Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder-Elections

March 13, 2008

Contact:
Warren Slocum, Chief Elections Officer
Phone: (650) 363-4988 E-mail: wslocum@smcare.org

Alternate:
David Tom, Elections Manager
Phone: (650) 312-5222 E-mail: dtom@smcare.org

Letters Chosen for Local Ballot Measures on June 3 Ballot
Four measures - one county, two school districts, and one city - will appear

Redwood City, CA – Letters N, O, P, and Q have been assigned to the four local measures which will appear on the ballot for the June 3 Statewide Direct Primary.

County elections officials are granted some discretion in assigning letters to local measures, and it has long been the practice of the San Mateo County Elections Office to assign them by randomly drawing Scrabble letters placed in a hat or bowl.

Letters are cycled through the alphabet with each successive election. The last letter used for local measures on the Feb. 5 Presidential Primary ballot was M, so for the June 3 election the group of letters used in the drawing started with N.

“The idea of the random alphabet drawing is to make the process completely impartial and to avoid the perception or reality of an advantage being given to a particular ballot question,” San Mateo County Chief Elections Office Warren Slocum said.

The results of the letter drawing for the ballot questions are as follows:

Measure N: Pacifica School District Parcel Tax
“To protect local elementary and middle schools from state budget cuts, maintain high quality education, preserve small class sizes, attract and retain qualified teachers, protect vital academic programs and maintain classroom and school facilities, shall the Pacifica School District levy a temporary parcel tax of $96/year for 5 years, with independent citizen oversight, an exemption for senior citizens, no funds used for administrator salaries and all funds staying in this community to promote student achievement?”
(Two-thirds approval required)

Measure O: County of San Mateo Sales Tax
“To better support parks and recreation services provided by cities, special districts and San Mateo County, including: Supporting after-school and summer programs for children and teens; providing overdue maintenance and repairs to parks, trails, and recreation areas; preserving natural open spaces; maintaining and improving park bathrooms and facilities; repairing and upgrading playgrounds and playing fields; shall San Mateo County enact a one-eighth cent sales tax, with annual audits and reports to the community?”
(Two-thirds approval required)

Measure P: Millbrae Elementary School District Parcel Tax
“To ensure that the children of Millbrae continue to receive a high quality education, to offset State budget cuts, to reinstate eliminated music, library, instructional and technology aides and custodians, protect teachers from layoffs, and to support and maintain the District’s academic programs and classroom health and safety, shall the Millbrae Elementary School District be authorized to levy an annual tax of seventy-eight dollars per taxable parcel, limited to five years, with a tax exemption for senior citizens?”
(Two-thirds approval required)

Measure Q: City of Half Moon Bay Special Tax
City of Half Moon Bay Maintenance of Local Services
“To provide for and maintain City of Half Moon Bay’s library services; youth and senior facilities, programs and services; police services; park and recreational facilities and programs; city streets, and other city purposes; shall an ordinance be adopted increasing the transient occupancy tax, which is a general tax on the cost of hotel rooms paid by the person renting the room, from 10 percent to 12 percent of the room rate?”
(Fifty-five percent approval required)

The text of ballot questions and their letter assignments can also be viewed on our Web site at http://www.shapethefuture.org/elections/June2008/documents/June2008RosterofLocalMeasures.pdf.

The drawing coincided with the random alphabet drawing held by the Secretary of State to determine the order in which names will appear on the June 3 ballot. Results of the random alphabet drawing can be found on the Secretary of State’s Web site at http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/election_2008/random_alpha_june2008.pdf.

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