Big campaign for parcel tax measure pays off

<p>Faced with the challenge of obtaining voter approval of two school parcel taxes that were basically identical to measures that barely passed in 2004 — and with no end date this time around, to boot — the Friends of Petaluma City Schools spent long hours staffing phone banks and distributing fliers.</p><p>And now, supporters of the measures are celebrating the overwhelming passage of the measures in the mail-in election, which ended May 8. </p><p>“We are very appreciative of all the help that parents and other community members gave during the campaign to get the word out. We had solid support,” said Greta Viguie, superintendent of Petaluma City Schools.</p><p>Volunteers began staffing phone banks on Feb. 20, and continued through Election Day, working Monday through Thursday. </p><p>Tramultola consulting firm was hired to guide the campaign this year, and recommended an intensive campaign. </p><p>“So, we had a different type of effort than in 2004,” said Steve Bolman, the district’s deputy superintendent of business and administration. “The manner and magnitude of our phone banking was different.”</p><p>Viguie feels that many local voters didn’t really need to be convinced to vote for the measures, though.</p><p>“The election shows that our community values the programs that we have in place in our schools. We are very lucky to live in a community that supports schools and youth and provides educational opportunities for them,” she said.</p><p>In 2004, measures C and K received 68 percent support, barely over the required 66.7 percent. Both measured were designed to preserve funding for educational programs at local schools, maintain reduced class sized, provide up-to-date computer and technology instruction, keep school libraries open and maintain music and fine arts programs.</p><p>Measure C was for local elementary schools, and was to preserve reading specialists that help students struggling with basic problems. It cost residents $75 per year and annually raised around $750,000 annually. Measure K, which was for high school district funding, cost residents $50 per year and annually raised about $1 million.</p><p>Measure C was set to expire on June 30, 2008, and Measure K was to end on June 30, 2009. In the 2007 ballot, Measure D was an extension of the old Measure C and the new Measure C was an extension of the former Measure K, although both new measures contain no end date.</p><p>During the 2007 campaign, concerns arose that approval of the new measures could be used for additional purposes. Viguie and Bolman said this was not true, and she confirmed it again after the election.</p><p>“The funds will be used to continue programs exactly as we have being doing,” she said.</p><p>A telephone poll conducted Jan. 5-7 by Godbe Research of 600 likely voters showed that 55 percent of them definitely would support the elementary school tax and 24 percent probably would do so. The same poll showed that 55 percent definitely would vote yes and 26 percent probably would vote yes on the high school tax.</p><p>“So, we knew that there was strong community support for the measures,” Viguie said.</p><p>“We also received a lot of positive feedback during the phone banking, but I was a little surprised at the margins of victory,” Bolman said.</p><p>In the actual election, 13,869, or 75.9 percent, voted yes and 4,413, or 24.1 percent, voted no on the high school district tax. And 6,152, or 75.5 percent voted yes and 2,000, or 24.5 percent, voted no on the elementary school district tax. Voters returned 18,337, or 50.7 percent, of the 36,137 ballots mailed to them.</p><p>A large portion of the ballots in the mail-in election were sent in early, and late in the campaign, supporters mailed reminders to eligible voters who had not yet cast their ballots, he said.</p><p>Fred Levin, executive director of the Sonoma County Taxpayers Association, voiced concerns over the unlimited duration of the measures and the estimated cost of over $100,000 for research services and the election.</p><p>But Bolman said that an oversight committee will monitor the implementation of funds, and that the parcel taxes could be eliminated through a ballot measure if voters chose to do so. And because the taxes have no end date, measures to extend them will not be necessary, so no additional campaign expenses and intensive volunteer efforts will be required, he said.</p><p>(Contact Dan Johnson at dan.johnson@arguscourier.com)</p>