City Measure Backs State Aid for Libraries

The Camarillo City Council has passed a resolution urging its residents to lobby Gov. Pete Wilson on behalf of struggling California libraries.

Unanimously approved at a meeting late Wednesday, the resolution calls on Ventura County residents to write letters asking Wilson to provide more money for libraries, rather than granting the full 15% cut in income taxes proposed in his budget.

Mayor David M. Smith said that since Wilson is calling for a tax cut, the state should be able to afford more money for libraries.

“A large number of people would be willing to accept a lesser tax reduction, if the state would take the difference and use [for] local libraries,” Smith told council colleagues in a report.

“I realize this is an uphill battle,” he added. “But it is one I believe we should attempt to initiate.”

Camarillo-area voters in March will decide whether to support a $25-a-year tax to pay for increased library hours at the county branch in Camarillo.

The annual tax, which would expire after five years, requires the approval of two-thirds of the voters.

Last November, similar measures in Ventura and Ojai failed to win the required 66.7% of the vote, although the proposals were supported by a majority of the people casting ballots.