Another reason the measure didn't pass: Among people I know who generally are supportive of bond measures, people didn't support this one because they didn't trust the board -- they had concerns about how past money was spent and were concerned Measure O was written in such a way they didn't trust the money would be used the way it was supposed to be (regardless of a citizens oversight committee).

Ignorance is bliss. This is especially true when Dale Scott talks about the Measure O bond election he lost. Mr. Scott says he lost the Measure O campaign because it was an off year election after advising his clients, the SBPSD, to run the campaign in an off year election. And this guy calls himself a political consultant? Dale Scott also thinks the opposition had a louder voice? Sorry Dale, the opposition didn't have somewhere between $37,000 to $100,000 handed to them by contractors, developers & other out of State interests to flood people's mailboxes with fliers, trash the streets with signs & otherwise get their message into everybody's house. Dale Scott's ignorance of politics in San Bruno is obvious. This guy still doesn't know why his bag of political tricks & big cash injections into his failed bond campaign didn't work in San Bruno. Now, Scott thinks that San Bruno's taxpayers should be put through another agonizing bond or parcel tax election so Scott can get another shot at a big payday at taxpayer expense. It may not be long before Dale Scott and Company comes out with one of their ridiculous telephone surveys to trump up another attempt to tax San Bruno's taxpayers during these tough times. Dale Scott & Company needs to find another City to inflict itself on because it is clear that San Bruno's residents have a very low tolerance for carpetbaggers, like Dale Scott and Company, who come into our City in an attempt to fill their pockets with taxpayer money.

Trust, once lost, is very, very hard to earn back. And no matter how the school closure issue goes down, a lot of people are going to be upset, and that won't help matters when it comes to goodwill with the public.
A few years ago, when the economy was better, the board repeatedly considered whether it should bring a bond or parcel tax before the voters. But it hemmed and hawed and delayed ... and in the meantime, the economy went south. Between that and bad behavior that got people disgusted and mistrustful of the board, the measure was doomed.
As for all the fliers and signs and junk mail, I think I got only two pieces of mail, and there weren't any signs in my neighborhood -- though I saw a few signs up in other parts of town. And I can't blame contractors for putting money into the campaign -- heck, they are looking to keep busy. Still, if anyone has $37,000 to $100,000 to throw around, I wish they'd make a donation to the educational foundation to directly benefit students and teachers in the classroom.

Another issue that did not help the bond effort was the initiation of school closure discussions during the campaign. One month the district reaches out to the PTA's to speak about the (potential) projects that could be done at the schools, the next month the PTA's were wrestling with the notion of school closure. (I still have the binder the district provided, with the potential projects slated for El Crystal). the message was mixed and poorly timed. Trust me when I say this had a lot more negative impact than the notion parents were concerned about contractors putting money into the campaign.

I agree with the comments. Our school PTA was put off by the lack of detail or clarity as to what the $40Million would be used for, and had questions about the "accounting" for the money already spent.