Lifting the Veil

Supporters of Measure YV - Vote 16 Culver City argue that the majority of 16- and 17-year-olds are mature enough to make informed voting decisions. That they pay taxes and therefore should have a direct legal say in what taxes are raised and how the money should be spent. And that people who vote at an early age are more likely to be civically engaged throughout their lives.

NONE of these arguments hold up under minimal fact-checking. (See the Home page at www.Vote16CulverCity.com)

So what is the motivation of the three Culver City Council people – Mayor Freddy Puza, Vice Mayor Bubba Fish, Councilperson Yasmine-Imani McMorran - to support Vote 16 Culver City. Why do they repeatedly support lowering the voting age even after the citizens of Culver City have already signaled TWICE that they do NOT support the effort.

Clinical studies clearly show that 16- and 17-year-olds are highly susceptible to peer pressure and emotional arguments. Only a few hundred votes separate winning and losing candidates and measures in Culver City elections. Adding over 1,000 16- and 17-year-old voters will instantly make them the deciding voting block for any candidate or issue.

If passed, this measure will motivate politicians and advocates to make direct contact with your children and use peer pressure and emotional arguments to influence their views. The activists who can capture this voting block will be able to control city priorities and spending for years to come.

The three council people are the most visible members of a small ideologically-driven political group hoping to do just that!

If you don't like that the City went $21,000,000 in debt a few months ago to fund construction of ~95 affordable housing units and then put a “special tax” on this election's ballot to pay for school improvements;

If you don't like that Vote 16 Culver City is on the ballot again because a few students asked for it, yet when HUNDREDS of citizens asked for the Overland Project to ALSO be put on the ballot Mayor Freddy Puza voted NO;

If you don't like that Mayor Freddy Puza chose to ignore the democratic process and cast the deciding vote to put the SAME Vote 16 Culver City measure that was rejected in 2022 on the ballot again because he didn't like the results of the past two efforts, taking Trump-style Election Denial to the next level;

Please Vote NO on Measure YV.