I am urging all Malibu voters to vote “no” on Measure R (parcel tax) on the February ballot. As a longtime education supporter and advocate, this is quite a turnaround for me. I was co-chair of the last parcel tax campaign in 2003 and also of the BB bond in 2006.
We currently have two parcel taxes (Y and S) running concurrently. Measure Y runs through 2011 and Measure S through 2009. Measure R combines those two parcel taxes into one tax, in perpetuity. There are four more election opportunities before only S expires. The Malibu community pays approximately 32% of those parcel taxes and receives 20% back. This hasn’t been an issue because Santa Monica city makes a large contribution to the district.
In November 2006, the voters passed a $268 million bond measure (BB). Bond measures only require a 55% majority to pass. The bond language itself didn’t promise Malibu a certain percentage of the money, but district leaders assured us that the money would be allocated fairly. However, the school board cut the BB money to Malibu in half last October. So, rather than the 27.5 million that Malibu was slated to receive, we’ve now been allocated a mere 13.5 million.
I do not currently trust our Board of Education and the district administration to do what is right and fair for the Malibu community. I don’t want to give them any more money until they demonstrate that they care about what Malibu schools need. They need to give Malibu schools a much greater allocation from BB as well as support an examination of the reorganization of the district.
We only have one Malibu resident on the school board. Six members live in Santa Monica and it’s natural for them to have a greater interest in Santa Monica especially when 80% of the students reside there. We will never have the voting power to have a majority on the board or to ever affect the outcome of a bond measure that only needs 55% to pass.
However, we can affect the outcome of Measure R since it needs a 66.6 percent passing rate. This is our only chance to show the board that it must listen to our needs.
Laura Zahn Rosenthal