The Resident

News

Council to consider ballot
measures for November

By Stephen Baxter

San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed is pushing the city council to whittle down a list of measures to place on the Nov. 4 ballot to just a few to avoid hefty election costs.

The city would be charged more than $2 million to include seven to 10 measures on the ballot because of the cost of printing voter information booklets and other materials.

Reed said the city could afford to include perhaps two or three measures.

He also is urging the council to look at initiatives that could save the city money, including those that are expected to be tackled by the Three-Year General Fund Structural Deficit Elimination Plan Stakeholder Group, which will start its meetings this month.

The city council is expected in May or June to choose which ballot measures it wants; the deadline to submit measures is in early August. The last day to register to vote for the November election is Oct. 20.

One measure that the stakeholder group will consider is whether to shift more construction and conveyance tax revenue from capital improvement projects to the city's operating fund. The shift could add money for parks maintenance and take away some money that libraries spend on new books.

It could also sap money from city construction projects in some council districts, and Reed said more analysis should be done on how the change would alter projects in each district.

Another measure the stakeholder group will consider for the ballot is whether to extend a $1.75 monthly fee on phone bills to pay for the city's 911 dispatch center. The fee raises $24 million annually for emergency services, but courts are wrestling with whether it is a fee or a tax. New taxes require voter approval in California.

The third measure the stakeholder group is likely to consider is whether a fire station can be built on city park land. Reed said the project must go forward to keep the fire department's fire station expansion plan on track.

Other possible November ballot measures include:

* A charter change to set council salaries automatically so members won't have to vote on their raises. The measure was recommended by the 2007 city council, and advocates have said salaries should be indexed like Santa Clara County supervisors and superior judges. Opponents say it frees council members from accountability on pay raises.

* A charter change clarifying the council's authority to place council appointees on paid administrative leave. This measure comes in response to former San Jose city auditor Gerald Silva's questioning of the council's authority to place him on leave, and it would apply to appointees such as the city manager and police auditor.

* A charter change allowing voters to recall a council member and choose a replacement in the same election.

* A charter change allowing council members to abstain from voting when there may be a perception of a conflict of interest, even if there is no legal conflict of interest. San Jose council members now must vote on matters unless they meet strict conflict-of-interest criteria.

For more information on elections or to register to vote, visit www. sccgov.org or call 408.299.8683.