In editorial positions that strikingly diverge from the larger newspapers, the San Mateo Daily Journal and Palo Alto Daily Post came out with editorials yesterday opposed to Regional Measure 3. The Daily Journal captured the heart of the equity issue:
A small group of commuters should not be burdened with the cost of transportation improvements that only have a rough connection to the bridges they cross. The rationale reveals a certain amount of creep from the original intent of the tolls, and also a political tactic to get those who do not use the bridges to stick the cost of congestion relief to someone else.
The Daily Journal recognizes that this is a class issue:
Already, the cost of living on the Peninsula has pushed out the working class farther and farther away. Adding insult to injury through an additional toll that will go to transportation projects all over the Bay Area is inherently unfair.
The Daily Post also focused on equity:
RM3 is unfair to middle- and low-income residents, and only a small fraction of the money will return to the mid-Peninsula. It’s a bad deal that voters should reject. Vote “no.”
Clearly, Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors President Joe Simitian and Mountain View Mayor Lenny Siegel were influential in moving the Daily Post to an Oppose position. TRANSDEF thanks them for their leadership.