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Neon Tommy - Annenberg digital news

Voices of L.A. County Voters: Measure J

Alexa Girkout, Eric Ruble |
November 6, 2012 | 5:09 p.m. PST

Staff Reporters

Rayvonn Lee, 25, boards a train at the Aviation/Lax Station for Long Beach (Alexa Girkout, Neon Tommy).
Rayvonn Lee, 25, boards a train at the Aviation/Lax Station for Long Beach (Alexa Girkout, Neon Tommy).
One of the measures on this year's ballot is Measure J, which would extend an existing sales tax that supports public transportation projects for 30 years, from 2039 to 2069. 

Rayvonn Lee, 25, is studying composition at UCLA. He was at the Aviation/LAX Station, heading toward Long Beach and shared his thoughts on the measure.

Q: Will you support Measure J?

A: I haven’t read anything into the Propositions yet but I would absolutely support it. It’s not increasing taxes at all. It’s just expanding them. I think with the big city that we have it’s important for people to go from one place to another conveniently and expanding roadways and things like that will help people get through efficiently. And it’ll help reduce gas costs and carbon emissions.

Q: Do you own a car?

A: I don’t drive. I don’t own a car. 

Q: What are some current problems with public transportation?

A: It’s sometimes unreliable. I remember commuting and buses passing me up sometimes because they’re too packed and I can’t get on. So those are kind of inconveniences for me. 

I think that [the trains] should easily go from downtown to LAX and also extend out to Santa Monica beach and perhaps Venice. We have buses but you have to transfer to four or five buses in order to get out there. But that's harder, especially when they pass you up. You could always take the shuttle but it’s still kind of inconvenient.

Q: What changes would you like to see?

A: I’m just looking for an expansion of the lines. I think the train is most reliable. I think there should be a consistent line that actually runs through the Wilshire corridor all the way to Santa Monica. I think Wilshire is one of the major boulevards that cuts our city pretty much in half from Santa Monica all the way to downtown. 

Q: Why is this measure important to you and your political beliefs?

A: I don’t particularly belong to any party per se, but I lean toward the Democratic Party, but I guess you could say I’m more of a liberal.

I think voting in general is important. How can I complain about something I take no part in? I mean, my vote alone has no significance but our vote as a whole I definitely think is significant. 

 

Reach Staff Reporter Alexa Girkout here. Follow her here.
Reach Staff Report Eric Ruble here.


 

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