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The next update on the vote count is expected Friday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Measure E backers had been trying to make the case to voters that Oakland has been moving in the right direction in the last year under Lee. But observers say that the changes may not have been meaningful enough to make voters trust their money would be well-spent.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\u201cOakland residents have stepped up every time the city has asked for a tax increase over the last decade, \u201d said Jim Ross, a political consultant who has represented progressive candidates and labor unions. \u201cBut we\u2019re seeing there\u2019s only so many times they\u2019ll keep doing that if they feel they haven\u2019t seen an improvement in the quality of life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some Measure E opponents say the mere fact that this parcel tax election is so much closer than previous ones is a sign that voters are demanding more accountability from the city on how it spends its money.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever this count concludes, Oakland has sent a message that cannot be undone by a final tally,\u201d said Loren Taylor, a former city council member and Mayor Barbara Lee\u2019s opponent in the last election, in a statement. \u201cA community this divided on whether to extend trust to its own government is a community demanding to be heard.\u201d<\/p>\n
Measure E is on track to draw the lowest level of support for a parcel tax that Oakland has seen in the last decade. Since 2014, voters have signed off on seven parcel taxes.<\/p>\n
A parcel tax hasn\u2019t failed in the city since Measure I under Mayor Jean Quan in 2011. The measure needed a two-thirds vote for passage, and garnered only 38% of voters\u2019 support.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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It\u2019s possible that voter sentiment may reflect concerns about personal finances more than Oakland\u2019s. After years of inflation that have driven up household costs, voters across the East Bay appeared to reject new taxes. In El Cerrito, 72% of voters rejected a parcel tax to fund new libraries. Early results also showed 53% of Castro Valley voters rejecting a new school bond. The parcel taxes that did pass tended to be for school districts in higher-income areas like Moraga, Walnut Creek and Piedmont.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Oakland\u2019s measure had heavy financial backing on both sides. While city labor interests managed to raise over $1 million, much of that was spent early on for the signature gathering campaign to qualify the measure for the ballot. That left supporters with fewer funds to fight against the attacks that came this spring from groups like the Bridge Association of Realtors, which spent nearly $300,000 in May on ads and text blasts opposing the measure.<\/p>\n
Seth Olyer, president of the Oakland firefighters union, one of the measure\u2019s key supporters, said he remains optimistic that the vote will turn in their favor\u00a0\u2014 but he acknowledges that the influx of money from business and real estate interests who fought the tax could be difficult to overcome.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt takes time to show people why\u2026 a parcel tax is necessary,\u201d Olyer said. \u201cIt\u2019s really easy to say no.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Without the new revenue source, the work to regain voters’ trust may be made even more difficult, Ross pointed out.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a chicken and the egg situation\u2026 to make things better, we need more money. But we need to show things are getting better to get voters to say yes to more taxes,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a cycle that\u2019s really hard to break out of.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee made Measure E a key part of her plan to stabilize Oakland, but early…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":346581,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[332,204,143,145,144,13],"class_list":["post-346580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-east-bay","tag-election","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news","tag-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346580","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=346580"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346580\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/346581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=346580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=346580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=346580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}