Measure B Mailing Deadline Friday

Whether you’re for or against the $180 New Haven Unified School District , your vote won’t count unless your ballots are marked, signed and mailed to the Alameda County Registrar of Voters by Friday.

Election Day for the special vote-by-mail Measure B election is next Tuesday, May 3. Ballots sent after Friday may not be received in time to be tallied, according to a press release issued by the district on Tuesday. In order to be counted, ballots must be received by the time polls close at 8 p.m. on May 3.

For those unable to return ballots by Friday, the district has arranged three drop-off locations in Union City:

• Voters can drop off ballots from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, April 30 and from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Monday, May 2, and Tuesday, May 3 at (703 C St.) and (31600 Alvarado Blvd.).
• Ballots can also be dropped off at (34009 Alvarado-Niles Rd.) on Monday and Tuesday from 8 am. To 6 p.m.

Those who haven’t received ballots, or misplaced them, can contact the Registrar of Voters at 510-272-6973. However, the deadline to request ballots passed on Tuesday.

Audio CDs of the local measures are available for the visually impaired in Room G-1 of the Registar of Voters Office at the Alameda County Courthouse (1225 Fallon Street, Oakland). The audio can also be streamed online at the Registrar of Voters website.

Measure B, dubbed the “Taking Care of Our Kids” parcel tax, would generate $3 million a year for the next four years in order to preserve instructional time, maintain after-school activities and minimize class size increases. The $180 annual tax would equate to $15 a month and includes exemptions for seniors and disabled residents. A citizens’ oversight committee would be established to monitor the spending.  No money would go toward administrators’ salaries or for facilities maintenance, according to the ballot statement.

To pass, the measure requires a two-thirds majority vote. When the campaign kicked off in February, campaign consultant Bonnie Moss estimated that 13,000 of the 30,000 registered voters in Union City would vote.

“Even if Measure B passes, we’re only putting a small fix in the giant gaping hole,” said Charmaine Kawaguchi, president of the New Haven Teachers Association.

Without the parcel tax dollars, the district faces a more than $10 million budget shortfall. In March, the district approved , including teachers and counseling staff, and the . The James Logan High School and Alvarado and Cesar Chavez Middle Schools .  

The district is unaware if any organized opposition exists, according district spokesperson Rick La Plante.

However, articles about Measure B efforts have raised of Union City Patch who oppose the tax.

“I hope I am not the only taxpayer in Union City that has had enough with tax and spend liberalism. Enough is enough!” one commenter wrote.

Proponents of Measure B will continue to walk precincts and encourage residents to vote in favor of the tax, according to Kawaguchi.

“It’s a real scary time for us right now,” Kawaguchi said Tuesday. “It’s very close. We’re within seven days. We’ve done our poling, we’ve done our calls. We just have to wait [for the results].”