Whew! What a ride. I’ve been trying to recover with little success, but here goes...
Tuesday night Propositions Y + YY sailed to victory under the skillful leadership of campaign chairs Shari Davis and Tom Larmore along with guidance by stupendous campaign consultant Barbara Grover! When the numbers came it, the sheer size of the victory seemed inevitable, but for those of you who were in the trenches, I’m sure you shared with me a sense of dread. I never knew whether these measures would pass and even now can’t believe they have!
Now, our work as Community for Excellent Public Schools continues. As the organization that originated of the measure that became the current Joint Use Agreement, and stalwart proponents of school/city partnerships, the actual process of allocation of these funds and a renegotiation of the current Joint Use agreement must be very high on our list of priorities. Continued vigilance from CEPS and the education community around the schools/city partnership must remain firmly in our sights.
Tuesday held so many important races for our community, our schools and our state. In the national sea of red, it was a rare great night to be a Californian.
Welcome to our two new SMMUSD Board of Education members, our own CEPS Steering Committee member, Nimish Patel and Laurie Lieberman! Both are tremendous leaders and will bring valuable new insight to the Board. While we are sad to see Barry Snell and Kelly Pye exit the Board of Education, we hope and expect to see them at the CEPS table even more in the months and years to come! And of course, congratulations to re-elected incumbents Oscar de la Torre and Ralph Mechur! We hope to continue seeing you around the table as well.
Congratulations to re-elected City Council members Gleam Davis, Terry O’Day, Pam O’Connor, and Kevin McKeown. All are stalwart education supporters and we look forward to working with you for many years to come!
And the race for the final four-year Santa Monica City Council seat remains too close to call. Both CEPS Steering Committee member, Ted Winterer and Bob Holbrook were endorsed by CEPS and would be terrific on the Council. Too bad there aren’t enough seats for both! Like Ted and Bob, I will hold my breath until the results are final. However it turns out, though, CEPS is excited about the prospects of working with both Ted and Bob on education and city issues — on the Council, around the CEPS table and in the community.
I don’t know if all of you are as tired as I am. Most of you have a reason to be even more tired than I. However, I couldn’t be more excited about the future with Y + YY in place and incredible leadership to help put those increased revenues to the most effective use to benefit our schools and our city.
With much great work done — and much left to do, I applaud you all!
Rebecca Soladay Kennerly
Community for Excellent Public Schools (CEPS), Chair
www.excellentpublicschools.org
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Thursday, November 4, 2010
Propositions Y + YY PASS!
Education and city boosters cheered the news, Tuesday night, that a
tax to bring badly needed funds to local schools and for vital city services won a
landslide of voter support and will go into effect April 1st.
The tax, Proposition Y, will add a half percent to the existing sales tax. Under a
companion measure, Proposition YY, half of the estimated $12 million generated
annually will go to Santa Monica-Malibu Unified Schools and the other half to vital city
services.
Voters passed Proposition “Y” by a margin of 61 percent to 39 percent. “YY” won 68% of the ballots cast.
“This is a win for our students and for our community,” said Tom Larmore co-chair of the
Proposition Y+YY campaign. “Everyone in Santa Monica benefits from great schools
and safe neighborhoods. They make Santa Monica one of the most desirable places to
live in the state and in the nation.”
“This is a recognition of what an amazing community we live in here in Santa Monica,”
said Shari Davis, co-chair of the Proposition Y+YY campaign and president of the Santa
Monica-Malibu PTA Council. "We have a unique partnership between SMMUSD, City
Hall and our businesses that reflects the values of our residents."
“Prop Y gives residents another important reason to support local merchants – buy local,
support our schools and our city,” Larmore added.
At a half-cent per dollar, proponents said that Proposition Y will cost residents about the
same as one latte a month and that half of all Proposition Y revenues will be paid by
visitors and other non-residents who shop in Santa Monica.
Rent, groceries, gas, prescriptions, medical care or equipment, any purchases made
with food stamps, utilities, and all services are exempt from sales tax and thus
Proposition Y.
The propositions were supported by a broad and historic coalition from throughout the
community, including: renters, homeowners, neighborhood groups, small business
owners, the Santa Monica-Malibu Teachers Association, the Santa Monica Police
Officers Association, the Santa Monica Firefighters Association, the PTA, Santa
Monicans for Renters' Rights, Santa Monica College and the League of Women Voters
of Santa Monica.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
VOTE TODAY to PROTECT Excellent Public Schools
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