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Editorial: Vote Local

Editorial: Vote Local

This presidential election, seemingly unending, but now just days away, is being called the most vital and important election in a generation. But there will be more on the ballot than just the choice for president. As architects you also have a responsibility to vote for priorities that can benefit our urban and built environment, not to mention voting for your interests as a profession.

California’s largest cities have several major initiatives on the ballot that could help rectify problems that have long plagued their urban fabric. Perhaps most significantly in the Los Angeles region, voters will have a choice to vote for improved public transit in southern California with Measure R. Through a half-cent sales tax increase (providing more than $4 billion in funds) the measure would provide an expansion and improvement of local rail and bus systems, road improvements, and traffic reduction. That could include expansions of LA subway and light rail lines in all directions, new HOV lanes for highways, better traffic monitoring, and even reduced fares for bus riders. As our Protest column points out this month, it is not perfect, but it is far superior to the alternative of continued gridlock and environmental degradation. Also, San Francisco voters will have the chance to vote for support for much-needed affordable housing in a city where it is sorely lacking. Proposition B would require the city to take about $30 million out of the budget each year and use the money to build affordable housing over the next 15 years. That measure isn’t enough, but it will help. And in San Diego, Measure S would provide $2.1 billion to help rebuild the city’s crumbling school infrastructure.

I support all three of these measures. But besides these essential propositions there are important, ongoing initiatives that require your vote, including the local legislation and reforms that local AIA chapters are pushing. Unlike ballot measures, getting these passed will take continuous pressure and resolve. In LA that includes implementation of a distributed power generation network; getting more architects on city commissions; and enhancing local streetscapes to address environmental and pedestrian concerns. In Sacramento that means making new buildings carbon neutral by 2030; reducing sales taxes on architectural services; and blocking an interior design practice act. In San Francisco that means, in addition to pushing for more affordable housing and new zoning, establishing rules that respect individual neighborhoods’ specific character.

So for all of you that have been glued to CNN and voted for or contributed to your preferred candidate, why not participate in a local process that can have an equally significant impact? That means paying attention to and voting for propositions. It can also mean attending your local chapter’s legislative day or putting pressure on your local council member. Of course we have a responsibility to vote for our national leaders. But we also need to ensure for ourselves that our priorities are heard loud and clear at a local level.

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