THE POLITICAL LANDSCAPE:Measure M: the long and winding road to approval

As the November election draws closer, supporters and opponents of the Measure M renewal will be squaring off, and some Newport-Mesa residents will be in the fray.

Measure M, a half-cent sales tax that goes to Orange County transportation projects, expires in 2011. County officials hope voters will approve a 30-year renewal.

Newport Beach resident and former state legislator Marian Bergeson was one of several people who signed an argument in favor of Measure M that will appear on the ballot. Bergeson said Wednesday the measure is critical to fighting traffic congestion and providing cities money to repair potholes, synchronize traffic signals and make other local road improvements.

Having local funding like what Measure M provides “moves projects much more rapidly through the system,” Bergeson said. “We get our work done much faster than any of the other areas.”

Among those fighting the sales tax renewal will be former Costa Mesa Mayor Sandra Genis. She’s part of a group that will write a rebuttal to the pro-Measure M argument.

Genis said she is opposing the transportation measure for some of the same reasons she was against it the first time: In parts of the county that aren’t built out, putting in more roads induces growth.

The first Measure M was supposed to require that developers pay for roads needed because of their projects, Genis said, and she doesn’t think that’s happened.

The new Measure M doesn’t specify that money must be spent in Orange County, so it could be used, for example, to purchase animal habitat in another county to replace what would be lost here to a road project, she said.

“When this was started out, it was supposed to be, ‘We have to tax ourselves because we don’t get our fair share [of state or federal funds],’ ” Genis said. “To tax ourselves and then spend the money outside Orange County, that’s just insane.”

Bergeson argued that the measure specifies where the money will be spent, and she said the current Measure M spending has been thoroughly overseen.

Candidate forum setMark your calendar if you want to hear about where City Council candidates stand in Costa Mesa or Newport Beach. The first of many candidate forums is set later this month in Costa Mesa.

The Mesa Verde Homeowners Assn. will hold a forum at 7 p.m. Aug. 30 at the Neighborhood Community Center, 1845 Park Ave. The center will open at 6 p.m. for refreshments and mingling, and candidates can offer their literature to voters. Daily Pilot columnist and former Costa Mesa Mayor Peter Buffa will be the moderator for the forum, which will be taped and aired later on Channel 24.

In Newport Beach, separate forums are set for Sept. 7, 9, 13, and a two-night forum is scheduled Sept. 27 and 28. See this space on future Thursdays for more information.

Judge Gray to speak at forumOrange County Superior Court Judge Jim Gray will be the speaker at the next meeting of the Orange County Libertarian Party, set for Aug. 27. Gray ran in 2004 as a Libertarian candidate for U.S. Senate, and he has written a book about the failure of U.S. drug laws. He also scripted a musical that was performed by local students.

The meeting will be held at 1:30 p.m. Aug. 27 at Karl Strauss Brewery and Restaurant, 901 A South Coast Drive, Costa Mesa. For information, call (949) 813-8001.