Since January 2024, when the state officially certified that the Kids First Initiative Measure Y qualified for the November 5 ballot, the opposition to the Initiative has come roaring back, saying things like, “Bay Area billionaires are pushing their agenda at Pomona’s expense.”
The Mayor, many Council members, and Commissioners, along with many prominent community members are angry that Gente Organizada, a local nonprofit aligned with other local nonprofits, raised over a half million dollars from nonprofits located in places like LA, San Francisco and Washington DC to get the Initiative that would secure funding for children and youth on the City of Pomona’s ballot.
In recent months, the group that opposes Measure Y has mounted a fear-based campaign against the Initiative. They claim that it will empower “special or outside interests” to undermine Pomona’s future. They claim that Measure Y will enable “outside interests” to “outsource” or “hijack” Pomona funds, and they refer to the Initiative as a “money grab.” Central to their argument is that there are serious, unaddressed problems with accountability and nonprofits.
However, what the opposition isn’t telling you is that the City of Pomona has successfully relied on a multitude of nonprofits, both local and out-of-town, to provide services to Pomona’s residents - and plans to continue to so whether or not Measure Y passes.
Notably, the City of Pomona has contracts with Hope for Home Homeless Services Center (H4H), to provide service to the homeless. In order to do so, H4H works with a network of nonprofit organizations including Volunteers of America (VOA); Tri-City Mental Health Services (TCMH), an NGO or nonprofit with government associations; East Valley Community Health Center (EVCHC), and SoCal Goodwill, among others. These are their subcontractors.
The City recently posted an opening for a Homeless Programs Coordinator, and in their description of duties, they listed that they wanted someone with the ability to “work closely with a network of local nonprofit organizations sub-contracted to implement homeless programs.”
The City of Pomona has also recently announced that it is “accepting project/program proposals from eligible nonprofit agencies to carry out activities that benefit low and low to moderate-income residents” for 2025-26.
As it should be. Public/private collaborations are desirable. Pomona has never been, and cannot be, an island unto itself. The City only stands to benefit by tapping into regional, county, state and federal resources. The Kids First Initiative simply piggy-backs on what is already City policy by devoting part (65% of 10%) of the City’s General Fund to non-profits to service children and youth under 24, a demographic that makes up approximately one-third of Pomona’s population.
The opposition to Measure Y claims that the City of Pomona will be unable to hold these nonprofits accountable, but the Initiative has built-in safeguards. The administrator for Child & Youth Funds will be housed in the City Manager’s office; the City Council will appoint the members of the youth and adult Accountability Board; and the City Council retains veto power (Section 9). Only local nonprofits or nonprofits located in close proximity to Pomona will be eligible to receive City funding (section 4e).
Ironically, Council member Nora Garcia recently wrote a letter to her constituents from her campaign nonprofit, citing figures from another local nonprofit, in service of raising money for an additional nonprofit that opposes Measure Y, while decrying the lack of accountability of nonprofits. She declares that “The only guarantee is that an estimated $17 million of Pomona’s tax dollars will go to organizations outside the City’s fiscal control.”
The Council member’s math doesn’t add up. Let’s break it down:
If Measure Y passes, it would eventually designate 10% of the General Fund to the Child and Youth Fund. (Not right away, though. The amount set aside for the Children and Youth Fund would begin at 2% for 2024-25, and gradually increase to 10% in 2030-31).
Hypothetically, if we calculate how much money would be allocated to the Child & Youth Fund at 10%, based on this year’s City of Pomona’s General Fund 2024-25 budget, it would be just a little over $16 million overall. (This year’s budget is just over 160 million or $161,247,429)
However, 20% of that 16 million would be earmarked for funding public agencies and only 65% of that 16 million would be earmarked for private nonprofits. This means that hypothetically, if Measure Y passes, and the annual budget remains largely the same in 2030-31 today’s budget, only 10.5 million would be earmarked for private nonprofits - a figure far lower than the $17 million that the Council member claims in her fundraising letter to her constituents.
What the Council member, Garcia and the rest of the opposition commonly leaves out is that, even if Measure Y passes, 90% of the budget is still available for the City Council’s discretionary spending. It is important to note that recently, Pomona approved a sales tax measure that pulls in $16.8 million annually from the 0.75% sales tax increment which can be used for various city services.
Right now, the two sides, those opposing and those supporting Measure Y, have two very different, opposing worldviews. The opposition has positioned itself as fearful of empowering youth characterized by a quote from their campaign literature which reads, “Youth . . . are generally not experienced to have control.” By contrast, those who support Measure Y, have worked very hard to craft an Initiative that would introduce youth and young adults to the principles of governance.
On September 24th, at a pro and con Measure Y forum sponsored by Compassionate Pomona, this difference in perspectives was staggering.
Time stamp around 46:13 | Please be aware that the video quality may not meet professional standards.
Opposition leader and spokesman Against Measure Y, City of Pomona’s Ethics Commissioner and Save our Pomona Public Library Advocacy Group’s (SOPPL) President John Clifford questioned the ability of Pomona’s youth to serve on a board to make funding decisions:
“What experience do they have in hiring people? What experience do they have in knowing what is a good person for the job? What is their life experience that brings that in? These are the questions that we have . . . We’re going to turn this whole thing over to a group of people who don’t pay taxes, who don’t understand the implications necessarily. Yes, they are learning . . . I know when I was that age and my children were that age, we had to tell them what had to be done. They wanted to stay out all night because it was great. We knew that they had to be home on time . . . I don’t know that people at 15, 17 years old make really good life choices all the time. I invite all of you to think back to your own life experiences.”
By contrast, spokesman for Measure Y, Pomona’s Police Oversight Commissioner and CEO/Founder of Just US 4 Youth Nonprofit, Eric Vasquez, reminded those attending that it would not be minors, but transitional aged youth (youth between 18 and 24) who would be providing consultation and oversight, and he expressed his wholehearted support:
“I don’t know about you, but I have had the opportunity to work with brilliant, transitional age youth, who are the future of our community, and who are more than capable, filled with promise, with the level of intellect and insight, creativity and innovation to be able to move our city into our next iteration of what we are going to be in the future.
As a matter of fact, I think that when we work with these people, empower them and support them, they begin to create the future that we need because they have a pulse on what the community needs because they come directly from our community.
Over the twenty years of my community work in Pomona, many organizations have been built on the back of these young people. And I think that it is essential that they are part of the process - and leading the process. They should not be the minority in the process, but the majority leaders in the process.
And if we don’t believe that as a community, that perspective is just flat-out wrong. I think we need to reshape and re-envision that. While many may not agree, I would invite you to spend some time with these amazing ‘youngsters,’ and it might change your perspective.”
Don’t be fooled by the opposition’s fear-based campaign consisting of lies and half-truths. Vote YES on Measure Y, Pomona’s Kids First Initiative. Our kids deserve it.
The Pomonan editorial board consists of opinion journalists whose perspectives are shaped by their expertise, research, discussions, and established principles. This board operates independently from the newsroom.
