County Ballot Measures Guide: What Mountain View Voters Need to Know

Voters in Los Altos and Los Altos Hills have three measures to consider Nov. 6.

Measures A and B are county-wide measures. The third, Measure M, covers voters in Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Cupertino and Sunnyvale who are part of the El Camino Hospital District.

Measure A – One-Eighth Cent Tax. Placed on the ballot by the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors to fill the severe gap of state funding cuts, the proposal would raise sales tax by one-eighth percent to help pay for emergency room and trauma care, law enforcement, health coverage for low-income children, among other services. Ten years of cuts have trimmed any fat there was in the past, proponents say, but there isn't any more left, they say. The current tax rate is 8.375 percent. A ‘yes’ vote would raise it by an eighth of a penny, or 0.125, meaning we would then pay 8.5 percent tax.

Measure B – Clean, Safe Water and Natural Flood Protection Program. Placed on the ballot by the Santa Clara Valley Water District, this measure would extend for another 15 years the parcel tax that voters approved in 2000 for infrastructural work, that ends in 2016. The new program would pay to repair dams, protect creeks and provide flood protection. If you didn’t mind paying the parcel tax, which can range from in cost from unimproved lots to those that are commercial-industrial, a "yes" vote would continue this parcel tax for you. Single family homes pay an average of $56, but depending on which of the five categories your property is, the tax rate would be higher or lower. If you do, a "no" vote would reject this parcel tax and the district would likely go back and work on a new proposal before the expiration of the old tax.

Measure M – El Camino Hospital District. This initiative was placed on the ballot by voters through petition, via a drive by the hospital workers union. The proposed ordinance would limit salary and compensation for any executive, manager or administrator of El Camino Hospital or the hospital district to twice the governor’s salary, which is $165,288 beginning Dec. 3, 2012. The advocates of Measure M have virtually disappeared after a new hospital workers contract was signed. 

Patch News Articles about Measure A

• A Second Sales Tax Hike on the November Ballot?
• County Supes Place Sales Tax Increase on Ballot

Patch News and Opinion Articles About Measure B

• Water Board Puts Measure on Ballot
• Getting to the Heart of the Issue: Please Vote Yes on Measure B for Safe Clean Water
• Letter to the Editor: Vote 'No on B' is the Right Thing to Do

Patch News Articles About Measure M

• Measure M: Good Economics or Bad Business?
• Hospital and SEIU-UHW Reach Tentative Contract Agreement
• El Camino Hospital Workers Want Cap on Executive Pay

SELECTED LINKS 

All Measures

• League of Women Voters - Summary of Measures and Arguments 
• Ballotpedia - Santa Clara County Measures

Measure A

• Yes - Santa Clara County Supervisors news release, Yes on A video from the Midpeninsula Community Media Center, a public access station
• No - Silicon Valley Taxpayers Association and San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber

Measure B

• Yes - Yes on B (also contains list of endorsers) and video produced by MidPeninsula Community Media Center, a community access station.
• Neutral - Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter, Neutral position discussion, pdf, P. 8; Richard McMurtry of Environmentalists for Living Streams, also provides background on this video about why the environmental community is divided on this proposal.
• No - Environmentalists for Living Streams and Western Waters Canoe Club, via  www.envirosforlivingstreams.org; Silicon Valley Taxpayers Association

Measure M

• Yes - There is no 'Yes on M' site (www.ElCaminoExecPayCap.org listed in the county Registar of Voters Sample Ballot pamphlet is defunct)
• No - No on M Protect El Camino Hospital 

ENDORSEMENTS

Patch does not make endorsements in elections. We have provided the endorsement pages, including links to the original editorials, of local publications for your convenience.

Besides a simple "Yes," "No" recommendation, each race or proposal usually has a link that will take you to an article exlaining the editorial board's reasoning.

• San Jose Mercury News
• Mountain View Voice
• Los Altos Town Crier
• San Jose Inside

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