Billed as the "Safe Neighborhood Parks, Gang Prevention, Youth/Senior Recreation, Beaches and Wildlife Protection Measure," Proposition P is widely seen as the extension of a tax approved in 1992 that is set to expire next June. Packaged as a $23 dollar parcel tax, the estimated $54 million in funds the tax could generate would be used to maintain parks and beaches frequented by more than 70 million people annually.
While the proposition's intent seems innocuous enough, opponents argue that it’s designed to provide the supervisors with their own chunk of funds, which they would be allowed to spend without oversight. In addition, adversaries claim that a parks tax nicknamed "Baby A," passed in 1996, will provide the funds necessary to maintain parks for the next 4 1/2 years, and that any additional tax money might better serve the community if it were apportioned elsewhere.
What are your thoughts on Proposition P?
Zev Yaroslavsky, Los Angeles County Supervisor representing the Third District, which comprises much of the City of Los Angeles, including the San Fernando Valley, Hollywood and Los Feliz. He's the author of Prop. P
Mike Spence, City of West Covina council member
