West Hollywood City Council Has Adopted Positions on 7 General Election Ballot Measures

The West Hollywood City Council has adopted positions on seven propositions that will appear on the Nov. 6 general election ballot, each of which is expected to have an impact on local residents.

Those propositions and the City Council’s stated position are as follows:

— Proposition 1: Housing Programs and Veterans’ Loans Bond — City Position: Support — Proposition 1 proposes to create the Affordable Housing Bond Act Trust Fund of 2018 and authorizes the State of California to sell $4 billion in general obligation bonds for veteran housing solutions.

— Proposition 2: Use Millionaire’s Tax Revenue for Homelessness Prevention Housing Bonds Measure — City Position: Support — In 2004 the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) imposed a 1% tax on incomes above $1 million for the benefit of services that help those living with mental illnesses. Proposition 2 would allow California to use $2 billion from MHSA revenue on the No Place Like Home Program (NPLH). The City of West Hollywood supports NPLH as it is consistent with its commitment to helping those struggling with mental illness and experiencing homelessness.

— Proposition 3: Water Infrastructure and Watershed Conservation Bond Initiative — City Position: Support — Proposition 3 authorizes the State of California to sell $8.877 billion in bonds for water-related infrastructure and environmental projects.

— Proposition 4: Children’s Hospital Bonds Initiative — City Position: Support — This initiative seeks voters’ approval of a $1.5 billion bond measure for expansion, maintenance and equipping eight qualifying regional, nonprofit children’s hospitals and five University of California (UC) children’s hospitals, and approximately 150 public or private nonprofit hospitals that provide services to children eligible for California Children’s Services (CCS) programs.

— Proposition 6: Voter Approval for Future Gas and Vehicle Taxes and 2017 Tax Repeal Initiative — City Position: Oppose — The City of West Hollywood has previously supported the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017 (RRAA), also known as Senate Bill 1, which was authored by Democratic State Senator Jim Beall of San Jose. The RRAA increased gas and vehicle taxes, and dedicates that revenue to transportation-related infrastructure projects. Proposition 6 would repeal the RRAA and make it more difficult for the State to approve new gas and vehicle taxes in the future.

— Proposition 10: Local Rent Control Initiative (Repeal of Costa-Hawkins Act) — City Position: Support — The Affordable Housing Act (AHA) proposes repealing the Costa-Hawkins Act, which banned local governments from adopting ordinances that control initial rental rates as rental units become vacant, and any subsequent adjustments. The AHA proposes returning control to local governments so they can adopt rent control ordinances.

— Proposition 12: Farm Animal Confinement Initiative — City Position: Support — Proposition 12 would ban the sale of meat and eggs from calves raised for veal, breeding pigs, and egg-laying hens confined in areas below a specific number of square feet. The size restrictions based on animal behavior would be repealed and replaced. Beginning in 2020, the proposal would ban: whole veal meat from a calf (young domestic cow) that was confined in an area with less than 43 square feet of usable floor space per calf; whole pork meat from a breeding pig or the immediate offspring of a breeding pig that was confined in an area with less than 24 square feet of usable floor space per pig; and shell eggs and liquid eggs from an egg-laying hen (chicken, turkey, duck, goose, or guinea fowl) that was confined in an area with less than 1 square foot of usable floor space per hen. Beginning in 2021, producers would be required to confine egg-laying hens in cage-free housing systems based on the United Egg Producers’ 2017 cage-free guidelines.

The upcoming general election will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 6. The deadline for registration or re-registration is Oct. 22. Residents can check their voting registration online to ensure that they are registered to vote There are two ways to do that:

1) Visit the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder’s database at www.lavote.net/vrstatus or register online at www.lavote.net.

2) Visit the California Secretary of State’s database at https://voterstatus.sos.ca.gov or register online at https://registertovote.ca.gov.

People with special circumstances, such as becoming a citizen between the deadline and the election, can register to vote up to Election Day, through the Registrar-Recorder’s office. For more information, please call (800) 815-2666.

The City of West Hollywood will host voter registration pop-ups today and on Oct. 22 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Helen Albert Farmers’ Market, located on the north end of Plummer Park at 7377 Santa Monica Blvd. In addition to registering voters, City Hall staff members will provide voter education and informational materials from the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder’s office.

Voter registration forms may be obtained at West Hollywood City Hall during regular hours; and the city’s elections page, www.weho.org/elections, provides detailed election information and links to the California Secretary of State’s Voter Registration page, the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder’s website and links to find specific information about how to apply to vote by mail, polling places and sample ballots. Residents can also find their polling place by visiting www.lavote.net/locator.