A reminder to get out and vote

Voting has always been important in the United States. The Constitution has been amended 27 times. The Bill of Rights was added in 1791 and 47% of the remaining amendments address voting issues. With citywide elections coming up April 5, it is time to mark your calendar and plan to vote.

Who: All registered voters

What: 2011 Glendale Municipal Elections

Why: Choose two City Council members, two board members, two community college trustees and decide on Measure S

When: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., Tuesday, April 5

Where: At your neighborhood polling place. To locate your polling place, (818) 548-4000 or glendalevotes.org

Wisdom: Candidate information is available in the Glendale News-Press, in sample-ballot statements, at candidate forums, on candidate websites and GTV6.

Voting is the most powerful thing you can do to preserve liberty. Please vote April 5.

Lynn McGinnis

Glendale

Thoughts on Measure S

On April 5, the fate of Measure S will be decided. Many community groups, including the Glendale Council PTA and the Glendale Chamber of Commerce, are supporting Measure S.

Rep. Adam Schiff, Assemblyman Mike Gatto and state Sen. Carol Liu also support the measure. The only group to publicly come out against this bond is the Glendale Teachers Assn.

The union’s leadership has said they will not support Measure S because Glendale Unified administrators won’t put in writing that money freed up from the bond will be used to roll back furlough days and for class size reduction, which in turn will save teacher jobs.

A flier on the Glendale Teachers Assn. Web site states that Measure S cannot be used to save jobs, but a parcel tax could, and if Measure S passes, it would be “nearly impossible” to pass another tax for that purpose. I have to believe that the association’s leadership has done their homework. So they must realize that it will be “nearly impossible” to pass a parcel tax in Glendale regardless of what happens with Measure S.

Have they shared this information with their membership?

Southern California has traditionally not supported parcel taxes. From 2001 to June 2009, there were 132 parcel tax elections in California. Of those, 83 passed, but only seven were in Southern California. In the November 2010 election, 18 parcel taxes were on the ballot. Two passed, both in Northern California.