Lies About Prop T

Developers from around the state are funding a massive campaign to defeat residents' efforts to curb traffic in Santa Monica. Read the lies they are spreading and read the truth.


FIGHT THE SMEARS, SPREAD THE TRUTH ABOUT PROPOSITION “T”


SMEAR #1: Prop T will not reduce traffic.

TRUTH: Despite what the opposition claims, traffic engineers agree that new development creates more traffic. And the city itself has said that commercial development creates far more traffic than any other kind.

Without some limits on commercial growth, traffic will continue to worsen every year. Developers know it, the city knows it, and so do residents.

Our only hope for curbing traffic growth is to slow down the type of development that generates the most traffic. That’s exactly what Proposition T does.

SMEAR #2: The opposition to Prop T is a grassroots Santa Monica coalition.

TRUTH: Developers from around the state are mounting the most expensive political campaign in Santa Monica history to defeat Prop T and are hiding behind a handful of local allies.

So far, 99% of the opposition’s war chest has come from developers and those who work for them. They’re even paying one “community leader” more than $10,000 to round up supporters.

If the opposition was truly grassroots, you’d think they’d get more than 1% of their funding from residents who aren’t developers or working for developers. To view the opposition’s campaign disclosure statement, click here.

Plus, the developers incorporated their anti-Prop T group outside of our city, in an attempt to disclose their contributions less frequently. Think about that: the group that claims to want to “save our city,” left our city so they wouldn’t have to tell residents who they really are!

SMEAR #3: Prop T will cost the city “millions” in lost revenue, hurting city services.

TRUTH: Although the Santa Monica City Attorney regularly reports significant fiscal impacts in the impartial analyses of ballot measures, there is no mention of any such impact in the published analysis of Prop T. click here

Indeed, even the “worst case scenario” report, undertaken by the city, found that the measure’s effects would be gradual and that the only potential revenue loss would be in the last year the measure is in effect – in 2023. That loss supposedly would be approximately $9.2 million or less than 1% of the city’s budget. (After savings from the city’s having to service less development is factored in.)

And even in this worst case scenario, Prop T would result in NO LOSS OF CITY REVENUE. Only the rate of increase in city revenue would be changed, and that change would be less than 1%.

A 40% cut in commercial development while affecting growth revenue by less than 1%. We think that’s a trade-off most Santa Monicans would embrace.

SMEAR #4: Prop T is bad for our schools and will cause the city to cut funding to schools.

TRUTH: This is more of the old-school politics of fear. Prop T does not cut existing funding to our city, let alone our schools. Prop T will not impact school funding now or in the future. It is unacceptable to have developers and those who profit from them exploit our children and our schools in their million dollar campaign to defeat T.

There will be no cuts to existing funding. The only potential reductions are potentially less growth in future revenues to the City as the result of less commercial development.

The city’s own analysis of Proposition T says the measure might have a $9.2 million effect on new city revenues - and not until 2023. Since our city’s projected budget will be over $1 billion by then, this means Proposition T will affect revenue by less than one percent. Not a significant impact, especially considering the same city study showed development would be cut by 40%.

To satisfy yourself that there is no significant impact when it comes to revenue, simply read the City Attorney’s impartial ballot analysis. The purpose of such an analysis is to tell voters, IMPARTIALLY, the possible, but known financial impacts of a city ballot initiative. Although the Santa Monica City Attorney regularly reports significant fiscal impacts in the impartial analyses of ballot measures, there is no mention of any such impact in the published analysis of Prop T. Why? Because there is none. To view the City Attorney’s impartial ballot analysis, click here

MORE TRUTH: Prop T Will Reduce Traffic Pollution Which Especially Harms our Kids.

You won’t hear this from our opponents, but our city is projecting too much additional commercial growth --- up to 4,000,000 square feet (and it could be a lot more). This is the square footage equivalent of adding almost 8 new Santa Monica Place malls to our already densely packed city. This growth will make our traffic a lot worse. And worsening traffic congestion will create more traffic related pollution which poses health risks for all of us, but especially for our kids.

The USC Keck School of Medicine’s ongoing Children’s Health Study recommends that we take aggressive and accelerated efforts to reduce traffic related pollution. Results indicate that the closer the proximity to traffic pollution, the higher the risks of prevalent asthma among children. Traffic pollution is also likely to cause life-long health affects on children's lung function. And damage to lung function caused by traffic pollution is independent of regional air quality; living, playing or going to school near idling traffic causes damage to children's lungs, regardless of a region's overall air quality. The study’s findings are on our website.

SMEAR #5: The city’s current $7 million a year allocation to the schools is at risk if Prop T passes.

TRUTH: This argument is also not true. This argument assumes that some of our city’s government officials are threatening to stop funding for schools should Prop T pass to pressure the school community to oppose it. It is based on politics, not finances. (As stated above, Prop T will only affect city revenue by less than 1% . . . and not until 2023).

SMEAR #6: The City’s ongoing revisions to our General Plan (referred to as LUCE) offer traffic solutions, not Prop T.

TRUTH: Despite what developers and City Hall say, we CANNOT grow our way out of our traffic problems. City proposals for what they call “traffic-neutral,” six-story buildings are dangerous deceptions brought to you by the same interests that have caused our traffic nightmares in the first place.

City planning calls for creating high-density development along all of our major boulevards in the hopes that all of the attendant workers, customers and service staff will use public transportation. Developers will have taken their profits long before the city admits what the rest of us intuitively know: There’s no such thing as “traffic-neutral” buildings.

SMEAR #7: Prop T encourages evictions of renters and is an assault on affordable housing.

TRUTH: This is another desperate and baseless attempt to scare voters. Prop T only affects commercial development, not housing. It’s City Hall (at the behest of some of the same developers opposing Prop T) that is allowing the “condo-ization” of Santa Monica’s rental apartments. This irreplaceable loss of our city’s affordable housing has been going on for years and will continue with or without Prop T unless City Hall adopts different housing policies than are currently in vogue.

In addition, Prop T strongly promotes affordable housing. It provides an incentive for developers to build affordable housing by exempting 100% affordable housing projects with neighborhood serving retail on the ground floor.

SMEAR #8: Prop T will make our city less safe.

TRUTH: Actually, Prop T will make our city more safe, not less, by reducing the growth in city traffic. Anyone who lives or works in Santa Monica knows that traffic is making our city
less safe in tangible and dangerous ways.. Pedestrians are killed by vehicles on our roads at more than twice the national and state averages, a rate that has increased with traffic congestion and the overflow of commuters onto residential streets. More traffic also means it takes emergency responders longer to get to residents in need. Over the past 5 years police response times to emergency calls has increased by a whopping 25%.

SMEAR #9: Prop T hurts “mom and pop” small businesses.

TRUTH: Based upon the last twenty years of history, the real threats to small, locally-owned businesses are traffic congestion, developers and big chains. Look at downtown Santa Monica. Traffic keeps residents from shopping in the downtown district, and as their stores have been redeveloped, locally-owned businesses have been replaced by chain stores. Developers drive up the rents and prefer "credit-worthy" national and regional chains as their tenants -- not "mom and pop" operators.

More development is the real threat to our small, local business owners.

SMEAR #10: Prop T will limit our access to medical care.

TRUTH: Prop T explicitly exempts hospitals (along with child and senior care facilities, public buildings, schools and churches among other vital community-serving development) from its limits. Santa Monica already has more, bigger and better medical facilities than almost any other city our size in the country. There are over 1500 health care businesses in Santa Monica and there is no present shortage of medical office space. If there is a need for more medical office buildings during the 15 years that Prop T is in effect the city can approve those projects first.

SMEAR #11: Prop T will hurt nonprofit groups like the Red Cross and prevent their expansion.

TRUTH: This is inflammatory and false. Nonprofits like the Red Cross which may want to remodel or expand their facilities are exempted as of right for up to 7500 square feet of additional development under Prop T. The same is true for all small businesses to encourage them to improve their facilities and remain on site. These projects are approved "as of right" under Prop T. (Prop T has a specific section exempting all projects that are subject to administrative approvals).

We have met with the Red Cross which now recognizes that it was misled into believing the opposition’s scare tactics and has just learned that its name was used without its authorization in the opposition’s recent mailing. Read the open letter from the Red Cross Chief Executive Officer.

SMEAR #12: Prop T hurts our chances for light rail and other public transportation.

TRUTH: Lack of state funds is the only real obstacle to light rail and better public transportation, not Prop T. Santa Monica is already one of the most attractive public transportation destinations in the region. Look at the 10 freeway during the morning and evening! We already have a very dense downtown, a community college that is a regional draw as well as world-class hospitals, the beach and pier. Prop T paces new commercial growth in order to allow public transportation to catch up to the demand.

SMEAR #13: Prop T will obstruct preserving our historic buildings.

TRUTH: Prop T may be our best hope for saving our historic architecture. One after another of Santa Monica’s historic buildings has been lost to development. Much of our historic character is now gone, replaced with new, larger commercial buildings. Nothing can undo that damage, but Prop T will slow the pace of demolitions by encouraging developers to find ways to re-use our remaining historic buildings.

SMEAR #14: Prop T is poorly crafted.

TRUTH: Prop T was crafted by the premier environmental law firm in California, with input from dozens of Santa Monica residents and community leaders. It is expertly written and voters in other California cities, including San Francisco, have also passed initiatives placing annual caps on new commercial development.

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TRUTH

Traffic and too much development are important enough issues for Santa Monica’s future that residents should have the right to vote on whether to approve large-scale projects.

Prop T was put on the ballot by more than 10,000 residents, many of whom are tired of being asked their opinions by the city, only to have those opinions ignored.

The perfect example of that is Council recently voting to INCREASE the heights of buildings along Wilshire and our other major boulevards to as high as SIX STORIES. Is this what residents asked for in the LUCE meetings? Let’s get real.

Prop T is sponsored by residents like you. With developers pouring money into Santa Monica to defeat Prop T, we need your help today! Please donate or volunteer.

Drop us an email or give us a call at 310-452-7438. We'd be happy to talk with you about the many benefits of Prop T.