Local governments around California have just finished filing hundreds of local measures that will appear on county ballots for the March 5, 2024 election. The vast majority of those measures will pick the pockets of property taxpayers, as well as every other kind of taxpayer in the state.
The grand theft will occur, by design, using the county ballot to persuade voters (electioneering) to vote in favor of the taxes and other measures.
There is some cause for optimism. A case before the California Court of Appeals in San Francisco could force county elections officials to follow the law — not take sides in an election using public monies. Interested organizations (businesses, associations, etc.) have an opportunity to weigh in on this theft by fraud by filing (at no cost) an amicus (friend of court) brief.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
1) Unlike statewide propositions where the Attorney General writes the ballot language, local measure ballot language, for decades, has been written by marketing professionals to persuade voters to vote in favor of the measure. The laws to prohibit this have been in existence for over 100 years. Furthermore, using public monies to print and circulate ballots that take the side of the government violates both our state and federal constitutions.
2) An amicus curiae (friend of the courts) letter or brief is a way for interested persons who are not parties to a legal dispute to weigh in on the issues raised by the dispute. There is no filing fee for amicus briefs.
REDWOOD CITY – Back in March 2023, Christopher Robell (a voter in Redwood City) filed a special proceeding called an election contest. The purpose of an election contest is to set aside an election. In his case, Robell v. Church, Robell asked the court to set aside two local school bond measures that will cost local property owners over $2 billion over the life of the bond repayment schedule. A speedy hearing was held in April. The court made its judgment in May. Robell is appealing. The trial court judge, as expected, ignored both the facts and the law.
The case is a microcosm of how local governments cheat on measures submitted to the voters, by using public monies to take sides on the ballot. Setting aside any one of these unconstitutional elections would be a devastating prospect, sending shock waves throughout local government circles around the state.
Any legislative attempt to change the law to allow the government to take sides on the ballot, such as AB-1416 (2022), would be unconstitutional as well. It’s such a fundamental principle that the California Supreme Court has already signaled that it would strike down such a law.
Government officials are also criminally liable and personally financially liable for using public money for purposes not authorized by law. Because the ballot questions are, in fact, campaigns in favor of the measure, there may also be campaign finance violations. So, there are many angles to the problem that are beyond the scope of the case.
The issues raised are not unique to the two elections cited in the case. The results of this decision will very likely affect both county elections officials and local governing bodies statewide. The potential that a local voter could set aside an election that exacts millions or billions of dollars will, given human nature, change the behavior of government officials. Maybe there will be fewer local tax measures submitted to the voters when the questions don’t favor the government’s side. Maybe the questions won’t take sides, as required by existing law.
CALL TO ACTION
Are you a member of, or do you know members of, any organization that has concerns about taxes, fair elections, forcing propaganda on students, religious rights, or medical freedom?
Robell doesn’t need a list to contact. He needs people to urge their organizations to contact him.
The deadline for filing (or joining in) an amicus brief is January 15, 2024.
For all the details, go here: http://ballotlabel.blogspot.com/p/stop-landlord-tax-ripoff.html
Why not make a New Year’s resolution now, that you’re mad as hell about local governments cheating to pass local tax measures and you’re not going to take it anymore.
For newspaper, radio, television, media, podcasts, interviews, etc., please contact Chris directly at 650-245-7395. We can use all the exposure we can get.