Molina kills transit tax measure *

Supervisor Gloria Molina joined the two Republicans on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to reject placing a sales tax increase question on the November ballot, citing friction between Eastside and Westside transit projects. According to the Times, "Molina said she was voting in opposition to 'back room deals' by Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky that she said would steer too much of the tax's proceeds to his Westside district and too little to her Eastside district." So now, the tax is off the ballot unless a court forces it on or the MTA pays $10 million for a special election.

* Or not: I'm told by an aide to a Supervisor that the Times' web story played it wrong — that the vote today only decided whether to consolidate what are technically separate elections on Nov. 4. "Voters WILL still vote on the sales tax issue. It will just be a separate ballot that voters will get during the same election," says the aide. "This was all clearly explained at the meeting today."

Update 2: Steve Hymon gets it right at the LAT's Bottleneck Blog.

Update 3: Daily News gets it right the first time, in a story by county reporter Troy Anderson that ably discusses the politics and that says, correctly, that the special election would cost $3 million not the $10 million the Times reported.