Trash Can Theft?

This was the scene, on a recent visit to the coast, by the Pacifica Pier. Trash, a missing trash can, and a mess. The work of this blog is to point out where the problems exist in Pacifica. There is a lot of work to be done, to improve our streets, clean up the garbage, and make this beautiful coastal community, clean and safe, for all of us who live here, and for those who come to visit. This is not the lasting impression Pacifica should leave with those passing through.

Measure D – Impartial Analysis
Measure D, the Pacifica Vital City Services Protection Measure, is a one percent transactions
(sales) and use tax (TUT) to raise revenue for general City purposes, such as police, fire, 9-1-1
emergency response, street and pothole repair, and youth recreation programs; to improve traffic
flow and safety; and to protect local coastal areas and beaches from polluted storm water runoff
and trash. This is a local tax to be placed in the City of Pacifica’s General Fund and could not be
taken away by the State of California or the County of San Mateo.
State law allows cities to adopt TUT ordinances with voter approval and to have them
administered along with other sales taxes. Measure D was placed on the ballot by the Pacifica
City Council to ask voters to approve an ordinance enacting a one percent (1%) TUT to be
administered by the State Board of Equalization. The TUT would be a general tax and its
proceeds to the City would go into the City’s General Fund and could be used for any legal City
purpose. It would expire in 2016.
Measure D includes accountability provisions requiring the City Council to (i) have an
independent third party annually audit collection of the tax and the expenditure of its proceeds,
(ii) appoint a Citizen’s Oversight Committee to review those expenditures and (iii) make the
auditor’s and Citizen’s Oversight Committee’s reports available to the public.
The above statement is an impartial analysis of Measure D. If you desire a copy of the
ordinance, please call the Pacifica City Clerk’s Office at (650) 738-7307 and a copy will be
mailed to you at no cost. The ordinance is also available online at
http://www.cityofpacifica.org/government/city_council.

Perhaps Measure D is worthwhile, we need to pump money, and growing interest, into this town, so that we can improve the streets of Pacifica, California. vlb