gasoline refined for other states is NOT fungible.
Yes, fuel taxes are high in California (around 61 cents per gallon) compared to WA at 49 cents, OR at 37 cents, and ID at 33 cents and Arizona at 19 cents. But PA and IL are pushing 60 cents too. And of course, as opposed to other states in the Midwest and East Coast, California does not have toll roads.
It was very sneaky that while this election was a Primary for elected office, it was a final vote on Proposition 13 and Measure J. Somebody got these two on the ballot early hoping they’d have a better chance of passing in the Primary. Normally, these types of things are on the November ballot. It has become surprisingly difficult to sort through the minefield that is presented on the ballot these days with more and more truly unworthy issues being advanced to the voting public.
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