The Sunnyvale City Council voted unanimously to support the measure at its Oct. 21 meeting. Mayor Julia Miller was not present, and Councilman John Howe abstained from the vote.

This bond measure provides money for El Camino Hospital and its related facilities to "make seismic upgrades to meet stricter State of California earthquake standards, to expand and enhance emergency and other medical facilities, to support future advances in medical technology and treatment, including cardiac, cancer and maternal/child healthcare."

The measure needs a two-thirds majority to pass.

El Camino is an independent, community-owned hospital serving all of Mountain View, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, about a third of Sunnyvale and small parts of Cupertino and Palo Alto. However, the hospital also serves people outside the voter-district lines.

In Sunnyvale, there are 116 voter precincts, and the El Camino Hospital district encompasses 65 of those precincts. "Only those people impacted by the measure would have the opportunity to vote on it," said John Pilger, the city's communications officer.

The boundaries were drawn up in 1956 when the district was created by a vote of four to one. Then in 1957 voters passed a general obligation bond to pay 100 percent of the cost to build the original nursing tower.

Now, some 40-plus years later, it will take $298 million to upgrade the hospital. El Camino can provide for half of the cost through hospital reserves, fundraising and loans. The bond would provide for $148 million, which would come from property owners in the district. Property owners would pay $12.90 per year for every $100,000 of assessed value on their property. Jon Friedenberg, vice president for resources at El Camino Hospital, says that amounts to approximately $34 a year.

The measure is getting support from local health organizations, including Camino Medical Group as well as the Los Altos­Mountain View League of Women Voters, who say that the new seismically safe hospital facility will be better equipped to provide essential health-care services.

But opponents of the measure, including the Libertarian Party of Santa Clara County and the Silicon Valley Taxpayers' Association, say the hospital has enough in reserves to pay for the reconstruction on its own. They also say that taxpayers, some whose health insurance may not use El Camino Hospital, might be paying for a service they won't use.

Councilwoman Pat Vorreiter, who made the motion to support the measure, said the hospital upgrades would serve the community well. "El Camino Hospital is our community public hospital," Vorreiter said.

Councilman Manuel Valerio added his support for the measure. He said, "Our policies do encourage adequate health-care facilities for Sunnyvale residents."

Residents can find out if they vote in the hospital district by going to http://www.smartvoter.org and entering their street address and ZIP code. SmartVoter will look up the polling place and ballot. Then the resident can scroll down the screen to look for Measure D. If it shows up, then the resident lives in the district.