WINNING

Santa Clara County sales tax running ahead

San Jose voters appeared to be embracing a proposed measure to raise minimum wages in the city while rejecting another measure to expand card room gambling, according to incomplete election returns Tuesday evening.

A Santa Clara County eighth- cent sales tax measure also was leading in initial returns as well as a Santa Clara Valley Water District parcel tax extension.

Palo Alto voters were rejecting a measure that would allow three medical marijuana dispensaries.

In Mountain View, voters were narrowly approving a measure that would limit El Camino Hospital executive compensation.

Returns showing San Jose’s minimum wage Measure D with a strong lead drew enthusiastic applause from labor advocates Tuesday night.

“Wealways thought San Jose voters would know the right thing to do,” said Stacey Hendler Ross, spokeswoman for the South Bay AFL- CIO Labor Council, which led the campaign for Measure D.

But Amanda Phan, a 25- year- old assistant manager at a San Jose restaurant opposed Measure D.

“I think it will hurt us in the long run,” said Phan as she left her polling place in East San Jose.

Only a handful of other cities nationwide set their own minimum wages: San Francisco, Washington, D. C., and Santa Fe and Albuquerque, New Mexico.

“We always thought San Jose voters would know the right thing to do.” — Stacey Hendler Ross, spokeswoman for the South Bay AFL- CIO Labor Council

Measure D supporters argued that raising the wage floor in San Jose from the current state hourly minimum of $ 8 to $ 10 with annual inflation adjustments is a moral necessity in pricey Silicon Valley. Opponents argued a city- mandated wage hike would only lead employers to cut staffing.

Measure E would allow each of San Jose’s two card rooms to increase from 49 to 79 gaming tables by 2014 and have slot machines if legalized by California.

Santa Clara County’s Measure A called for a one-eighthcent sales tax increase for 10 years, which would raise about $ 50 million annually for county programs including Santa Clara Valley Medical Center and public health and welfare programs.

Backers argued it was a modest request to bolster health and safety programs after years of budget cutbacks. Critics said the money would be wasted on overly generous government retirement packages.

Measure B would extend an existing Santa Clara Valley Water District parcel tax of $ 56 a year for a typical singlefamily home for 15 years, which the district argued was necessary to ensure a clean water supply. Critics argued the district hasn’t kept promises to spend tax revenues on environmental improvements.