Oakland Kids First! Funding, Measure D, July 2009
From Ballotpedia
A City of Oakland Kids First! Funding, Measure D was on the July 21, 2009 ballot in Alameda County for voters in the City of Oakland, where it was approved.
Measure D amends Oakland Kids First!, Measure OO, 2008 by redirecting about $3.7 million from youth programs to other city services that would otherwise, under the terms of Measure OO, go exclusively into funding youth programs.[1]
- Yes: 71.5%
- No: 28.5%
The election was conducted as a mail-in ballot only election. The Alameda County Registrar of Voters office mailed out 205,000 ballots to registered voters in Oakland the week of June 22.[2] Ballots had to be returned by July 21, 2009.[3]
Measure D was on the July 21 ballot along with three other measures that city politicians hope will raise additional tax revenues for the city, whose budget faces a growing deficit as its economically-struggling residents send in lower taxes than the city had previously estimated would come its way in 2009.
The cost of holding the election on Measure D, and the three other measures Oakland residents are being asked to consider, is $1.5 million.[2]
Ballot text
The ballot question was:
- "Shall the City Charter be amended to require that the City (1) set aside 3.0% of its annual unrestricted General Purpose Fund revenues for grants to children’s and youth services, (2) in addition to the set aside, continue to spend the amount that the City already spends on children and youth, and (3) every twelve years extend these requirements for twelve more years or seek voter approval of the extension?"
Supporters
Measure D's supporters include the group "Yes 4 Oakland", which also supported the other three measures on the July 21 ballot. Listed supporters included:
- Oakland City Councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan.[4]
- California State Senator Loni Hancock.[5]
- Assemblymember Sandre Swanson (D-Oakland)[5]
- California Nurses Association.[5]
- The Central Labor Council of Alameda County. According to Sharon Cornu, executive secretary-treasurer of the union, "City employees have taken really tough hits — layoffs and salary and benefit cuts. We're working really hard to make sure these measures pass."[2]
Writer V Smoothe from the website "A Better Oakland" urged a "yes" vote on Measure D, saying:
- Oakland simply cannot afford the costs of Measure OO. We can also not afford another special election. I would have prefered that Measure OO didn’t pass in the first place, but it did. I would have also prefered that the Council placed a full repeal on the ballot, but they didn’t. Sometimes you lose, and as much as it sucks, you have to learn to live with it. Measure D is the choice we have before us, it isn’t great, but it’s not insane and awful either, and really, sometimes you just have to suck it up and vote yes, even on things you don’t like that much because they’re better than the alternative. And that’s the case here. Please vote yes on Measure D.[6]
See also
- Oakland Hotel Tax, Measure C, July 2009
- Oakland Marijuana Tax, Measure F, July 2009
- Oakland Transfer Tax Clarification, Measure H, July 2009
External links
- Measures on the City of Oakland July 21 ballot
- Website supporting Measure D
- Measure D on Smart Voter
- League of Women Voters of Oakland Voter's Guide
References
- ↑ Inside Bay Area, "Measure D: Change to youth program set-aside", June 23, 2009
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Inside Bay Area, "Pot, hotels, youth programs, tax code part of summer vote in Oakland", June 24, 2009
- ↑ The Oakbook, "Op-ed: Oakland's Business Issues", June 2, 2009
- ↑ San Francisco Chronicle, "Backers of legal pot eye ballot", June 11, 2009
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Endorsers of "Yes on 4"
- ↑ A Better Oakland, "Measure D: Hold your nose and vote yes", June 26, 2009
