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Smart Voter
Santa Clara County, CA November 4, 2008 Election
Measure M
City Park Use Agreements
City of San Jose

Charter Amendment - Majority Approval Required

Pass: 198,999 / 72.60% Yes votes ...... 75,093 / 27.40% No votes

See Also: Index of all Measures

Results as of Nov 25 11:10am, 100.0% of Precincts Reporting (542/542)
Information shown below: Yes/No Meaning | Impartial Analysis | Arguments | Full Text

To improve parks and enhance recreational opportunities through agreements that support long term financial investments, shall the City Charter be amended to allow the City Council to approve park use agreements with non-City entities for up to 25 years in parks larger than five acres, requiring that the agreements enhance the recreational purposes of the park?
YES
NO

Meaning of Voting Yes/No
A YES vote on this measure means:
A "yes" vote on the measure is a vote to change the Charter to allow the City Council to enter into agreements for terms of up to 25 years on certain City parks, provided that the agreements meet the conditions described above.

A NO vote on this measure means:
A "no" vote on the measure is a vote to keep the restriction on agreements in City parks to no more than 3 years without voter approval.

Impartial Analysis from the City Attorney
Measure M, if approved, amends the San Jose City Charter to authorize the City Council to enter into agreements with non-City entities or individuals, for use of certain City parks for a term of up to 25 years, without voter approval. Currently, the City Charter prohibits the City Council from granting permits, licenses, leases or concessions or other interests in a City park for more than 3 years, without voter approval.

The proposed charter amendment affects only some of the City's parks - the parks must be over 5 acres in size and must have at least one "Community Serving Amenity". A "Community Serving Amenity" is one of the following: Pool, Community Center or Reservable Sports Field or similar recreational improvements for that park that is described in the City's approved Master Strategic Plan for Parks and Community Facilities.

The charter amendment requires the City Council to adopt a policy setting forth requirements for these long term agreements in parks, including community outreach standards, requirements for affordable access to the City park, periodic performance reviews, and early termination rights. City Council must find that a proposed long term agreement benefits the community and enhances the designated recreational purpose of the park. All funds received from the long term agreements must be used for recreational purposes. Examples of allowed expenditures are costs of recreational programs and the cost of acquisition, construction, maintenance and operation of parks and recreational facilities.

The proposed charter amendment still requires voter approval of long term agreements for terms over 25 years. As of the date of this analysis, voters have approved agreements in excess of 25 years in the following parks: Lake Cunningham, Kelly Park, Almaden Lake, Columbus Park, Coyote Creek. The voters have also authorized long term agreements with the Police Activities League Sports Center on a portion of Emma Prusch Memorial Park, with Franklin-McKinley School District for school construction on Ramblewood Park and the construction of a fire station on Silver Creek Linear Park.

A "yes" vote on the measure is a vote to change the Charter to allow the City Council to enter into agreements for terms of up to 25 years on certain City parks, provided that the agreements meet the conditions described above.

A "no" vote on the measure is a vote to keep the restriction on agreements in City parks to no more than 3 years without voter approval.

The above statement is an impartial analysis of Measure M. If you would like to read the full text of the measure, see http://www.sanjoseca.gov/clerk/elections/Election.asp or call (408) 535-1260 and a copy will be sent at no cost to you.

/s/ Richard Doyle, City Attorney
City of San Jose

  Official Information

City of San Jose

San Jose City Charter Section 17
News and Analysis

Google News Search

Official Version of Ballot Measure

N. B. The information about the Measure may contain errors from retyping. The official version may be obtained from the Registrar of Voters.
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Arguments For Measure M Arguments Against Measure M
Vote Yes on Measure M to improve our parks, without an increase in your taxes.

By removing burdensome red tape, Measure M would enable many nonprofit groups and community partners to provide recreational programs at our major parks.

How?

Currently, the City's charter does not allow the City to lease its park land for more than three years. This limits the City's ability to attract partners to manage a skate park, a pool, a community center, or a soccer field, or to invest in improvements at those sites. Non-profit groups often need longer leases because their foundations and donors will only support a stable, long-term program of services. Private companies often need a longer lease to recover a return on their investments.

Measure M gives the community and the City Council the flexibility to decide the appropriate duration of the lease. That decision will be made only after notice to surrounding neighborhoods, only after a review by the citizen-led Parks and Recreation Commission, and only after a full public hearing before City Council.

Measure M will make it easier to attract community partners - like the Police Activities League and Happy Hollow Corporation - without spending scarce resources to go to the ballot to change the charter in each instance.

Let's remove the red tape. Vote YES on Measure M, to promote community partnerships that will improve our parks.

/s/ Chuck Reed
Mayor, City of San Jose
/s/ Sam Liccardo
Councilmember, District 3, City of San Jose
/s/ Ken Yeager
Supervisor, Santa Clara County/Board Member, Friends of Guadalupe River Park & Gardens
/s/ Melanie Richardson
Member, San Jose Parks and Recreation Commission
/s/ Don Gagliardi
President, Soccer Silicon Valley

No Argument Against Measure M was submitted

Full Text of Measure M
N.B. There may be errors in this version. For the official version contact the San Jose City Clerk.

EXHIBIT A

PROPOSED NEW CHARTER SECTION 1700.1

SECTION 1700.1 Council Authority to Enter into Long Term Agreements

The City Council may enter into long term leases, concessions, permits or other agreements ("Agreements")with individuals or non-City entities, to allow use of public parks for terms of up to 25 years at a time, without voter approval, if the Council determines that Agreement would benefit the community and that the following conditions have been met: (i) the Agreement would enhance the designated recreational purposes for the public park;(ii) the public park subject to the Agreement is more than 5 acres in size and has at least 1 Community Serving Amenity, as defined below; (iii) the Agreement complies with an adopted City Council policy for Long Term Agreements in Parks, which defines community outreach standards, requirements for affordable access to the public park, periodic performance reviews, and early termination rights among other things; and (iv) any funds received by the City from the Agreement shall be used for recreational purposes. A "Community Serving Amenity" is defined as one of the following: Pool, Community Center or Reservable Sports Field or Similar recreational improvements in a park and that is described in the City's approved master strategic plan for parks and community facilities. Nothing herein is intended to limit City Council's authority to enter into other long term agreements on parks which have been approved by the voters.


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