6 Bond and Tax Measures Approved by Voters in North County

Receiving a clear mandate from North County residents in Tuesday’s special municipal elections, officials in Escondido and Ramona began making plans Wednesday to spend newly won dollars to tackle problems such as school crowding and water shortages.

In Carlsbad, city leaders were celebrating the victory of Propositions F and G, which will raise the hotel room tax to 10%. The money will be used to build major recreational facilities. Council members said voters’ action will enhance the city’s quality of life and bolster Carlsbad’s tourism industry.

In all, six ballot measures were put before the voters in the three North County municipalities Tuesday, and all six were approved.

Consultant Hired

Educators in Escondido praised an aggressive, well-organized campaign by Classrooms for Kids--supporters of Proposition A, which sought a $27-million bond issue for more schools--for winning the support of 73.36% of the voters.

Classrooms for Kids hired Kent Price, a Bakersfield political consultant, and Brad Senden, his Indianapolis-based associate, to help lead the campaign so that it would win approval of at least 66.7% of the voters, the percentage needed for approval.

“The efforts of the consultants to identify target populations and to focus on appropriate activities allowed our volunteers to be even more effective,” said Gene Hartline, assistant superintendent at Escondido Union School District.

The passage of Proposition A allows Escondido to participate in a state matching grant program that will help finance the construction of new schools that are sorely needed, Hartline said.

Crowded Classrooms

Educators have long complained about packed classrooms: eight of the district’s 10 elementary schools, designed to hold 650 students, house 800 or more.

Hartline said a special board meeting will most likely be held in July to establish a timetable for the issuance of bonds. The bonds will probably be issued over three years, at the rate of $9 million a year. He expected the first bonds to be issued in August.

That money will be used to pay for the completion of the L. R. Green School (K-8) and expansion of Rincon School; converting the district administrative offices into a new elementary school and improving existing schools by expanding food service areas and libraries.

With the remaining $18 million, and state funds, educators plan to build three or four elementary schools between 1991 and 1995.

Ramona Municipal Water District officials called voters’ approval of Propositions C and D critical to renovating and expanding an aging water distribution system.

Proposition C, which won 61.67% of the votes, will allow the issuance of about $15 million in revenue bonds or certificates of participation to install an 18.3-mile pipeline linking Lake Ramona with a water-treatment plant and a nearby reservoir.

Proposition D, which gained 57.73% of the votes, will allow issuance of $15.9 million in revenue bonds or certificates of participation to finance the replacement of water-distribution pipes and to construct a 3-million-gallon storage tank.

Work on Pipeline

Jose Hurtado, the water district’s general manager, said that, once the board of directors approves a financing plan, work will immediately begin on the pipeline, which is expected to be completed in about 18 months.

Ramonans also approved Proposition E, allowing the spending of $3.9 million to build and improve fire stations. The measure received 59.9% of the vote.

In Carlsbad, Councilman John Mamaux was on the phone Wednesday trying to get hold of the council-appointed committee that had studied the city’s recreational facility needs.

“I’ve been trying to get hold of the chairman today,” Mamaux said. “We’re going to get going on this immediately.”

Proposition F, which won 65.75% of the vote, raises Carlsbad’s hotel room tax from 8% to 10% and funnels the money into the city’s treasury. Proposition G, which received 62.45% of the vote, allows council members to spend more than $1 million of city funds for major recreational facilities, including two public golf courses, a multicourt tennis complex, two multipurpose recreational fields and an enclosed soccer facility.

Mamaux said the committee will be reconvened to establish a construction schedule for the facilities.

Some items, such as the tennis courts and soccer fields, should be available to the public as early as next year, Mamaux said. He expects all the facilities, including the golf courses, to be completed by 1992.