The LA City Council today voted to put a retail sales increase on the March ballot. Speaking with KCRW's Saul Gonzalez, Council President Herb Wesson reiterated the city's freeze on hiring and pay reduction for new police officers, saying, "We think that this would be an appropriate time for us to ask the voters what do they think." At Wesson's prodding, the Council turned down a proposal to tax real estate sales. Eric Garcetti and Jan Perry, both mayoral candidates voted against a new sales tax. Perry, who also talked to Saul, blamed a lack of clear language for how a real estate tax would be spent. "I think we owe it to the voters, the residents, and our city employees that if we put something like this on the ballot, that we have to be very clear that it will be spent on police, or fire, or whatever." Dave Zahniser covered today's action for the Los Angeles Times.
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