Gilroy voters are looking at a busy ballot this November that
will ask them to approve more than a billion dollars in bonds and a
one-eighth-cent sales tax.
Gilroy voters are looking at a busy ballot this November that will ask them to approve more than a billion dollars in bonds and a one-eighth-cent sales tax.
Gilroy voters will have four county measures, two city measures and a school bond to grapple with, not to mention the election of a new president and various local and state representatives.
Measure F, which requires a two-thirds vote, would authorize the issuance of $37 million in general obligation bonds to replace the existing Gilroy Public Library with a larger facility in line with seismic standards, located near public transit, City Hall and the senior center.
Measure E would consolidate Gilroy’s city elections with the countywide election schedule and begin holding them in each even-numbered year starting in 2010. Passage of the measure would help reduce election costs and extend existing council members’ terms by one year. The measure requires a majority vote.
Gilroy voters will also decide on Measure P, requiring a 55 percent vote, that authorizes the Gilroy Unified School District to issue $150 million in bonds that would fund the construction of Christopher High School and the construction and modernization of various other district facilities.
County Measure A, which requires a two-thirds vote, would allow the issuance of $840 million in general obligation bonds to rebuild the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center to comply with state seismic laws and help replace closed medical facilities in downtown San Jose.
The VTA has three measures on the ballot, the most salient being Measure B, a one-eighth-cent sales tax to operate, maintain and improve a 16-mile BART extension, with stations in Milpitas, San Jose and Santa Clara. The tax requires two-thirds voter approval, and will only be collected if sufficient state and federal funds are raised to match the local expense.
Measure C, an advisory measure that does not increase taxes, asks voters whether the VTA should continue to plan, design and construct transit services in the South Bay.
Measure D requires a majority vote and asks voters to amend an existing ordinance to require that the VTA submit a comprehensive program to a citizens’ watchdog committee every six years.
In the race for the three positions opening up on the GUSD Board of Trustees, four candidates have filed papers: incumbents Rhoda Bress and Jaime Rosso, Fred Tovar and Mark Good. Two seats were unchallenged on the Gavilan Joint Community College District Board of Trustees and incumbents Mark Dover and Thomas Breen will maintain their posts. Two candidates, Mike Davenport and Timoteo Vasquez, are vying for the third position on the college that will be left vacant by Trustee Leonard Washington.
