Scotts Valley schools extend timeline for parcel tax

Rejecting a recommendation from a recently hired polling firm, Scotts Valley Unified School District trustees chose not to put a parcel tax on the ballot this year, instead likely opting for a spring 2012 ballot measure.
In a unanimous decision led by Trustee Michael Shulman, trustees decided not to hire polling companies Godbe Research and TBWB Strategies to conduct a six-month educational campaign in preparation for a November parcel tax election.
It’s the consequence of lessons learned during a failed bond push in 2008, intended to pay for a new middle school, Shulman said.
“My one big regret was allowing the consultant to run us through the big campaign, because Scotts Valley is different,” he said.
Shulman said he leans toward spring 2012 for the ballot measure, so the district can focus in more on the groups that have opposed district bonds in the past, instead of running a widespread educational campaign.
“The challenge for us is not a massive outreach to 12,000 rural residents,” Shulman said. “It is embracing opinion leaders who maintain a negative opinion of the district. We need to figure out what’s really going on here.”
After conducting a district-wide telephone survey of 300 voters, the polling companies recommended the November election as the best chance to pass a parcel tax, because the tax could get lost in the lead-up to the 2012 presidential election.
Bryan Godbe of Godbe research and Sara Stern of TBWB presented their findings at a public session at Scotts Valley High School on Jan. 19. They found that voters were 70 percent in favor of a parcel tax at the start of the survey, and that number dropped to 68 percent after hearing more information from the surveyor.
“I think there is a very solid base for a parcel tax in this district; however, I do think that there is some work to be done,” Bryan Godbe told trustees at the meeting.
The firms proposed a six-month educational campaign organized by TBWB before submitting a ballot measure for the November election.
Trustees disagreed and decided not to hire the firm for an outreach campaign. Trustees expect to decide their next course of action at their Feb. 8 meeting.