BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
A campaign supporting a parcel tax for the Palo Alto Unified School District has released its first fundraising report, showing five donations totaling $9,450.
The “Yes on Measure B” campaign has received donations from teachers’ union president Tom Culbertson ($1,000), the Palo Alto Council of PTAs ($950) and Santa Clara County Board of Education member Jessica Speiser ($500).
The largest donations are from two district contractors: LPA Design Studios ($2,000) and Overwatch Construction Management ($5,000).
LPA Design Studios is an architectural firm from San Jose that’s designed new campuses, including Greene Middle School and Escondido Elementary School.
Overwatch, based in Anaheim, has a $2.6 million annual contract to manage the district’s building maintenance, playground replacements and fire alarm upgrades using voter-approved bonds.
The parcel tax campaign bought 500 lawn signs for $9,000 on Monday, campaign finance forms show.
Former board members Todd Collins and Ken Dauber, who oppose Measure B, pointed out that the “yes” campaign appeared to be lacking community support given its lack of lawn signs and fundraising in late April.
“What we are seeing now is a historic lack of enthusiasm from the very people — parents and donors — who usually provide the backbone of school support,” Dauber said in a statement.
Collins and Dauber said they are intentionally running a bare-bones opposition campaign.
Measure B supporter Sarah Cornwell said the “yes” campaign is a grassroots effort with strong support fron parents and teachers.
Ballots went out for Measure B on May 4 and are due on June 2.
While the two sides disagree over how much support there is for Measure B’s $800 annual parcel tax, the district’s voters have routinely approved such taxes in the past.
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