Many critical choices for Long Beach voters on June 7 ballot

Long Beach voters on Tuesday will decide the fates of two tax measures, and those living in the city’s 2nd City Council District will decide who will be their next council representative.

Those local contests are scheduled to be settled after the polls close on Tuesday. That’s the same day for people to vote in this year’s Primary Election competitions for several other races, including those for the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors seat representing the Long Beach area and the Democratic Party’s nomination for a standard bearer to oppose GOP nominee Donald Trump.

Tax measures

Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia and his two immediate predecessors are asking residents to approve a 10-year sales tax that they say is necessary to pay for backlogged street repairs and other infrastructure projects. Tax supporters are also pitching the measure as a way to reverse some recent budget cuts that have affected the city’s police and fire departments.

The tax measure is set to appear on the ballot as Measure A. If it passes, Long Beach’s sales tax rate would increase by one percentage point for six years. The additional tax rate would shrink to half a percentage point for the next four years. Sales taxes in Long Beach are currently levied at a 9 percent rate.

Measure A is paired with Measure B, which would require 1 percent of new tax revenues to be stashed in what officials have dubbed a “rainy day” fund.

Otherwise, however, Measure A is written as a general tax. That means city govement could legally spend future tax revenues on any govement services, not just infrastructure and public safety. Measure A also calls for the creation of a citizens advisory committee to monitor spending, but the lack of strict legal requirements as to how future revenues can be spent is one reason tax opponents have said they are opposing the proposal.

Besides Measure A, Long Beach Community College District’s goveing board is asking voters to approve Measure LB, an $850 million bond measure for Long Beach City College. If the measure passes, property owners within the district’s boundaries can expect their property tax bills to increase by up to $25 per $100,000 of assessed value.

City Council Race

Long Beach voters living in the city’s 2nd Council District, which encompasses the Port of Long Beach, Ocean Boulevard Corridor, East Village Arts District and coastal neighborhoods as far east as Redondo Avenue, have yet to select who will succeed Suja Lowenthal on the council.

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Jeaine Pearce, who works as an organizing director for the pro-labor group Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, was the top vote getter in the April 12 city primary. She faces Eric Gray, who owns ITO Solutions, which is a technology supply firm.

Voters in the city’s 6th and 8th Districts have already voted to retain incumbents Dee Andrews and Al Austin, who each claimed more than 50 percent of votes cast in the primary round.

County, state and federal races

Voters in Long Beach and adjacent cities will also determine who will follow longtime supervisor Don Knabe as the representative for the county’s 4th Supervisorial District. The three candidates on the ballot are Rep. Janice Hahn, D-San Pedro; Steve Napolitano, a senior Knabe aide and former Manhattan Beach mayor; and Ralph Pacheco, a Whittier Union High School District board member and ordained minister. The district includes coastal areas from Marina del Rey to Long Beach as well as territory as far east as Whittier and Diamond Bar.

• 63rd Assembly District: Incumbent Anthony Rendon, D-Paramount, who also serves as Speaker, faces a challenge from Republican Adam Joshua Miller. The district includes communities in the Lakewood, Paramount and South Gate areas.

• 64th Assembly District: Incumbent Mike Gipson, D-Carson, has a single Republican challenger on the ballot, Theresa Sanford. The district includes communities in the North Long Beach, Carson and Compton areas.

• 70th Assembly District: Incumbent Patrick O’Doell, D-Long Beach, has no opponents appearing on the ballot. Two challengers, Democrat Billy Graham and Republican Martha Flores-Gibson, have qualified as write-in candidates. The district includes communities in Long Beach, San Pedro and Signal Hill.

• 33rd state Senate District: Incumbent Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens, has no challenger on the ballot. There is a single-qualified write-in opponent, Libertarian Honor Mimi Robson. The district includes much of Long Beach as well as communities in the Paramount and Huntington park areas.

• 44th Congressional District: Incumbent Janice Hahn has chosen to vacate this position to run for a Board of Supervisors seat. There are 10 candidates on the ballot including state Sen. Isadore Hall, D-South Bay and former Hermosa Beach Councilwoman Nanette Diaz Barragan. Barragan is a Democrat, as are candidates Morris F. Griffin, Sylvia Ortiz, Martha C. Delgadillo, Armando Sotomayor and Marcus C. Musante. The two Republicans are Christopher Castillo and Ronald Siegel. A single independent, Michael De Mauricio, also qualified for the ballot. The district includes communities in San Pedro, West Long Beach and Compton.

• 47th Congressional District: Rep. Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach has two Republican challengers on the ballot. They are Sanford W. Kahn and Andy Whallon. The district includes communities in Long Beach, Lakewood and Los Alamitos. Independent Rich Camp has also qualified as a write-in candidate.