Twenty years ago, voters agreed to tax themselves for road improvements throughout Santa Barbara County. Measure D raised the sales tax rate one-half of one percent and paid for a lot of freeway construction projects and road maintenance projects. One project promised by the measure but not completed was the widening of the 101 freeway from Santa Barbara to Carpinteria. The project was scrapped because of politics.
I was at the meeting when the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG) de-funded the 101 Widening Project. Because the project was specifically promised to the voters in the ballot materials, it took a super-majority of the members of SBCAG to eliminate the project from the voter-approved list of projects. The South County politicians who served on the board didn’t want the widening because they said a three-lane freeway would remind people too much of Los Angeles. The North County politicians only agreed to de-fund the project if they could take the money that was intended for the South County project and spend it here in the North County. I vehemently objected because I believed the politicians were breaking their word to the voters.
Well, a few years back, SBCAG tried to renew Measure D, though they wanted to raise the tax to three-quarters of a percent. I did not support the measure for three main reasons. I did not like the increase in the tax rate. I believed too much money was being diverted to alternative transportation projects and away from freeway, highway, and local road construction. And I did not believe the South County was firmly dedicated to widening the 101 freeway. Measure D was defeated.
After all that, a new Measure A was proposed. This measure earned the support and endorsement of COLAB and the Taxpayers Association. It did not raise taxes. It gave more local, discretionary control over expenditures, and voters were guaranteed that the 101-widening project would be the highest priority project. The measure passed, and I have subsequently been appointed to serve on a Citizen’s Oversight Committee to ensure that the will of the voters gets carried out.
Well, guess what? After our initial meeting as a Citizen’s Oversight Committee, we were presented a project-funding scenario cooked up by public works directors from throughout the county. This scenario serves to phase, in order to delay, several projects promised to the voters, including portions of the widening of the 101 freeway!
Let me be perfectly clear: What has been proposed is not the elimination of the 101 widening, but a delay in the original timetable for the construction schedule of the project. I believe any delays in the construction schedule are unacceptable because in essence we have been anticipating the completion of this project since first promised in 1989! If the public works directors have their way, the 101 widening will not be completely finished until 2033! I don’t believe that other projects should be funded ahead of the projects that were promised. Do you?
To say that I am outraged would be an understatement, and I am not alone. The Citizen’s Oversight Committee voted unanimously to convey to SBCAG that we do not believe the plan they will be considering at their meeting at the Betteravia Government Center on Nov. 19, at 8:30 a.m., complies with the letter or the spirit of Measure A. I guess it all depends on how one defines “highest priority”!
If you can’t make this meeting, then at minimum, please relay your concern to your mayor and/or county supervisor.
Andy Caldwell is the executive director of COLAB and a 41-year resident of the Central Coast. For contact information, visit the COLAB website at colabsbc.org.
This article appears in Nov 19-26, 2009.
