Educators Announce Opposition To Sacramento Arena Tax

SACRAMENTO - A broad coalition of education leaders including school board members, teachers, and school employees last Tuesday announced their opposition to the Arena Tax - Measures Q & R – at a press conference at Castori Elementary School which is located in a working class neighborhood in North Sacramento. The coalition also urged full disclosure of all arena negotiation details by the City & County of Sacramento so that voters who are voting their absentee ballots have all of the information that they need to make an informed decision.

“Surely the Maloofs, the out of town developers bankrolling the Arena Tax campaign and the City and County of Sacramento would agree that providing a quality education to all of our children is a more important priority for Sacramento than using tax dollars to build an arena, stated Marcie Launey, President, Sacramento Teachers Association. “Because the supporters of the Arena Tax have not come clean with the voters and provided all of the details surrounding the ongoing negotiations with the out of town developers and the Maloofs the voters do not have the information that they need to make an honest assessment of Measures Q & R. The only thing we know for certain is the fact taxpayers will foot the bill for a nearly half billion dollar tax and get nothing in return.”

The broad coalition of education leaders including school board members, teachers, and school employees from across Sacramento that attended the press conference included: Marcie Launey, President, Sacramento Teachers Association; Ron Dwyer-Voss, Natomas Unified School District Board of Trustees; Manny Hernandez, Sacramento City Unified School District Board Member; Miguel Navarette, Sacramento City Unified School District Board Member; Ulysses Madison, President, SEIU Local 790; and Gretchen Bender, Sacramento County Board of Education Member.

“Sacramento Voters who are being asked to pay the billion dollar price tag of Measures Q & R deserve to have all of the facts in front of them when they cast their ballots,” Ron Dwyer-Voss, Natomas Unified School District Board of Trustees. “Measures Q & R are a bad deal for Sacramento because there are more important issues in our community that need to be addressed including healthcare, funding for schools, making our streets safer, increasing levee protection – all must all be addressed before we give away hundreds of millions of tax dollars to billionaire sports team owners.”

Measures Q & R (The Arena Tax) will increase the sales tax in Sacramento County to raise $562 million to build a sports and entertainment facility. The public pays nearly 100% of the cost of the new arena, and does not receive any of the revenues from naming rights, parking, concessions, or tickets for concerts or sporting events. If approved, none of the additional sales tax dollars will be available for desperately-needed community projects for at least 7 years after construction of the arena has been completed. Community leaders and elected officials from all over Sacramento County agree that public dollars should not be used to subsidize billionaire sports team owners when basic community needs such as flood control, public safety, education, housing and healthcare must be addressed first.

Sacramentans Against the Arena Tax is a campaign to oppose Measures Q & R in Sacramento County. The campaign is being led by a strong coalition of community leaders, organizations and individuals that have come together to stop the Arena Tax.

Visit http://www.Stopthearenatax.org for more information or call Shawnda Westly at (916) 201-8582.

Education Community Endorsement List
Sacramento City Teachers Association
Ulysses Madison, President, SEIU Local 790
Janet Schafer, North Sacramento Education Association
Gretchen Bender, Sacramento County Board of Education Member
Manny Hernandez, Sacramento City Unified School District Board Member
Miguel Navarette, Sacramento City Unified School District Board Member
Jerry Houseman, Sacramento City Unified School District Board Member
Roy Grimes, Sacramento City Unified School District Board Member
Dawn McCoy, Sacramento City Unified School District Board Member
Ron Dwyer Vos, Natomas Unified School District Board of Trustees
Susan Heredia, Natomas Unified School District Board of Trustees
Jennifer Baker, Natomas Unified School District Board of Trustees
Vern Coleman, North Sacramento School board member
Michelle Rivas, Board Member, Rio Linda Unified School District