EBRPD is illegally expending public funds to advocate passage of new taxes
The EBRPD has consistently used public funds to hire consultants and promote its position on its proposed tax measures. The following is a quote from the website of the Alliance of Contra Costa Taxpayers:
We find that EBRPD is once again using public funds to promote this latest tax scheme.
The district's "Measure CC Facts" brochure, for example, enumerates alleged benefits of the measure, with no mention of drawbacks, or the incredibly plush state of existing EBRPD finances. The district plans to distribute its next issue of Regional in Nature just 13 days prior to the November 2 election. That issue will likely promote Measure CC at taxpayer expense, without fair representation -- or any representation -- of opponents' arguments.
The League of Women Voters, a private entity which receives $7,000 annually from EBRPD to assist in publication of the League's allegedly "impartial" Bay Area Monitor, is a signatory to the pro-tax Measure CC arguments.
An EBRPD consulting firm, the "Strategy Research Institute," noted in 2002 that "THE DISTRICT'S OUTREACH EFFORTS ARE HAVING THE DESIRED 'EFFECTS.' " The "outreach efforts" also included "taped PSA's (public service announcements) and/or video taped programs that have been aired on CNN..., an in-theater slide between shows at the movies inviting [viewers] to 'Enjoy the Serenity' of the East Bay regional parks and trails."
The "desired effects" included findings of high levels of "support for the proposed tax measure among voters" who've seen one of the three "communication outlets." Reliable district attorneys, enforcing laws against public funding of tax campaigns, would prosecute agencies that ignore such laws.
The ACCT website further states:
California’s Supreme Court has ruled that "in the absence of clear and explicit legislative authorization, a public agency may not expend public funds to promote a partisan position in an election campaign.... A fundamental precept of this nation's democratic electoral process is that the government may not ‘take sides’ in election contests or bestow an unfair advantage on one of several competing factions." Further, "while past cases indicate that public agencies may generally publish a ‘fair presentation of facts’ relevant to an election matter, in a number of instances publicly financed brochures or newspaper advertisements which have purported to contain only relevant factual information, and which have refrained from exhorting voters to ‘Vote Yes,’ have nevertheless been found to constitute improper campaign literature." [Stanson v. Mott (1974), 17 Cal.3d 206, 209-210, 217, 222].
You can visit http://www.acctaxpayers.com/Pages/MeasureCC.htm for more information on the financial aspects of Measure CC.
July 2004 -- EBRPD Benefit Assessment District (BAD) tax scheme fails
The EBRPD was instrumental in developing another controversial tax scheme that would have funneled tax revenues from Contra Costa County back to the park district...this was another example of BAD government that the public refused to accept and voted down.
Contra Costa County (CCCo) is described as "a problem" by park district administrators because the people in CCCo never seem to want to pass a parcel tax measure that is put on the ballot by the EBRPD. There are large sums of money that were promised to be spent in CCCo from Measure AA, which was passed by voters in 1988. $1 million dollars was promised to Sycamore Valley in Danville from Measure AA -- 16 years later the parks are still closed because the park district claims it doesn't have the money. Park district records show there is over $800,000 still in district coffers from Measure AA that was supposed to be spent in the Sycamore Valley. $200,000 has been spent to provide infrastructure for commercial cattle ranching operations in the parks and not one cent has been spent on behalf of the public. Where are those promised funds? This is just one example of many unkept promises throughout the regional park district.