By Dena Burroughs
Towards the end of a very long El Monte City Council meeting Tuesday night, Councilwoman Victoria Martinez announced that she will not support Measure H, which has become known as the “sugary drink tax.”
Part of the statement she read at the meeting and later posted on her Facebook page says that “upon further investigation” she had found that “Measure H has many unintended consequences.”
“Measure H is counterproductive to economic development,” she continued. “It is very unattractive to new business […], will negatively affect those local businesses who choose to do business in El Monte, and may drive consumers and revenue out of the city.
[…] Let’s be truthful. This is a tax on sugary drinks meant to go into the general fund. Even with a companion measure to direct where the funds go, there is no current way of collecting the funds and if we did collect, there is no oversight measure once it’s in the general fund.
I will be voting NO on Measure H and urge you to do the same.”
Her position is certain to please the several residents and business owners who attended the meeting to speak against Measure H during the Public Comment portion of the meeting. They included a representative for El Sombrero Restaurant, who said that they are telling their customers that Measure H “means no more refills for anybody,” as well as the owners of Pinata World, Tyler Market, and one of the 7 Eleven franchises in town.