Don't be fooled by Measure J

By Harvey Rarback

We citizens saw through Measure K two years ago and will not be fooled again with another sales tax hike.

In May and June 2011, the City approved spending $650,000 of City money on a new emergency operations center and a related fiber optic line. Both the emergency operations center and fiber have been widely criticized as wasteful spending, since the HMB Fire Station is already an emergency operations center.

In March 2012, the City signed a $60,000 contract with a San Francisco public relations firm.

Since April 2012 the City has increased staffing by two full time positions and three temporary positions including two for the emergency operations center, and also made at least two other interim hiring decisions for a total annual cost of well over $300,000.

On June 9, 2012, Half Moon Bay Mayor Allan Alifano wrote that "The city is financially in a good position; even with the $1.2M we have to pay on the [Beachwood] bonds each year." Less than 3 weeks later, the Half Moon Bay City Council voted 4-1 to place a new sales tax on the ballot to raise an additional $867,000 a year for 3 years, or a total of $2.6 million in new revenue.

Since May 2011 the City has spend over $710,000 on projects many find to be a complete waste of money, and has also increased staffing costs by at least $300,000 per year. Now they're asking you to pay for all this with a higher sales tax, Measure J. Sales taxes are inherently regressive, affecting the poor much more than the rich.

Please send the City Council another message, since they apparently forgot that in 2010 we voted against higher taxes. Tell them again to stop wasteful spending and say no to this regressive sales tax.

references: http://www.hmbreview.com/news/split-council-approves-emergency-center-plan/article_714fc19c-7bf1-11e0-9559-001cc4c002e0.html

http://www.hmbreview.com/news/hmb-bottoms-out-looks-to-grow-with-new-budget/article_6775be44-b0f0-11e1-a45b-0019bb2963f4.html

http://talkaboutwidget.hmbreview.com/topic.php?t=7911&c=1&d=

http://www.hmbreview.com/news/city-asks-for-a-half-cent/article_363805b0-c14b-11e1-850a-001a4bcf887a.html

http://www.hmbreview.com/news/skeptical-commissioners-approve-emergency-center/article_5b6e70bc-a2b6-11e0-ad37-001cc4c002e0.html

http://www.hmbreview.com/news/city-eyes-temps-as-worker-workaround/article_61d1f83a-84cd-11e1-a0da-0019bb2963f4.html