U.S. Congress District 2 Candidates VIDEO
7 p.m. on Zoom | Monday, February 12
This Q&A webinar, hosted by the Coalition of Sensible Taxpayers, provides an excellent opportunity to learn about the candidates running for the United States Congress District 2 seat. Hear from incumbent Congressman Jared Huffman and challengers Chris Coulombe and Tief Gibbs, in this impartial forum moderated by the Honorable Leah T. Wilson, Executive Director of the California Bar Association.
This Forum features all the candidates who filed financial reports with the Federal Election Commission by January 29, 2024 (i.e., those who already have some campaign funding).
Voters should have already received ballots for the March 5 election by the date of this event.
Be smart! This election is important!
Get educated before you vote.
This Q&A webinar hosted by the Coalition of Sensible Taxpayers provides an excellent opportunity to learn about the two candidates running for the Marin County Board of Supervisors District 4 seat. Hear from incumbent Supervisor Dennis Rodoni and candidate Francis Drouillard. Voters will receive ballots by mail in early February for the March 5 election.
CO$T is pleased that this impartial forum will once again be moderated by the Marin IJ’s political columnist, Dick Spotswood. Attendees are invited to submit questions in advance as well as during the forum. The outcome of this election impacts everyone in the county. The Board of Supervisors will likely be making important decisions about increasing housing supply and affordability, homelessness and rent regulation, climate change initiatives, flood control, wildfire risk mitigation, and other hot topics.
Get educated before you vote!
CO$T is pleased to host this valuable forum as part of our educational and community service mission.
CO$T Hosts Non-Partisan, Impartially Moderated
Candidate Webinars as a voter education community service.
This Q&A webinar hosted by the Coalition of Sensible Taxpayers provides an excellent opportunity to learn about the four candidates running for the Marin County Board of Supervisors seat representing District 2. Hear from all four candidates: Brian Colbert, Heather McPhail Sridharan, Ryan O’Neil, and Gabe Paulson, (Click on their names to check out their campaign websites.) They are are competing to fill a seat that’s open owing to the retirement of current Supervisor Katie Rice. This is the first time in decades that District 2 voters have a chance to fill a seat not occupied by a current incumbent. Voters will receive ballots by mail in early February for the March 5 election.
The outcome of this election affects EVERYONE in the county. The Board of Supervisors will likely be making important decisions impacting housing supply, affordability, and local control; homelessness; rent regulation; climate change initiatives; flood control; wildfire risk; open space; local taxes and fees; and other hot topics.CO$T is pleased that this impartial forum will once again be moderated by the Marin IJ’s political columnist, Dick Spotswood. Attendees are invited to submit questions when they register as well as during the forum.
Get educated before you vote!
CO$T is pleased to host this valuable forum as part of our educational and community service mission.
FIX PROP 19 PROVISIONS MANDATING
REASSESSMENT OF INHERITED HOMESMany CA Heirs are Now Forced
to Sell the Family Home!
We Need YOUR Signature to
Amend Prop 19!
DOWNLOAD PETITION NOW
CO$T is helping with a statewide effort to fix 2020’s Proposition 19, which voters narrowly approved. People were largely unaware that voting YES would result in the reassessment of inherited homes and farms. Many children and grandchildren are now forced to sell their family home because they can’t afford the much higher property tax, This has upended the financial future and family integrity of many, many Californians.Together we can fix this problem. We’re gathering signatures on an official petition to qualify an initiative measure for the November 2024 statewide ballot. The measure would repeal provisions that hike the property tax of inherited homes and farms while leaving the rest of Prop 19 intact.
Download, print, sign and submit the official petition NOW! Print as many as you can use. Sign one yourself and then collect as many signatures as you can from your family, friends and neighbors who are CA registered voters.YOUR HELP IS KEY to getting enough signatures to qualify this initiative to appear on the November 2024 ballot.
Message us if you are willing to help with signature gathering. We can provide printed materials; direct interested signers to your doorstep; provide locales at which to solicit signatures, and team you up with signature gathering partners. It will take a collective effort to succeed! Let’s make sure Marin contributes more than its share of signatures!
DOWNLOAD! SIGN! CIRCULATE!
Follow petition instructions precisely to ensure signatures count.
Act now! The statewide effort to fix prop 19 requires more than a million signatures. We are asking everyone to send in the signed petitions as soon as possible but no later than Tuesday, January 16. The return address is in the pdf with the petition, and a list of drop-off locations is underway. Message us if you want to drop off petitions for us to mail for you.
VOLUNTEER! SIGNATURE GATHERING IS EASY.
Volunteer to be a Petition Hub! Email the petition to your friends.
Spotswood Questions
$1 BILLION Tam Union Tax Measure
Tell Trustees What YOU ThinkMarin IJ political columnist Dick Spotswood is questioning the size, priorities, and transparency of an over $1billion Tam Union High School District bond tax measure headed for the March 2024 ballot. Read Dick’s full column below.
CO$T is urging TUHSD take the following actions:
– Reduce and refocus the bond measure on the small set of truly urgent projects.
– Disclose the REAL cost of the over $1 billion tax measure in the 75 word summary statement that voters see on the ballot.
– Await voter approval before spending any more district funds on the bond project. Trustees have already contractually committed over $6 million to architects and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars for political consultants, polling, mailers to voters promoting the proposal’s benefits, and a new staffer hired to manage the bond project.
Voice your opinion by emailing TUHSD’s Trustees or speaking at a hybrid format meeting.
Upcoming meetings are at 6PM Tuesday October 10, October 24 (when the agenda will include the latest polling on the proposed tax measure), and November 14 (when Trustees will likely vote on a resolution to place the bond tax measure on the March ballot).
Email TAM Union Directors & cc info@costmarin.net
Please don’t forget to cc us! This keeps us in the loop.
Karen Loebbaka, President
kloebbaka@tamdistrict.orgLeslie Harlander, Clerk
lharlander@tamdistrict.orgCynthia Roenisch
croenisch@tamdistrict.orgKevin Saavedra
ksaavedra@tamdistrict.orgEmily Uhlhorn
euhlhorn@tamdistrict.orgcc CO$T
info@costmarin.netBy DICK SPOTSWOOD | spotswood@comcast.net |
October 7, 2023 at 10:50 a.m.Tamalpais Union High School District is aiming to place a facilities improvement bond on the March 5 primary election ballot.
The district website indicates the measure, including interest and principal, will cost residents over $1 billion. Of that, $517 million is for principal. The remainder is debt service incurred over the bond’s 30-year term.
If passed, it will levy a real estate parcel tax of $30 per $100,000 of a property’s assessed value.
One billion in bonding costs might be the largest total ever requested in Marin. It calls to mind the quote attributed to the late Illinois Republican Sen. Everett McKinley Dirksen. Of the federal budget, Dirksen said, “A billion dollars here, a billion dollars there, pretty soon you’re talking about real money,”
School bond passage requires a 55% supermajority. TUHSD encompasses Ross Valley, Larkspur, Greenbrae, Corte Madera and Southern Marin. The high schools include Archie Williams, Redwood, Tamalpais and the small special-needs campuses of San Andreas and Tamiscal.
The Redwood Bark, a student newspaper, reports, “Bond proceeds will go for mechanical, electrical, plumbing infrastructure upgrades and new arts, music and cafeteria buildings.” The exterior of the district’s Larkspur headquarters building will also be modernized.
Before a delay related to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was estimated that the cost of every item listed in TUHSD’s long-range facilities master plan would be $394 million. Trustees were recently startled to learn that construction expenses are now $517 million, a 25% increase. [Read Full Article Here]
CO$T Urges TUSHD
Implement Merit Based Pay – Pause Spending on Projects
that Aren’t Yet Voter-Approved – Trim Plans for 2024 Bond Measure Costing Taxpayers Over $1 Billion Read More Here
YOU May Qualify for Tax & Fee Exemptions & Discounts Senior, Low and Moderate Income, Disabled & Medical. Click Here!
CO$T and MMWD Settle Water Rate Lawsuit.
CO$T’s Class Action Lawsuit against MMWD
Help CO$T Thrive Today. Donate here
CO$T aims to:
1. Keep local taxes and fees on housing and basic services affordable.
2. Encourage officials to prioritize spending on the uses most important to taxpayers.
3. Improve transparency and fiscal responsibility at local agencies and districts.
4. Educate taxpayers about the cost and use of their local taxes and fees.
5. Urge that tax measures be fair, equitable, and approved by those who will be paying.CO$T’s activities include:
1. Host non-partisan public meetings about local tax policies and the options.
2. Inform voters about proposed new and renewed taxes and fees.
3. Research whether new taxes and fees are necessary and how they will be used.
4. Investigate cost-effective alternatives to higher taxes and fees.
5. Guide local officials on which tax and spending proposals voters would favor.
6. Serve as Taxpayer Representative on district Citizen Oversight Committees.CO$T is an all-volunteer organization led by our Board of Directors. Our Advisory Group gives periodic guidance and assistance on projects. We email alerts on issues and developments to followers who sign up to receive our communications.