BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
Four voters are suing the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors over a sales tax for health care that was placed on the ballot with an emergency declaration.
The voters said there is no emergency, such as an earthquake, fire or terrorist attack.
“The Board of Supervisors has engaged in mere handwaving to invent its own exclusive ‘emergency,’ with no statutory justification,” said the lawsuit, filed Monday by attorney Jason Bezis in Santa Clara County Superior Court.
About the plaintiffs
The plaintiffs are Brian Holtz, Dawn Davis, John Inks and Christopher Robell.
Holtz is secretary of the Libertarian Party of Santa Clara County and a board member for the Purissima Hills Water District.
Inks is a former member of Mountain View City Council, and Robell has a history of filing lawsuits challenging tax measures.
Supervisors voted on Aug. 7 to put a 5/8-cent sales tax on the ballot. While the money, if approved, could be used for any purpose, the supervisors said it will fund four hospitals that are facing cuts from the federal government.
County Executive James Williams said he’s anticipating budget shortfalls of more than $1 billion due to President Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” which made cuts and changes to Medicaid, known as Medi-Cal in California.
The tax would last for five years, if it’s approved by more than half of voters on Nov. 4.
Emergency declaration
Supervisors had to unanimously declare an emergency to advance the sales tax outside of a regular election.
But the federal cuts aren’t an emergency, the lawsuit said. If there was an emergency, then other counties would be increasing taxes and Gov. Gavin Newsom would’ve stepped in, the lawsuit said.
Holtz, Davis, Inks and Robell are asking for an expedited hearing to remove the tax measure from the ballot before the ballots are printed. They also said the language in the ballot question was biased and misleading.
Lawyers for Santa Clara County haven’t responded in court yet.
There’s a hearing on Wednesday. Not sure whether there might be a tentative ruling the afternoon prior.
Looks like there generally aren’t tentative rulings in Department 11.