Saratoga News

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Saratoga voters say 'no sale' to north campus property deal

Nearly 75 percent of the voters defeat Measure J

By Lisa Sibley

Saratoga resident Jack Mallory doesn't watch television. So a phone call from a friend on June 6, was how he found out Measure J was failing by a landslide.

As of June 7, election results showed 6,707 Saratoga residents had voted, with 5,008 (74.67 percent) voting "no" on the measure, and 1,699 (25.33 percent) voting "yes." Had the "yes" votes won, the 2.5-acre former Grace Methodist Church property on Prospect Road--also called the North Campus--would have been sold to developer Majid "Mike" Masoumi for $6.75 million.

The council voted 3-2 on June 2 to sell the North Campus to Masoumi. Mayor Norman Kline and council members Kathleen King and Nick Streit favored selling it, while Vice Mayor Aileen Kao and Councilwoman Ann Waltonsmith dissented.

Following the vote, residents started gathering signatures for a public referendum to get the issue on the ballot. Even before the required number of signatures was collected, council members decided to push the matter into the June election so it wouldn't become a campaign issue for those running for city council in November.

But since the "no" votes prevailed, the sale of the property to Masoumi will be nullified and the city will not be allowed to sell the North Campus for one year. The city council and Saratoga residents now have to decide what to do with the property.

"It's a good feeling to know that the residents and the voters have agreed with us and what we have been working on for the last 1 1/2 years," Mallory said, an ex-council member who was part of a "No on J" campaign to save the North Campus. "It's a turning point for the city."

In the past, Mallory said, the city and school districts have sold off land they didn't think they would use or need again. But now, as the election results indicate, he said residents realize the need to hold onto the land that is left. Mallory sees community facilities such as the North Campus are needed to bring people together.

King said it was good the people put the decision to a vote, and now the council members will have to figure out how to use the property. She said a couple of years ago the council members looked at the North Campus and found they needed at least $250,000 to $300,000 to bring the property up to code, and make it compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

"We will have to look at what it costs to make it usable for citizens right away," King said, as she headed out to pull down "yes" signs on Fruitvale Avenue.

Kline said he's planning to dust off a plan he wrote in 2003 regarding teen use of the North Campus, and hopes the property will be improved and used for youth and summer programs. Had the "yes" votes won, the money from the sale of the North Campus would have funded city infrastructure, including Village sidewalks and community center and senior center improvements.

"None of that can happen," Kline said, adding that those improvements especially won't happen since Measure A also failed. Measure A's half-cent sales tax increase would have been used for county social services and to fund transportation projects, such as the BART extension, according to county officials.

Waltonsmith, who supported Measure J, said the election results confirm what she's suspected for years, "that our citizens need and want space for public services." She's looking forward to sitting down with residents to have discussions about how to fix up the property. Waltonsmith mentioned public-private partnerships and short-term leases of the property as possible solutions.

"It's not rocket science," she said. "We need to get busy and start fixing it up."