Siegel says no to improving city's public safety with thumbs down on new Measure K

Councilmembers were told at their Tuesday night meeting that an almost identical measure will be placed on the November ballot.

The Kings County Board of Supervisors also has signaled its support for another effort and will consider it at its Tuesday meeting to place it back on the ballot.

The cities of Avenal and Corcoran have already signed on again, and on Tuesday Chief Darrell Smith told councilmembers that Hanford will again join the effort.

Of the five council members present Tuesday in Lemoore, only Siegel voted against the measure, and he failed to provide an explanation for his negative vote. He originally voted to place the measure on the June ballot.

The plan was that Measure K would redirect an additional .25 percent sales tax revenue to a fund specifically earmarked for fire and police operations and infrastructure throughout Kings County, which includes the cities of Hanford, Lemoore, Avenal and Corcoran.  It is conservatively estimated that Measure K would generate up to $4 million annually. 

The semi-official numbers revealed that Measure K lost in June by the narrowest of margins, garnering 66.37 percent, which in most elections would be a landslide, but due to the nature of Measure K, needed 66.6 percent to pass, a two-thirds requirement.

Measure K received 11,761 out of 17,720 votes cast. It would have needed just 51 additional votes to pass. Of the 48,523 voters registered in Kings County, only 18,416 voted on election day. Most did so by mail, turning in 14,729 votes.

While Lemoore’s voters gave it a big thumbs up with a whopping 72 percent of the vote, Avenal, Corcoran and the unincorporated area of Kings County, came up with impressive numbers too, but not quite impressive enough to pass the overall measure.

Avenal’s voters passed it with 65.24 percent, while Corcoran was at 64.82 percent. Kings County unincorporated checked in the lowest at 61.44, which probably doomed the measure. Hanford would have passed it on its own with an impressive 67.38 showing.

Lemoore’s share of the more than $4 million expected to be raised by the passage of Measure K would have been roughly $675,000, all for public safety, to go to the police and fire departments.

In other news the Council voted to send Councilmember Eddie Neal to the annual League of California Cities Conference as the city’s voting delegate. Neal is also a member of the South San Joaquin Valley League Division. Again, Siegel was the only member to vote against Neal’s selection and again he failed to provide a reason for his action.