The results of last week's election are in, with two measures passing and two defeated. Here are the details on all four:
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Measure E: Municipal Election Date—City of Gilroy
Passed Favored by 65.86 percent of Gilroy residents, Measure E will align local Gilroy City elections with even-year presidential and gubernatorial elections. The measure promises to save the city $150,000 in costs and will extend current city council members terms by one year.
Back in June, the Gilroy City Council voted 3-4 to place the measure on the Nov. 4 ballot. Dissenting Councilmen Craig Gartman, Bob Dillon and Perry Woodward voted against the measure going to voters. They called Measure E deceptive, arguing that odd-year elections benefited the city by putting local issues front and center.
Councilmembers for the switch to even-year elections argued that the change would widen the voter base, diversifying the people voting on local council measures due to bigger turnouts. In the end, almost two third of Gilroy voters approved the amendment to the Gilroy City Charter.
Measure F: New Library Building—City of Gilroy
Passed Gilroy Librarians and patrons breathed a sigh of relief last week when Measure E passed with a 68 percent approval rating, despite a faulting economy. The bond needed 66 percent voter support in order to go into effect, raising $37 million in new construction funds for a new city library.
If the bond had not passed, the current Gilroy library would have had to close because it is overcrowded and seismically unsafe and the city would have had to spend millions out of its depleted budget on maintenance.
The measure will charge Gilroy property owners $24 per $100,000 of property value each year until 2040.
Measure G: City Services Protection Measure—City of Morgan Hill
Defeated Voters rejected Morgan Hill’s Measure G last week when 65 percent of Morgan Hill residents defeated what would have been a two percent utility tax to fund police services.
The Morgan Hill Police Department has been struggling for months with a rise in local gang violence, including a string of gang-related shootings and stabbings at the end of September. The city council voted to put the general utility tax on the ballot to pay for nine new MHPD positions.
The only Morgan Hill councilmember who was opposed to putting the measure on the ballot was Councilwoman Marby Lee. She raised questions over fiscal responsibility, and about the tax money going to the city's general fund, though it would be designated for only a specific purpose.
Measure H: Residential Development Control System Exemption—City of Morgan Hill
Defeated Though it faced no organized opposition, Morgan Hill’s Measure H was defeated by voters last week by only 0.2 percentage points.
The measure was a key player in the Morgan Hill City Council’s agenda for downtown development, and would have added 500 mixed-use residential units to the city’s downtown in one fell swoop. With a losing margin of less then 100 votes, the measure did not amend the city's General Plan and Zoning Code, which would have made planned downtown development exempt to the city’s growth control process.
Because of Measure H’s defeat, downtown plan developers will still be subject to Morgan Hill’s harsh building control system and yearly competition rules, which may delay development.
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