Local voters OK school measure
Public education struck gold on Super Tuesday when a parcel tax renewal measure that would continue the annual flow of more than $10 million into the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District received the necessary two-thirds votes to pass, and then some.
With all precincts reporting, Measure R garnered more than 72 percent of the vote, passing by a margin of more than 22,300 supporters to approximately 8,400 dissenters.
Public school advocates from all cross-sections of the community, some who are otherwise political foes, rallied around Measure R, unified in their fear that the district could lose out on the roughly $10 million in annual revenues it receives from both Measures S and Y, both of which are set to expire in 2009 and 2011 respectively.
3D1,“I can say there is a great deal of celebration that we had such a high number (in support),” said Shari Davis, the chairwoman of the Campaign to Protect Quality Public Schools. “It does show our community supports education.”
The funding measure passed decisively despite rumors that an increasingly growing contingent of Malibu property owners objected because they disagreed with the allocation that Malibu High School received in comparison to Santa Monica High School for Measure BB, a construction bond measure that passed in November 2006.
Malibu City Councilmember Andy Stern, one of the more vocal critics of the Board of Education in recent months, said he spoke with a number of residents who decided they were going to vote for the measure after learning several board members last month had reportedly decided to lend their support for construction funds going toward Malibu Middle School and would discuss making the prospect a reality at an upcoming meeting.
316,“I’m going to hope that now the election passed they keep their word and move forward,” Stern said.
Measure R essentially consolidates measures S and Y, charging property owners roughly $346 per parcel and keeping certain elements of the existing measures — the senior tax exemption of Measure S and the annual Consumer Price Index increase of Measure Y. What the new measure has that is absent in both existing funding sources is the perpetuity clause, keeping revenue flowing into the district forever.
The lack of a sunset date on the measure was an issue raised by the anti-Measure R campaign, an effort mainly funded by Santa Monica resident and Los Angeles area lawyer Mat Millen, who accused the Campaign to Protect Quality Public Schools of disseminating misleading information.
3D2,“They put another regressive tax in the pool and now the tenants and the low-income homeowners will have to suffer with it,” Millen said on Wednesday.
The measure, which will go into effect starting with the fiscal year in July, was touted as being able to save more than 50 teaching positions as well as allowing the district to keep a rich elementary school music program and strong libraries with new materials and the necessary staffing to operate them.
While there was a large amount of support behind the measure, the passage was not a gimme considering it needed a two-thirds vote, especially not after a concerning experience in 2003 when the result of Measure S was up in the air until three days after the election, Rebecca Kennerly, PTA Council president, said. Measure S eventually passed with 67.61 percent of the vote.
“That’s a very high bar,” Kennerly said, referring to the two-thirds requirement. “In my mind, (parcel tax) funding was always in jeopardy.”
The campaign to support Measure R was out in full force on Super Tuesday, more than 100 volunteers lending a hand, whether it was making reminder calls, checking polls to see which supporters had not yet voted or standing in front of former polling locations to redirect unaware voters to their new site.
One such location is St. Clement’s Catholic Church in the Ocean Park neighborhood, which previously served as a polling location and was split into several new jurisdictions. Several voters mistakenly arrived at the church and were directed to the proper polling location, Davis said.
“We wanted to make sure that any voters didn’t feel frustrated,” she said.
Kennerly believes the outcome of the event shows the overwhelming support the community has for the public schools.
“It a strong statement of support from every corner of our community, top to bottom, east to west,” Kennerly said. “It’s a strong statement that our schools have to be protected from inadequate and unstable funding from the state.”
Jump hedline: Measure R goes into effect this summer
Suggested pullquote: “I can say there is a great deal of celebration that we had such a high number (in support),”
Shari Davis
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 7, 2008. Read the original PDF.