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â– EDITORIAL â– YOUR LETTERS â– GUEST OPINIONS
N EDITORIAL THE OPINION OF THE VOICE Founding Editor, Kate Wakerly
N S TA F F EDITOR & PUBLISHER Tom Gibboney (223-6507) EDITORIAL Managing Editor Andrea Gemmet (223-6537) Staff Writers Daniel DeBolt (223-6536) Kevin Forestieri (223-6535) Intern Kayla Layaoen Photographer Michelle Le (223-6530) Contributors Dale Bentson, Angela Hey, Sheila Himmel, Ruth Schecter DESIGN & PRODUCTION Design Director Shannon Corey (223-6560) Assistant Design Director Lili Cao (223-6562) Designers Linda Atilano, Rosanna Leung, Paul Llewellyn, Kameron Sawyer ADVERTISING Vice President Sales and Marketing Tom Zahiralis (223-6570) Advertising Representatives Adam Carter (223-6573) Real Estate Account Executive Rosemary Lewkowitz (223-6585) Published every Friday at 450 Cambridge Avenue Palo Alto, CA 94306 (650) 964-6300 fax (650) 964-0294 Email news and photos to: editor@MV-Voice.com Email letters to: letters@MV-Voice.com News/Editorial Department (650) 964-6300 fax (650) 964-0294
Vote yes on open space Measure AA
I
t is not an overstatement to say that the creation of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District in 1972 is the single biggest reason for the extensive open space and recreational opportunities we enjoy today up and down the Peninsula, and out to the coast. One need only look west to the tree-covered coastal mountains to see the legacy of that voter initiative, passed locally the same historic year as voters statewide established the California Coastal Commission to protect the entire coastline. On the June 3 ballot, voters in Mountain View and the 16 other Santa Clara and San Mateo county cities that make up the open-space district will have the chance to ensure these lands are maintained properly and made more accessible for public enjoyment over the next few decades. Measure AA, which requires a two-thirds vote for passage, authorizes the sale of up to $300 million in general obligation bonds over 30 years. It will increase local property taxes by up to $3.18 per $100,000 in assessed valuation, or about $30 a year for a homeowner with a property assessed at $1 million. The district’s current operations are funded primarily through a property tax of $17 per $100,000 in assessed value, which will continue unaffected by the outcome of Measure AA. Over its 41-year history, there has always been a tension between land acquisition, whose aim is to seize opportunities as they arise to convert private land holdings into public open space, and developing trails and other facilities that allow the public to enjoy these acquired lands. The elected governing board has done a good job over the years at this delicate balancing act, and the result is 62,000 acres in 26 different preserves between Los Gatos and San Carlos and from the Bay to the ocean are open for hiking, biking and horseback riding. Over the last year and a half, the district has undertaken a public process to evaluate its priorities and develop a vision and plan for the next 40 years. After input from many public meetings, the district has created a list of 25 priority projects that will be undertaken if the bond measure passes.
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N LETTERS VOICES FROM THE COMMUNITY
DEREGULATION, NOT HIGH WAGES, AT FAULT I am currently involved in a campaign to increase the minimum wage in Mountain View. The campaign has been opposed by unexamined economic thinking and neo-conservative political ideology. Right-wing politicians at all levels seem blinkered in their economic views with a willful ignorance of the full complexity of the economic arguments. This is reflected in the response I received from a Mountain View council member opposed to increasing the minimum wage. “There is no reasoned economic justification for politicians to selectively manipulate free exchange in business and employment by imposing arbitrary minimum wage rates or other price controls.� Such hands-off economic thinking spectacularly crashed the economy in 2008 and ordi-
â– Mountain View Voice â– MountainViewOnline.com â– May 9, 2014
nary people have still not recovered. In 2012, 46.5 million (one in seven) people were living in poverty in the United States — the largest number in the 54 years the Census has measured poverty. However, the wealthy and big corporations are doing nicely. When the people ask to be rewarded fairly for their labor and to share in the new wealth being generated, the response most of the time is a resounding “No!� Last week, Senate Republicans blocked a measure that would have raised the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour over the next three years, up from the current rate of $7.25 an hour. It would have been the first hike in five years. Arin Dube, associate professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, in his testimony at the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee hearing on minimum wage and indexation on March 14, stated that recent Continued on next page
These include opening more areas to public access, improving and constructing more trails and facilities, restoring creeks and streams, and strategic acquisition of additional land as it becomes available. A list of the specific projects can be found on the district’s website at openspace.org/MeasureAA. We are strong believers in the work of the Midpeninsula Open Space District and the value it brings to our increasingly urbanized environment. Having such extensive open space so close is a major contributor to our quality of life in this region. We are also heartened by the district’s commitment to focusing on increasing the public use and accessibility of these publicly funded lands rather than simple preservation. Going forward, the district’s success should be measured by how many new trails, trail connections and facilities are added, and the extent that opportunities for all types of users, including hikers, bikers, horseback riders, campers and particularly dog owners are significantly expanded. The public made clear these desires during the public meetings in preparation for the bond measure proposal, and the district needs to move in this direction regardless of the passage of Measure AA. The Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District is made up of the cities of Mountain View, Palo Alto, Menlo Park, East Palo Alto, Atherton, Portola Valley, Woodside, Redwood City, San Carlos, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Sunnyvale, Cupertino, Los Gatos, Saratoga, Monte Sereno and Half Moon Bay. In essence, the taxpayers in these cities have banded together for the last four decades to preserve open space in perpetuity and create opportunities for readily accessible recreational activities. Measure AA provides a way of spreading the costs of significantly improving these opportunities at a very low cost per taxpayer. It is hard to imagine a more important public investment than to maintain and improve the valuable open space that provides us with beautiful views, recreational opportunities and protection against development. We urge a “yes� vote on Measure AA on the June 3 ballot.