Contra Costa County voters said “no, thanks” to two ballot measures in the June 2 primary election.
The tax-based Measure B aimed to help the county handle federal cuts to supplemental food aid, health care and other services. It would have imposed a temporary, five-year sales tax of five-eighths of one cent and was projected to raise $150 million annually. The measure, subject to annual audits, would have raised Orinda’s sales tax to 10.375%.
Nearly 57% of ballots counted as of June 10 called for “no” on Measure B.
Measure G would have authorized $920 million in bonds for the Contra Costa Community College District (4CD), with the funding directed at preparing students for jobs and university transfer as well as updating aging infrastructure and classrooms. The funding would have been subject to audits, with oversight and all funds used locally.
“For both the community college district and for the county, it came down to really wanting to see a very specific need before someone’s going to open up their wallet,” said Contra Costa County District 2 Supervisor Candace Andersen, who represents the Lamorinda area.
Andersen said that while the success of local school measures is an asset that’s easy for voters to see, a measure seeking support for a larger entity can be “a bit scarier.”
For the Lamorinda area, Measure B’s failure ultimately means dipping into county general funds to fill voids and avoid a tightening of the belt for funding resources such as libraries, road maintenance in unincorporated areas, and environmental health (which includes restaurant inspections).
As for the impact of Measure B’s failure on the county, “We are definitely going to continue to be scrambling to figure out how to fill these holes that continue to pop up, in large part due to changes in both federal reimbursement and federal covering of health care benefits [and] CalFresh benefits,” said Andersen, emphasizing the need to both realign services to be more cost-effective and ensure that people still get the basic help they need.
“I think for our Lamorinda residents who are not dependent on our county social services, where it might impact them would be in other general county services,” said Andersen.
That could mean less hiring in departments such as animal services, planning or public works, she said.
“It’s just going to be like everyone else who is feeling the pressures of inflation,” Andersen added. “We’re going to need to make sure that we are still providing basic services to everyone, but it may not be as robust as we once did.”
Meanwhile, Measure G needed 55% to pass, but as of the June 10 count, had just barely cleared 50%.
In 2024, 4CD conducted a comprehensive review of all of their college campuses, as well as the district office in Martinez. That review, along with conversations with faculty, staff and students, helped the district put together extensive plans for each facility.
Once the plans were approved by the governing board, repairs and replacements were categorized into priority areas, with top priorities estimated to cost around $1.3 billion.
An ad hoc committee spent the last year touring 4CD campuses with a small group of staff and faculty. After determining how the recommended projects would be funded, the committee, made up of two governing board members, came to the full governing board and voted to place a facilities bond on the June ballot.
Each 4CD campus has its own prioritized improvements. Contra Costa College (CCC) needs upgrades to its Student Services Center and a renovation to its Applied Arts building, which houses the college’s nursing and EMT programs.
“We have way more students trying to get into that program than we have slots available,” said 4CD’s Director of Communications and Community Relations Jennifer Ortega. “So this is also about ensuring that we’re able to bring in as many students as we can to these really high-priority career pathways.”
Meanwhile, Diablo Valley College (DVC) has extreme dry rot in its aging Early Childhood Education building and ADA-related issues with its planetarium. Los Medanos College’s (LMC) amphitheater is obsolete, and the campus needs a new building to house career education and industrial design building.
Measure E, passed in 2014, has been more than 90% spent on improvements and projects across 4CD campuses. They include a new LMC Brentwood Center and a new Art Complex for DVC’s Pleasant Hill campus.
Ortega expressed 4CD’s disappointment that Measure G did not make the cut, saying the district’s facilities needs remain.
“Over the coming months, our governing board and district staff will be exploring options for future solutions to repair and replace our colleges’ aging buildings and infrastructure for the benefit of our students, our workforce and our local economy.”
Contra Costa County voters turn down tax increase and bond issue
