Los Gatos Weekly-Times


Egon Jensen	Joe Pirzynski

Proponents, opponents debate utility of Measure C for town

By Anne Gelhaus

Both the supporters and opponents of a proposed utility-users tax agree that it won't solve all of Los Gatos' financial problems, but they differ as to whether the tax would be part of a greater solution or merely a Band-Aid.

Los Gatans will vote on the utility-users tax, which appears on the ballot as Measure C, on March 26. The proposed tax is the same one passed by the Town Council last fall: The 2 percent tax was due to take effect in October, but town staff decided to suspend collection pending an election after the California Supreme Court on Sept. 28 ruled against Santa Clara County's Measure A, which, in effect, upheld Proposition 62 and left in question the constitutionality of imposing the utility-users tax without a vote of the people.

The utility tax is designed to raise about $800,000 a year for five years, after which it would sunset. Low-income residents would be exempt, and businesses with high utility bills would have their tax capped at $5,000 per utility per year.

Egon Jensen, who wrote the ballot arguments against Measure C, says a 2 percent tax won't be enough to cover the town's needs.

"The tax would only raise about $4 million over five years," Jensen adds. "That's nothing more than a Band-Aid approach. According to the town's own figures, we need $9 million to bring the streets up to standards."

Joseph Pirzynski, a member of the Los Gatos Citizens for Measure C committee, agrees that the tax won't cover the shortfall but adds that the monies would give the town some breathing room while looking for more permanent solutions.

"$800,000 a year has to be spent wisely because it's not much," Pirzynski says. "The town has to focus on economic development."

Pirzynski, who signed the ballot arguments for Measure C along with three other committee members and Mayor Randy Attaway, admits to having a vested interest in maintaining the town's service levels. Besides being a resident, he heads the Disaster Aid Relief Team, a volunteer group that provided services following the Vasona fire and the Loma Prieta earthquake. Since DART was founded in 1982, Pirzynski says, the group has consistently been getting less funding from the town.

"I heard from the Friends of the Library and other groups in town that we were all suffering the same fate," he adds. "At the summer forums [hosted by the Town Council to get community input into the budget process], there was a general openness among the town staff. . . as to what's being spent and where the money's going."

But Jensen, who served on the Town Council from 1964-76, says subsequent councils did not and have not accounted for the inevitable shortfalls foretold by the passage of Proposition 13.

"Everyone should have recognized that one of these days, the state's surplus [which it shared with municipalities after passage of the proposition] would be depleted," Jensen adds.

Since the utility tax would go into the town's general fund, Jensen says, there's no guarantee that the monies would be spent on infrastructure improvements such as street and sewer repairs. He believes the utility tax should be introduced as a bond measure, which would require approval of two-thirds of Los Gatos voters rather than a simple majority.

"If I were on the council," Jensen says, "I would form a little Hoover Commission of business and management people--volunteers, not paid--and give them the opportunity to check the operation of the town."

Jensen says this review would help restore residents' confidence in the operation of the town. The commission could then develop a bond measure whose proceeds would all be dedicated to street and sewer repair.

While Jensen says there are many others in the community who share his views, he declines to name names.

"We're just a small, informal group," Jensen says.

In a recent mailer, Jensen asked Los Gatos residents interested in helping him campaign against Measure C to contact him. He says he's gotten several responses and a few donations as a result.

Pirzynski, on the other hand, is proud of his committee's grassroots campaign. He says a mailer sent out by the committee has generated about $4,000 in donations thus far. Some 35 community and civic leaders are listed on the committee's letterhead.