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No on Q!Also see: Email exchange with William Fraser re: Measure Q Measure Q imposes a new and permanent tax whose sole beneficiary will be the Convention and Visitors Council, an organization whose promotions primarily benefit large companies like the Hilton Hotel (Scotts Valley), Aptos Seascape Resort, West Coast Santa Cruz Hotel, the Boardwalk, The Capitola Mall, etc. Many of whom are not located in the City of Santa Cruz at all! Let them pay for their own marketing and promotional expenses, like every other business in (or out of) the City! Why is Measure Q on your ballot?The private sector has funded the Chamber of Commerce for years without a problem - why not the Convention and Visitors Council?The answer: up to this point, it has been easy to obtain taxpayer dollars instead. Now that the City is confronted with a budget crisis, and Measure P, the Utility Tax Repeal, is on the ballot, these big hotels and corporations are afraid that the next City Council will take their special tax subsidy away. Is Measure Q Fair?Non-profit organizations that serve battered women, hungry senior citizens, and sick children all rely on private sector contributions and must continually prove their effectiveness by re-applying for funding every year. If Measure Q passes, 100% of the funding for the CVC (which serves wealthy private sector companies) will come from taxpayers! FOREVER! Is this FAIR?The City has already cut social service programs by 5% and provided no COLA (Cost of Living Allowance) to pay for increases in the Living Wage (despite voting 7-0 to increase it by 4.6%); this was done on top of massive County cuts due to the repeal of the County Utility Tax. If Measure Q passes, the CVC's budget will become untouchable, and will be immune from cuts, no matter what happens. Is this FAIR? As a result of City and County budget cuts, mentally ill homeless people are already being left on the street without daycare; working mothers with childcare needs are faced with losing their jobs or having to take a second job to pay for increased childcare costs; and the Santa Cruz AIDS Project has already lost tens of thousands in funding (to name just a few impacts). Can we really justify a special tax set aside for large, even multi-national corporations in the face of a crisis of these proportions? What are our priorities? Will Measure Q "free up money for social services"?Supporters claim that passage of Measure Q will free up money for badly needed City services. They imply that the City is somehow obligated to fund the CVC. The truth is that the City is under no obligation to provide ANY funding.The City of Santa Cruz provided the CVC with $400,000 in funding this year. The cities of Watsonville, Capitola and Scotts Valley, with a combined population greater than Santa Cruz, provided just $22,225. Obviously, their citizens had higher priorities - so should we. We can (and should) cut the CVC's funding without Measure Q. Who is behind Measure Q?Measure Q's headquarters is the West Coast Santa Cruz Hotel, owned by an out-of-state corporation that runs a chain of upscale hotels. Ted Burke, the same individual who served as Treasurer for the No on Measure U campaign (an initiative approved by 55% of the voters that would have funded a shelter for homeless families, but failed to obtain the required 66.7% of the vote to pass) and spearheaded that campaign on behalf of The Hospitality Alliance, filed the arguments on behalf of Measure Q. Measure Q's ballot arguments are signed by a lot of very respectable individuals who can't envision the politicians of this City mustering the political will to say NO to these corporations. Media CoverageSanta Cruz Sentinel: Hotel tax hike goes to votersBy DAN WHITE, June 27, 2002Ballot ArgumentsRead the arguments, and decide for yourself - should the CVC be funded ahead of all other city services (police, fire, social services, parks and recreation)? Should it be the only organization whose funding is guaranteed, regardless of whatever else happens?
Measure Q (tax to fund the CVC) Ballot Statement
For more information, contact No on Q at: P.S. Because this tax funds a private sector special interest group, it requires a 2/3rds majority (66.7%) of the vote to pass. This means your vote is worth twice as much! That makes it extremely important that you get to the polls and VOTE. P.P.S. Thomas Leavitt, the authentic progressive alternative, is the only major candidate to oppose Measure Q. Please remember which candidate stood up for authentic progressive values when it comes time for vote for City Council in November, and when you decide which candidates you are going to donate to, volunteer for, or endorse. Thank you. |
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