Councilwoman Kris Murray proposes amending the Anaheim City Charter to require at least a two-thirds affirmative vote by the Anaheim City Council in order to place a new or increased tax before the voters – up from the current simple majority. Voter already have the right to vote on new or higher taxes; Murray’s charter amendment merely places another hurdle between the pockets of Anaheim taxpayers and the potentially grabby hands of City Hall.
Naturally, her proposal has been met with criticism. It would make it harder for the city to acquire more of the people’s money, which sticks in the craw of the politically progressive. There are also some critics who don’t like it because they dislike Murray; since that isn’t a credible reason for opposition, there’s no need to address it.
After 2016, the city council will expand from four to six members, elected from single-member council districts rather than at-large. The most likely result will be to shift the council to the Left politically by electing a Democratic council majority for the first time in anyone’s memory. That is why political support for Measures L and M (with the exception of Mayor Tom Tait) consisted of a coalition of left-wing interest groups (mainly from out-of-town) that spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to carve the city into districts.
Liberal Democrats and taxes go together like ham and cheese. When budgetary push comes to shove, the instinctive response of a governing Democratic majority will be to raise taxes.
We saw the possible shape of things to come during a council candidate debate last year. During a speed round, the candidates were asked their positions on a range of possible taxes. On each tax proposal, left-wing Democrat Jose F. Moreno smiled and answered “open to the idea” a wink-and-a-nod way of saying “of course!”
The taxing power is one of government’s most potentially destructive. The tendency is to seek more of the people’s wealth – especially in California — which is why we have super-majority requirements to break-up momentum toward higher taxes. Councilwoman Murray’s “Anaheim Taxpayer Protection Act” provides extra insulation for Anaheim residents against that tendency. It comes before the city council again on April 7. Four of the five members of the city council are conservative Republicans. There ought to be no question that all four will vote to place it on the ballot.
