1993_10 Insight October 1993

              October 27,1993
Insight/California State University, Fresno
Page 3
Pros, cons of ballot measures weighed
By Cindy Star bird	
StaffWriter
Residents of Fresno County will go
to the polls Tuesday, Nov. 2, to vote on
seven state initiatives,one county measure and members of the Fresno and
Clovis school boards.
The most widely debated proposition on the ballot is 174. This controversial proposition, known as the
voucher measure, would require the
state to offer an annual scholarship to
every school-age child who resides in
California.
The scholarship would be used lo
pay tuition and other educational fees
Campus Briefs
Prof runs for board
Dr. Earl Bowcrman, CSUF
professor of Plant Science and
Mechanized Agriculture, is running foraseaton the Clovis Unified School District's School
Board. The elections will be held
Nov. 3.
Bowerman, who has two children in elementary school in the
Clovis district, said he feels that
each of us has a civic duty to be
active in our community, and that
is what prompted him to run.
Enrollment declines
Total enrollment for the fall
1993 semester atCSUF is 18,017
full time studenu, with an average load of 12.72 units, according to figures just released by the
CSUF Office of Institutional
Research. This is 885 fewer students than the 18,902 who enrolled last year, representing a 5
percent decline.
The new figures include 1,484
new freshmen students.
Graduate students, who pay
higher tuition fees than do undergraduates, represent a higher decline—down 9.8% from lastyear.
New library hours
The Henry Madden Library
hours have been extended this semester thanks to additional funds
of $160,000.
The additional funding was also
delegated to other facets of the
library such as buying books, improving automation and the distance learning program.
Michael Gorman, dean of library services, said "consistency
is important" when regarding
hours of operation
Ideally, Gorman would like the
library hours tobc8ajn. to 11p.m.
daily, but the budget doesn't allow
it
For the fall semester the main
library will be open 8 am. to 10
p.m. Monday-Thursday, 8 a.m. to
5 p.m. Friday, 10 ajn. to 5 p.m.
Saturday and 1 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Sunday.
Varying holiday and winter
hours will be posted at the library
For a recorded message of spc-
cific library section hours,cal! 278-
25%.
at schools with 25 students or more that
choose to become scholarsnip-redeem-
ing schools. The amount of the scholarship would be at least half the average
amount spent per student from the previous year from all funding sources.
The initial scholarship would be
about $2,600 per student
Proponents of 174 feel this measure
will save billions for taxpayers and
local and state governments.
Opponents feel itpromotes discrimination because voucher schools would
be allowed to reject students based on
gender, religion and test scores.
Measure A is another issue residents
will be asked to vote on a county special "transactions and use" tax. In addition to any other sales and use taxes
authorized by law, there will be an
additional one-half of one percent tax
on any non-exempt, icutil saic m" uui-
gible,personal property that takes place
in Fresno County.
Funds from this tax would be disbursed to specific programs and projects
including; apprehension and detention
of criminal suspects, investigation and
prosecution of crimes, incarceration of
pre-trial and sentenced adult and juvenile offenders, and provision for neighborhood protection programs and various crime prevention programs.
In addition to these two issues, voters will also cast their ballot for or
against Propositions 168 ihrough 173,
which deal with a variety of issues. Six
of the Proponents will amend the California Constitution.
Proposition 168
Low-rent housing projects. Currcntlv.
local and state government is prohibited from developing, constructing, or
acquiring a low-rent housing project
unless it is approved by local voters,
Proposition 168 would amend the
state constitution to enable low-rent
housing projects to be built Ihat don't
have to be approved by the voters first
Instead of requiring an election for
every publicly assisted housing venture, it would bypass the election process and be automatically approved.
If there is opposition to the project,
those who oppose will have 30 days to
submit a petition of signatures that
support their views.
Proposition 169
Budget implementation. Currently, the
state budget is submitted to the legislators andfollowed by "trailer bills."The
trailer bills break down the lump sum
amount stated in the budget in general
areas, and lists specifically where ihc
money will be spent. This is where
policy gets made and taxes get passed
The California Constitution docs not
allow these bills to cover more man one
subject, resulting in approximately 20
bilk to be submitted and voted on separately by ihe Legislature.
If passed. Proposition 169 will
amend the California Constitution to
authorize one trailer bill that covers all
of the issues.
Proponents feel ihat Proposition 169
will eliminate gridlock in government
and enable the budget to be passed on
time.
"With 20 trailer bills floating around,
it's like a 20-ring circus," said Barry
Kecne, retired Senate majority leader.
"It's hard enough to overcome policy
and party differences, once this happens there shouldn't be additional impediment created by fragmented legislation."
According to the opposition, Propo
sition 169 would allow legislators to
raise a host of taxes with one single
vote ami make it harder for the public to
keep track of which taxes arc being
raised
"When legislators vote separately,
you'reclear on where everyone stands,
on every tax," said Central Valley Assemblyman Dean Andal. "If you put 30
trailer bills into one huge, omnibus bil I
that is over 200 pages long, then it is
hard to pull out all of the lax increases
and ihey inevitably end up being hidden."
According to the state legislative
analyst, this measure would have no
significant costs or savings to the state
or local governments.
Proposition 170
Property taxes, majority vote, development-fee limits. State and local govem-
111V..U 6a iV.x-.vj uj aciiiirg "ouirus lu
investors. They then pay the investors
back the loaned amount plus interest,
usually over a 20- to 30-year period.
Proposition 170 is an amendment to
the California Constitution that would
allow school facilities bond measures
to be approved by a majority, rather
than two-thirds, of the voters in local
elections.
The opposition contends that the
passage of Proposition 170 will result
in higher property taxes for
homeowners.
The bonds are paid by homeowners
through their property taxes.
Currently, 48 percent of all school
construction bonds have passed with
more than a two-thirds vote since 1986.
The opposition states ihat with asimplc
majority vote, 91 percent of all those
proposed would be passed.
"It promotes unfair business advantages, and is driven by public employees and developers," said Kris
Vosburgh, executive director of
Howard JarvisTaxpayers Association.
According to Vosburgh, if Proposition 170 passes, there will be over S3
billion in additional debt that will have
to be absorbed by property owners.
"There is no direct property tax increase," said proponent Phil White,
Liberty Union High School superintendent "It could have a local impact if
passed more frequently."
"It is time to
stop tinkering
with Proposition
13 and to make
the system fair
for everyone."
—Gary Wesley
Proposition 171
Property taxation, transfer of base year
value. This measure is designed to help
disaster victims whose property has
been damaged in a governor-declared
disaster.
Under the state constitution, property is taxed on the basis of its assessed
value. The assessment is based on the
market value of the property when it
was purchased or newly built It can
increase by no more lhan 2 percent
each year to reflect inflation.
Currently, owners of property Ihat
has been damaged in a disaster can
rebuild the same property to the same
conditions, or purchase replacement
property of equal or lesser value and
retain the same value for tax purposes
Ihat the original property had before
Ihe disaster, provided (he newly purchased property is located in the same
county as the disaster damaged property.
Proposition 171 will allow property
owners to transfer the destroyed home's
assessed value to a replacement property in another county that has adopted
die ordinance authorized by the measure.
The opposition contends that
^^^ Proposition 13
stretched to include homeless shelters
and hypodermic needle exchange programs. Opposition goes on to say that
there is no guarantee that local governments won't divert existing law enforcement budgets for other purposes
once Ihey receive Ihe new funds.
Proposition 173
California housing and jobs investment bond act. This measure replaces
ihe Fust-Time Home Buyers Act of
1982 widi a new mortgage insurance
program to help first-time home buyers.
It allows the state to sell the S185
mUlioninauthorized.butunsold.bonds
remaining under ihe First-Time Home
Buyers Act of 1982 in order to provide
the funding for the new program.
This funding would only be
available to first-time home
ouycrs.
unfair property lax system
"It is time to stop tinkering wiih
Proposition 13 and to make the system
fair for everyone," said Gary Wesley.
Due to unavailability, information
from the opposition was taken from ihe
California voters pamphlet
"Proposition 13 has nothing to do
with Proposition 170," said Yolanda
Stevens, state capitol legislative aide.
"It lets you take die base year value
wiih you to a participating, adopting
county."
Proposition 172
Local public safety and improvement
act. The current state sales lax is at 6
percent There is also a statewide local
sales lax of 1.25 percent that has been
imposed on all counties; the uniform
statewide sales tax rate is 7.25 percent
Counties, like Fresno, have the option
of levying additional sales taxes.
By law, the slate rale of sales taxes
will decrease by one-half percent on
Jan. 1,1994, reducing the uniform rate
by a similar amount
Proposition 172 would amend the
state constitution to include a 0.5 percent stale sales tax rate. As a result, the
state's portion of the sales tax rate
would remain at its current 6 percent
level.
The measure requires that this revenue be used only for local public safely
activities, which include: police and
sheriffs' departments, fire protection,
county district attorneys, county probation, arid county jail operations.
Proponents contend that if 172 isn't
passed, there will be fewer police and
sheriff patrols in neighborhoods; fire
stations will be closed and personnel
reduced; jails will be closed and criminals released; criminal cases will go
unprosccutcd; and response times for
police, and firefighters will increase
dramatically.
According io the opponents. Proposition 172 docs notprotecipublic safety.
Public safety services aren't limited io
law enforcement and could easily be
and ^^B| HB^ would
enable them^^^^toobtainhome
mortgage loans with a down payment
as low as 3 percent The measure requires that this mortgage insurance only
be provided to low and moderate income individuals and families.
Proponents of 173 state that because
of the high cost of housing in areas of
the state, California doesn't get its fair
share of federally backed Federal Housing Administration loans.
According to the proponents, 173
will assist tens of thousands of first-
time home buyers, stimulate economic
activity and create new jobs.
Opponents argue that because
Proposition 173 would require a lower
down payment for first-time home buyers, it will create much higher mortgage payments for these individuals
and families, ultimately putting them
at risk of foreclosure.
In addition to the slate and county
measures, local voter will also be electing members ofthe Fresno and Clovis
school boards.
The elected candidates will serve
four-year terms. Elections arc being
held in three districts of Fresno Unified, and two districts of Clovis Unified. Seven candidates are in ihe race
for scaLs on ihe Fresno Unified School
District in which scats arc being contested in area three, area four and area
seven.
In area three, Margaret Sharp and
Conrad Mendoza arc running for die
scat formerly held by Nancy
Richardson, board president
Sharp, a business manager, is concerned about the relevancy of education. "Wc need to show the kids that
what they're learning in one class is
relevant to another class, or specifically related to getting a job."
Mendoza, a personal management
specialist contends that children need
to be prepared lo work.
"Our c hildren need to be prepared to
work, and know what additional education is required to do certain jobs. Wc
are in the beginning phases of a partnership program. This is an opportunity forbusinesscs to show the students
the kindsof opportunities thatarc available in Ihe work force."
Currently there are no representatives lo the school board from Mclane
area four, Ernie Shclton, Ray Baker,
Eric Evenson and Jack Parka are in the
running to hold this scat
Shclton, a student affairs officer, is
concerned with overcrowded schools.
"Overcrowded schools and classrooms may affect the learning capabilities of some students and may take
away some of the academic freedom
from our teachers. I am also concerned
with the number of students that arc
graduating from high school but are not
eligible to attend four-year colleges
and universities."
n*J*«r   a  crKnol  a/iminiwrainr.
wo uld like to im proveithe learning environment
"I want to try to get more
students graduated from
high school and on to college or continued education, or qualified to get a
job after graduation. We
need to improve the learning environment; this includes things such as violence and graffiti."
Evenson, a school
teacher, feels that students
need elective alternative
programs. "They need to
study and leam about spe-
jobs, especially Ihe at-risk
students, so when they graduate Ihey
have a chance. We need to decrease the
truancy rate. Someone should be out
mere picking up truant students and
putting ihem back in school instead of
letting them walk around the streets all
die time."
Parker, a businessman, could not be
reached for comment
In area seven; the Bullard district
Ronald Dangaran is running against
incumbent Chuck Wilson.
Wilson, a business owner, is concerned with the financial wcll-bcingof
the district "Three and a half years ago,
the district was on the brink of destruction and bankruptcy. When I was elected
mc first time, I restored the financial
security. 1 have been in business management for 27 years, and out of those
27 years, a business owner for the past
16. With a S400 million budget and the
largest employer in Fresno County,
Ihcy need at least one business person
on the board.
Dangaran, an educator, was unable
to be reached for comment
There arc six candidates in the race
for school board election in the Clovis
Unified School District in which seats
arc being contested in area three and
area six.
In the Clovis Unified area three.
Earl Bowcrman and Jim Van
Volkinburg are running againsiincum-
bent Naomi Strom.
Bowcrman, a professor, was unable
to be reached for comment
Van Volkinburg, a dentist would
like to sec tcam work among the members of the school board.
"Wc need to develop amongst the
trust amongst the trustees so wc can
work together as a team and hopefully
apply it to administration and teachers.
Wc need lo set policies to follow with
the goal being a quality educational
See ELECTION, page 7
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