The statement by 7th district Council office Chief of Staff Celina Luna is consistent with other indications that Mayor Garcia and multiple Councilmembers are aiming for some type of a "General tax" increase ballot measure. Such a measure would provide no legally binding guarantee to taxpayers that the tax would be spent for specific items, leaving Council majorities (now or in the future) free to spend the sums on basically any General Fund items they desire regardless "needs" they describe to the public now. Specific projects could be included in a Council proposed tax increase measure, but it would require passage by a 2/3 vote of the people to enact.

Audience reactions to the Council office staffer's comments [Councilman Uranga wasn't present] were nearly entirely negative.

[Scroll down for further.]

Veteran Los Cerritos area community advocate John Deats asked Ms. Luna [paraphrase] why the City of Long Beach was unable to weather and recover from the "Great Recession" as other well as other cities did, to which Ms. Luna responded basically that the City gotten through the Great Recession just fine. Mr. Deats then noted that other cities [including Los Angeles and Signal Hill] hadn't shrunk their police departments as Long Beach did [eliminating roughly 20% of citywide deployable officers for taxpayers since 2010, including LBPD's field anti-gang unit.]

That triggered further audience reaction in opposition from WLB Association Treasurer John Cross as well as Wrigley area community advocate Maria Norvell. Mr. Cross said he believes that a "General tax" increase (that could be spent on anything) would definitely fail, and a tax increase that very specifically listed uses might, or might not, pass. He listed projects from the Aquarium to the Queen Mary that he said had shown the city's poor record on large projects.

Councilman Uranga's spouse, retired Councilwoman Tonia Reyes Uranga, was the only speaker offering qualified support, and indicated her views on the city needing additional revenue included the caveat that she wants to see the proposed tax increase measure first and know where the money is going. [update] Ms. Uranga tells LBREPORT.com that the last time a City Hall tax increase ballot measure was put forward (Nov. 2008 under Mayor Foster) she opposed it because it didn't specify where the money would be used and she wanted to ensure it went to projects in West Long Beach.

Ms. Uranga also disputed our report that 7th dist. Council staffer Luna had indicated the Council was aiming for a 50%+1 vote. "Ms. Luna gave a very complete report on what the Council did on Jan. 26. She did indeed indicate that a General Tax increase would require 50%+1 but also stated that a Special Tax measure [with specified items] would require a 2/3 vote," Ms. Uranga said. [end update]

Advertisement

Advertisement

Neither Mayor Garcia nor the eight of nine Councilmembers (exception: Supernaw) indicated at a Jan. 26 specially called Council meeting what type(s) of proposed tax increase they favor putting on ballot or when (June or November.) Instead, they indicated that they plan to talk with community members/groups and then bring the subject back to the Council where a Council majority would decide what to put on the ballot and when. (LBREPORT.com coverage here.)

Mayor Garcia indicated at the Jan. 26 Council meeting that infrastructure is the primary need, but that the city also needs additional items including public safety resources, consistent with an inference that he (and other Council members who cited multiple items) would favor a General tax increase measure.

Our audience source says that during her Jan. 28 West Long Beach Association presentation, Ms. Luna read from materials in a binder of some kind. [Mr. Cross indicates it appeared to be a binder from which she makes community announcements.] As previously reported by LBREPORT.com, at a specially scheduled Jan. 26 Council meeting, city management staffer Lea Eriksen indicated the City has had a "consultant" on the proposed tax increase and Councilwoman Mungo also referred to communications with the consultant. On Dec. 21, LBREPORT.com requested access to materials on a proposed tax increase ballot measure under the CA Public Records Act, which the City has thus far failed to release.

The tax increase ballot measure first surfaced publicly at the Dec. 22 Council meeting [with only five Councilmembers present, including Councilman Uranga] at which city management discussed citywide infrastructure needs over the next ten years. The figure then served as the basis for a request at the Dec. 22 meeting by 8th district Councilman Al Austin that management present a report on various "revenue" options. Mayor Garcia and multiple media outlets have since referred to the $2.8 billion figure and Mayor Garcia cited it in his Jan. 13 "State of the City" message.

No Councilmembers advocated additional cost savings or spending reforms...or taking action to implement further aspects of a study by Management Partners (paid for by taxpayers) under the Foster administration [cited by LBREPORT.com in this perspective piece which was last discussed publicly by Council's Budget Oversight Committee in August 2014. [Mayor Garcia and a new Council majority took office in mid-July 2014.]

During the Jan. 26, 2016 Council meeting, Councilman Uranga indicated that he views raising the city's Utility Users Tax as "recovering" what was "lost" [when LB voters lowered UUT from 10% to 5% over five years through a petition initiative in 2000.]

At the Jan. 26 Council meeting, the Mayor and all Councilmembers (except Supernaw) cited various "needs" ranging from infrastructure to police to fire/paramedics) in discussing a tax increase, effectively indicating Council support for a General Tax ballot measure that wouldn't restrict spending the tax on specific guaranteed items and thus could be enacted with a simple voter majority.

Advertisement

Advertisement

The Council could opt to put a tax increase ballot measure on the ballot timed for the upcoming June election -- which might include Council runoffs in three Council districts (2, 6 and 8) -- and if timed for June, it could be enacted with a 50%+1 majority. If the Council opts for the November ballot, the Council would have to unanimously approve a declaration of a "fiscal emergency" to pass a tax increase with 50%+1 of the vote.

In 2008, then-Councilwoman Gerrie Schipske refused to do so, effectively requiring tax increase proponents (including Mayor Foster) to get a 2/3 voted approval for a then-proposed property parcel tax. Foster raised over $700,000 for a committee in support of the measure; grassroots opponents raised a fraction of the sum; the measure received roughly 52.6% of the vote, failing 2/3 voter approval required.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Our updated text and headline above reflects information provided from retired Councilwoman Tonia Reyes Uranga who was (as indicated) present at the meeting.