No. This is an outlandish and false claim made by the two sole naysayers. There is nothing in Measure A that requires the Council to engage the Finance Commission before they meet or act. The Town Attorney’s Impartial Analysis and the legislative intent of Measure A which says, “the People of Los Gatos do not wish to interfere with the budgetary or processes of the Town Council” makes this very clear. If Measure A did what the opposition is suggesting, namely restrict the ability of the Council to act or abrogate their legal responsibilities to make financial decisions, it would violate state law and the Town Attorney’s Impartial Analysis would say so. It does not. Do not be misled by this bogus claim.

Measure A will fix a broken and non-functioning Sale Tax Oversight Committee by merging the Sales Tax Oversight Committee duties into the newly established 7 person Finance Commission. When Measure G (Sales Tax Measure) was approved by voters in November 2018, the measure “required independent Citizen Oversight to ensure funds are spent in furtherance of Town Objectives” such as improving traffic flow, repairing potholes and enhancing local crime prevention programs. The Town Council originally passed a resolution creating a 7-person Oversight Committee and mandated, among other things, that the Committee meet two times each year. This was never fully implemented. Today, the oversight committee has only 2 people and has met one time in two years. This is not oversight and is not what Measure G mandated. Measure A will permanently fix this problem by transferring these duties to a highly qualified Finance Commission thus reducing bureaucracy by eliminating a broken and non-functioning committee and more importantly implement the oversight function mandated by Measure G.

The Los Gatos Town Council could benefit from expert financial advice. Most elected officials are not financial experts and do not come from a background in finance. Voting Yes on A creates a non-paid, advisory-only Finance Commission, allowing highly qualified Los Gatos residents with extensive professional experience in business, economics or finance to lend their expertise to the Town.

Measure A combines two commissions into one, streamlining financial decision-making for the Council by providing outside expert advice. Measure A will also allow the Finance Commission budgetary review, increasing transparency into the Town’s financial decisions and budgeting process.

Yes. The Finance Commission would not be paid and could only offer financial advice to the Council. Measure A does not supplant the Council’s decision-making power. It simply offers the Council access to financial expertise, should they need it.

As of June 30, 2014 the total for the safety and miscellaneous plans was $33.6m. As of June 30, 2019 it was $62.9m. That is an 87% increase (or $30m) in that 5 year period. Moody’s, the leading credit rating agency in the country has independently computed the unfunded pension liability as of June 30, 2019 to be $150m. We should point out that the other valuations were computed by CALPERS.

Yes. Measure A does not take away any legal authority from the Council, which will remain accountable to local voters when it comes to budgetary and fiscal decisions. Measure A simply increases the number of highly qualified residents providing expert guidance to the Council so they can better serve our Town. If Measure A is approved, each councilmember will appoint a Los Gatos resident to the Finance Commission. Potential candidates will be vetted by Council just as they have been in the past.

Yes. Measure A takes best practices from California’s best-managed cities to improve transparency and fiscal responsibility in Los Gatos. Finance commissions bring proven results, providing important guidance regarding budgetary decisions, financial policies and fiscal accountability.

Yes, members of the public will be able to attend Finance Commission meetings. Plus, all binding financial decisions will still be left to the Town Council, which ultimately is accountable to the voters.

The Town has a long standing Council policy which defines the appointment procedures, responsibilities and actions of the applicant, the Town Clerk and Town Council. If Measure A is approved, all current appointment procedures, responsibilities and actions would remain the same with one change: each Council member would appoint one applicant to the Finance Commission. This is to ensure diversity of views on the Commission and increases the accountability of Council members in the appointment process.