Newbie Assemblyman Matthew Harper and Irvine’s Don Wagner spoke to the Newport Mesa Tea Party last week on the completely unacceptable notion of converting free and carpool lanes on the 405 Freeway to toll lanes:
Harper touts his influence on the OC Transportation Authority’s City Selection Committee to get Costa Mesa Mayor pro tem Jim Righeimer to the OCTA Board seat that he’s vacating. This was a good move (altho a better one would be the electorate’s ability to elect the Board themselves). Costa Mesa voters already approved a public advisory last month to oppose the lane tolling.
Wagner wants any tolling proposal to be placed on a future ballot — but if that happened, it would likely mean that the OCTA and Caltrans had succeeded in selling this sham. This Caltrans proposal, which has not yet been vigorously opposed by an OCTA Board majority, has no funding — but as we’ve learned from Jerry Brown’s ridiculous bullet train, the money’s expected to magically appear sometime in the distant future.
About 30 minutes into this video, Asm. Wagner also speaks very cogently to his opposition to amnesty for illegal aliens. He also discusses his upcoming candidacy to fill Mimi Walters’ State Senate seat which she is vacating for Congress.
The plan to turn money for Measure M that was voted on and approved by the voters to widen the 405 then strong armed into a toll road plan was a premeditated scam. The people responsible for attempting to strong arm / leveraging Measure M funding for use for toll roads should face legal penalties.
That would be the State of California that owns the 405.
Mr. Wagner can now claim to be against Amnesty, but that would totally contradict the letter that he signed in late 2013 pushing Congress to pass Amnesty legislation. Was he lying then or now? This is exactly why folks can’t stand politicians! Speaking out of both sides of their mouths!