Find Your Ballot

Get your ballot! Street Address: Zip Code: Your address is confidential. From the League of Women Voters of California

Ballot Measures

• Measure B Library Bond -- City of Sunnyvale (2/3 Vote Required) To upgrade and expand Sunnyvale Library to support enhanced educational opportunities for local children and students, to support an increase of the library's collection of books and other materials, to ensure adequate reading space and expanded computer labs for seniors, children and the general public, shall the City of Sunnyvale issue $108 million in general obligation bonds for design and construction of a new, energy efficient, green-designed, environmentally sustainable library to support Sunnyvale's growing community?
  YES
  NO __X___
  

  I will faithfully support the decision of the voters on this measure. My concerns are primarily fiscal. This measure authorizes a debt and a tax to pay for the debt. The tax would have no exception for seniors. This measure entails operating costs of perhaps 1.5M$ per year.

  Meanwhile, I am not enthralled with the City managing a large construction project near the downtown. I think City Hall needs to focus its efforts, trim the breadth of activities it is attempting, and conserve its resources in order to deal with basic needs for: public safety, public works maintenance, and parks and recreation amenities. The 2007 resident satisfaction survey suggests that 90% of residents are either satisfied or very satisfied with the condition of the Library building.

  Providing services residents want costs money, we are not providing the basic services they want as yet, and I favor that we proceed conservatively in the face of the uncertain fiscal implications of passing this measure.
  

  The following are proposed Charter Amendments. The Sunnyvale City Charter is available online, together with the Municipal Code.

• Measure C Charter Section 602 Bonds - Council Term Limits -- City of Sunnyvale (Majority Approval Required) Shall Charter Section 602 be amended to limit a Councilmember to serving eight years in any twelve-year period, not including appointment to an unexpired term of less than two years?
  YES
  NO
  [ABSTAIN]
  

  This clears up some language concerning term limits and is hard to object to, given that the majority of voters seem to favor term limits. Meanwhile, I am in a minority on the subject of term limits, as I am opposed to measures that reduce the powers of Council to represent their constituents. On account of that I would simply abstain from that item.
  

• Measure D Charter Section 1002 - Board and Commission Terms - - City of Sunnyvale (Majority Approval Required) Shall Charter Sections 1002 and 1003 be amended to clarify that a board or commission member can serve two terms on the same board or commission without a break, can serve on a different board or commission prior to expiration of his/her term with Council approval, and to clarify members of all boards and commissions may serve two successive terms?
  YES
  NO
  [ABSTAIN]
  

  Again this clears up some language concerning term limits and is hard to object to. And again, I am in the minority on the term limit issue; on account of that I would simply abstain from that item. I simply believe it is hard to find volunteers for these positions, that they oftentimes go unfilled, and it does not serve the best interests of the people of Sunnyvale to term members out who are performing diligently, with high attendance, and active participation. In addition, on the subject of Boards and Commissions generally, Council needs to fully use the expertise and energy of these commissions, by insuring that the City Manager provides them with timely reports, and an adequate opportunity for review in public session.
  

• Measure E Charter Section 1007 - Personnel Board Vacancies -- City of Sunnyvale (Majority Approval Required) Shall Charter Section 1007 be amended to add a provision that if two employee-nominated members of the Personnel Board are not nominated and elected within six months of a vacancy then the City Council may fill the vacancies by direct appointment and delete the prohibition against officers in any local, state or national partisan political organization from serving on the Personnel Board?
  YES
  NO __X___
  

  I am opposed to encouraging political influence on the Personnel Board. I favor keeping two employee-nominated members on the board.
  

• Measure F Charter Section 802 - Budget Review -- City of Sunnyvale (Majority Approval Required) Shall Charter Sections 802, 1012 and 1014 be amended to add new language that provides for budget review and recommendations by all boards and commissions and to delete the budget review provisions limited to only the Library Board and Parks and Recreation Commission?
  YES __X___
  NO
  

  This is a good measure, it insures that Boards and Commissions will be fully engaged in the budget process, and that staff will not bypass these advisory bodies.
  

• Measure G Charter Section 603 - Excused Leave -- City of Sunnyvale (Majority Approval Required) Shall Charter Section 603 be amended to allow the City Council to permit, by resolution, additional excused leave beyond the four personal leave days currently permitted, and to determine whether any additional excused leave days will be paid or unpaid leave?
  YES
  NO __X___
  

  No, Council members attend meetings to represent their constituents and this role cannot be delegated, as in an ordinary profession. Meetings can presently be attended by phone, from any location, even overseas. Excessive absences are not acceptable as they deny citizens representation. The Council is not entitled to vote this fundamental obligation away and voters would be ill-advised to do so.
  

• Measure H Charter Section 605 - Mayor and Vice Mayor -- City of Sunnyvale (Majority Approval Required) Shall Charter Sections 605 and 606 be amended to select the Mayor and Vice Mayor at the first regular meeting in January and to change the term of the mayor from one year to two years?
  YES
  NO __X___
  

  This measure would inevitably lead to factions on Council, and undue influence on the part of one faction. If voters want a powerful Mayor, their Council can put on the next ballot, a Charter amendment to call for a directly elected Mayor. This is worth discussing and getting public input on. A more powerful Mayor might have a better chance of exerting regional and local leadership, and might also feel more personally responsible when fiascos loom, as in the downtown debacle.
  

• Measure I Charter Section 800 - City Manager's Residence -- City of Sunnyvale (Majority Approval Required) Shall Charter Section 800 be amended to add language that strongly encourages the City Manager to reside in the City of Sunnyvale and to remove the City Manager residency requirement that is in conflict with the State Constitution?
  YES
  NO __X___
  

  Emphatically no. The City Manager needs to eat their own cooking. I also object to the wording as it is misleading --- it leads one to think that a vote of yes favors City Manager residency. Voters turned this down once and they should turn it down again, and turn out of office the folks who didn’t hear them the first time, and who have turned around and given them a measure phrased to mislead.
  

• Measure J Charter Section 1302 - City Budget -- City of Sunnyvale (Majority Approval Required) Shall Charter Sections 1302 and 1305 be amended to add language that requires the annual submission of a ten-year balanced budget that includes level of service information, historical financial trend data, and charts for ease of understanding the budget and provides that approved appropriations for capital improvement projects will not lapse at the end of the fiscal year, unless completed, closed out or Council takes action to modify?
  YES
  NO __X___
  

  The balanced budget language is attractive. However, putting appropriations on auto-pilot sounds rather alarming. I would prefer that Council involvement in the appropriations process not be diminished.
  

• Measure K Charter Section 601 - Outdated Material -- City of Sunnyvale (Majority Approval Required) Shall Charter Sections 601, 610, 612, 613, 703 and 708 be amended to delete outdated material, to provide for certification of election results at the first meeting in January, to reflect current practice of study sessions and closed sessions in locations other than Council Chambers, to certify election returns, to provide for sanctions for disorderly conduct, to clarify the City Clerk reports to the City Manager, and to allow for publication on the Internet?
  YES
  NO __X___
  

  Unfortunately the actual language proposed under disorderly conduct is vague. Freedom of speech is essential, and speech in Council meetings should be allowed the widest latitude. I would accept no further restrictions on it.
  

• Measure L Charter Section 803 - Outdated Material -- City of Sunnyvale (Majority Approval Required) Shall Charter Sections 803, 804, 806, 903, 908 and 1309 be amended to delete outdated material, clarify that a City Manager pro tem is appointed for an absence of more than two weeks, that the City Manager and City Attorney can be removed without cause, that the City Manager appoints the City Clerk, require City Attorney approval for outside counsel, and specify that the lowest bidder for public works contracts must be responsive and responsible?
  YES
  NO __X___
  

  No need for the two week limit. In the event of a major disaster, it would be better if there were a City Manager here on the ground. As for the City Clerk appointment, there is no need to change the Charter in this way. If anything, the ballot amendment to consider would be one providing that the City Clerk would be appointed by Council. In the corporate context it is good practice to have one person open the mail, and a different person handle the finances. In the City context, the Clerk’s office is the first line of defense of the Public Records Act, the Brown Act, and timely filing of public comments with the City. There would be no harm, and some good to having Council appoint the Clerk. Meantime, there is no need for this amendment.