Measure J campaign raises nearly $10,000 Measure J campaign raises nearly $10,000 (January 23, 2004)

$1.6 million school tax on March 2 ballot

By Julie O'Shea

Supporters of Mountain View-Whisman School District's $1.6 million tax measure have raised almost $10,000 as of Dec. 31, according to a finance statement filed with the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters earlier this month.

This total pushes Measure J's bank account to $14,200 -- $4,600 of which was held over from the district's failed Measure E tax campaign in June.

If it passes March 2, Measure J will cost the average homeowner $75. Residents and businesses will be assessed an annual tax based on the square footage of their parcel of land. Owners of the biggest parcels will pay no more than $600.

"We need to take back some local control," said Superintendent Jim Negri. "Measure J gives us some control over the funding."

Measure J campaign treasurer Niki Theil, who has a son at Bubb Elementary School, said she's already gotten a number of donations this month, mostly from parents and school administrators.

A few checks have come from some of the businesses that were adamantly opposed to Measure E, Theil added. The $2.5 million measure would have cost some big businesses up to $50,000 a year for five years. It failed at the polls by 292 votes.

Hewlett Packard made a $1,000 donation to Measure J this month, which will appear on a finance statement dated Jan. 22, according to Theil.

The Mountain View Chamber of Commerce, along with the Tri-County Apartment Association, which had been one of Measure E's most outspoken critics, has also come out in support of Measure J. Neither group has donated to the campaign by the most recent filing deadline, but the Chamber donated about $65,000 and Tri-County about $40,000 to the Mountain View Educational Foundation following the failure of Measure E.

As of Dec. 31, 40 families and individuals have donated to this year's Measure J campaign. The biggest contributions came from school board President Rose Filicetti, who gave $1,100 and trustee Gloria Higgins, who gave $650.

This campaign, according to Higgins, who is co-chairing the effort, will be more of a low-key affair than the one supporters staged for Measure E.

Higgins said this will be primarily a "walking campaign," with volunteers going door to door trying to drum up support for the tax. The measure will need a two-thirds vote to pass.

According the latest finance report, the Measure J campaign has spent just $159, mostly on maintaining its Web site, Theil said. A big chunk of the money raised, she added, will be spent on consultant fees.

If approved by voters, Measure J funds will go toward after-school sports, counseling services and music and art programs, among other extracurricular services.

Man Bo Duck Restaurant at 360 Castro St. will host a fundraiser for Measure J on Jan. 26 from 5 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. Campaign volunteers, including Higgins, will be acting as servers that night.

Those interested in making a campaign donation can write a check out to the Mountain View Whisman Initiative Supporting Education and mail it to P.O. Box 391405, Mountain View, CA 94039.

E-mail Julie O'Shea at joshea@mv-voice.com

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