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IT’S YOUR PAPER www.claytonpioneer.com
October 21, 2005
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Landscape measure goes to voters Measure M will raise the annual assessment to $365. Here’s where it goes:
GREGG MANNING
MAYOR’S CORNER It’s time to clear up misconceptions When I was urging people to vote Yes on Measure M at the recent October Fest, I discovered there are a great many things which people consider “facts” but that are, in fact, wrong. If we were in a big city, these would be called urban myths. Since we live in a small town I will call them small town myths. Here is an even dozen of these myths debunked. Myth: My property taxes are so high Clayton should be rolling in money. It would be nice if Clayton were getting all or even the lion’s share of the property tax everyone pays on real estate in the City of Clayton. With the value of houses in Clayton on the rise for a number of years and in solid double-digit range for the past few years, many new residents are paying pretty high taxes. However, the fact remains that the City of Clayton gets only 4.35 percent of the total property tax collected. This means if your property tax is $10,000 the city collects $435. Clayton is grateful for that small portion of the property tax that we do receive, but in fact, the City gets more from the fees on vehicles than from the tax on houses. Myth: Affordable housing is the same as Section Eight housing. There is no Section Eight housing program in the City of Clayton and there is little chance that there will ever be such a program. Section Eight is a rent assistance program and the lion’s share of the funds from this governmental subsidy program goes for apartment rentals. There are no apartment buildings in Clayton. Clayton has met its state imposed affordable housing requirements for every year since their inception. This is in
See Mayor, page A7
What’s inside SECTION A Around Town . . . . . . . . . .A2 Classifieds and Directory of Advertisers . . . . . . . . . .A5 Real Estate . . . . . . . . . . . . .A6 Club News . . . . . . . . . . . . .A7 Letters to the Editor . . . . .A8 Music Notes . . . . . . . . . . . .A9 Food for Thought . . . . . .A10 CVHS Reporter . . . . . . . .A10 Kitchen Tour . . . . . . . . . .A12 SECTION B Hiker’s Haven . . . . . . . . . . .B1 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .B2 The Full Monte Review . . .B4 Community Calendar . . . . .B5 Holiday Gift Shopping . . . .B6 Garden Girl . . . . . . . . . . . .B8 Dining Around . . . . . . . . . .B9 Pet Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .B10 Church News . . . . . . . . . .B11 Moon River Review . . . . .B12
$276
$69
$15
$5
Operation of the district with a higher standard for landscape maintenance
Capital improvements including the repair and upgrade of irrigation system
Maintenance and operation of a downtown “Central Park”
Weekend operation of the city fountain
Landscape Maintenance District Standards Task
Currently
Under Measure M
Turf Mowing Trimming Shrubs Trimming trees Turf fertilization Shrub fertilization Irrigation repairs
Measure M will provide for a CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMITTEE “Watchdog” committee composed of Clayton residents will oversee and monitor landscape maintenance expenses
Once/2 weeks Once/18 mo. As safety demands Once/year None As required & funds allow Plant replacement None Weeds (spot spray) Every 2 mo. Trails - Weed Once/year abatement Open Space Once/year Firebreaks/weed abatement
Every week Once/4 mo. Annual program Twice/year Twice/year Quarterly inspection & repair As needed Every 6 weeks Twice/year Twice/year
For almost two years, the Blue Ribbon Landscape Committee has been sharing with our community what we have learned on our journey to understand the history and workings of Clayton’s Landscape Maintenance District, and the challenges of caring for the public roadway landscaping, open space and trails on such a large scale. We each initially thought it was a simple issue but you might liken it to preparing a meal for a family of four, and then finding
500 arriving for dinner. What we brought from our personal gardening experiences didn’t translate well to the scale and magnitude of three maintenance workers taking care of our community’s landscaping. Fortunately, the pride and satisfaction in a well-kept appearance to our own front yards, neighborhoods, and community enabled us to bridge that learning gap and we united under one goal: insuring Clayton’s ‘front yard’ is well kept, lasting and a source of visual satisfaction. Our efforts to keep you
informed have met with success yet some misunderstandings about Measure M need clarification: Will my assessment be increased by $365 if Measure M passes? NO. Currently, residential parcels pay about $125 annually. Passage of Measure M replaces the existing annual assessment that expires in 2007 (see Section 8 in the Ballot text), and provides the needed funding to insure the continuation and improvement of our community’s ‘front yard’. So, the new assessment is $365 per
In 2007, the current Landscape Maintenance District will sunset, taking with it the mechanism for funding the cost of maintaining and improving the city’s roadways, trails and open spaces. Not willing to wait until the District has expired and risk getting caught short with no way to pay for landscape maintenance, the city council will bring the issue to the ballot this November as Measure M. If passed, the new measure will raise the current annual assessment from $125 to $365, giving the city enough money to raise the current standards of landscape maintenance, to pay for the operation and maintenance of a city park and to run the fountain at Oakhurst Drive and Clayton Road on weekends. It will also guarantee a source of funding which will allow the city to issue a $2.5 million bond to complete a long list of
See Landscape, page A8
Where have all the flowers gone? DAN RICHARDSON Special to the Pioneer
TAMARA STEINER Clayton Pioneer
year for everything. What about the public landscape areas around town that are just dirt, or in need of renovation? Measure M insures that all public landscape areas in the District are treated equally by designating a fixed flat rate of $69 per year (out of the annual assessment of $365) to fund the estimated $2.5 million in deferred improvements throughout the District. It also directs that work be done as soon as practical so that those
See Flowers, page A8
Measure M Public Forum The Pioneer will sponsor two public forums on Measure M, the landscape assessment increase, which appears on the Nov. 8 ballot. The first forum is Mon., Oct 24 and the second one is Thurs., Oct 27. Both forums will start a 7 p.m. in the Clayton Library Community Room. Absentee ballots will have already been mailed to voters by Oct. 27. However, the ballots are not due until 8 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 8, leaving plenty of time for Clayton voters to attend a forum and become fully informed on this important issue before casting their vote.
Clayton woman has major IMPACT on inmates JILL BEDECARRÉ Clayton Pioneer
While many of us shudder at the thought of just visiting a maximum security prison let along staying there for long periods of time, Collette Carroll jumps at the opportunity every Monday evening as she heads for San Quentin. This petite, energetic Aussie from Clayton is passionate about her involvement in a program called IMPACT, Incarcerated Men Putting Away Childish Things. Every Monday, barring any unforeseen circumstances like the most recent lockdown, Collette joins approximately 14 other inside facilitators who teach an intensive rehabilitative program to San Quentin inmates designed to break the bonds of incarceration. The program is divided into eight modules, each lasting about 16 weeks and classes are held every
Monday from 6 to 8 p.m. Topics range from addictions and relationships to violence prevention, morality and Financial Literacy 101. Having worked at the prison with IMPACT for the past four years, Collette has become a cheerleader for the incarcerated men that she mentors. “One of the main things that we are trying to teach is male accountability,” says Collette. The first module focuses on the male role in society and talks about the incarcerated men who haven’t had any real male influence in their lives. “They don’t come by it naturally. So we teach them what it takes to be a real man. We teach them how to find out who they are and how they measure up.” She tells inmates over and over again, “you have to see yourself out of here before it will happen.” One would think that Collette would get lost in the
shuffle each Monday, being the only woman in a class of over 100 men and 14 male facilitators, but that’s not the case. She admits she is fearless and not at
INMATES
IN THE
IMPACT
all intimidated. “I’m just not,” she says. Part of the reason is her passion for what Project IMPACT is and what it can do. “I see the
difference it makes. I see their faces. I see lights go on. I see inmates get out.”
See Impact, page A6
Photo courtesy of Collette Carroll
PROGRAM
at San Quentin attend class on addictions.