Want to pass S? Take the low road

Maybe they're going about this all wrong.

Instead of putting up "Yes on S" signs, sending out mailers and doing PowerPoint presentations to community groups, the Measure S transportation tax proponents might consider campaigning the old-fashion American way: going negative.

Wherever the roads are crumbling -- pick your spot -- place signs that read, "This chuckhole and your next front-end alignment job are sponsored by the 'No on S' campaign."

Or where traffic backs up 25 cars deep at four-way stops, a sign that says, "Half a cent or one-half mph?"

Or a mailer attacking the naysayers. "Where's their plan to fix this mess?"

And why not? The Stanislaus County Taxpayers Association took out an ad in The Bee last week opposing Measure S, claiming, "It still doesn't add up. NO Swindle."

Politics in any form in this country generally involves deflection and spin, regardless of the facts. This time, the facts are in the transportation tax's favor, even if the odds of it passing probably aren't.

Fact: The county's roads, streets and highways are in disrepair, woefully ill-equipped to handle the amount of traffic produced by more than two decades of rampant growth.

Fact: They need to be fixed or rebuilt, and it's going to cost gobs of money.

Fact: Through a form of legalized blackmail perpetrated by the state and federal governments, the only way for a county to get that money is to have a self-help mechanism such as the proposed half-cent sales tax. Passing that tax, Stanislaus County Supervisor Jim DeMartini said, could unlock nearly $2 billion in matching funds.

Fact: It would cost consumers 50 cents on top of every $100 they pay in sales taxes. And the burden doesn't fall solely on Stanislaus County residents. Folks driving through the county on their way to Yosemite or Dodge Ridge, for example, would contribute to the cause whenever they stop to gas up, eat, stay or shop.

Fact: Counties whose voters passed these tax measures have better roads than we do.

But enter the "T" word -- or make that two "T" words: Taxes and trust.

That brings us to another fact: Some folks will never trust anyone who wants to raise taxes or impose new ones. Nor will they ever trust the folks entrusted with spending their money, because government has long been synonymous with wasteful spending. Count the Taxpayers Association among them. The group opposing Measure S helped derail a similar measure two years ago.

In 2006, Measure K failed to get the necessary two-thirds of the votes in no small part because enough voters believed its proponents couldn't be trusted to spend our tax dollars wisely. It was just another windfall for developers, opponents claimed, and Measure K backers did little to contradict them.

Since then, the roads have continued to deteriorate. So Measure K proponents resurrected the concept under a new name: Measure S. They've addressed many of the concerns that helped sink Measure K. During the Measure K campaign, one of the mailers offended some voters. It featured a photo of a vehicle involved in a fatal crash in which the road conditions played no part.

With Measure S, the mailers have promoted safer roads without the shock value and scare tactics. The mailers are localized, showing residents what projects would benefit their respective areas.

Also, over the 30-year life of Measure K, the county's nine cities would have received 24 percent of the take. The rest would have gone to other projects within Stanislaus County. Oakdale's City Council didn't support it.