Correspondence
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Darwin Throne
22958 Cricket Hill Rd,
Cupertino, CA 95014
(408) 255-0502
From: Darwin Throne'
July 12, 1990
To: Distribution
Subject: Recreation Tax Initiative Survey
The California Parks & Recreation conference in San Diego
provided an opportunity to hear how other cities had approached
the fund raising problem for Parks & Recreation. The general
consensus was that any tax measure should be done on a special
election that targets the special interest voter. This has been
successfully done by many school districts to meet their needs. I
followed up with telephone interviews with people of several
cities, whose names my wife got at the conference, to verify this
position.
Summary of the Interviews
City of Santa Maria - Population 55K, conservative agricultural
community. Expect 90K at full build out.
Type of Election: General Bond Obligation, March 1989
Amount: $14.8M, $74 per $100,000 house for 30 years, declining
rate.
Purpose: Purchase 46 acres of land, cultural city facility for
$5M, swimming pool, picnic facilities, sports fields, expand
senior citizen facilities.
Result: Failed, 54% in favor
Consultant: Sandul & Associates, San Mateo, (415) 571-6670
Fee: $2500
Campaign cost: $12000
Reason for failure: Voter apathy. In telephone interviews the
four days before the election, 98% said they would vote for the
measure. After the election many people were disappointed that
the issue didn't pass, they just didn't get to the polls.
Other comments: At a meeting two weeks before the election, Mike
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was asked if the measure failed, would the city try again. He
said, "probably not." Two attendees from other cities said they
had gone out a second time on a similar failed issue and won
overwhelmingly.
Contact: Mike Maramonte, Parks & Recreation Director
(805) 925-0951
City of San Mateo - Median income $40K
Type of election: General Bond Obligation, March 1987
Amount: $6.5M, Property tax increase
Purpose: Parks improvements in three neighborhood parks that had
been master planned and senior citizen's project.
Result: Passed with 78% in favor
Consultant: Sandul & Associates
Fee: $3500
Campaign cost: Less than $20K
Reason for pass: Identified who will support the issue and tar-
geted the campaign to reach those people. Developed a board of
youth and adult sports people to actively campaign. Specific
improvement projects were identified.
Other comments: Estimated cost to the city of special election is
about $20K. San Mateo had a special election for sheriff at this
time.
Contact: Jim Nantel, Deputy City Manager
(415) 377-3300
City of Danville - High income area, 70% republican
Type of election: Mello - Roos assessment district, 1989 Special
Election
Amount: $12M
Purpose: Parks & recreation, did not get full details
Result: Failed, 57% in favor.
Consultant: Survey Research Institute, Lafayette
Reason for failure: There were too many issues on the ballot,
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there were too many local government issues that people were
upset with (read "Cupertino turns back on open space", "Council
changes Jollyman park plan after two years of public particitap-
tion"), citizens did not like the council's actions.
other comments: They did a lot of polling of registered voters,
if they were for the issue, then the campaign targeted them. They
had a campaign committee, but it was poorly selected. They had
VIP's, but they didn't do much work, needed more workers.
Contact: Jeanette Howell, Parks & Recreation Director
(415) 820-6074
Distribution:
Members of the City Council
Members of The Parks & Recreation Commission
Don Brown
steve Dowling
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Cupertino Cham be I
201,55 Silverado Avenue W
Cupertino, CA 95014
(408) 252-7054
Þf
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Dear Honorable Mayor and Members of City Council:
The cupertino Chamber of Commerce supports the preservation and
enhancement of the quality of life in our community. We commend
the city Council and staff for their efforts on our behalf. Ours
is a timeshare community, supported equally by the local
businessperson who may live outside CUpertino and the local
resident who may work elsewhere.
The city is presently considering a tax initiative to acquire
additional real property for use as open space. The acquisition
would preserve the property in question for public use and prevent
development which might change its existing comity.
While the acquisition of park facilities and preservation of open
space are conceptually appropriate, there are many other identified
needs in cupertino which also enhance our quality of life. Among
these are traffic mitigation, child care, housing and senior care.
The CUpertino Goals Committee is presently evaluating these needs
preparatory to providing recommendations for the city's General
Plan. The Goals Committee, which was appointed by the Council for
this specific purpose, will complete its work by September 30,_
1990.
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We are concerned that the Goals Committee be allowed to complete
its task prior to the City committing resources to isolated
initiatives. The City possesses finite resources to provide
existing services to our citizens - added services should be
evaluated in context with other needs.
The Goals Committee may. recommend the acquisition of the real
property in question and may suggest appropriate measures of
financing the acquisition - indeed our personal hope is that they
will - but a consensus for this acquisition, without evaluating all
the needs of our community, does not exist at this time.
The CUpertino Chamber of Commerce, whose mission is to promote and
enhance the business environment and economic climate of the
cupertino community, would support the identified needs of our
community. Once these needs have been clearly delineated, and the
method of funding evaluated, we would support a united effort to
provide an enhanced quality of life for many generations of our
cupertino community to enjoy.
Si~cerely, "
(JØ~ ~(
H. Allan Bidwell
President