Projects

Project: Mission Springs Water District - November 2007

The Inland Empire Taxpayers Association felt strongly that three candidates in particular would best serve the interested of local taxpayers. Those three candidates were incumbents Mary Gibson (who had served on the Board since 1985) and John Furbee (who was appointed to fill a vacancy in 2006 and was facing election for the first time), and challenger John Brown. Incumbent Dorothy Glass, who had served on the Board since 1990, was targeted for defeat. Gibson, Furbee and Brown were the pro-taxpayer, pro-growth candidates in this race, dedicated to keeping taxes and water rates low and promoting economic growth.

Project: Measure G - November 2007

Measure G became necessary due to a financial crisis facing the Valley Health System, which was losing $1-2 million of public money per month and had no remaining cash reserves. The crisis had been caused by a number of factors, including unfavorable contracts with insurance companies, increased employee salaries and benefits, escalating medical supply and drug costs, poor investment decisions, and consistent turmoil on the Board of Directors.

The Valley Health System made a failed attempt to pass a bond to solve many of these problems in 2006, and publicly stated that another bond attempt would most definitely be made should Measure G fail. In addition, the Valley Health System predicted that, if Measure G failed, bankruptcy and hospital closures would likely be unavoidable.

The campaign for Measure G was organized and led by HCMG PAC and Select VHS Acquisition. The Inland Empire Taxpayers Association played a supporting role, joining in the fight to save local hospitals, stop the loss of public funds, protect taxpayers from future bond measures, and prevent a taxpayer funded bailout of the Valley Health System. The IETA made phone calls to voters and took part in an aggressive direct mail campaign in support of Measure G.

Result:
On November 6th, Measure G gained 46.32% of the vote, falling 3.69% short of obtaining approval.

Vote	Count	Percent
No	19,769	53.68%
Yes	17,057	46.32%
Total	36,826	100.00%

Project: Measure B - September 2007

Measure B was seen largely as a power grab by the BCVWD, and a way for them to secure a new source of revenue. The justification for Measure B was based on claims of nitrate problems in the underground water supply…claims that could not be confirmed by the U.S. Geological Survey. Even if a nitrate problem did/does exist, Measure B ignored less expensive options and would have given too much power and money to a public agency that hadn’t even had an audit in over four years.

The Inland Empire Taxpayers Association felt strongly that Measure B was the wrong way to go. IETA volunteers put up over 300 yard signs throughout Beaumont and Cherry Valley encouraging people to vote no on Measure B, and over 13,000 phone calls were placed to more than 4,500 households of likely voters.

Result:
Measure B gained 47.9% of the vote, failing by only 220 votes.  In other words, if a mere 111 people who voted against the measure had voted for it instead, the measure would have passed. 

As the only organized opposition to Measure B, the efforts of the IETA have widely been credited for the defeat of the measure.  While many in the community contributed to the downfall the Measure, had it not been for the hundreds of signs, thousands of phone calls and countless hours of work on the part of IETA volunteers, Measure B would surely have passed, and the property owners of the Beaumont and Cherry Valley areas would be paying up to $112/month per home in sewer fees for the next 20 years.  The failure of Measure B has saved the residents of Cherry Valley alone over $30 million.

Vote	Count	Percent
Yes	2,561	47.9%
No	2,781	52.1%
Total	36,826	100.00%

Article:
Record Gazette - Measure B Defeated

Project: Measure R - November 2006

Yard Sign

Result:
On November 7th, Measure R passed with 57.96% of the vote, only 135 votes over the 55% it needed to pass. Despite its passage, the fight over Measure R demonstrated once again IETA influence at the ballot box. The November 2006 election was a disaster for conservative candidates and causes across the nation. A motivated Democrat base and a disenfranchised Republican base led to a Democrat takeover of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate. Although Governor Schwarzenegger won re-election, every one of his ballot propositions failed and Democrats claimed all but two statewide constitutional offices (Governor and Insurance Commissioner, which Steve Poizner won simply by being the only alternative to Cruz Bustamante).

In Riverside County, five separate school districts had bond proposals on the ballot...and all five passed. Of these bond measures, Measure R passed by the smallest margin. This despite the fact that of all five districts, Banning USD has the second lowest percentage of Republican voters (only 43.44%, compared to: 48.40% for Corona-Norco USD, 48.39% for Hemet USD, and 45.06% for San Jacinto USD). In every case, where the IETA was not active, bonds passed with much larger margins. The election results below make this point. (Remember that Measure R was the only one of the races below in which the IETA was engaged.)

Results of Other Bond Measures Throughout Riverside County (IETA not involved):

Project: Proposition 86 - November 2006

The IETA joined with taxpayer groups across the State, including Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, Americans for Tax Reform, California Taxpayers Association, National Tax Limitation Committee, and Waste Watchers, Inc., to fight against Prop. 86.

Project: Victory '06 - November 2006
Schwarzenegger Re-Election

Endorsement Press-Release

Riverside County

Vote	Count	Percent
REP - ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER	251,962	65.50%
DEM - PHIL ANGELIDES	115,803	30.10%
LIB - ART OLIVIER	6,224	1.62%
GRN - PETER MIGUEL CAMEJO	4,314	1.12%
AIP - EDWARD C. NOONAN	3,327	0.86%
PF - JANICE JORDAN	3,070	.80%
Total	384,700	100.00%

San Bernardino County

Vote	Count	Percent
REP - ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER	212,200	61.52%
DEM - PHIL ANGELIDES	114388	33.16%
LIB - ART OLIVIER	6,455	1.87%
GRN - PETER MIGUEL CAMEJO	4,387	1.27%
P-F - JANICE JORDAN	3,539	1.03%
AIP - EDWARD C. NOONAN	3,278	.95%
Write-In	671	.19%
Total	384,700	100.00%

Project: Measures G & H - June 2006

Measure G-Mt. San Jacinto Community College Dist.

Measure H-Banning Unified School District

Vote	Count	Percent
Bonds NO	1,317	47.02%
Bonds YES	1,484	52.98%*
Total	2,801	100.00%

*55% needed for measure to pass

Project: Measure A - March 2006

Article:
Record Gazette Commentary - The Letter That Started It All