The Libertarian Party of Santa Clara County endorses a NO vote on Measure A in the June primary election, calling it "deceptive". The measure, put on the ballot by the Santa Clara Valley Water District, would change the term limits for members of the district board.
According to a rebuttal statement submitted for publication in the official county voter information guide, the measure is deceptive "because it's masquerading as a 'term limit' measure, but it actually increases the length of time that politicians can stay in office". The measure would set the limit at four 4-year terms (a total of 16 years), but current law already sets a lower limit of three 4-year terms.
In addition to being deceptive, the decision to place this measure on the ballot, by a 4 to 3 vote of the current board, was a significant misuse of taxpayer dollars, as the cost of the election itself is estimated at $3.2 million.
The rebuttal also points out the flaw in the main argument in favor of the proposal, that current board members must be allowed to continue because they understand better than a new member would the projects on which they have been working. "Do the board members who voted to waste $3.2M on this election care so little about the district that they are unwilling to pass their knowledge along to new members? Have they been neglecting their duty to document the plans they have already made? Are they unwilling to help new members get up to speed?" The same argument, of course, could be made by any politician, for staying in any office.
Three members of the LP of SCC central committee were among the signers of this rebuttal statement: Joe Dehn, LP of SCC Chair; Mark Hinkle, President of the Silicon Valley Taxpayers Association; and Brian Holtz, a member of the board of the Purissima Hills Water District.
The LP of Santa Clara County has endorsed a NO vote on a total of five measures on the June ballot. In addition to Measure A, they are:
- Measure E - Milpitas Unified School District Parcel Tax
- Measure G - Fremont Union High School District Bonds
- Measure H - Mt. Pleasant Elementary School District Parcel Tax
- Measure I - Alum Rock Union School District Parcel Tax