Santa Rosa Elected Officials, Public Safety Officers, Transportation and Transit Advocates Kick Off Signature Gathering Drive for Statewide Ballot Measure

Supporters Say November 2010 Ballot Measure is Needed to Protect Funding for Public Safety, Emergency Response, Parks, Transportation and Transit Projects and other Vital Local Services.

For Immediate Release: January 7, 2010

Santa Rosa, CA – Local government, transportation, business, public safety, and public transit leaders rallied today in front of Santa Rosa Fire Station 10, which was “browned out” for the day due to budget cuts, to kick off a statewide signature-gathering campaign to qualify the Local Taxpayer, Public Safety and Transportation Protection Act of 2010 (AG Initiative #: 09-0063) for the November 2010 ballot.

The measure closes loopholes to prevent the State from taking, diverting or borrowing local government, transportation, and public transit funds. 

Californians to Protect Local Taxpayers and Vital Services, the coalition sponsoring the ballot measure, will collect more than 1.1 million signatures to ensure it meets the required 694,354 valid signatures needed to qualify a constitutional amendment for the statewide ballot. 

Today’s kick-off event in front of Santa Rosa Fire Station 10 is one of many similar rallies held statewide this week. Hundreds of local government, public safety, business, and labor leaders have signed up to assist in a massive volunteer signature gathering effort.

“Sacramento politicians can’t continue to use local funds as a backfill for state budget deficits,” said Santa Rosa Mayor Susan Gorin. “Voters have made it clear they want local government funds to be spent on locally delivered services, yet Sacramento keeps digging its hands in our pockets. The resulting trickle-down effect makes it impossible for us to do our budgets and puts at risk the critical services our residents depend on like public safety and transportation improvements. Already, we’ve had to make more than $26 million in cuts to reduce our deficit; we have had to close one out of our 10 fire stations on a rotating basis; eliminate 97 positions and cut dozens of programs. And it still isn’t enough as we just had to eliminate another 24 positions and we have more cuts we will have to make. We need this ballot measure so we can put a stop to state raids and borrowing of local taxpayer dollars and protect vital local services.”