Throughout January and February, contributions from the construction industry have been steadily streaming into the campaign committee promoting Measure I.
If approved by a 55-percent majority of within the Morgan Hill Unified School District boundaries, Measure I would provide up to $900 million in construction bonds to spend on local school facilities upgrades, repairs and replacements over the next 30 years. Measure I is sponsored by MHUSD.
The measure appears on the March 3 primary election ballot.
From Jan. 1 to Feb. 15, the campaign committee Friends of MHUSD Measure I collected $73,750 in contributions from more than two dozen people and businesses, as reported on the committee’s Fair Political Practices Commission financial filings. The committee has spent nearly $61,000 on campaign expenses in the same time period.
Those contributing the most to the Measure I campaign are companies or business owners who work in the Bay Area construction industry, including contractors, architects, engineering firms and consultants. San Jose-based Furman Construction contributed $7,500 to the Friends of MHUSD Measure I committee; David Robertson, owner of DRP Builders, contributed $10,500; Palo Alto-based CAW Architects contributed $5,000; Cleary Consultants, a Campbell-based geotechnical testing service, gave $10,000 to the pro-Measure I committee and LPA, an Irvine-based contractor, contributed $10,000.
Most of the reported expenses from Jan. 1 to Feb. 15 were paid to private campaign consulting company TBWB, which is based in San Francisco. According to TBWB’s website, the company is a “strategy and communications consulting firm specializing in public finance ballot measures supporting programs, services and facilities.”
Since Feb. 7, the Friends of MHUSD committee has reported 11 more contributions totaling $22,500. These contributions came from construction-related businesses in the Bay Area.
No organized committee opposing Measure I has registered with the state FPPC or county election officials.
