A reminder to get out and vote
Voting has always been important in the United States. The Constitution has been amended 27 times. The Bill of Rights was added in 1791 and 47% of the remaining amendments address voting issues. With citywide elections coming up April 5, it is time to mark your calendar and plan to vote.
Who: All registered voters
What: 2011 Glendale Municipal Elections
Why: Choose two City Council members, two board members, two community college trustees and decide on Measure S
When: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., Tuesday, April 5
Where: At your neighborhood polling place. To locate your polling place, (818) 548-4000 or glendalevotes.org
Wisdom: Candidate information is available in the Glendale News-Press, in sample-ballot statements, at candidate forums, on candidate websites and GTV6.
Voting is the most powerful thing you can do to preserve liberty. Please vote April 5.
Lynn McGinnis
Glendale
Thoughts on Measure S
On April 5, the fate of Measure S will be decided. Many community groups, including the Glendale Council PTA and the Glendale Chamber of Commerce, are supporting Measure S.
Rep. Adam Schiff, Assemblyman Mike Gatto and state Sen. Carol Liu also support the measure. The only group to publicly come out against this bond is the Glendale Teachers Assn.
The union’s leadership has said they will not support Measure S because Glendale Unified administrators won’t put in writing that money freed up from the bond will be used to roll back furlough days and for class size reduction, which in turn will save teacher jobs.
A flier on the Glendale Teachers Assn. Web site states that Measure S cannot be used to save jobs, but a parcel tax could, and if Measure S passes, it would be “nearly impossible” to pass another tax for that purpose. I have to believe that the association’s leadership has done their homework. So they must realize that it will be “nearly impossible” to pass a parcel tax in Glendale regardless of what happens with Measure S.
Have they shared this information with their membership?
Southern California has traditionally not supported parcel taxes. From 2001 to June 2009, there were 132 parcel tax elections in California. Of those, 83 passed, but only seven were in Southern California. In the November 2010 election, 18 parcel taxes were on the ballot. Two passed, both in Northern California.
With a two-thirds majority needed and a city showing little support for a parcel tax, the odds for passage are dismal. Even if the unlikely happened and one did pass in the next city election in April 2013, the school district’s survey showed support at a level of only $48 a parcel. With roughly 50,000 parcels within Glendale Unified, that’s less than $2.5 million annually for our schools — barely a Band-Aid for the projected $8 million to $20 million in cuts our district has been forewarned about if the governor’s tax extensions fail in June.
I have no problem with the union fighting to keep teachers in the classroom. I want my children’s class sizes to be reasonable. I don’t want to see their amazing, hardworking teachers lose their jobs.
So it’s troubling that the Glendale Teachers Assn. seems to be acting emotionally, rather than logically. Their mistrust of district administrators is so great; they are gambling on a losing proposition.
Our schools face a devastating scenario if Measure S fails. No parcel tax pipe dream is going to change that.
I encourage you to vote “Yes on Measure S” on April 5.
Linda Guzik
Glendale