School district given ultimatum School district given ultimatum (September 24, 2004)

Saratoga man wants to freeze Measure J funds

By Julie O'Shea

The man contesting the legality of Mountain View-Whisman's Measure J election has given school district officials an ultimatum: voluntarily freeze the $1.6-million tax funds or he'll ask a judge to do it for them.

Mountain View-Whisman Superintendent Eleanor Yick said the school board had a closed-door meeting about their options on Tuesday and decided to "vigorously pursue this case through trial."

Yick added the district has no intention of freezing Measure J funds.

In a letter sent to the school district's lawyer on Sept. 14, Aaron Katz, a private attorney who's representing himself in the case, wrote if the request is denied or ignored he will ask Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Kevin McKenney to lock away the funds. He wants the money held until litigation in the case is complete, which could take years.

District leaders have previously stated that if Katz is successful in this motion, they will have to make immediate cuts to school programs and services.

"It's disappointing," Yick said of the litigation, which has cost the district $50,000 so far.

Katz has stated the March parcel tax election was unconstitutional because not all property owners were allowed to cast a vote. Katz lives in Saratoga, but, through a partnership, owns 10 condos in Mountain View. Elections code mandates that one has to live in a city in order to vote in local elections there. Katz contests this, saying the law does not define who is considered a "qualified elector."

Mountain View's Assembly member Sally Lieber said the state Legislature should be the governing body that decides what this term means. She said she believes the elections law, as it stands now, is pretty straightforward.

School officials promised that funds from the tax measure, approved by 69 percent of the vote, would be used to upgrade libraries and pay for small class sizes, among other things. Based on the square footage of individual parcels of land, the tax will cost the average homeowner $75 a year; Katz said he will have to pay $750 a year.

Judge McKenney ruled Sept. 10 that Katz has a right to take the matter to trial. Both sides will meet again in McKenney's San Jose courtroom Nov. 2, when a trial date could be set.

"Judges can do wacky things sometimes," said Mariano-Florentino Cuellar, an associate professor at Stanford Law School and a Mountain View resident. "I think the lawsuit is not going to go anywhere."

It's common for people to have a stake in an election, but not to have a role in the election, he added.

Cuellar said when a person is the first to contest an established law, like Katz, judges tend to let the plaintiff argue his case in court.

Frances Medema, a policy analyst with the League of California Cities, said her organization, which could be affected if Katz is successful, usually doesn't get involved in these type of cases at the trial level.

Medema said she doesn't think this case will hold up, "but if it does move forward, we will more than likely be engaged in the appeals process."

Katz said he is willing to take the matter all the way to the state Supreme Court.

"You know, if my case gets published, it would become legal authority for every other special district in the state," he said.

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

E-mail a friend a link to this story.