CST President Questions IJ Editorial Board’s Endorsements of Local Bond Measures Their Owner Deems “Deceitful”
In response to the Marin Independent Journal Editorial Board’s endorsement of Kentfield, TUHSD, and Fairfax’s November 2024 bond measures, CST President Mimi Willard penned a letter to the editor calling out the disconnect between those endorsements and the condemnation of local bond measures by the editorial board of the Bay Area News Group, the IJ’s parent. Willard’s letter explains the details of these measures, the deceptive wording of their ballot language, toothless oversight, and other reasons why CST is leery of local bond measures. Read Willard’s letter to the editor in full below.
CST continues concerned about the Tax Tsunami now unfolding that will be greatly exacerbated if voters approve Proposition 5 — opposed both by the Bay Area News Group and CST— making it far easier to pass local bond tax measures. The Coalition of Sensible Taxpayers urges being selective in voting Yes on additional bond measures given the great likelihood you’ll soon be paying many, new, multiple-decade taxes for bond measures passed in the current and upcoming elections.
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In a seismically important Bay Area News Group editorial published in the IJ on Oct. 1, the editorial board decried a raft of “deceitful” practices commonly used to gain voter support for local bond measures. It was scathing in its depiction of local school bond measures and urged voters to reject Proposition 5 (which will make it easier to pass bond tax measures for infrastructure and housing) until current practices are reformed.
The editorial detailed several common, deceptive practices, including ballot language crafted by paid consultants to puff up the benefits of the bond and omit the word “tax;” failure to disclose how much taxpayers are already paying for previously approved bonds; “bragging” about protections provided by citizen oversight committees that are actually “pawns of the governing board” and other ruses.
Three groups have bond measures on November’s Marin ballot: the Kentfield School District, the Tamalpais Union High School District and the town of Fairfax. KSD’s and TUHSD’s 75-word ballot language doesn’t disclose existing bonds still on property tax bills. Meanwhile, Fairfax earns five “Pinocchios” for stating its bond will be raising an average of $1.2 million annually while not mentioning that half goes to interest. None reveals that there are no senior exemptions (by law).
TUHSD’s ballot wording repeats “repair” and “replace,” eluding mention of two big new building construction projects consuming the most money. I am concerned that TUHSD’s bond campaign is financed by construction interests and consultants who stand to benefit from the bond’s passage.
KSD’s language makes clear the bond proceeds are for repairs, leaving one wondering what happened to regular maintenance. Each measure touts independent citizen oversight. But I suspect they will be chosen by the board they oversee and will be powerless to prospectively challenge inappropriate uses of funds.
Against this backdrop, I think the IJ editorial board was wrong to endorse all three bonds.
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This letter originally appeared in the Marin Independent Journal’s Election Soapbox for October 28, 2024, which can be viewed here.