Passages of propositions could bring millions of dollars for
Gilroy schools and local roads
Gilroy – Mid-term elections have brought a sense of relief for many farmers and land owners, the prospect of big money for highway improvements and school facilities, and the potential for more neighborly dialogue on development in Coyote Valley, thousands of acres of farmland and hillsides that separate urban San Jose from rural South County.
The biggest local upset of the Tuesday election – and the one cheered by property rights advocates – was the defeat of Measure A, a controversial land-use initiative that would have limited development on county hillsides and ranchlands.
Opponents called the 28-page measure an overly complex and unnecessary law that threatened to expose the county to costly lawsuits. Supporters of the measure, spearheaded by an environmental consortium known as the People for Land and Nature, called it a vital tool in preventing urban sprawl.
Measure A lost by more than 7,000 votes, with 51 percent of residents opposing it and 49 percent supporting.
“Obviously we were surprised and disappointed,” PLAN spokesman Peter Drekmeier said. “Early polling showed that when people were shown the arguments in favor of it, they were likely to vote for it. I think our opponents had a very successful disinformation campaign. When you have the sheriff on TV saying Measure A is going to bankrupt the county. That’s going to scare the people. And it just was not true.”
The measure faced strong opposition from farmers, property owners and Realtors, though county officials and courts handed the group a series of defeats in their efforts to derail the initiative.
Santa Clara County Supervisor Don Gage, whose South County district contains more than half of the 400,000 acres of unincorporated land that would have been affected by Measure A, was surprised at the outcome.
“I was skeptical about it because it’s an easy thing for people to say, ‘Gee, that sounds like a wonderful thing,’ and vote for it,” he said, adding that he doesn’t “believe the county is doing a bad job of managing its land. If anybody did a bad job of that, it was the people up north. They screwed up there and then they want to tell us what to do down here.”
The Tuesday elections may portend a new era of cooperation between San Jose and South County cities such as Morgan Hill and Gilroy, where residents are anxious about the environmental and traffic impacts of plans to build homes for 70,000-plus residents in Coyote Valley. San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales was notorious for trying to fast-track the project, though Morgan Hill’s Mayor-Elect, Steve Tate, hoped that approach may change with the election of Chuck Reed.
Reed did not return calls for comment Wednesday, but previously told the Dispatch that he planned to take a “cautious” approach to development in Coyote Valley.
“There’s some noticeable slowing that has taken place already,” Tate said. “I think that has something to do with (Gonzales leaving) and the attitude of the council members to not rush ahead with (development). It’s their development and it’s their call, but we just want to have some say and input in the decisions.
Big Bucks for roads and schools
State voters Tuesday approved $20 billion in bond money for transportation improvements and $10.4 billion for school projects, and officials in Gilroy and the surrounding region are hoping to secure millions of dollars for local construction.
The cash-strapped Gilroy Unified School District hopes to get $30 million for the new Christopher High School, along with roughly $4 million for a new aquatics center and gymnasium and $2.2 million for upgrades at El Portal Leadership Academy, a charter school in east Gilroy.
A prior state bond for school projects had been eaten up, hampering the school district’s ability to finance the aquatics center and improvements at El Portal, according to Steve Brinkman, GUSD’s assistant superintendent.
“We’re totally thrilled to hear the news,” he said. “I went to sleep with a big smile on my face. … Now that the bond has passed, we can now apply knowing there is money.”
The district expects to learn by the end of summer about funding for El Portal, and by early 2008 about funding for Christopher High School.
School district representatives aren’t the only officials angling for state bond monies. Leaders from South County and San Benito County have been meeting for several months to position the region for millions of dollars in highway improvement funds, especially money to widen state Route 25 and Highway 152. Both roads are notorious for traffic accidents and major congestion on holidays and weekends.
State props
While state voters were happy to approve new spending on roads, levees, and schools, they overwhelmingly rejected a raft of ballot propositions. The list of defeated propositions includes: a tax on oil companies to finance alternative energy research; public financing of political campaigns; parental notification and a waiting period before a teenager can have an abortion.
Faithful patrons of the Morgan Hill Tobacco Company are no doubt ecstatic at the defeat of Prop. 86, which hoped to slap a hefty new tax on cigarettes and tobacco products to finance health programs and anti-smoking education.
The one major success among the state propositions was Prop. 83, which would effectively force sexual offenders to live outside cities and submit to satellite tracking. Within 24 hours of its approval, the initiative was challenged in court by an anonymous sexual offender. The suit said it “effectively banishes John Doe from his home and community for a crime he committed, and paid his debt for, long ago.” The suit says the proposition forces him “from the home that he owns with his wife and his community of over 20 years.”
Final count not in
More than 50 percent of the 750,000 registered voters in Santa Clara County cast ballots Tuesday. Of those, roughly nearly 40 percent, or 144,879, used absentee ballots.
As in past races, election night tallies will not become official until thousands of last-minute absentee, provisional and paper ballots have been counted.
“This is very typical,” said Elma Rosas, spokesman for the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters. “It could change the outcome, especially on races that are very close.”
Political novice and water expert Ram Singh was just 1,000 votes shy of unseating Rosemary Kamei as the District 1 representative to the Santa Clara Valley Water District’s governing board, though Wednesday he expressed skepticism about the potential for a turnaround.
Singh said he made the fatal mistakes of failing to seek endorsements early enough in the campaign process and too vigorously criticizing the staff size of the water district.
“I angered unions who worked against me,” Singh said.
Final vote tallies could shift the ultimate standing of four new representatives to the Gilroy Unified School District’s board of directors, though it remains unclear if any hope remains for last-place finisher Ardeshir Ghoreishi. More than 700 votes separate Ghoreishi from the last available seat.
Incumbent board member Javier Aguirre captured more than 5,000 votes, or one out of every five ballots cast.
“I want to focus on how we can continue improving performance at all of our schools,” Aguirre said on election night. “I think we can look at other schools that have been successful in improving their academics and see if we can use them as models and replicate their policies.”
The new school board members will be sworn in Dec. 14.
