The Carpenters Union PAC sum brings the total amount given to the "Yes on A & B, Mayor Garcia Committee to Protect Police & Fire and Repair Infrastructure in Long Beach" to $505,000. Its opposition consists of individual taxpayers without an organized political committee who've to date relied on lawn signs, hand-distributed fliers and sscial network communications.

Since early February (when vote by mail ballots began circulating for the March 3 election), the Garcia-run committee has sent a series of citywide mailings. They showed police and firefighters (telling reipients Measure A will "maintain" their staffing levels [staffing levels are decided by LB Council majority votes], "Reopen Community Hospital" [the Council already voted inOct. 2019 to commit LB taxpayers to spend $25 million over 15 years for half the cost of seismic upgrades enabling a for-profit LLC to open a smaller version of the former Community Hospital on the city-owned site.]

And most recently, the Garcia committee sent a mailing that has generated social network pushback by contending Measure A will "Help End Homelessness." (Measure A is a General Fund ("blank check") measure giving City Hall over $60 million annually from LB consumers that a City Council majority can spend on any General Fund items.)

The entities who've funded the Garcia-run campaign to date are:

• LB Police Officers Association (union) PAC: $230,000
• LB Firefighters Ass'n Local 372 (union) PAC: $125,000
• Southern California I.B.E.W.-N.E.C.A. Labor-Management Cooperation Committee: $20,000.
• ASM Global and its Affiliates (Conshohocken, PA) [City's contracted operator for LB Convention & Entertainment Center]: $85,000
• All American Asphalt: $25,000
• LB Lifeguard Association (union): 10,000
• Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters PAC: $10,000.

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Since Measure A's initial approval by voters in June 2016 as a temporary measure, Mayor Garcia and the Council have used its annual revenue mainly for infrastructure and public safety (sworn and civilian) staffing. However the annual cash infusion also effectively freed up other General Fund sums that City Hall can spend on other items...including pay raises for LB's police and firefighter unions.

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The two LB Council incumbents seeking re-election (Vice Mayor Dee Andrews and Councilman Al Austin) support Measure A; as does 2nd district Council candidate Cindy Allen. All three are endorsed/supported by Mayor Garcia and LB's police and firefighter unions.

LB Reform Ticket candidates Robert Fox (2nd dist.) and Juan Ovalle (8th dist.), who've raised competitive campaign funds, oppose Measure A.as do some of the Council races' lesser funded candidates.

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Vote by mail ballots began circulating Feb. 3 for the March 5 election that will decide the Measure A "forever" tax and may or may not affect the Council races. If a Council incumbent or a challenger receives 50%+1 of votes cast, they're elected; otherwise, the top two finishers proceed to a November 2020 runoff.

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