Gilroy
– A campaign mailer timed to arrive with the mail-in county
library tax ballot has been called misleading – by those supporting
the measure.
Gilroy – A campaign mailer timed to arrive with the mail-in county library tax ballot has been called misleading – by those supporting the measure.
Two messages on the oversized, blue and orange postcards arriving in Gilroy mailboxes this week give the impression that the city’s library will close if two property tax measures are not successful. “Keep the Gilroy Library open!” the card declares. “Don’t let the Gilroy Library close. Vote Yes on A and B.”
But as the mailer explains on the reverse side in smaller type, none of the nine libraries in the county system will close if the measures fail.
Steve Tate, a Morgan Hill City Councilman and member of the Santa Clara County Library District Joint Powers Authority said he did not see the postcard before it was sent out, but said the committee should have revised the card.
“I don’t like giving people the impression the library will close permanently. That is not the intent of what we what we’re doing,” Tate said. “I know that’s not what was meant.”
The measures are the first all-mail election held in Santa Clara County. It is being financed at a cost of $1.8 million by the JPA, which consists of representatives from the county and cities with system libraries and is financed largely through tax revenue.
Tate said the first of three mailers had two purposes, to remind people to expect their ballots this week and let them know that if the measures fail, county libraries will be forced to cut staff and operating hours. Measure A would extend a current $33.66 parcel tax for 10 years. Measure B would levy an additional $12 tax per parcel for 10 years.
The current tax raises $5.4 million annually for the JPA’s budget. Librarians say that revenue is ever more critical because libraries have lost some state funding and revenue from vehicle registration taxes.
Last year, a $1.1 million budget shortfall forced all nine libraries to close on Mondays. Gilroy Librarian Lani Yoshimura has said that if the ballot measures fail, the Gilroy Library will be forced to close its doors one more day a week, cut hours on other days and layoff staff.
Cupertino City Councilwoman Dolly Sandoval, who is co-chairwoman of the campaign supporting the measures and approved the mailer, called the messages completely truthful.
“This is analogous to a newspaper headline,” she said. “We’re not trying to fool the voters. The entire story is there. You can’t make everything the headline. ”
Patrons of the Gilroy Library, even those in strong support of the measures, agreed Tuesday that the mailer could be misconstrued.
“It’s probably a little exaggerated,” said Dennis Grundhoefer, who lives in San Juan Bautista but works in Gilroy and plans to volunteer for the campaign.
County Librarian Melinda Cervantes said she was concerned when she received the postcard at her Alum Rock home. By law, Cervantes can not participate in the campaign effort and she was not asked to approve the mailer. She said two other Alum Rock residents called her Tuesday to ask if the library there will close.
“My concern is that the information be as accurate as possible,” Cervantes said. “I agree with the information on the backside. I do think the headline could have been more accurate, but this is a campaign piece.”
Yoshimura also compared the language on the mailer to newspaper headlines.
“I get the sense that it’s meant to grab people’s attention,” Yoshimura said. “That’s what I see more than any planned deception.”
Gilroy resident Mark Zappa, who is leading the local effort against the measures, called the mailer “totally misleading” and “a scare tactic.”
“It just goes to show that there’s not a lot of integrity with the people behind these measures,” Zappa said. “If the measures had any merit, they wouldn’t need to resort to these deceptive tactics.”
Zappa, who is opposed to the measures because he has a philosophical opposition to all tax measures, said he plans to picket the library and their fundraising events.
Ballots were to be mailed Monday and must be returned by May 3. The last day to register for the election is April 18. The nine libraries are located in Gilroy, Morgan Hill, Milpitas, Los Altos, Saratoga, Cupertino, Monte Sereno, Campbell and Alum Rock.
