| | Published May 23rd, 2012
| Letters to the Editor
| | | |
Editor:
Given that there were no arguments against Measure A in the ballot information we received, I was surprised that it didn't pass. I would love to see letters from those who voted against it explaining their reasons. Did they simply obey the Contra Costa Times editor who felt that an additional $18.75 per month was an unreasonable burden on our homeowners?
Do they, despite all evidence to the contrary, blindly believe that the school district wastes its money and can manage just fine without the over $6 million it's already lost in state funding over the last four years (a 30% revenue cut despite many spending cuts)?
I challenge anyone to demonstrate another school district that has done so much with so little. I saw a letter in the Contra Costa Sun complaining about problems in the Mt. Diablo school district as a justification for not supporting MSD's revenue needs. The writer also suggested cutting the district's non-existent sub-superintendents from the payroll to save money.
Huh?
Everyone who moves to Moraga, moves here for our schools. If our schools go down, home values go down, and EVERYONE loses. And if you support our schools but didn't bother to vote then shame on you!
Mike Bernhardt
Moraga
Editor:
I wouldn't be surprised if the Moraga School District had to come back in the next year or two with another tax proposal. The size of the reduction in state funding requires it. The proposed parcel tax of $225 a year ($4.33 a week) attracted close to two-thirds approval but this wasn't bocce ball. The reason for its failure that I have heard most often was that the tax would not expire. Those who held this view must have believed that the money might not be needed in the future, the chances of which surely must be close to zero. The State is in even worse shape than we thought just a few weeks ago. We need to understand that although we feel we are sending a lot of tax money up the ladder, not enough of it comes back down to the cities and even less than before to the schools. This means that we have to take matters into our own hands and generate public money that stays here. One example is the existing parcel tax for Moraga schools that passed eight years ago by the slimmest of margins. It doesn't expire, which is a good thing because the need for that money is even greater now than it was then.
I'm told that the final count shows that the recent tax proposal lost by only 95 votes, so let us focus on how to turn around those 95 votes. Perhaps the School District could propose a tax that would expire after a certain number of years. So when do we expect that our schools won't need the money anymore? Five years? Hard to believe. How about 10 or 15? Whatever the date, I believe that the District would have to come back to us for a new tax to replace that one. But if expiration is required to get it passed, I say go for it.
Most tax proposals in California fail to climb over the 66.67 percent barrier, which was the intent of Proposition 13, which didn't get two-thirds approval itself in 1978. Fortunately, voters taxed themselves 16 years earlier to create the BART system. It passed with 61 percent. Where would we be today without BART?
Although there is no substitute for adequate public funding of our schools, there is one thing we can do right now to ease the pain somewhat. We can donate money to the Moraga Education Foundation. In its most recent report the superintendent of schools says, "contributions to the MEF from our parents and community have helped us preserve staffing levels, programs, and services for our students." The principal of Campolindo High School says, "Campolindo would not be the school it is today without the financial support we get from the MEF." Contributions to the MEF are "tax deductible to the full extent the law allows." Most contributors are parents, of course, but many empty-nesters also send money every year to the MEF. I hope that more Moragans will consider doing so. Moraga Education Foundation, P.O. Box 34, Moraga, CA 94556.
I am not authorized to speak for the MEF or the School District. They will learn of my letter only when they read it in the newspaper. Nor, as a senior citizen, do I still have children in the Moraga schools.
Dale Walwark
Moraga
Editor:
Dependency is unhealthy-whether it is drugs, alcohol or money from Sacramento.
I was saddened by the recent failure of Measure A, our parcel tax for our schools. I don't know of anyone who likes taxes, but I feel that it was in our own self interest to pass the measure. Granted that not everyone may be motivated by the altruistic idea that we owe our children and grandchildren the best education possible so that we do not become a third world country. But the fact that the premium value of our houses -- perhaps our single most valuable investment - is well established as a function of our outstanding school system is reason enough alone to vote for Measure A.
But there is a bigger picture here, whether it be roads or schools!! For too long we have sent our money off to Sacramento, given them grossly undeserved credit for knowing how to manage it and anticipated that they would return a reasonable and fair amount to us to meet our reasonable financial needs.
That dependency is killing us!! Year after year they keep more and return less with the end result of financially strangling our schools and municipalities. And there is no end in sight!
It seems to me that, like it or not, to protect ourselves and preserve our schools and communities we have no choice but to pass these local taxes because the money stays HERE and Sacramento can't take it away from us!
Remember when we were a lot younger - like maybe high school - and looked forward to being independent and calling our own shots? We're older now, but let's rekindle that "independent fire" and as a community vote for the financial means to become independent. I think we would all feel better and I think we would be the better off for it!
Robert Foxall
Moraga
Editor:
The horrible roads of Orinda can be fixed without raising the city's sales tax.
The Lamorinda Weekly (May 9) reported that the Orinda City Council received, at its May 1 meeting, information about a sales-tax hike.
A higher Orinda sales tax -- a tax that could go from the current 8.25 percent to 8.75 percent or even 9.25 percent -- would drive shoppers to other locations such as Moraga, Lafayette, or Walnut Creek. If business slumps in Orinda, jobs in Orinda would be lost.
Specifically, a higher sales tax in Orinda would be bad for the following Orinda businesses: the Safeway; Orinda Motors; all restaurants; and all gasoline stations.
The best way to pay for road repair is for the Orinda City Council to ask voters for a parcel-tax hike of no more than $80 per year. The January 2012 survey of Orinda voters showed that 69 percent of Orindans would be "very willing" or "somewhat willing" to pay $80 per year. The figure of 69 percent is greater than the 67 percent threshold need to pass a parcel tax. The survey was conducted by the FM3 company in Oakland.
An advantage of a parcel tax is that this kind of tax -- unlike a sales tax -- is deductible from one's income tax.
Orinda would have more money for roads if the city cut its budget. The budget, which is approximately $10 million per year, could be reduced 10 percent, freeing up an extra $1 million annually for road repair. A good way to begin budget cutting would be to eliminate Orinda's Planning Department which, according to the January 2012 voter survey, has a "strong approval" rating of eight percent. By contrast, the Orinda Library has a "strong approval" rating of 76 percent.
Orindans should consider a parcel-tax increase. Limiting the increase to two years would give residents a chance to see how well Orinda conducted its road-repair work. If Orinda did a good job, then the city could ask voters for another tax hike at a later time.
Richard Colman
Orinda
Editor:
This Lafayette resident will not be voting for Candace Anderson for County Supervisor solely because of her campaign blight. Her election signage is the worst saturation I have ever seen. Not only are her signs on every vacant piece of land in Lafayette, they are often placed one-two-three just ten or twenty feet apart on a larger parcel, as if the driver or pedestrian could possibly miss just one. Should the driver attempt relief with a turn the head, it is only to encounter still more signs across the street. This saturation is an insult to the observational powers of citizens as well as a telling glimpse of candidate ego. The only way to combat such saturation is when casting a vote.
Karen Thomas
Lafayette
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | Advertisement
| | |
| | | print story
Before you print this article, please remember that it will remain in our archive for you to visit anytime.
download pdf
(use the pdf document for best printing results!) | | | Comments | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA