The Measure O tax bond

By Jose Posadas

Public safety is one of the most important services a city can provide to its residents. This tax measure will raise your property taxes for 30 years to build firestations and police stations. There is an alternative to raising your taxes to pay for these basic public safety services.

Existing resources could cover the projects (fire stations, police sub-station and police centers, training facilities and upgrades to the emergency call center) being addressed in the bond. These construction projects can be financed through the use of redevelopment funds and partnerships with private development, in addition to the City's General Fund.

Proponents of this tax measure, fail to address how the bond, for construction projects only, will not provide any funds whatsoever for ongoing operating and staffing costs. What good are new facilities when there are no personnel to staff them or resources to operate them? There are no concrete plans on how to pay for these items. The present thinking from City Hall is that they will wait to identify that money after the measure passes and after the construction of the buildings has been completed. It is incredulous that a major project such as this would even be considered without all sources of funding being identified first.

Scare tactics are being used to win support for this tax measure. Proponents are capitalizing, shamelessly, on the tragic events of September 11 to imply that without this measure we will not have the best equipped, best trained, or best placed police or fire personnel in the City. We have excellent public safety personnel and because of their training and efficiency, we are not only one of the safest, largest cities in the country but also one of the most prepared. To imply otherwise does an injustice to our brave men and women in the fire and police departments.

The residents of San Jose deserve the best public services that the City can provide using the resources that exist. Residents should not end up paying, figuratively and literally, for poor planning by a Mayor who does not have the foresight to provide for public services commensurate with our growing population and geographic size.

The residents of San Jose live in a safe city and have an excellent police and fire department. There is no doubt that we have grown in population and size over the years. There is no doubt that where the needs exist we should provide for public safety facilities and the staff to operate them. Where I differ with proponents of the tax measure is, we should provide these services using existing resources, first, before considering going to the voters to raise their taxes yet again.

Don't be fooled by the rhetoric and scare tactics being used by proponents of this tax measure.