☆ CM David Cohen was opposed to letting locals vote on taxes—until he was for it

SJ CM David Cohen's confused embrace of Prop 5 (which would lower from 66% to 55% the threshold for new local taxes) struck many Opp Now readers as surprising, as just a few week's prior, he was advocating against the Taxpayer Protection Act. In the former, he championed letting locals vote on tax thresholds; in the latter, he opposed the tax threshold initiatives—aligning himself with Gov. Newsom and others who worked to prevent the TPA from even being on the ballot. An Opp New exclusive.

Opp Now readers noticed the irony of Cohen's seemingly contradictory position on local tax initiatives. In May, Cohen said that he found the Taxpayer Protection Act really a "Taxpayer Deception Act," and opposed it.

This is ironic, as Prop 5—which Cohen supports—was found by Superior Court Judge Shelleyanne W.L. Chang to contain deceptive language.

Sign up to receive updates on Opp Now articles. Click HERE.

As Courthouse News Service reports:

"Prop 5 opponents argue that the threshold reduction is stated in the title and summary for the ballot measure. However, it isn’t in the ballot label, a shorter version of the title and summary. That could lead some voters to think the measure would, in fact, increase the threshold from a simple majority to 55%.

“'The court finds the proposed ballot label, which is 10 words short of the 75-word limit, fails to inform the voters of the chief purpose of Proposition 5, and if published as written would be an error or omission …' Chang wrote. 'The court further finds that issuance of a writ of mandate in this matter will not substantially interfere with the conduct of the election, given the applicable printing deadline of August 12, 2024.'” To much guffaws from legal experts, a state appeals court later ruled that Prop 5 doesn't need to tell voters that the current threshold is 66%. 

Read the whole story on Prop 5's deceptive language here.

Follow Opportunity Now on Twitter @svopportunity

Related:

• How SF Bay city governments are spending your cheddar

• BAHFA blunders on ballot language for RM4; gets busted for wildly lowballing cost to taxpayers

• Opinion: How local government's frittering away your valuable taxpayer dollars

Sign up to receive updates on Opp Now articles

Email Address:

First Name:

Last Name:

Opp Now enthusiastically welcomes smart, thoughtful, fair-minded, well-written comments from our readers. But be advised: we have zero interest in posting rants, ad hominems, poorly-argued screeds, transparently partisan yack, or the hateful name-calling often seen on other local websites. So if you've got a great idea that will add to the conversation, please send it in. If you're trolling or shilling for a candidate or initiative, forget it.