U.S. Rep. Alan Lowenthal, Assemblymember Patrick O’Donnell and L.B. Mayor Robert Garcia Say M Delivers for Long Beach, South Bay, Ports and Entire County

LONG BEACH, September 7, 2016 — Congressman Alan Lowenthal, Assemblymember Patrick O’Donnell and Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia today endorsed Measure M - The Los Angeles County Traffic Improvement Plan, calling it critical to improving the daily lives of their constituents and the movement of goods to and from the twin ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles.

Measure M would ease congestion by building a 21st century transportation network across L.A. County, modernizing our aging transportation system and building more light rail, subway, Rapid Bus, Metrolink and better freeways and highways. Measure M will also deliver funding to each of L.A. County’s 88 cities for them to invest in their own local projects to fill potholes, improve intersections and signals, and repave roads.

“Measure M would give the Long Beach region the freeway improvements and transit access we need to get us to work on time, improve the flow of trucks going to and from our ports, and connect us faster and more conveniently with the rest of Southern California,” Congressman Lowenthal said. “Measure M will attract federal matching funds to accelerate projects in the Long Beach region that would otherwise go elsewhere. I strongly
endorse Measure M.”

“Measure M would make significant improvements to the Blue Line and connect riders to a world-class system across the region,” said Mayor Garcia. “Measure M would help address the worst freeway bottlenecks affecting Long Beach and would help clean our air by easing congestion. I support the measure, which creates good paying local jobs and delivers important infrastructure projects for Long Beach and across the county."

“Measure M’s local return provisions will deliver critical funding for Long Beach to embark on much-needed local road repairs and traffic improvements,” said Assemblymember O’Donnell. “Measure M strikes the right balance between Countywide projects and local improvements to best improve our daily transportation needs, and it will make a tremendous difference in improving our air quality. We need Measure M, and we need it now.”

Among the South Bay and Long Beach improvements Measure M would deliver:

• Freeway and interchange improvements along the 710 from Long Beach to Commerce
• New auxiliary lanes and other improvements to fix bottlenecks through the 405 South Bay Curve
• Extending the Green light rail line to Torrance
• Major interchange improvements along the 605 from Long Beach to Norwalk
• Blue Line safety and infrastructure improvements, including the reconstruction of the Wardlow Station
• $2.21 billion in major South Bay project funding
• $17.4 million in annual funding to South Bay cities for local projects starting in 2018
• Replacing the Shoemaker Bridge, which connects the Westside of Long Beach with Downtown across the Los Angeles River

Measure M has attracted a broad spectrum of bi-partisan support and support from both business and labor organizations. The non-profit Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation analyzed Measure M and found that it would create 465,000 jobs in our region. Measure M will keep student, senior and disabled fares low, and it would invest in critical earthquake retrofitting of our bridges and overpasses. In 2015, the average driver on L.A. County freeways spent 81 hours stuck in traffic. The L.A. County population is expected to increase by 2.3 million in the coming years, and the over-65 population alone is soon expected to number 2 million. For more information, see VoteYesOnM.org.

ABOUT CONGRESSMAN ALAN LOWENTHAL
During his two-decade tenure as a city council member and California legislator, Congressman Alan Lowenthal's dedication to common-sense bipartisan solutions earned him a reputation among his colleagues and constituents as one of the most respected and effective legislators in both Long Beach and Sacramento.

Congressman Alan Lowenthal earned his Bachelor’s Degree from Hobart and William Smith Colleges and his Ph.D. from Ohio State University before moving to Long Beach 1969, where he taught Community Psychology at California State University, Long Beach until 1998. He was elected to the Long Beach City Council in 1992 and served for six years before being elected to three terms in the State Assembly and two terms in the State
Senate.

As a city council member, and then as a state legislator, the Congressman fought against the then-commonplace private and public sector belief that environmental protections and economic success at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles were mutually exclusive. His landmark environmental legislative efforts helped lead the two adjacent ports becoming the cleanest and greenest ports in the world, while remaining the busiest and most successful container ports in the Western Hemisphere. The green business model advocated by the Congressman instituted by the two ports has become a role model for ports throughout the world.

While a State Assembly member, and as a founding member of the Assembly's Bipartisan Caucus.

Congressman Lowenthal is currently the U.S. House Representative of California's newly-created 47th Congressional District, which includes portions of Long Beach, Signal Hill, Lakewood, Cypress, Los Alamitos, Rossmoor, Garden Grove, Westminster, Stanton, and Buena Park.

ABOUT ASSEMBLYMEMBER PATRICK O’DONNELL

In November 2014, Patrick O'Donnell was elected to the California State Assembly to represent District 70, which includes the cities of Long Beach, Signal Hill San Pedro as well as Catalina Island.

Assemblymember O'Donnell is a teacher with over 20 years’ experience in the classroom. O’Donnell previously served as a member of the Long Beach City Council and was instrumental in delivering the city’s first budget surplus in over a decade. In addition, he enacted a "rainy day fund" policy, which requires the City Council to set aside reserves in anticipation of tough economic times.

As Chair of the Assembly Education Committee, Assemblymember O’Donnell worked to ensure more than $14 billion in additional funds were dedicated to our schools and community colleges in the 2015 Budget and passed legislation to create safer learning environments for LGBTQ students. During his first term in the Assembly, O’Donnell also protected patient safety through a bill signed into law that addresses ambulance wait times at emergency rooms.

Assemblymember O’Donnell currently serves as Chair of the Assembly Select Committee on Ports as well as the Assembly Select Committee on Aerospace where he has championed efforts to grow maritime industry and attract new jobs in aerospace in California. Chief among these efforts is his Energy Efficiency and Greenhouse Gas Reduction Ports Program, which will make California’s ports eligible to receive state resources for energy efficiency and greenhouse gas reduction infrastructure projects.

Born in Long Beach, O'Donnell graduated from California State University, Long Beach with a degree in History and a Master's Degree in Public Administration. He lives in the Los Altos neighborhood with his wife and their two daughters.

ABOUT LONG BEACH MAYOR ROBERT GARCIA

Dr. Robert Garcia, 38, is an educator and the 28th Mayor of Long Beach. Mayor Garcia is the youngest mayor of any big city in America and has taken a leadership role in economic development, education, and investing in technology.

Mayor Garcia has been a member of the public policy and communications faculty at the University of Southern California, and taught Communication Studies at both California State University, Long Beach and Long Beach City College. He holds a Doctorate in Higher Education, a Masters Degree in Communication Management from the University of Southern California and a Bachelor's Degree in Communication Studies from California State
University, Long Beach.

In 2007, Garcia co-founded and launched the Long Beach Post, a Long Beach based media website and newspaper.

Garcia served as Vice Mayor from 2012 - 2014 and was elected to the City Council in 2009. He also served on the California Coastal Commission until taking office as Mayor of Long Beach.

Robert Garcia was born in Lima, Peru, and immigrated to the United States at age 5 with his family. He was the first person in his family to attend and graduate college. While at CSULB, he was elected student body president.