Senate Bill 32 can solve all the money problems in the county,
if it becomes law.
Imagine the new revenue streams
Dear Editor,
Senate Bill 32 can solve all the money problems in the county, if it becomes law.Â
“This bill would authorize the governing board of any county or city and county, any school district, any community college district, and any county office of education, subject to specified constitutional and voter approval requirements, to levy, increase, or extend a local personal income tax, transactions and use tax, vehicle license fee, and excise tax, including, but not limited to, an alcoholic beverages tax, a cigarette and tobacco products tax, a sweetened beverage tax, and an oil severance tax, as provided.
Section 12 states this bill addresses the fiscal emergency declared by Governor Brown. That suggest a simple majority of votes would be required for Hollister School District, for example, to impose an income tax, a sales tax, or a cigarette tax on residence of the district.Â
Imagine the new Revenue Streams the county can impose.
Marvin L. Jones, Hollister
Redistricting offers contradiction
Dear Editor,
If the first draft of the maps drawn by the California Citizens Redistricting Commission sticks, San Benito County will continue to not get the attention of the legislature. Here is why. Gilroy has been drawn out of the 28th Assembly district and joins Morgan Hill as being part of the coast (Santa Cruz area). We lose the natural connection and population base created by the 101 corridor to Gilroy and Morgan Hill, although we retain part of San Jose. Municipalities and other geographic population centers need common themes that make it easy for legislators to meet their needs efficiently and effectively, and the proposed situation takes away from that. Similarly, Watsonville remains out of its natural connection to the coastal areas via the corridor created by highway 1 that connects it to Santa Cruz and similar areas. Shamelessly, each of these distinct areas have features that make them naturally part of the district that they are not a part of with the proposed maps.
Logistically, the proposed maps do not make sense  because residents of Gilroy and Morgan Hill have to go over largely uninhabited mountain passes to get to the other parts of their now coastal district (e.g. Santa Cruz), as do the residents of Watsonville to connect to the inland areas of the inland area of the central coast district (e.g. San Benito and Santa Clara counties).
What the California Citizens Redistricting Commission has done is in direct contradiction of what they said was their mandate: contiguous, compact as possible districts with communities of interest and geographical features taken into account. As a former candidate for Assembly, the bad consequences of these far-flung districts become very apparent when trying to reach as many people as possible to get elected. Similarly, how can office holders easily be accessible to their constituents?
Robert E. Bernosky, San Benito County
