Dear Editor – Y We Live Here

Letter to the Editor on Measure Y

As former City Treasurer, I urge Culver City voters to vote Yes on Measure Y. Unlike many other cities, over the past five years our City Councils have been thoughtful in implementing viable cost-cutting strategies (including pension reform) and revenue enhancements (some of which, like the increase in the hotel bed tax, required voter approval.) These were significant changes to cut back structural budget deficits that were literally wiped out overnight with the State’s action to dissolve our primary economic engine, the Redevelopment Agency.

Unlike the federal government, our City Council has not turned a blind eye to the local equivalent of a fiscal cliff. As prudent fiscal stewards, they are asking us to approve Measure Y, which will bring in crucial sales tax revenue for the next ten years. While this new revenue will be a direct investment in our community to maintain vital services and facilities, non-residents shopping in our city will pay for the bulk of it.

Why yes on Y? Because it’s a decisive investment in where you live.

Crystal Czarnecki Alexander