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MONROVIAWEEKLY
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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31 - NOVEMBER 6, 2019
MEASURE K, IT'S A QUESTION OF WHO GETS THE MONEY
Since 1996
VOL. 23,NO. 44
Monrovia Student Suspended After Warning Peers of School Threat on Social Media Vicky NGUYEN, Vicky.Nguyen@gmx.com
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Mayor Tom Adams, left, discusses Measure K with Monrovia’s “unofficial” Mayor, Hal Leavens at the recent State of the Schools event. - Photo by Terry Miller / Beacon Media News
Susan MOTANDER motander@yahoo.com
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ext Tuesday Monrovia voters will face the question of Measure K, an increase in Monrovia’s sales tax to the maximum allowed by state law. The real question is whom Monrovia residents want to have control over the funds raised by such a rise in the sales tax. Currently the sales tax is 9.5% of which the state receives 7.25% and the county and regional agencies gets 2.25%. The funds go into the state’s general fund and in
the case of the county it is normally reserved for special projects such as Metro, homelessness and parks. Los Angeles County is already looking at various measures to raise the sales tax countywide but they have not done so yet. Measure K is a proactive move to preempt the county from receiving these funds and keeps the money raised in Monrovia for projects supported by Monrovians. This is a concern as Monrovia, on average, receives only 10% of the monies raised by the county from bond measures. Some measures return even less to Monrovia. For example, Measure H, passed in
2017, has cost Monrovians $4.5 million but the city received only $30,000 back to help our local homeless population. According to City Manager Dylan Feik, the county is already looking at measures to increase sales tax. Cities that have already reached the maximum are still able to receive benefits from countywide bond measures without paying into the fund. Perhaps Mayor Tom Adams explained it best when he wrote the following: “I have always considered myself to be a very conservative person, especially in dealing with
other people’s money. I don't really see Measure K as so much of a tax measure, we all know the tax rate will go up; the question is who will keep the funds. “If Monrovia approves this, Monrovia will keep about $4,500,000 a year in new revenue. If Monrovia fails to pass this and it is passed on a county level Monrovia will receive about $450,000 a year. “The voters of Los Angeles County ultimately approve every new tax that comes their way, do we trust Monrovia to do a better job for Monrovia or do we trust the county to do a better job for Monrovia? “To me it is simple.”
arents say their son was wrongfully suspended from Monrovia High School after he warned others about a school shooting threat on social media. Wayne Perry believes the punishment for his son, who does not wish for his name to be published, was partially motivated by race and a result of a rushed investigation by authorities. “They rushed to judgement and just assumed my son created this whole mess, and because of it, they tried to expel him from the school,” Perry said. “They realized after our attorney pointed it out to them that they had violated a lot of rules in the process. “ His son was one among several other students who reported school shooting threats to administration and took to the social media app Snapchat to warn peers afterward. His posts included identifying information of a student who made several public threats in school to shoot people in September. Only Perry’s son seems to have been questioned by police officers and received a suspension notice stating he “disrupted school activities” and “intentionally harassed, threatened, or intimidated, creating a hostile education environment.” Perry believes his son was singled out because he is Black, among other reasons. “The school jumped to conclusions, and they did not do a thorough investigation,” Perry said. “Had they done so; they would have realized that my son was not the only one who was warning people about the threat,” Perry said. “Unfortunately, in our society, in public schools, Black kids are suspended and potentially expelled and at an alarming rate, way more than white students.” Perry also believes the school was looking for a target to blame when students didn’t show up to school out of fear. Read More at, MonroviaWeekly.com, under News