Election Day results: strong support for Measure M in early returns

A tax that would fund wildfire prevention in Oakland was winning in early returns Tuesday night, with 70% of the votes.

Measure MM would fund efforts in Oakland’s Wildfire Prevention Zone, an area most acutely at risk for wildfire damage, through an annual parcel tax of $99 per single-family home and $65 per multifamily unit or condominium. The tax would last 20 years.

The measure needs a two-thirds majority to pass. It was put only to voters in the Wildfire Prevention Zone.

The city estimates that Measure MM would raise almost $2.7 million in its first year. The money would go toward enacting Oakland’s Vegetation Management Plan, a nearly 600-page comprehensive plan for reducing risks of wildfires in the zone. 

Among the efforts outlined in the plan are brush clearing along roads and goat grazing to remove excess plant material. It would clear brush along over 300 miles of road, mostly in the Oakland Hills, and target almost 2,000 acres of city-owned parcels. 

Supporters say Measure MM would provide much-needed funding for what they see as a critical management plan. Last month, hundreds of residents in the Oakland Hills were evacuated for two days when a wildfire burned 15 acres and destroyed a home.

“Fires will happen,” said Elizabeth Stage, president of the Oakland Firesafe Council who lives in the Wildfire Prevention Zone. “The question is whether the firefighters will have the opportunity to contain the fire.”

Stage said that while coordination between fire departments is one crucial element of wildfire suppression, vegetation management is just as critical.

Opponents of the tax are concerned that the measure lacks provisions ensuring accountability and oversight. Marcus Crowley, president of the Alameda County Taxpayers Association, opposed the measure but declined to comment.

According to an analysis by City Auditor Michael Houston, the City Council will form an oversight and accountability board, and the auditor’s office has the ability to audit the program. Measure MM can be spent only on wildfire prevention efforts and the administrative costs of running the program.

Oakland voters asked to support a property tax increase to keep millions of dollars in public safety funding