County Ballot Measures Guide: What Los Gatos Voters Need to Know

Voters in Los Gatos have two measures to consider Nov. 6.

Measures A and B are countywide 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, which has a campus in Los Gatos.

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. 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 Articles about Measure A

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

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 Measure B

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
• No - Silicon Valley Taxpayers Association and San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber

Measure B

• Yes - Yes on B (also contains list of endorsers)
• Neutral - Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter, Neutral position discussion, pdf, P. 8
• 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 page for the San Jose Mercury News for your convenience.

• San Jose Mercury News