Initiatives

Motorists are getting gouged at the gas pump. Families are losing their homes. The war is a debacle and embarrassment. Healthcare costs soar out of control. Food prices strain household budgets. Climate change could devastate the planet. And we're supposed to worry about what two people living together in a loving relationship are called? "Partners" or "married"? Whatever makes them happy, I say.

Emotions may run high for California voters in November, not just over the choice of the next president but also over many of the 11 initiatives on the same ballot that tap into their personal beliefs. Voters will decide whether to ban same-sex marriage, require parents to be notified before an abortion is performed on a minor, free farm animals from tight enclosures and put criminals in jail longer.

The City Council voted Tuesday to draft ballot language for a measure that would increase property taxes to pay for anti-gang initiatives. Backed by Councilwomen Wendy Greuel, Janice Hahn and Jan Perry, the measure would raise $30 million for gang prevention and intervention programs, as well as job training. The council is expected to vote on whether to place the measure on the ballot by July 15.

When voters were asked to sign petitions for a November initiative to limit marriage to opposite-sex couples, they were told the measure would not change state law, which at the time banned same-sex marriage. But then, after the signatures were gathered, the California Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples were entitled to wed.

The Board of Supervisors unanimously agreed Tuesday to place on the November ballot a utility tax that would keep about $65 million flowing into county coffers. Residents in the county's unincorporated areas have been paying a 5% tax on their utilities -- gas, electric and telephone -- since 1991. Officials are now proposing a reduction to 4.5%, but the tax would grow to include pagers and text messaging on cellular phones. Although supervisors couched the move as a tax reduction, the levy is in fact being threatened by a series of potential court decisions.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority board on Thursday voted overwhelmingly to seek a half-cent-on-the-dollar sales tax increase that could raise $30 billion to $40 billion for transit and highway projects, including the first link of a long-awaited subway to the sea. The 13-member board's action, approving a ballot measure for the Nov. 4 election, is a major step that could lead to construction of several dozen transportation projects in the county over the next three decades.

In 2004, Republicans managed to put measures on the ballot in 11 states to ban same-sex marriage, a red-hot family values issue that boosted conservative turnout and played a role in President Bush's reelection. The strategy seemed certain to have a prominent place in the GOP political playbook. But four years later, few key battleground states will vote on propositions likely to excite conservatives. Republicans have been tripped up by mishaps and errors that have kept measures off the ballot.

Democratic National Convention: An article in Monday's Section A about problems the Democrats are having raising money for their national convention quoted the executive vice president of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce as saying his organization was going to donate $250,000 to the convention but had to hold back $150,000 to fight ballot initiatives. The group has donated $250,000, but held back an additional $150,000 it had planned to give.

A law that would bar fast-food restaurants from opening in South Los Angeles for at least a year sailed through the Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday. The council approved the fast-food moratorium unanimously, despite complaints from representatives of McDonald's, Carl's Jr. and other companies, who said they were being unfairly targeted.