Press Release: Green Party Opposes Measure TL - TL Stands for 'To Lose' Voter Choice

Press Advisory
Green Party of Los Angeles County losangeles.cagreens.org
Tuesday October 16, 2018

The Green Party of Los Angeles County (GPLAC) opposes Measure TL on Santa Monica's November 6, 2018 General Election Ballot and recommends a 'no' vote on TL in November.

"Measure TL would take away voter choice away by limiting for whom voters can vote. The Green Party stands for increasing voter choice. Measure TL would do the exact opposite", says Linda Piera-Avila, a former Vice-Chair of Santa Monica's Urban Forest Task Force and a Pico Neighborhood/Mid-Cities resident in Santa Monica for 38 years.

"Less choice does not equal more democracy" adds Green County Councilmember Annie Goeke, a former Chair of the Santa Monica Commission on the Status of Women and a north of Wilshire resident. "The reduction and restriction of voter choice in Measure TL should be a canary in the coal mine that something is fundamentally wrong with the approach of TL."

"The 'TL' in Measure TL stands for 'To Lose' voter choice", argues former Santa Monica Mayor and City Councilmember Michael Feinstein.

"There are progressive alternatives to Measure TL already in practice in other cities in California and across the U.S. that Santa Monica should focus on - like public financing of elections and neighborhood-based candidate forums to help level the financial playing field - and especially ranked-choice voting, to give more voters a chance to elect someone who represents their views."

"By allowing voters to rank their choices, ranked choice voting provides a form of local elections by proportional representation, providing a more fully representative local government. That is the way to respond to voters who want more choice, not cutting off our nose to spite our face with Measure TL"  adds Feinstein, who ran for California Secretary of State in the 2018 June state primary.

Ranked choice voting is already used for municipal elections in San Francisco and Alameda Counties in Northern California, and as well as in U.S. cities like Minneapolis and St. Paul (MN), Portland (ME), Telluride (CO), Takoma Park (MD), Cambridge (MA) and SantaFe (NM). 

"Usually Santa Monica is at the forefront of progressive reform", recalls Feinstein, who spent eight years on the Santa Monica City Council between 1996 and 2004. "That is where we should be focusing our energy with our elections. Instead the regressive Measure TL would be a major step backward for our community. Santa Monica voters should vote it down.

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