It
’s a bit disturbing to hear some library officials trying to pin
the blame for Measure B’s failure on the Internet porn access issue
that was raised in Gilroy.
It’s a bit disturbing to hear some library officials trying to pin the blame for Measure B’s failure on the Internet porn access issue that was raised in Gilroy.
It’s disturbing because this newspaper strongly supported the $42 per year parcel tax to fund library operations and we want it to pass the next time the library puts a measure before voters – and we urge library officials to put another measure before voters in the November 2005 election.
But making Gilroy a scapegoat instead of conducting real analysis of the election results will hamper that effort.
Let’s be realistic. Gilroy is only one small part, population-wise, of the countywide Santa Clara County Library system. The Internet porn access controversy may have been one factor in Gilroy, but it didn’t even make a ripple here in Morgan Hill, let alone in areas like Los Altos Hills, Saratoga and Milpitas.
Let’s find the real reasons for Measure B’s failure so we can pass a much-needed replacement for the current parcel tax that will be expiring soon.
The first place we’d look for blame is the two-thirds approval requirement. If the Santa Clara County Library system could have used the simple majority threshold the state needed for approval of its bonds, or even the 55 percent majority approval Gavilan College needed, Measure B would have passed.
We urge library officials to talk to assemblymen and senators in Sacramento to find a way to lower the ridiculous two-third’s approval threshold. It’s a ludicrous standard because it’s so high and because there are so many different rules for passage of taxes floating around this state that it’s patently unfair.
With even a 55 percent approval standard for the library, Measure B would have passed even in Gilroy, which had the lowest level of support in the multiple-city library system. More than 56 percent of Gilroyans who voted cast ‘yes’ ballots for Measure B.
Morgan Hill had the third highest number of ‘yes’ votes – 61.75 percent – with a precinct spread between a high of 72.89 percent and a low of 55.50 percent.
Measure B would have continued the yearly $33.66 that property owners pay for seven years and added $8.34, to help operate the Morgan Hill, Gilroy and other libraries in the county system (not including San Jose, Santa Clara or Los Gatos).
With Measure B’s failure, libraries will take a 21 percent cut in their operating budget and begin cutting back on the hours they are open and on the number of books and materials they buy. They will also lay off an undetermined number of librarians, pages and other employees.
The second place the library could improve its chances is with better timing. The measure was on a ballot with a dizzying number of taxes and bonds. Although Measure B had the smallest price tag, it came with the highest approval requirement; it’s no wonder that more than a third of voters were feeling pain in their wallets. And that was enough to sink the library parcel tax.
The Santa Clara County Library is a well-run, award-winning, efficient organization and we, like the majority of its patrons, were bitterly disappointed in Measure B’s defeat. But the library won’t improve its chances next time by using the Gilroy Internet porn debate as a scapegoat.
