In my capacity as the Alternate Solano County member on the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) Executive Board, I voted against a regional housing compact known as CASA.  While there were some positive aspects to this proposal and I am thrilled to see an emphasis on solving housing issues, I do not believe that CASA will be in Solano County’s best interest.   Of most concern to me is the discussion to fund the expenses associated with CASA with a parcel tax and/or a sales tax.

The bridge tolls were recently raised by Regional Measure 3 (with 70% of Solano County voters voting against raising the tolls).  This increased toll money will be disproportionately paid by Solano County and will be unfairly used to subsidize transportation projects in Silicon Valley. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) was responsible for determining the funding distributions of the new toll revenues. ABAG is housed in the MTC building and the MTC executive director also oversees ABAG.

I could not, in good conscience, turn more Solano taxpayer money over to a regional body when it has been demonstrated that Solano County will not receive our fair share of the money we pay. Although ABAG approved the CASA compact, I wanted to let my constituents know why I voted no.

Monica Brown

Solano County Supervisor, District 2

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