Politics & Government

Pacifica-Daly City Democrats Club Responds to Measure V Loss

"We must find a way to establish a sustainable revenue source that is acceptable to all in our community, and we need to do that sooner, rather than later." — Barbara Arietta, president, Pacifica-Daly City Democrats Club

After last month’s "Measure V — The Great Pacifica Debate of 2013," the Pacifica-Daly City Democrats Club membership voted to vote yes on Measure V, which if passed would update Pacifica's existing Utility Users Tax (UUT) to add telecommunication services without increasing the current rate to potentially raise $1.075 million to support City services.

But even now that Measure V lost with 65.88 percent of the votes against the measure in yesterday's election, the Pacifica-Daly City Democrats Club remains in support of the phone tax that they believe would have generated much needed revenue for a city with a reserve standing at only $1.8 million.

“In 2009-10, the city's reserve was standing at $6.6 million. Today it has deteriorated to $1.8 million. It doesn't take an Einstein to figure out which direction the reserve is going. Revenues remain flat and costs keep rising. Something's gotta give in the very near future,” said president of the Pacifica-Daly City Democrats Club, Barbara Arietta, who writes to Patch about the loss of Measure V and the need to “invest in this city, it's businesses and also in its tourism potential”:

Find out what's happening in Pacificawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"This was truly a "No Confidence" vote that doesn't bode well for the future success of our City Council in establishing a sustainable income source to prevent further cuts in our city's services. The citizens of Pacifica turned down a sustainable revenue generating measure, put forth by the City Council, in 2009, and now they have once again refused to pass another sustainable revenue generating measure requested by the City Council.

“When the citizens turned down the first income generating measure, cuts were made and our $6.6 million reserve began its steady decline. Now, we're at the end of 2013 and our reserve stands at only $1.8 million, with no apparent end in sight to either the continuance of the reserve's decline or the cutting of essential city services.

Find out what's happening in Pacificawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“Don't get me wrong. I more than understand the sentiment of the citizens in reference to this issue. What they said in this election came through "loud and clear". And, I cannot fault them...They are not "trusting" what they are being told, but, just saying "no" after "no" doesn't make the problem go away...whether you trust what you are being told or not.

“However, this is what I know to be true...With the budget that Pacifica presently has, a $1.8 million reserve is simply not enough.  And, even with that amount, the City Council, this town's leadership, has declared that the current city reserve will not hold at $1.8 million, without making additional cuts to essential city services. The question is how many and for how long, and to what ultimate result? Disincorporation?

“ … it is important to point out that this is more than an issue of preventing additional cuts to our essential city services, but rather the results of this election reflect a more core problem. This is an issue of "trust" between what the City Council says to its residents and what those residents believe to be true...

“And, as we all know, "A house divided against itself cannot stand"...It is, therefore, of paramount importance that we immediately resolve these issues of "trust" between the town's leadership and it's residents and change whatever needs to be changed.

“We really do deserve better than this. We need to invest in this city, it's businesses and also in its tourism potential. But, we must find a way to establish a sustainable revenue source that is acceptable to all in our community and we need to do that sooner, rather than later...We really do need to stop just saying "no" and begin to put our "thinking caps" on for ways that we can  come together with positive ideas for sustaining our community, or we may one day no longer have a community. 

"It appears that this recent attempt at solving our revenue problems was not the right one for our community, but we still have the need for revenue generation. Where do we go from here? I don't know. Does anyone truly know? We'll just have to wait and see..."


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