Financing a new era for East Bay Parks

Renewal of tax requires 2/3 majority

Since 1988, when passage of Measure AA created new funding, the East Bay Regional Park District has tripled its parklands from 30,000 acres to 90,000.

AA authorized a $10 tax for each $100,000 in valuation on all properties in the district. The measure generated $225 million for acquiring parks and for cities to use for park and recreation facilities. The measure also provided funds for the Bay Trail and other capital projects. Through skilful leveraging of this money with state and federal funds, the District was able to build the superb park system we enjoy today.

In the next year and a half, the District will use up the last of the Measure AA funds. The District will have virtually no money for acquisition of new parklands unless it acts now to extend AA. Such an extension requires a 2/3rds vote of the electorate. In 1988 Measure AA just made it, and recent polling finds that an extension of the measure garners around 76% support.

An extension would preserve the key elements of the original AA.

The tax rate would remain $10 per $100,000 in valuation. This is equivalent to just $5 in 1988 dollars, but due to the huge increase in property values, the District will see a rise in funds.
The extension would cover 30 years (AA was for 20), allowing bonds to be issued based on projected revenues of $500 million.
25% of the revenues would be allocated to the cities on the basis of population for their own park and recreational uses.
Funds would be allocated to each of the District's three "Metro Areas" in proportion to population.
For each Metro Area, around 1/4 of the funds are allocated for capital projects.

Lands added to the District since 1988 will not be included. Polling in these areas shows that an AA extension would not get the required 2/3 vote.

In coming months the Park District will prepare a draft of the measure for public input. The Sierra Club will review that draft to determine if it meets needs for protecting open space and habitat and reflects the Park District's prior commitments to a continued expansion of open space and park lands that reflect community needs and desires.

In the West Metro Area (the cities west of the hills, from Hercules to Alameda), the measure must provide protection for the shoreline. There is already tremendous grassroots support for saving these last remaining large parcels. In Oakland, we have the shoreline that is threatened by the Oak to Ninth project. In Albany the Golden Gate Fields race track breaks the East Shore State Park in half; some day, when the race track closes, we hope to see the land added to the East Shore State Park. Richmond, with one of the longest shorelines in the Bay, has many undeveloped Bayshore areas, including North Richmond adjacent to Breuner Marsh, Point Molate, and areas around the Hoffman Marsh.

In the original AA, the Oakland-to-Richmond shoreline got $15 million. Current opportunities warrant much more, even double that amount.

Funds also need to be allocated for protecting lands at the former Alameda Naval Air Station and Dunsmuir Heights.

In the Diablo Metro Area (the remaining lands in Contra Costa County), a key need is to keep as much as possible of the Concord Naval Weapons Station as open space. Funds can also be used to expand park lands around Mount Diablo State Park, Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve, the West Pittsburg shoreline, the Lamorinda Triangle, and Clayton Ranch.

In the South Metro area (the remaining lands in Alameda County), funds should be allocated towards saving Patterson Ranch and areas in Eastern Alameda County around Tesla Road and Doolan Canyon. Other properties in the hills surrounding Hayward and Fremont also need to be protected.

In the original AA, capital-project funds went to "brick and mortar" projects like visitor centers and other facilities. These are important, but it is time for the District to allocate some of this capital funding to the restoration of degraded park lands to enhance, restore, and improve our diminishing wildlife habitat.

In 1988 the Bay Chapter played a pivotal role in passing Measure AA, contributing a staffperson and tens of thousands of dollars to the campaign. We want to make sure that the renewal is one we can support.

WhatYouCanDo

Join the Sierra Club Bay Chapter's East Bay Public Lands Committee as it continues to work on shaping this measure. The committee usually meets on the second Thursday of each month at 7:45 pm at the Citizens for East Shore Parks office at the El Cerrito Plaza Shopping Center, Suite 520 (good BART and bus connections and free parking).

To confirm meetings, send comments, or ask questions, contact the committee's chair, Norman La Force, at n.laforce -at- comcast.net or call (510) 526-4362.

Norman La Force