Last week when I wrote in support of a potential funding measure to address City of Alameda's deferred maintenance and infrastructure needs, I was somewhat aware that Alameda Unified School District is also planning to ask local voters to consolidate and renew its own existing funding measures on an upcoming ballot. I wrote "in 2025?" but I was off.

This week, the Alameda School voted to place a measure on the ballot for March 2024. To quote from an email from the Alameda Forward advocacy group:

Last night, the School Board placed a measure on the ballot for the March 5, 2024 election that would, if passed, consolidate and renew our local school parcel taxes, without raising taxes by a single penny.

The measure will:

Sustain high-quality academic programs

Attract and retain excellent teachers

Support teachers and counselors

Protect art, music, and performing arts

Now that the measure is on the ballot, it’s up to us to make sure it passes.

More information is available on this district website.

I look forward to voting in March 2024 to continue to support Alameda's students, teachers and schools!

And I look forward to the Alameda City Council receiving a report in the coming months about potential timing and strategic options for an infrastructure funding measure for the city. Supporting both "soft" social infrastructure and "hard" concrete infrastructure are important and complement each other.