Dear Editor,
Recent articles and editorials on Measure A have highlighted the uncertainty of where the half-cent sales tax would be spent. Naysayers speculate on “back-room deals” to funnel money. Well, speculation doesn’t help a single special education pupil or abused child. I prefer to look at history, at the evidence, and at the County’s track record instead.
With cutbacks in federal support and a 16.5 percent drop in state support over the last four years, the county’s health and human service capabilities are in dire straits. Measure A is not about any one specific purpose (BART or any other), but is an infusion of vital resources that state government can’t touch.Â
Yes, the general fund can be spent on “anything” – like peace and correctional officers, crime prevention programs, mental health services and maintenance for county roads and expressways. It will continue to be spent on “anything” with or without Measure A. Remember, we elect our representative government to allocate resources to where they are rightly needed.
I have worked in local nonprofit, public benefit organizations for 29 years. I support Measure A because nonprofits in Santa Clara County depend on assistance from the county’s general fund to meet the community’s on-going needs. Measure A contributes a fractional, but critical, amount to the severely squeezed county budget. Â
Eleanor Villarreal, Gilroy
