Morgan Hill Life asked a proponent and an opponent to write their views on Measure Q, on the Nov. 4 ballot.
Published in the Oct. 29 – Nov. 11, 2014 issue of Morgan Hill Life
As region grows, protecting open space is vital
By Steve Tate
Steve Tate
On Nov. 4, we have the opportunity to vote YES on Measure Q to significantly expand protection and preservation of our natural open space areas, which contribute to the unique quality of life we all enjoy here in this area.
We are fortunate to enjoy beautiful open vistas, parks, trails and unique natural areas right here in Santa Clara Valley. From urban parks to scenic hillsides, the open spaces we preserve are a legacy for our children and grandchildren. They ensure protected natural areas and access to local trails. Measure Q will preserve open space for current and future generations, so local residents can experience nature here in Silicon Valley.
One example of the vast benefits from Measure Q is a youth agricultural education and demonstration farm in the Morgan Hill area. This would allow thousands of school children the chance to understand the importance of our local farms, where their food comes from, and to learn more about how farms can benefit our natural surroundings, close to home.
Measure Q will:
• Preserve scenic hillsides, open space, wildlife habitat, redwood forests, agricultural land and urban open space
• Increase public access to open space, maintain local parks and trails, and expand trail connections among local and regional parks
• Protect lands around creeks, streams and rivers to prevent toxins and pollution from getting into our drinking water
• Provide outdoor environmental education opportunities for children and adults
All Measure Q funds will preserve open space right here in our area. As our region continues to grow, protecting scenic hillsides, open spaces, and creeks and streams is increasingly important to maintain our high quality of life in Santa Clara County.
Business and community leaders agree that open space makes Santa Clara County a wonderful place to work and live. Parents and educators agree that access to open space is essential for hands on science education and places for kids to explore nature.
Hundreds of community leaders are already supporting the measure, including U.S. Congress members Mike Honda, Zoe Lofgren and Anna Eshoo, all members of the Morgan Hill City Council, the Santa Clara County Association of Realtors, the Sierra Club, the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce, the League of Women Voters, the Silicon Valley Leadership Group and hundreds of current and former local elected officials, community leaders and business leaders.
Please join us and vote yes on Q to protect the natural areas that make Silicon Valley a beautiful place to live, now and in the future. For more information, please visit www.YesforSCVOpenSpace.org
Steve Tate is the mayor of Morgan Hill and an open space advocate.
Only two purchases are now open to the public
By Aaron Neighbour
Aaron Neighbour
In the Bay Area, Santa Clara County’s Open Space Authority is just another sprawling government entity. Like many of its special-district brethren, it’s a group of bureaucrats who preside over the collection of residents’ property taxes in order to fund their salaries and to amass landholdings.
Yes, those running the OSA do use a portion of their budgets to make some of these lands available to the public — that’s the primary way it justifies its existence.
Unfortunately for us, after 20 years of uninterrupted operation, the OSA has been able to open spaces to the public in only two locations. This is a curiously low level of service from an entity that’s been siphoning off citizens’ wealth for such a long period — especially when one considers that the OSA has accumulated more than $55 million of land in the meantime. It doesn’t take a hardened cynic to notice that this isn’t what the legislators had in mind when creating the OSA, back in the nineties.
Actually, the OSA was a debacle from its inception. This special district was forged at the state level, without any means to fund it, making it easy for politicians to vote for it in the first place. With exactly $0.00 in projected annual collections, there wasn’t a huge pushback from fiscally sensible representatives, when backers were guiding the OSA through Sacramento’s halls of power.
However, if the OSA has been good at anything, it’s exploitation.
Even with no legally prescribed means to gather revenue, a board of directors was gathered from this fog of uncharted government territory, and these people decided to begin taxing a quarter of a million homeowners in Silicon Valley. This move was so jaw–dropping that the OSA spent its first four years in court, trying to convince the judiciary that its tax–collecting authority was even legal.
Fast forward to 2008. This newly legitimized special district wound up in court again. Except that this time, the Supreme Court of California ruled — unanimously — that for years, Santa Clara County Open Space Authority had illegally been collecting tens of millions of dollars in taxes from local home and property owners. Ironically, the OSA’s bureaucrats began illegally collecting this tax money immediately following its previous court appearance, which also regarded improper taxation.
Here we are in 2014. The OSA is after more money, in hopes of increasing its annual tax revenue to 250 percent of current levels.
If voters pass Measure Q, they will be empowering a group of bureaucrats, who were proven to have illegally taxed fellow citizens in the recent past, to start gathering new taxes of $7.9 million every year. Furthermore, the OSA would maintain this new siphon on citizens’ wallets for 15 years.
With the OSA’s proven track record of taking a decade, each, to open their new pieces of land to the people of Santa Clara County, it’s pretty incredible that anyone would feel comfortable voting to throw their hard–earned dollars to this government entity.
Aaron Neighbour is a civil engineer and a director of Silicon Valley Taxpayers Association, which opposes Measure Q. Contact SVTA at (408) 279-5000 or www.SVTaxpayers.org.
