Measure E defeated

By Rebecca Ray

The West Valley-Mission Community College District sought applicants for its Measure E bond citizens oversight committee before the March 5 election. It turned out that the district's request was premature.

The $268,653,300 bond, which would have funded the construction of, repair of and equipment for district facilities, failed to acquire the 55 percent vote needed to pass.

However, West Valley residents passed three bond measures to repair, renovate and modernize local elementary school facilities.

Out of 318 precincts in Santa Clara County, 27,202 (50.8 percent) voters supported Measure E, while 26,386 (49.2 percent) opposed it.

In Santa Cruz County, where four precincts voted on Measure E, more than half of the voters opposed it. While 566 (49.5 percent) voted in favor of the measure, 578 (50.5 percent) were opposed.

More than 65 percent of voters in Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties voted for the $4,965,000 Measure K for the Loma Prieta Joint Union Elementary School District. According to the language on the ballot, the measure will fund the replacement of earthquake-damaged classrooms at C.T. English Middle School, provide drinkable water and construct, repair and furnish labs, roofs, floors, libraries and other school facilities.

Out of the elementary district's three precincts in Santa Cruz County, 617 (65.4 percent) voters supported the measure. In the district's one precinct in Santa Clara County, 175 (68.4 percent) voted yes.

The bond calls for district residents to pay $30 per $100,000 of the assessed values of their properties for at least 25 years.

Out of 37 precincts in the Saratoga Union School District, 2,922 (63.4 percent) of the voters passed the $19.9 million Measure L. Money will be used to construct and repair buildings, including classrooms, and upgrade roofs, ventilation/heating systems and student drop-off areas.

Seventy-two percent of the voters passed the $40 million Measure D to finance district construction and renovation projects in 1997. The district plans to use Measure L money to repay an $8 million loan, which is financing Measure D projects at Argonaut and Foothill elementary schools.

SUSD officials predict that residents will pay no more than $39 per $100,000 of assessed valuation on their homes each year from the two bonds combined. The district can require voters to pay a $39 tax rate until 2024, three years before Measure L ends in 2027. After 2024--which is also the last year that voters will pay for Measure D--the district can only require voters to pay up to a $30 tax rate each year.

Nearly 67 percent (7,739) of the voters in the Campbell Union School District's 71 precincts passed Measure H. The $74.9 million measure can be used to complete the repair, renovation, modernization and construction of elementary and middle schools; upgrade aged electrical systems, technology, bathrooms and plumbing; improve parking and traffic around schools; and improve accessibility for people with disabilities, according to the ballot language.

District officials estimate that voters will pay no more than $29 per $100,000 of assessed valuation each year, says Marla Olszewski, district communications specialist. Under Proposition 39, which voters passed in November 2000, voters can pay for one general obligation bond for a maximum of 30 years.

All four school bond measures needed a 55 percent vote to pass. Under Proposition 39 rules, a school district can ask that 55 percent of voters, rather than a two-thirds majority of voters, approve a bond for replacement, repair or construction of facilities, if the district agrees to issue annual performance and financial audits of bond proceeds. The district also cannot use bond proceeds for salaries and operating expenses.

Jim Roth of Salomon Smith Barney Inc., the company that analyzed bond capacity for the WV-MCCD, predicted that voters would have had to pay $14.07 per $100,000 of assessed valuation each year if they had passed Measure E. The college district encompasses Los Gatos, Campbell and Monte Sereno and portions of Saratoga, Cupertino, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale and San Jose.

The measure also would have allowed the district to use its bond money to upgrade the football and track facility at West Valley College.

Members of the West Valley Homeowners Association, an organization of South Bay homeowners, oppose the proposed upgrades because they see the modifications as creating more noise and traffic. The proposed upgrades were one of several reasons that the association urged residents to vote against the measure.

While 221,785 out of 733,086 (30.3 percent) registered voters in Santa Clara County cast votes, 52,362 out of 21,582 (41 percent) of registered voters in Santa Cruz County voted.

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