Glossy pro Measure G pamphlet hits homes
McConnell offers other side in Zoom address
Vallejo doesn’t need a sales tax to add to citizens already burdened with unemployment and other COVID-19 challenges, Councilman Robert McConnell said as the guest of a No on Measure G Town Hall Zoom gathering.
“I think it’s the wrong thing, wrong time and for the wrong reasons,” McConnell said. “It’s not the right thing for us to do at this time.”
Measure G on the Nov. 3 ballot adds a 3/4-cent sales tax and, if passed, would bring Vallejo’s sales tax to 9.16 percent, highest in the county.
A “Community Update: Important Information About Measure G” glossy four-page pamphlet hit
Vallejo homes this week. And though the small print stated the pamphlet was “provided for informational purposes only. The City of Vallejo does not advocate a year or no vote on Measure G,” the “Dear Neighbor” first page is signed off by City Manager Greg Nyhoff listing the presumed benefits of passing the measure, though the word “tax” is omitted on the cover page.
McConnell said the c h a nc e s are “50 - 50” whether Measure G passes.
The brochure claims Measure G money — estimated at $12 million a year — would address homelessness, fire and emergency response, reform local police practices, support local business, and be overseen by an independent cit
izen oversight committee, McConnell said the money could be spent on “whatever fits the council’s fancy” depending on the council in any particular year.
“Anything and everything,” McConnell said.
McConnell answered viewer questions of the tax measure in a 45-minute Zoom forum Friday night moderated by Lynn Anderson, a member of the Vote No On Measure G campaign committee and a Mare Island resident.
The recent mailer “promises the moon, the stars, the heavens above and will solve all your problems,” McConnell said, emphasizing that $12 million won’t buy much.
“If we put it exclusively into road repair, it would pay for 14.5 miles a year,” he said.
Beverly McCain said the election “informational Measure B flier” “looks like it’s going to cover everything that’s wrong with the city —
police violence, the schools … it’s really convincing if you don’t know any better.”
McCain said the public is “getting one side” of Measure B via the mailer “and your tax dollars are paying for it.”
Putting Measure G on the ballot was passed by the City Council in a 5-2 vote, with McConnell and Katy Miessner opposing.
McConnell said he proposed a “sunset provision” — an expiration date on the proposed tax — “but nobody else was in agreement with that.”
Zoom viewer Donald Osborne said he pursued more information by checking on the promoted VallejoMeasureG.com web site.
“It doesn’t exist,” Osborne said.
T he T i me s - He r a l d checked the web site and received the following reply: “This page is under construction — Coming Soon!”
Several other Measure G “Community Update” pamphlets are expected. McConnell believes the cost of printing and mailing is between $70,000 and $100,000.
Technical challenges aside, “it went as we had anticipated,” said Zoom gathering organizer Myrna Hayes of No on Measure G.
Hayes said McConnell was ideal to speak against Measure G because “he does not believe that raising taxes automatically results in better service for the community. I think he has made that clear in his voting record re- enforced by his consistent messaging on the campaign trail. What I appreciated about his style in the Zoom forum is his quick and thoughtful answers without the need to bring in personalities. No drama. Facts and ideas.”