Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Photograph by George Sakkestad

Los Gatans Paula Ginger (left) and Lynda Pugliese make phone calls to local registered voters seeking support for bond election.

It's volunteer power driving campaign for bond election

By John Pancharian

Voters will decide on June 2 whether to help fund long-awaited repairs to Los Gatos and Saratoga high schools.

Measure B, which must pass by a two-thirds majority, authorizes a $79 million bond to repair facilities in the Los Gatos-Saratoga Joint Union High School District. Saratoga High School, built in the late 1950s, has never had an overhaul, and Los Gatos High School hasn't had any major repairs done for more than 20 years.

The $79 million bond would be issued over a period of 11 years, from 1998 to 2009. The repayment term for each series upon issuance is 25 years. The average tax payment per $100,000 of assessed property value would be $34.98.

"So far things are going well; we're getting a lot of support," said Measure B campaign co-chairwoman Cindy Ruby of Saratoga.

The district has set up campaign headquarters at 983 University Ave., building A. The space was donated by Redbrick Systems. So far, the all-volunteer staff of about 130 parents, teachers and students has primarily conducted a telephone campaign.

"We have two of the top high schools in the country in this district," Ruby said, "and they're worth investing in."

But campaign co-chairwoman Joan Henricks of Los Gatos said that argument only works with some of the voters. She and Ruby estimate that only 20 to 25 percent of all homeowners in the district have children who attend the schools. To motivate those who would not vote to tax themselves for purely altruistic reasons, Henricks said they rely on the property-values argument.

"Most people here are well aware of why their homes are so valuable," she said, citing the well-known fact among real estate agents that homes within Los Gatos and Saratoga school districts average 20 percent greater in value than comparable homes outside district lines. "It's really a no-brainer," she said.

Even though the resounding success of the recent Measure A, which increased the parcel tax within the Los Gatos Union School District, shows that voters are either altruistic or savvy enough to maintain school funding, Henricks said the bond campaign suffers from volunteer fatigue. "Both communities need to recruit several hundred volunteers to run this campaign and ensure we win the election," Henricks said. "But the K-8 parents just finished a hard campaign, so the high school parents have been carrying the load. Basically, we need to give the elementary parents a bit of a breather and then get back in the saddle and ride."

The other hurdle for campaigners to overcome is funding for themselves. Board president Ron Adolphson, campaign treasurer, said that because the campaign uses no district money, volunteers must raise some $100,000 for campaign needs.

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