Measure A Opponents Criticize County Mailer Ahead of Election

Opponents of a sales tax measure on the November ballot have accused Santa Clara County leaders of improperly urging a yes vote on Measure A, through a taxpayer-funded mailer sent to every household in the county.

At issue is a letter from Santa Clara County Executive James Williams to residents that warned local hospitals and clinics could close as a result of the federal budget cuts approved by President Donald Trump earlier this year. The letter arrived in mailboxes last week — just as voters are deciding on Measure A, a 0.625% sales tax increase touted by county leaders as a way to keep hospitals open and soften the blow of those federal cuts.

“It’s a covert, sleight of hand campaign that they’re running,” said Rishi Kumar, a former Saratoga councilmember who is chairing the No on Measure A campaign. “They are spending taxpayer dollars trying to influence people with messaging, which is a doom-and-gloom messaging about health care.”

Kumar said the campaign was considering legal action against the county, which is barred from using public resources to promote or oppose any measure on the ballot.

In an interview, Williams defended the mailer as part of a legal information campaign and said the county has a responsibility to tell residents about such a large drop in revenue.

“We are in a fiscal crisis that’s been caused by these federal cuts,” Williams said. “That’s something that people need to know about.”

County officials estimate that the reductions to Medicaid (known as Medi-Cal in California) and SNAP food assistance included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act will result in losses of over $1 billion annually to the county by the end of the decade. The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously in August to place Measure A on the ballot, which will raise an estimated $330 million a year.

Williams said the mailer cost roughly $250,000 to send to over 700,000 households in the county. Under the headline “An Important Update from Santa Clara County,” Williams wrote that “due to the federal Medi-Cal cuts, our County-run hospitals and clinics are at risk of closure.”

The county currently operates four public hospitals: O’Connor Hospital, Regional Medical Center and Valley Medical Center in San José, and Saint Louise Regional Hospital in Gilroy. The Yes on A campaign has run on a message of “Save Our Local Hospitals,” leaning heavily on the potential threat to these medical centers.

Local government officials are not allowed to use taxpayer dollars to explicitly advocate for or against a ballot measure or candidate, but they can provide residents with informational materials about issues on the ballot.

“This doesn’t even do that — it doesn’t mention the measure,” Williams said. “This is talking about the federal cuts, and we unquestionably have the ability to do that, but more importantly, the responsibility.”

California’s Supreme Court has ruled that judges should evaluate claims of illegal electioneering by analyzing whether the “style, tenor, and timing” of the communication makes it campaign-related or informational.

Davina Hurt, director of government ethics at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University, said the Santa Clara County mailer “gets right up to the borderline” between ethical and unethical behavior.

“The timing and the tone truly matter,” she said. “And here, there are definitely language and words used that make you question whether this is more advocacy rather than informing.”

Hurt, the former mayor of Belmont, said it is also important to consider whether similar community updates are regularly sent to residents.

Williams said the county has generally provided updates alongside property tax bills. But he said the unprecedented nature of the federal cuts required broader communication — including the creation of a web page with information on the funding loss and multiple town hall meetings.

Still, Hurt said it’s important for government officials to take extra care when their messaging overlaps with an election issue.

“Even the perception of advocacy undermines confidence in the process,” she said.