Opponents of a parcel tax measure aimed to fund Palo Alto schools have filed a complaint to a
state ethics board about a flyer sent out by proponents of the tax.
Former board members Todd Collins and Ken Dauber say a mailer sent out this week by the
“Yes on B” campaign in favor of a $800-per-parcel tax is purposefully misleading and may
confuse voters into thinking the district sent out the mailer.
What’s more, the mailer doesn’t include a number issued by the Fair Political Practices
Commission. State law requires campaign literature like mailers to bear an identification
number.
“The purpose of the law is for transparency and to avoid voter confusion. In this case, the mailer
Says that ‘PAUSD is proposing’ the new parcel tax, which combined with the lack of required
disclosure could easily confuse someone that the school district itself is sending out mailers,”
Collins said in a statement.
Measure B campaign leader Sarah Cornwell defended the mailer, saying it clearly identified the
committee who paid for the ad, listing its address, website and endorsers.
“So voters know exactly who is behind it,” Cornwell said in an email.
Cornwell said the FPPC number should have been included, but wasn’t and the committee plans to correct the error.
The two former board members further criticized the Yes on B campaign for its lack of
donations, pointing out that the only two publicly known donations come from two businesses
that do business with the district. The donations are $5,000 from Overwatch Construction
Management and $2,000 from LPA Design Studio. The campaign had not raised any money
between Jan. 1 and March 31, when campaign finance forms were due. Campaigns
however must file if they get contributions over $1,000 within 24 hours.
Cornwell previously told the Post that several donors had pledged funds that will show up on the
campaign’s next finance report. She said the “yes” campaign is a grassroots effort which has
strong support from parents and teachers.
“It’s not a grassroots campaign if the major donors are out of town vendors who stand to benefit
when their contracts come up for renewal,” Dauber said in a statement.
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