Dear Editor,
The vote-by-mail ballot for this school board election is in my hands and will be marked to vote for only Diane Gilbert … no one else. State of California election law allows us to vote for ANY number of candidates as long as we do not exceed the number of seats being voted upon. The exact text of the ballot’s instruction reads: “Do not vote for more than the authorized number of candidates.” So it’s OK to vote for only one candidate although there are three seats.
If we vote for Diane Gilbert, then vote for two others, we have in effect cast two votes, which will more than cancel our vote for her. This is a normal situation where we have all incumbents running against one challenger. This is why State election law in an attempt to ensure fair play is so structured that we can vote only for the challenger if we wish.
I do wish to vote for only Diane Gilbert. There is a reason. Consider what reporter Dawn Henley wrote front page above the fold in the October 14, 2009 edition of the Oakdale Leader.
She was reporting on a new pool for the High School and included these excerpts which are alarming: “This project is being funded from project savings from the Sierra View Elementary School project of more than $2 million, with the balance coming from developer fees. Total cost for the project will be slightly over $3 million …
“The ball got rolling on the pool project initially with the 2002 school bond; however, with higher construction costs at the time the district had to prioritize and the pool project was moved down the list, but still remained a goal …
“Also in business matters, Hern stated in his First Quarter Developer Fee report that there has been some building in Oakdale and that the district has received just over $94,000 in developer fees.”
Please notice that the funds came from planned over-taxation on the Sierra View School project bond and that in tough economic times developers are anything but encouraged to build in Oakdale.
But, building is where the jobs come from … COULD come from. And the source of the funds is an improper use of Sierra View Project Bond Funds, which should have been refunded to taxpayers who are as we all know overburdened, now.
So, there is why I will have voted for only Diane Gilbert as a newcomer to the school board by the time you read this. I owe it to my grandchild at Sierra View, and there is nothing unfriendly about my restricting my vote to just one. You could help by doing the same.
Get your vote-by-mail ballots in early, or vote on November 3rd.
Larry Kay
