2007 Year in Review–10 Biggest Vanguard Stories of 2007

Last year we counted down the 10 Biggest Stories in Davis.

This year we countdown the 10 biggest stories that we followed on the People’s Vanguard of Davis.

We continue with the 6th biggest story: Measure P and Measure Q.

Two of the most important items on this past November’s ballot was the renewal of the school district’s parcel tax Measure Q and the library parcel tax Measure P.

Both of these measures funded vital services for their respective districts (the school district and the library district).

The parcel tax for the school district funds roughly 5 to 10 percent of the district’s budget–$16 million.

The Vanguard sat down in August with Davis School Board Member Gina Daleiden and Interim Superintendent Richard Whitmore:

According to Board member Gina Daleiden:

“If we were going to have to cut 16 million dollars over four years out of our budget that would obviously be a huge and very painful change. I think it would lead to the elimination of a lot of the programs that make Davis Schools, Davis Schools.”

The stakes for such an election were therefore very high. The district relies on the parcel tax to fund a large number of programs.

“A lot of the districts eliminated things that Davis kept because we have the parcel tax… And so things like the music program and its foreign language offerings, the extensive art offerings, those are made possible by the seventh period in the junior highs and the high school. If you go to [other] schools around the area they don’t have seven period’s offered, they have six, and so if your student wants to take orchestra and a foreign language or art and a foreign language, those opportunities are more available here. Class size reduction, that takes a lot of funding beyond what’s offered around the state, and many districts they’ve eliminated that.”

According to Interim Superintendent Richard Whitmore, without the parcel tax you would see a number of layoffs as the district would have to cut both regular and specialist teachers. We would have larger class sizes across the board and fewer elective offerings in the junior and senior high schools.

The parcel tax will go up during the four year period 34 dollars per year over the parcel tax in the previous four year period.

Board Member Gina Daleiden said the increases are there primarily to cover inflation, however there are two new programs funded as well.

“It mostly is to cover the cost of inflation—programs cost more, people cost more. It mostly covers that. There are two new components that are relatively small percentage-wise out of the parcel tax. One is to increase the offering of fresh fruits and vegetables in the school lunches and the other is for math support for students who need it. And that would be elementary school, 4th through 6th grades for the math support to help kids be ready to take algebra.”

In late September, the Vanguard sat down with Yolo County Supervisor Helen Thomson, retired librarian Mary Stephen Stephens and Measure P Campaign director Rich Peterson.

Back in 1989, the city of Davis passed a $42 per parcel library tax to help fund the library. In 2007, Davis residents still pay the exact same amount despite the fact that inflation has greatly reduced the purchase power of that tax. Measure P proposes to increase that parcel tax to $88 which still would not equal the amount of the tax from 1989, however it would enable the library to maintain its current level of service, to refurbish some of the library building, and to restore some programs that have been cut over the years due to lack of funding.

According to Mary Stephens,

“For me the most important thing is to sustain at a minimum sustain the current level of service including hours. The library has been using reserves since about ’92 off and on depending on how the funding came through to make up for the shift of local property taxes by the state. The reserves are running out, so if there isn’t an increase in the funding, there will be a significant reduction in the hours, materials, and programs.”

Measure P will also allow the library to hire additional staff–positions that have been eliminated over the years due to having effectively less money over time.

“It will also allow us to add some additional staff, I think there are two positions to work with kids after school which have been eliminated over the years due to the tightening of the budget.”

Over 1000 people use the library per week and the library has a high volume of book circulation–over one million dollars worth of books are circulated.

For both of these measures, the stakes were high. The school district faced a big cut back in programs and the library a big cut back in hours should they not pass.

Amidst low turnout on election day, Measures P and Q pulled away as the night went on to easily pass both pulling in well over 70 percent of the vote in an election that required a two-thirds vote. Davis renewed its commitment to schools and libraries on election day despite an overall lack of interest in the off-year election.

We caught up with the some of the principals after the election.

The Vanguard spoke to Board Members Sheila Allen and Gina Daleiden who were the coordinators for Measure Q.

Sheila Allen told us:

“I am extremely pleased that the community of Davis has once again come together to support our schools and children. When the task of the Parcel Tax renewal was given to Gina and I we decided to take a very different tact than previous campaigns. The prior strategy has always been a “stealth” campaign: keeping below the radar, talking only to parents and supports, no lawn signs or public campaign, etc. This is not the way Gina and I and the current board do business. We wanted to communicate to the community what it is they pay for with their parcel tax dollars and what they get in return. We were very pleased that an informed (although low turn out) agreed that Davis students need to continue to have the programs that Measure Q pays for in the classroom.”

Gina Daleiden said:

“I am heartened by the confirmation that the vast majority of people in Davis hold children and education as a top priority.

From the very beginning of the campaign, our biggest concerns were the economy and complacency. When headlines screamed of a weak economy, higher fuel prices, foreclosures, we knew we had to work harder. And we had to get the word out about what the tax actually funds—many of the critical programs that we all have come to expect as Davis Joint Unified. We had an amazing all-volunteer effort on this campaign—a broad coalition of people united in support of our schools.

We did have a little drama as we watched the early returns. While polling and phone banking and walking can show 78 or 80% support, that only translates into real votes if people turn out at the polls. In a very low turnout election like the one last night, the “no” votes will show up and the “yes” votes you need to dilute those don’t materialize to the extent you would like in a tax election. All that said, nearly 73% is a reminder that education is a priority in Davis, even for those without students in the schools. In the end, this is about our kids and our classroom programs across the entire District. Our kids are the winner in this election.”

We also spoke with campaign manager of the Measure P effort, Rich Peterson:

“We are absolutely delighted at the outcome of the election. Once again, Davis has shown itself to be a truly giving and caring community. On behalf of Supervisors Thomson and Yamada, I would like to thank everyone who worked so hard to help Measure P pass, in particular Jay Johnstone, the Friends of the Davis Library led by Erik Vink, and Sandy Briggs – who walked precincts with a broken collar bone!! We truly are indebted to the hard work of countless dedicated individuals, named and unnamed. Above all else, we would like to thank the Davis voters.”

As I mentioned previously, without a doubt these were the two most important items on the ballot and also for the most part two of the least controversial. For that Measure P and Measure Q are the 6th biggest Vanguard story for 2007.

—Doug Paul Davis reporting