Proposition 1A: Another school bond measure, this time at the state level to the tune of $9.2 billion! This is three times larger than any preceding bond measure and is spread over so many schools, it's doubtful we'll see much local impact. Stick with Measure H, our local school bond initiative. It guarantees results. No on 1A.
Proposition 1: Would allow repair or replacement of environmentally contaminated property without increasing the tax valuation of the original property. Yes.
Proposition 2: Transportation funding. No endorsement.
Proposition 3: Changes existing open primary to closed partisan primary for purposes of selecting delegates to national political party presidential nominating conventions. Limits choice, but choice is good. No.
Proposition 4: Would prohibit trapping fur-bearing animals with specified traps and prevents trappers from doing business. Also prohibits steel-jawed leg-hold traps and certain poisons. Yes.
Proposition 5: Specifies terms between state and Indian tribes for gambling on tribal lands, which includes allowing slot machines and banked card games for easy cash. We don't buy the pathetic commercials touting a turnaround for the Indian economies, educational opportunities and overall cultural self-esteem. We are ideologically opposed to gambling as anybody's easy way out. No, no, no.
Proposition 6: Makes possession, transfer or receipt of horses for slaughter for human consumption a felony, and sale of horse meat for humans a misdemeanor. This overblown initiative makes no issue of horses being slaughtered, only that humans, as opposed to, say, our pets, might eat the meat. No.
Proposition 7: Air quality improvement. No endorsement.
Proposition 8: This initiative offers permanent class size reduction, which sounds good, but then would set up a $60 million bureaucracy at the state level for such tangential issues as testing for teacher credentials and pupil suspension for drug possession. Huh? No.
Proposition 9: We deregulated the electric utilities for a reason - lower costs through competition. Now, under the guise, but not guarantee, of a 20 percent rate reduction, this initiative bids to eliminate that competition. The California Taxpayers' Association, which is opposed, sees through this ruse. So do we. No.
Proposition 10: This would establish boards for smoking prevention programs that would be paid for by more taxes on tobacco products. The initiative is projected to generate about $750 million annually. Yes.
Proposition 11: Local sales and use taxes. No endorsement.
More information about these initiatives can be found on the Smart Voter Web site, www.smartvoter.org. Don't forget to vote this coming Tuesday.