“No, no, don’t repeat it again. I got it this time, I’m sure.”

Grady was concentrating. He took in a deep breath. He knew the circumstances were complicated but he wanted Cal to know that he understood the workings of government.

“Okay, so the goal is to get a half-cent sales tax to fund transportation costs on the ballot in the Los Angeles area for the voters to approve.”

“Right,” Cal said.

“Okay. Now the first step was for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board, what we call the MTA, to approve the measure. And they did that.”

“Correct,” said Cal.

“Then the L. A. county supervisors had to approve consolidating the tax measure on the ballot, but the supervisors said: No.”

“Right so far,” said Cal.

“Hold on,” Marie stopped the recital. “You mean the county has to approve this measure going on the ballot so it consolidates the vote with the City of Los Angeles and other cities that are in the region covered by the MTA?”

“Yes.”

“But, I don’t understand. Aren’t all the county supervisors on the MTA Board which approved the tax in the first place?”

“Yes,” said Cal. “But it’s a large board. And in that vote of the five supervisors only two voted yes, one voted no, one abstained and one was absent. When it came to placing the measure on the countywide ballot the supervisors maintained their previous positions but the supervisor who had been absent for the MTA board vote voted no on the ballot consolidation so there was no majority to put it on the ballot. Two yes, two no and one abstain”

“So its not on the county ballot,” said Grady continuing his recitation.

“Correct, once again. I think you got it,” said Cal.

“Maybe not,” said Grady. “This is where it gets a little confusing. So it’s not on the official ballot but election officials can create something called a conditional ballot.”

“Yes.”

“And, this different type of ballot will cover the sales tax increase alone but the vote counting machines might not be able to handle the two elections at one time,” said Grady.

“You’re right on track,” Cal said with admiration.

Marie jumped in: “And what’s this second ballot going to cost.”

“Only an additional $3-million,” said Cal.

“Only? Listen, what’s with the supervisors anyway? Why don’t they want this on the ballot?” asked Marie.

“Equity issues,” responded Cal dismissively. He wanted to see if Grady could complete the recital correctly. “You know they think some regions which they represent don’t get a fair share of the tax money.” Turning to Grady he said, “Ready for the final steps?”

“Right,” said Grady. “The final step is that the MTA is threatening to sue the Board of Supervisors to put the tax measure on the ballot and since they can’t use the county counsel who would have an obvious conflict-in-interest, the MTA is hiring an outside counsel.”

Marie said, “And how much is that going to cost?”

Cal shrugged while Grady grinned with pride for completing the recital.

Cal waited. Then he said to Grady: “And…?”

“And, what? I’m done.”

Cal looked disappointed. “No, Grady. You missed the most important part.”

“What’s that?” Grady said with surprise.

“The tax increase measure can’t be put on the ballot unless the legislature approves first. They have to pass a bill authorizing it.”

“You mean this whole exercise, preparing new ballots, hiring lawyers, all of it, won’t matter if the legislature turns down the authorization bill?” Marie asked.

“I just don’t understand how government works,” Grady said, exasperated.