News Roundup

— by Jeffrey Wisniewski — 6 November 2008 — No comments yet »

Election stories…

- EBMUD… “A controversial water rationing plan adopted this summer by the East Bay’s largest water district brought three challengers who were trying to oust long-time members of the East Bay Municipal Utility District board of directors but none was successful. [...] Lesa McIntosh, 52, a Richmond lawyer, was challenged by Charles Smith, 64, an EBMUD treatment plant operator. McIntosh took 53 percent of the votes. The seat represents Crockett, Hercules, Rodeo, San Pablo and parts of Richmond and Pinole.”

- WCCUSD… “A parcel tax measure intended to generate about $10 million annually for the school district won easily Tuesday with 79 percent of the vote, well above the two-thirds required. [...] Taxpayers will continue to pay the same amount as under the existing parcel tax — 7.2 cents per square foot for five years. The current tax expires in June. Proponents of the measure raised nearly $300,000 to get voter support, and many volunteers participated in precinct-walking and phone-banking. Every City Council — El Cerrito, Hercules, Pinole, Richmond and San Pablo — unanimously endorsed the measure, the first time the district has received such backing, said Glen Price, co-chairman of For the Children of West County, the political action committee that pushed for passage.”

- More WCCUSD… “Board President Karen Pfeifer narrowly lost her re-election bid to Tony Thurmond and Antonio Medrano, effectively changing the board majority and throwing the future of some major school district projects into uncertainty. [...] Pfeifer’s loss means that the board majority — now composed of Pfeifer and board members Charles Ramsey and Madeline Kronenberg — shifts toward a 3-2 majority that includes Medrano, Thurmond and current board member Audrey Miles. That trio, endorsed by the teachers union, in the past has voiced opposition to the school district’s plan to close Castro Elementary in El Cerrito to build a new middle school there. The new majority also supports creating more kindergarten-through-eighth-grade schools, a model that Pfeifer, Ramsey and Kronenberg have opposed.”

- And the Hercules City Council and John Swett school board races are two of many that may be affected by “an estimated 100,000 uncounted ballots.“

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