Good news for Gilroy residents: Santa Clara County – Measure A failed and there’s a runoff for South County’s Santa Clara Valley Water District seat.
Proponents of Measure A – the county’s bid to increase the sales tax rate by one-half cent – outspent opponents by a ratio of 100 to 1. Despite that cash overflow, despite endorsements from powerful politicians, unions, business leaders, and despite needing only a simple majority for approval, Measure A failed.
Tax fatigue might be one reason for Measure A’s failure, especially given high gasoline prices and an uncertain economic future.
But the biggest issue was trust.
Voters simply didn’t trust that the $150 million that Measure A would pour into the county’s general fund each year would be wisely spent.
They didn’t like the whiff of a backroom deal to fund the BART-to-San Jose extension that is such a bad bet that federal policy wonks, who rarely meet a transportation project they don’t love, recommend against funding it.
They didn’t trust county officials who could have balanced their books with a quarter-cent sales tax increase but instead sought a half-cent hike.
Now, county officials are faced with a bleak budget picture. Because they asked for too much, voters gave them nothing.
It’s up to county officials to make any needed cuts wisely, first by freezing hiring and pay increases. Private sector employees are used to these cost-cutting measures, and it’s necessary now that public sector employees and their managers get in tune with financial reality. Special attention must be paid to preserving human service programs.
Because the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors went along with the Silicon Valley Leadership Group and bet the farm that voters would overlook the BART backroom deal with the threat of deep cuts if Measure A failed, Santa Clara County’s most vulnerable residents – the poor, the sick, the mentally ill, the drug- and alcohol-addicted, the handicapped, and crime victims – are even more vulnerable today.
Supervisors should halt the BART-to-San Jose debacle in its tracks once and for all. It’s time to remove BART from the county’s long-term transportation plans and replace it with more efficient, more cost-effective and more popular mass transit alternatives.
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Morgan Hill resident Terry Mahurin didn’t force a runoff with incumbent Rosemary Kamei for a Santa Valley Water District board seat. But Ram Singh, who already has won Mahurin’s gracious endorsement for November, did.
Singh entered the race late but showed quickly he is a formidable campaigner. Singh will face Kamei in a two-candidate runoff in November. After a long drought, voters will finally have a choice in the for representation on the water district board.
