Contact: Steven Maviglio, 916-607-8340
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION OPPOSES PROP 53
Measure Threatens Local Control for Transportation, Infrastructure Projects
SACRAMENTO – The agency that oversees planning, financing and coordinating transportation for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area is the latest local government group to unanimously oppose Prop 53, a measure on the November ballot that will undermine local control and will threaten water, highway, and other vital infrastructure projects.
“Prop 53 is poorly written and forces statewide votes on local infrastructure projects, eroding local control in the process,” said Randy Rentschler, Director of Legislation and Public Affairs for Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC). “The Bay Area needs to keep investing in the infrastructure that supports the region’s strong economy and job growth and Prop 53 puts the vitality of the Bay Area at risk.”
The Metropolitan Transportation Commission is the latest of more than 275 groups, and every major California newspaper, opposing Prop 53. MTC joins several local government organizations to oppose the measure, including: The California State Association of Counties, League of California Cities, California Association of Councils of Governments, California Special Districts Association, Association of California Cities – Orange County, Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC), San Diego Association of Governments, Self-Help Counties Coalition, Association of CA Water Agencies, Northern CA Water Association, and California State Sheriffs Association.
The bipartisan statewide coalition opposing Prop 53 also represents public safety, water, business, labor, agriculture, and educators opposing Prop 53.
Prop 53 is financed by one Stockton area multimillionaire Dino Cortopassi, who has spent more than $4.5 million to date to put the measure on the ballot in an attempt to disrupt a single water infrastructure project. Regardless of one’s position on that single project, his initiative has far-reaching, negative implications for other infrastructure projects in communities across California.
The No on Proposition 53 campaign has launched five regional television advertisements that expose the ballot measure’s attack on local control and the consequences from its failure to include provisions to exempt emergencies or natural disasters. See the Bay Area ad here: http://www.noprop53.com/ads/no-prop-53-bay-area-ad
MTC is a public, governmental agency responsible for planning, financing and coordinating transportation for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area.
Facebook: noprop53
Twitter: @noprop53
Paid for by No on Prop 53 – Californians to Protect Local Control, a coalition of public safety, local government, business and labor organizations, and taxpayers. Major funding by California Democratic Party (Committee) and California Construction Industry Labor Management Cooperation Trust.
